Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) continues to become recognized as an important capability for organizations to drive long-term growth and success. And while the practice of SWP has been around for decades, it has gained increased attention during the past couple of years for several reasons including tightened labor markets, changes in the nature of work and worker expectations, and increased pressures to deliver in competitive business environments. This article provides four suggestions for carrying out SWP. The tactics range from 1) having a strong partnership between HR and Finance, 2) incorporating a skills-based approach, 3) integrating external labor market data into internal insights, and 4) shifting SWP efforts from roles to tasks – where roles are deconstructed into specific activities. These activities are used as the basis for taking actions such as determining which activities can be automated, done by contingent labor, or require strategic, creative, and unique solutions that are more likely to be done by full-time employees who become a source of strategic differentiation.
