Session 3: Applying the Strategic Workforce Planning Process

The objective of this session is to apply the workforce planning process that was described, within the effective context, in your organization. As such, it might be the most critical presentation of the three—although it makes sense only after the previous two presentations have been completed. At the conclusion of this session, you will have:

• Verified that the approach I advocate is applicable to your organization

• Identified the critical staffing issue(s) to be addressed in your initial implementation of the workforce planning process

• Developed a first draft of the staffing model needed to address each critical issue you selected

• Defined the “next steps” and accountabilities for your initial workforce planning implementation

Participants in this session should include the workforce planning team, the line managers that might be your first “clients,” and the HR business partners supporting each of those managers. This session should generate a great deal of discussion; don’t be surprised if it requires three to four hours. If participants “run out of gas” before that, close the session and add more to the postsession “to do” list.

The slides in this presentation are intended to guide discussion, not to provide detailed answers. Consequently, they are the least detailed of the three sets.

Defining the Context for Strategic Workforce Planning

• This diagnostic is described in detail in the text, including all the arrows and interrelationships.

• This is intended to be a group exercise. Actually ask the participants to answer the questions on the “inventory” slide. Allow them about 10 to 15 minutes; stress that it is better to have a few things in each of the four boxes than to have two boxes full and two boxes empty.

• Ask them to turn to their neighbor (or form a small group) and discuss each of the three questions shown in step 2.

• Share the example with the arrows, starting with the completed matrix.

• Discuss each arrow:

  • Don’t spend much time on the first two; I assume that for most organizations, the relationship between long-term business planning and short-term business planning is well developed.

  • Discuss the linkage that each remaining arrow is meant to depict. Note that these are “build” slides.

  • Ask the group to summarize its findings (e.g., missing pieces to add, opportunities to better integrate efforts within boxes, ways to add or strengthen arrows).

Developing the Initial Implementation

• Use the outline provided in the slides to facilitate discussion.

• Remember to include not only staffing issues that arise from business plans but also those that don’t (e.g., retirements).

• Force the group to narrow its choice to one or two issues initially (if you try to do more than that, you will probably be spreading yourself too thin).

• Sketch out the model as you design it, so that participants can visualize what they are proposing.

• Be specific about the next steps, including “who,” “what,” and “when.”

• Right then and there, gain commitments from participants (i.e., in front of the other participants, for all to hear) that they will complete the steps that they are responsible for.

• Document your next steps and commitments on a high-level project plan (e.g., on a flip chart); distribute a cleaned-up version of that plan as soon as possible (ideally, the next morning).

• Determine when you will meet next.