Strategic Workforce Planning: Developing Optimized Talent Strategies for Future Growth

Introduction 1
01 Strategic workforce planning 4
What is strategic workforce planning? 4
The purpose and benefits of SWP 9
The challenges of SWP 15
Structuring an SWP function 18
Jobs, roles and skills in the SWP process 20
Summary of chapter objectives 23
02 Aligning workforce and corporate strategies 26
Workforce strategy 26
Corporate strategy 28
Factors that can affect a workforce strategy 31
Merging workforce and corporate strategies together 34
Summary of chapter objectives 37
03 Understanding workforce demand 40
Workforce demand 40
Factors that can affect workforce demand 44
Factors to consider when incorporating workforce demand
into a Strategic Workforce Plan 47
Summary of chapter objectives 50
04 Understanding talent supply 53
Talent supply 53
Internal talent supply 54
External talent supply 63
Summary of chapter objectives 66
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05 Workforce segmentation 69
Workforce segmentation 69
Identifying workforce segments 71
Additional forms of workforce segmentation 75
Prioritizing workforce segments 79
Summary of chapter objectives 81
06 Total cost of the workforce 85
Cost-based SWP 85
Types of workforce costs 90
HR programme costs 94
Including costs in the Strategic Workforce Plan 96
Summary of chapter objectives 98
07 Skills-based strategic workforce planning 102
Skills-based SWP 102
Assessing skills supply and demand 105
Developing an internal skills inventory 108
Assessing future skills requirements 111
Summary of chapter objectives 113
08 Strategic workforce planning for location strategy 117
SWP and location selection 117
Location strategies to attract and retain talent 119
Developing selection criteria for a new location 121
Analysing current versus future location and site
requirements 125
New location space planning 129
Summary of chapter objectives 135
09 Strategic workforce planning for contractors and the
contingent workforce 138
Understanding contingent workers and contractors as part
of the workforce 138
Costs and benefits of the contingent and contractor
workforce strategy 143
Contents vii
Incorporating contingent workers and contractors into the
Strategic Workforce Plan 145
Choosing a master service provider and vendor management
system 149
Criteria to include in the MSP and VMS assessment
process 151
Summary of chapter objectives 154
10 Workforce analytics 157
Workforce analytics 157
When should workforce analytics be used? 159
Workforce analytics maturity curve 168
The role of workforce analytics in SWP 172
Summary of chapter objectives 175
11 Creating an effective strategic workforce planning
function 178
Building the foundation for an SWP function 178
Crafting a vision for the SWP function 180
Building the SWP team 184
Establishing processes and systems for an SWP
team 190
Incorporating data and technology into the SWP
process 198
Data 199
Technology 201
Summary of chapter objectives 206
12 The role of change management in strategic workforce
planning 210
Change management 210
The importance of change management in SWP 213
Creating a change-management plan for the SWP
function 216
Implementation of the change-management strategy 219
Summary of chapter objectives 221
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13 Strategic workforce planning for the future of work 224
How the landscape of work is changing 224
How technology will continue to change the way work is
performed in the future 225
Understanding the role of SWP in the future of work 230
Summary of chapter objectives 234
14 Bringing it all together 236
Overview 236
Creating the vision for the SWP function 236
Building an SWP team 237
Defining the organization’s SWP process 240
Incorporating data and technology into the SWP
process 241
Developing a baseline understanding of the composition
of the workforce 242
Workforce segmentation 245
Developing workforce supply and demand projections 246
Developing a workforce strategy 249
Additional considerations 250
Summary 254
References 255
Index 261