You can also access this resource in issue 339 of my Talent Edge Weekly newsletter.
BCG and the World Federation of People Management Association (WFPMA) just released the 2026 edition of their Creating People Advantage report, the latest in a series spanning two decades. Drawing on responses from more than 7,000 HR and business leaders, the report assesses 28 people and talent practices. One of the most revealing visuals is Exhibit 3 on page 8, which maps those practices by current capability and future importance to show where the biggest gaps exist. Strategic workforce planning (SWP) ranks #4 this year among the topics with the largest gap between future importance and current capability, and its importance has risen from #5 to #2 since 2023. Given that SWP shows up year after year as a critical priority with limited capability, at some point we need to ask: when will we begin closing the SWP capability gap in meaningful ways, and what will it take? One place to start is by clarifying the business cost of not prioritizing SWP. To help teams do that, I’m resharing my one-page template that connects a business problem or opportunity to a talent solution such as SWP, while clarifying the cost of inaction and the data that supports the case. Talent Edge Circle members can also access a diagnostic tool in our resource library to assess how well their talent and HR initiatives connect to the business problems they solve and the stakeholder value they create.
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