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In this 34-page report, survey benchmarks and HR trends across Europe are shared across six key areas: aligning people, strategy, and technology in times of change; strategic workforce planning (SWP); talent acquisition; employee development; employee experience; and transforming HR service centers and operating models. The report presents a framework outlining three types of workforce planning: 1) operational workforce planning, which focuses on short-term staffing needs and forecasts approximately one year ahead; 2) strategic workforce planning, which projects staffing needs over a three-to-five-year horizon aligned with business strategy and scenario planning; and 3) skills-based SWP, which emphasizes identifying, developing, and deploying critical skills across varying time frames rather than focusing solely on headcount and job roles. While most organizations engage in operational workforce planning, only a small percentage practice long-term SWP—for example, just 12% of U.S. organizations do so. As I noted in my 2019 People + Strategy article, integrating both roles and skills into workforce planning is vital for making SWP truly effective. And in my April 2024 chapter for the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP) Professional Practice Series book, Strategic Workforce Planning: Best Practices and Emerging Directions, I share results from a pilot study on how AI-driven platforms can enable more effective workforce planning—both in the short and long term.
