From improving the quality of hires to reducing employee turnover, Workforce planning can give a head start on the competition and sets up for hiring success while avoiding one of the primary drivers of costs in Talent Acquisition: reactivity.
Short-term tactical responses in today’s volatile talent market aren’t going to cut it. Especially if the objective is to grow and boost the ROI. Instead, treat talent acquisition as a long-term business priority, one that requires careful thought and a stellar recruitment plan.
Failure to successfully predict talent gaps and prepare for hiring needs can be chalked up to a lack of experience with workforce planning, a lack of capacity to undertake it, and not understanding its benefits.
The planning and mapping of not only which competencies are needed when, but also which are in place internally saves time and planning for any recruitment activity. If we beforehand know what we’re going for with as long timelines as possible gives the TA function the best possible situation to actually deliver high quality in time.
Good Workforce Planning ****includes the following components:
Adding Skills Management and Job Architecture is beneficial.
Most TA leaders operate in a transactional environment and, unfortunately, see their jobs as purely a fulfillment function. TA is dealing with so much need that it can't help but be reactive.
There's not enough time spent with the business outlining hiring goals, conducting quarterly business reviews, updating turnover forecasts, reviewing talent composition, going over succession planning, or starting proactive sourcing conversations.
The organizations that win at talent acquisition are those that have a pipeline of talent ready to choose from when they need it. The only way to have that ability is to know what is coming up. If you don't know what's coming up, you're operating on assumptions.
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The deep dive - learn more how TA and WFP interconnect
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How to Drive Talent Acquisition Through Strategic Workforce Planning