By Ian J. Cook

If you are planning for a year grow rice.

If you are planning for 20 years grow trees.

If you are planning for 100 years grow people.

. . . so goes the ancient Chinese proverb.

These proven words of wisdom are timely and relevant for organizations around B.C.

Here’s why: Organization X’s growth strategy was foundering due to a lack of talent. The facilities, supplies, marketing, IT and the capital necessary to execute the strategy had been put in place. The unquestioned assumption had been made that they would find talented people to drive value out of the recently created resources in the new locations. When this failed to transpire and each new manager was replaced after six months – with another who was categorized as below standard – the organizations’ leadership started to worry.

Reacting to the stall in their strategy, they looked to their existing talent to see who could be moved. On the upside there were several good candidates – on the downside there was nobody ready within the next level to replace them. In effect, solving the problem in the growing area would simply move the problem of below standard management talent from the new venture to the organization’s core business.  As the core business was the funding source for the expansion, Organization X was unable to take the risk of compromising the core revenue stream to grow a new one. Talent became the fundamental limit to executing their strategy.  

Here is a second reason to reflect on the proverb. Numerous recruiters and HR managers around the province have shared how their organizations are reacting to the talent shortage. Time after time they are building up their recruitment team in order to continually fill vacancies, maintain their time to fill and some how resolve their recruitment challenges simply by applying more hands to the problem. Of the more than 10 stories like this that have been shared, all of them also talked of the discouragement felt when the organizational turnover rate increases and they see their new hires leaving after six months or less – both voluntarily and involuntarily. In these situations the reaction to simply find more people is undermining the future success of the organization.

The reaction to simply recruit harder is adding recruiting cost and adding turnover costs at a time when cost control is key. More importantly, this process is doing nothing to improve or develop the quality of the talent required by the organization to thrive in a volatile global market.

If we watched someone run towards a fire with a hole in their bucket of water we would find it comical – this in effect is how these organizations are reacting to the talent crunch. The lack of a hundred year view and the lack of focus on growing the talent capabilities required to compete is leading these organizations to actively undermine their future success.

In all of the cases above, the organizations in question are operating under the assumption that talent is abundant. This was true. It is no longer true. The numbers are inescapable. The economic slowdown is merely delaying the full extent of the talent crunch. What is now true is that talent is the critical factor in achieving organizational success. This new truth means that more than ever, organizations need a strategic workforce plan.

Strategic workforce planning can be described as “[T]he strategic alignment of an organization’s talent with its business direction. It is a methodical process of analyzing the current workforce, determining future workforce needs, identifying the gap between the present and the future and implementing solutions so the organization can accomplish its mission, goals and objectives.”[1]

It is a lot more than the short term replacement planning that often gets associated with the phrase. It is an HR discipline which is older than Henry Ford’s production lines and yet is going through a rapid and complex resurgence as a capability that makes HR into a strategic player.

A strategic workforce plan is about balancing supply and demand and the trick is to look both inside your organization and externally in the talent market and business environment. It requires a range of analytical and business skills that are not typical to HR and therefore success comes from engaging a wider team in the formulation and execution of the process. It is also as much about the journey as the plan. The real value comes from a shared understanding of particular scenarios and commonly understood reactions to the events that unfold.

Developing a strategic workforce plan does not require complex tools and IT – these can help but spreadsheets will go a long way. It does require a foundation of metrics and an ability to segment and assess your current talent. It also requires HR to be courageous and predict the organizations’ future needs five or 10 years out.

If you feel like your organization and team are paddling harder and progressing slower, shift your focus to developing a strategic workforce plan for at least your critical roles. Fundamentally understanding and developing skills in this discipline is the only way to ensure that your organization continues to thrive as the talent crunch tightens and that you have a place at the executive table.