Workforce planning is continuing to generate buzz in today’s economy as companies look to make leaner and smarter decisions around both internal and external talent. It may sound simple but don’t be fooled. Only 25% of organizations with workforce planning processes are actually able to help business leaders forecast revenue and operating budgets. Furthermore, most companies fail to take a strategic approach to workforce planning. As a result, 67% of companies conduct workforce planning on an “as needed” basis- most often during times of economic crisis. Hmm…sound familiar?

Clearly, this is not an ideal situation- workforce planning should be a dynamic and continuous process that is evaluated on a monthly basis. But for all those companies facing an internal or external crisis, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This reactive approach can serve as the catalyst to creating a forward-looking, strategic approach to workforce planning. The experiences at Volkswagen Group of America illustrate this point.

In 2006, Volkswagen (VW) Group of America faced the daunting task of relocating its headquarters from Michigan to Herndon, VA. Looking to move out of the shadow of the “Big 3”, VW was not only moving employees but HR was also responsible for replacing three-fourths of its workforce in a year and a half. HR leaders became committed to not only finding the right talent for the right type of roles but also finding this talent regionally. To complicate matters, VW was looking for candidates to join an automotive industry in a very “non-automotive” area of the country. This change required a re-evaluation of workforce planning in a very short period of time.

 How did they do it?
 
• Core Competencies. HR responded by defining the core competencies they needed to fill positions and used these competencies for general hires and for specific job families.

•  Understanding Talent Gaps. HR led the workforce planning initiative by putting more planning around the timing of hires and the type of skills need to fill positions. As a result, VW was able to effectively forecast headcount needs and the gap between the skills available and the skills needed to help business leaders make informed decisions.

• Long-Term Approach. Over two years later, the lessons learned were undeniable. HR realized that workforce planning was able to effectively forecast hiring needs and examine the talent needs. They also realized the amount of effort required to complete this task in a short-time frame could be mitigated by a long-term, forward- thinking approach.

Although they achieved their goals, the process required a considerable amount of work to complete on an “as-needed” basis. This situation sparked the desire and demand for a more robust workforce planning process.

We have just completed a study in partnership with The Newman Group around Workforce Planning and we are excited to share the results this week. Stay tuned…