Strategic Workforce Planning

Course details

In today's talent-based economy, the workforce itself is arguably the most important tangible asset of many organisations. Boards, CEOs and HR Directors will frequently declare that workforce planning and data- driven decision-making is a top priority for their organisations. Despite this, the workforce is often not carefully planned, measured or optimised and many organisations are not sufficiently aware of the current or future workforce and business risks that will limit execution of business strategy. While it is difficult to understand this apparent gap between intent and execution, it is likely that the lack of consistent objectives regarding the outputs of workforce planning and a lack of consistent process by which organisations conduct workforce planning are primary contributors to the disparity.

The task of implementing workforce planning is often daunting because it can be so difficult to define. While workforce planning presents many challenges, it provides significant value to organisations that invest in it. To be truly effective, workforce planning needs to be recognised as a business-driven process, which is a fundamental component of organisational strategic planning.

This course will enable participants to demystify what strategic workforce planning is and to understand and apply its key elements. It will provide participants with a framework and methodology that can be adapted to suit the particular context of their organisation. Using extensive examples the course will enable participants to systematically identify and mitigate business and workforce risks and to develop a strategic workforce plan for their organisation.