Sources of Workforce Planning Intelligence | Gartner

Workforce planning (WP) continues to be a top priority for many organizations. And central to building a WP capability is leveraging various data sources that can inform WP strategies and actions. These data sources range from internal sources (e.g., business goals, attrition rates, etc.) to external sources, including graduation rates and industry trends. According to Gartner, despite the variety of external and internal WP data intelligence sources available, less than half of HR leaders consider their organizations effective at analyzing internal (41%) and external (35%) data sources. This reference provides a useful summary of the top internal and external sources of WP intelligence. HR leaders can review this information with their teams to identify the most relevant data sources for their WP efforts. One recommendation I have to uncover these sources is to ask your team: 1) What talent and workforce questions–if we had the answer to–would enable us to accelerate the delivery of our business strategy?  2) What external and internal data sources provide disproportionate insights when answering these questions? 3) Of these vital few data sources, which do we currently capture? 4) For those critical data sources to which we do not currently have access, which of them would be the easiest to acquire?  Answering these questions can help chart a path forward for using data to inform high-impact workforce planning.