Why strategic workforce planning will protect your business

It’s often said that today’s schoolchildren will grow up to do jobs that don’t yet exist. It’s not a comforting thought for business owners and managers trying to plan future staffing needs.

But strategic workforce planning means hiring needn’t be an overwhelming task. This systematic form of planning draws data from your business to enable you to analyse your workforce and plan for the capabilities you will need as your company changes and grows. It protects your business by supporting cash flow.

“If you manage your workforce strategically it can have a significant impact on your overall cash flow, regardless of the size of the organisation,” says Oracle’s APAC Senior Director, HCM Strategy and Transformation, Andrew Lafontaine.

Industries such as banking, marketing and retailing now hire people who know how to engage with customers via the digital world, but what has become a standard requirement is also a recent one. Is it any wonder that employers continually ask themselves what skills are needed to stay at the forefront of their industry?

“It’s a tough one for a lot of industries because they are changing so quickly,” says Lafontaine. “If you can get your strategic workforce planning right you can reduce your attrition rates, improve retention of all your good people and improve the performance of everyone. There will be a cash flow impact, it will improve your bottom line.”

Strategic workforce planning starts by building a talent profile of everyone in the organisation.

It can identify resignation patterns and the best performing staff. Employers can then start to analyse and forecast. Is their workforce ageing? Do they have enough diversity of people? Are there issues that can be addressed with training and how might any actions taken affect the budget?

“You can then start to tackle strategic workforce planning around skill sets and what you will need in terms of industry change, products and consumer behaviours,” says Lafontaine.

He says the right technology will capture employees’ career aspirations.

Those who can see career progression may upgrade their qualifications and will be more willing to train up someone to step into their shoes.

Because the program makes analyses on capability rather than personality, Lafontaine says it also removes unintentional biases. The best candidate might not be the first person who springs to mind.

He points out that cloud-based technology has made strategic workforce planning programs affordable for small to medium-sized companies. Businesses can start with modules, but the real benefit comes from the depth of information provided by the full suite of technology.

Lafontaine tells business owners considering the technology “you just have to get started”, because the longer their system operates, the more data it will build and the deeper the insights it will provide.

The business that can rise to the challenge of rapid change will remain strong and outpace its competitors because by planning and preparing, the owners have protected revenues and cash flow.

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