One of the first questions a company must consider when starting workforce planning is how to select a “pilot.” Unfortunately, this isn’t quite as easy as it first sounds as there are several factors that should be considered.
Let’s start at the beginning. First, where does your company have critical need? Job roles to consider are those that are:
- Hard to fill
- Hard to find
- Have a long lead time to full productivity
- Are core to the business
- Will become core to the business
- Experience high turnover
- Have a large number of staff
By selecting a role with critical need, you ensure you have the ability to demonstrate real value from the very beginning of the process, creating the “burning platform” that is necessary to obtain the support and engagement of line management.
Choosing a non-critical role risks low engagement from the business as they are asked to participate in “yet another HR initiative,” little motivation to implement the strategies developed as there is not critical need to see them accomplished (therefore having little so show for the effort and no ability to demonstrate value throughout the organization), and wasting valuable resources (time and people) by focusing on a role that will not significantly impact the organization’s ability to execute on its strategy.
Don’t get me wrong, workforce planning is a learning journey; it often takes three iterations to feel confident with the process. However, with the right partner helping to lead the effort, you will be able to achieve success that you can build upon as you expand your efforts internally.
We will cover the other important factors in choosing a pilot in future blogs. In the meantime, start locating the critical roles within your organization. Where does your company face a risk due to having insufficient or improperly skilled staff? This is where you want to get started.