Companies have made little progress in the
area of strategic workforce planning, despite
evidence that it can drastically help a firm
decipher how to best invest in their work
force and in which areas to trim back.
Strategic workforce planning, which links
business strategy to HR strategy, is still a
relatively new methodology which can take
three to five years to implement. However,
according to recent research by The Conference Board, a lot of companies have
put the investment into this on hold because
of the economic crisis.
“By providing a vital link between business strategy and workforce strategy, SWP
can reframe the HR agenda,” says David Learmond, executive fellow at The Conference
Board. “It provides a unifying context for
decisions on reward strategies, learning approaches, diversity and inclusion issues, and
many other related and important HR issues.”
The report, Implementing Strategic Work
force Planning, features four case studies of
companies that have successfully employed
strategic workforce planning: IBM, Starbucks,
Canada Post, and Australian Mining Industry.
However, according to the report, many
companies make today’s difficult human
capital decisions without the data and analytics that can best position their business for the future. This includes decisions
including drastic cost-cutting measures such
as slashing headcount, freezing, hiring and
suspending training, all of which can cause
long-term collateral damage.
“Strategic workforce planning helps companies look beyond short-term budget or
headcount planning to examine organisational capacity issues,” says Mary Young,
senior research associate, human capital,
The Conference Board. “It also helps identify and manage human capital risks. Unlike
older, more operational HR approaches, the
primary beneficiary of SWP is the business.”
