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Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit

Create a workforce planning toolkit that will ensure the right talent is available when and where it is needed.

  • Organizations struggle to implement a strategic workforce plan. While headcount planning is a process most organizations are comfortable with, workforce planning is a more complex undertaking that involves more people, more quantitative and qualitative data, and longer planning horizons.
  • A lack of suitable data and internal expertise on designing and applying workforce planning means that many organizations apply it infrequently, improperly, or not at all.

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Speak With An Analyst.

  • Get on-demand project support
  • Get advice, coaching, and insight at key project milestones
  • Go through a Guided Implementation to help you get through your project
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Our Advice

Critical Insight

  • It is common practice to continually reassess customers, markets, and products in today’s VUCA environment, but there is often no parallel assessment of workforce composition. Leaders need to be planful and develop a workforce planning strategy that positions their organization to take advantage of change rather than fall victim to it.

Impact and Result

  • Start the workforce planning journey by designing the process and planning for the different people and analyses that will be involved.
  • Implement a clear and straightforward workforce planning process aligned with organizational capabilities and maturity to make workforce planning achievable and attain the benefits of this strategic planning process.

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit Research & Tools

2. Build the analysis toolkit

Create a toolkit that enables leaders to effectively identify the needs of their workforce.

Workforce Planning Discussion Notebook
Workforce Planning Discussion Guide
Strategy Exploration Guide

3. Design the forecast framework

Determine the approach to critical roles, create a framework for supply and demand projections, and determine whether workforce plans will apply across the entire organization or for each function.

Supply and Demand Forecasting Job Aid
Guide to Identifying Critical Roles
Critical Role Identifier

4. Establish integration points

Decide how results will connect to related programs and processes and create a project plan.

Process Mapping Guide
Project Roadmap Tool

Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning Introduction
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00:00
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How to complete this course:

Use these videos, along with the Project Blueprint deck above, to gain an understanding of the subject. Start with the Introduction, then move through each of the Course Modules. At the end of each Module, you will be required to complete a short test to demonstrate your understanding. You will complete this course when you have completed all of the course tests.

  • Number of Course Modules: 5
  • Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hrs

Learning Outcome

Create a workforce planning process that is aligned with organizational needs and capabilities.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

  • Determine their approach to workforce planning by setting goals, project scope, and inventorying their resources and relevant data.
  • Establish a plan for collaborating with functional leaders to effectively identify requirements for the workforce, such as skills, competencies, roles, locations, demographics, functions, and structure.
  • Design a forecast framework to understand their workforce supply, demand, and gaps.
  • Understand strategies to address workforce needs and prepare to implement the workforce planning process.

Course Modules

Now playing

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit - Introduction: Create a workforce planning toolkit that will ensure the right talent is available when and where it is needed

Now playing

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit - Module 1: Determine your approach to workforce planning

Now playing

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit - Module 2: Establish a plan for collaborating with functional leaders

Now playing

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit - Module 3: Design your forecast framework to understand workforce supply, demand, and gaps

Now playing

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit - Module 4: Understand strategies to address workforce needs and prepare to implement the workforce planning process

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit

Create a strategic workforce plan that will ensure the right talent is available when and where it is needed

Executive Summary

McLean & Company Insight

It is common practice to continually reassess customers, markets, and products in today’s VUCA environment, but there is often no parallel assessment of workforce composition. Leaders need to be planful and develop a strategy that positions their organization to take advantage of change rather than fall victim to it.

Situation

  • Today’s rapidly changing operating environment is making it increasingly difficult to get the talent needed to execute organizational strategies using traditional reactive talent management practices.
  • Eighty percent of executives expect changes to organizational operations or value creation, which will further impact the skills needed in the future (PwC, 2021), and workforce planning is the solution: organizations who conduct any form of workforce planning see more positive talent, HR, and business outcomes than those who do not (Sapient Insights Group).

Complication

  • Organizations often struggle to implement workforce planning. While headcount planning is a process most organizations are comfortable with, workforce planning is a more complex undertaking that involves more people, more quantitative and qualitative data, and longer planning horizons.
  • A lack of suitable data and internal expertise on designing and applying workforce planning means that many organizations apply it infrequently, improperly, or not at all.

Solution

  • Start the workforce planning journey by designing the process and planning for the different people and analyses that will be involved.
  • Implement a clear and straightforward workforce planning process aligned with organizational capabilities and maturity to make workforce planning achievable and attain the benefits of this strategic planning process.

Operating environments are increasingly in flux, and the nature of work is rapidly changing

In today’s volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, it can be hard for organizations to keep up. With organizational disruption, shifting talent requirements, and changing workforce demographics, it’s more critical than ever to develop a plan for how to meet the organization’s future talent needs.

Organizational disruption

Shifting talent requirements

Changing workforce demographics

80% of executives expect changes to organizational operations or value creation, which will further impact the skills needed in the future (PwC, 2021).

62% of surveyed dealmakers expect the number of mergers and acquisitions to somewhat or significantly increase in the coming years (Intralinks, 2023).

Employers estimate 44% of employees’ skills will be disrupted in the next five years as core skills shift to reflect the importance of complex problem solving and technology literacy (World Economic Forum, 2023).

80% of employees in the US could have at least 10% of their tasks automated by generative AI in the future, as the division of work between humans and algorithms changes (OpenAI, Open Research, and University of Pennsylvania, 2023).

Workforce participation of older workers is increasing. By 2031, 1 in 4 employees is expected to be over the age of 55 (US Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022).

The number of young adults (aged 15-24) in the global workforce is decreasing. More than one-fifth of young adults are not currently participating in education, employment, or training, which limits future access to career opportunities (International Labour Organization, 2023).

McLean & Company Insight

It is common practice to continually reassess customers, markets, and products in today’s VUCA environment, but there is often no parallel assessment of workforce composition. Leaders need to be planful and develop a strategy that positions their organization to take advantage of change rather than fall victim to it.

Design and Build a Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit preview picture

About McLean & Company

McLean & Company is an HR research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools, diagnostics, and advisory services that have a clear and measurable impact on your business.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your HR problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Need Extra Help?
Speak With An Analyst

Get the help you need in this 4-phase advisory process. You'll receive 8 touchpoints with our researchers, all included in your membership.

Guided Implementation 1: Initiate workforce planning design
  • Call 1: Define scope and review the current state.
  • Call 2: Review the completed sections of the Workforce Planning Process Worksheet.

Guided Implementation 2: Build the analysis toolkit
  • Call 1: Plan to engage key players.
  • Call 2: Review the customized Workforce Planning Discussion Guide.

Guided Implementation 3: Design the forecast framework
  • Call 1: Review and determine the approval to critical roles.
  • Call 2: Create the framework for supply and demand projections.

Guided Implementation 4: Establish integration points
  • Call 1: Decide how results will connect to related HR programs and processes.
  • Call 2: Create a project plan and communicate to key players.

Contributors

  • Jane Barrett – Vice President and Global Head of People Analytics & Digital Solutions, Ericsson
  • Brian Chupp – Continuing Term Lecturer, Purdue University Krannert School of Management
  • Andrew Courtois – Senior Workforce Strategy and Analytics Master
  • Adam Gibson – Founder & Director, Agile Workforce Planning
  • Jeffrey Green – Director, Talent Acquisition, J.D. Irving, Limited
  • Bobby Guhathakurta – Manager, Resourcing & Talent Marketing Deloitte Canada
  • Gemma Jones – HR Manager, Spinal Life Australia
  • Pamela Kahn – Head of Workforce Strategy, Global Workforce Planning & Analytics, Ericsson
  • Stephanie Keough – Budgeting, Vale Canada Ltd.
  • Priyanka Khosla – People Insights and Strategic Workforce Planning Specialist, Sobeys
  • Peter Louch – Founder and CEO, Vemo
  • Maria Lovi – Global Talent Lead, Business for Social Responsibility
  • Michael Manning – VP, Head of Talent Management Operations & Performance and Development, T. Rowe Price
  • Andrew Mayo – Professor of Human Capital Management, Middlesex University
  • Carlene McCubbin – Director, Organization and Leadership Advisory, Info-Tech Research Group
  • Philip Mische – Executive Consultant, PRM Strategic Consulting
  • Nina Nazarshoeva – Director of People Services, International Operations, Canadian Red Cross
  • Martin Oest – Director and Partner, True Picture Europe Limited
  • Laurie Richer – Vice President, Human Resources, EORLA
  • Ed Schaffer – CFO, Hired
  • Cristina Vieira – Superintendent, Workforce Planning & HR Systems, Vale Canada Ltd.
  • Alyson Weeks – HR Content Consultant, CIPD
  • Jackson White – Manager, Talent Management Devon Energy
  • Tien Yancy – Workforce Management Research Analyst II, The California Public Employees' Retirement System

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