I have spent much time in my HR past obtaining a variety of memberships and participating in various associations and communities to improve business processes as well as grow my knowledge, experience, and network of contacts. Some have contributed credentials to my resume, some have provided “best” practices to learn from, and others have given me great excuses to attend ever-so-slightly business related webcasts while putting off deadlines. My biggest issue is that most didn’t individually cover many of my needs, therefore creating a problem of determining which ones to pay attention to.
If you’ve read this far, please let me know first what associations have provided you the most value personally and professionally relative to Workforce Planning and Analytics. I’m working on establishing a network of Workforce Planning and Analytics practitioners in the Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX area, and have created a Group on LinkedIn. The main goal is connecting folks from different businesses and backgrounds in my area who have like challenges to overcome and stories to share. I think the way this network is run should depend on how people will get the 1) most benefit and 2) most enjoyment, and I’d be grateful for your input to fine-tune the approach.
The primary activities will be public in-person gatherings that I’d host every couple of months, buying everyone a beverage or two and providing some hors d’oeuvres. If there’s a little thought leadership, focus on current issues, and a best practice or two covered in every gathering, I’d consider it a smashing success. Does this sound like something you’d like to be a part of? I have a friend and colleague, Nick Garbis, who has established a template for me to follow in the Twin Cities, MN area. I’m learning from him, but would certainly like to learn from anyone else with a valuable experience or perspective to share.
Next I’d like to connect that group to a feed of a few good bits of information. I’m sifting through an array of online resources to provide, hoping to select the few key ones that will best benefit the network. Should I use global resources, local, or a combination of both? I hope the group’s members, too, will continue to add to the list things that have provided them value in their planning & analytics “journeys.” My next question to you is “which information resources have been most consistently helpful to you in the realm of Workforce Planning and Analytics?”
I’d love to hear your thoughts and learn whether something like this already exists, or should, in your area. Please reply via comment on this blog and/or email to me directly: Andrew.jacobus@infohrm.com. Thanks!
Tags: Networking, Strategic Workforce Planning, Workforce Analytics
These groups are becoming more common, and seem, at worst, to be an excuse to escape the monotony of the office, and at best, a way to build partnerships and influence greater social, policy, and organizational strategy that drive the bottom line for your organization.
As you highlighted, there are a few challenges within Workforce Analytics and Planning groups. The greatest, arguably, lies within finding relevancy to your particular business in the shared practices. Diversity within the members of these types of groups can both contribute to this problem, and add value to the results. How it ends up really comes down to you as the chair/leader. WP Communities that include representatives from many industries, as well as government and member-owned organizations, share a greater variety of experiences and approaches to business & HR strategy, which have proved to be real “diamonds” for the participant organizations.
Greatest challenge? Extracting and refining the “best practices”, and cutting these to fit your organization. This means, it’s more than just appies and vino – you have to put the sweat equity in to translate the info to fit your business.
Other things to consider? If the group is unbalanced – i.e. over or under-represented by a particular industry sector; the tools, practices, and resources attained may also fall short of the “big picture”.
Choose – either an industry specific community, or a broad range of industry participants… and ensure you stick to the plan.
Jamie, thanks for your input; sounds like a thoughtful approach. Which specific groups/affiliations have worked best for you with regard to WF Planning and Analytics?