When I’ve spoken to talent professionals over the past few months, the vast majority have told me that they are re-evaluating roles within their organisations. That’s natural: the rapid development of AI and other routes to market in ‘getting the work done’ necessitates strategic workforce planning.
However, one of the universal threads that I’ve found throughout these conversations is that strategic workforce planning is being managed by department heads in consultation with talent functions and the wider HR team. Therefore, the c-suite has zero visibility over this process.
With the rapid pace of change within organisations, strategies for adapting your workforce cannot come from siloed functions or talent teams trying to interpret directives from an organisation’s leaders. It needs to come from leaders themselves.
Connecting the c-suite with what’s happening on the ground
I was startled by a Gartner analysis that is symptomatic of the disconnect between c-suite directives and their interpretation by HR teams and department leads. The advisory firm calculated that 50% of employers have rehired employees they’ve previously made redundant due to AI.
This damning figure showcases the dissonance between organisational priorities and implementation when it comes to talent. It’s only reinforced by Gartner’s CHRO Flagship survey: only 32% of chief human resources officers (CHROs) are confident in their execution of workforce planning.
If two-thirds of leaders overseeing the function responsible for workforce management aren’t confident in executing workforce plans, then something is very wrong with organisations’ approach.
There’s one final stat from Gartner that suggests this problem is only going to intensify: 60% of CHROs have not yet redefined roles for AI. HR functions are already struggling to adapt to this new landscape while organisations are only scratching the surface of using AI - this challenge will become even more acute without effective strategic workforce planning.
Against this backdrop, it’s clear that the best way to build alignment between organisational decision making and workforce strategy is for the c-suite to take ownership of workforce planning.
What top-down strategic workforce planning looks like
Why is it that top-down directives lead to bad decision-making around talent, yet I’m arguing that the c-suite owning strategic workforce planning and building a top-down talent strategy is desirable?
There’s a difference between an executive team setting an objective and relying on individual silos to develop strategy and tactics, versus actively identifying the skills the business needs to grow in the present and the future - and shaping the workforce accordingly.
At present, the first scenario plays out within an organisation too often, negatively impacting performance. For example, an organisation’s leadership team mandates an increase in AI adoption and a subsequent cut in jobs.
Individual functions then interpret this instruction differently, leading to indiscriminate attempts to fulfil the mandate. Departments find that AI output isn’t as effective as the humans previously doing the same roles, and this ends up costing more to implement. It’s similar scenarios that lead to Gartner’s calculation of employees being rehired after being replaced by AI.
Instead, the foundation of any c-suite strategic workforce planning must be identifying how the work gets done. This naturally creates a focus on the skills an organisation needs to meet its priorities in both the short and long term, rather than cost or headcount.
While the c-suite leads on planning, it still requires support from its talent function, wider HR team, and divisional leaders to pinpoint which skills already exist within the organisation and how they’re currently being deployed. From there, leaders can use this information to build a joined-up workforce strategy.
Identifying an organisation-wide approach to skills
Once you have identified the skills your organisation requires, both in the short and long term, using the build, buy, borrow, bot talent framework simplifies your strategic workforce planning. This enables you to take a holistic view of your workforce to minimise the impact of any changes you plan to implement.
For example, you identify areas where a bot is the best solution in the long term, but you may need to borrow short-term resource to create a smooth transition while the bot is optimised to meet minimum performance standards.
The framework can also support talent sourcing for long-term skill needs currently missing from your organisation. Do you buy these in? Or can existing members of the workforce be upskilled, reskilled, or redeployed to meet this future demand?
This is why the c-suite needs to own strategic workforce planning: it’s impossible to make these types of decisions when individual functions make siloed decisions. Rather than providing an objective that every department interprets differently, you provide a workforce strategy that is harmonised across your organisation.
Once you identified what your workforce should look like now and in the future, you need to action this plan. Reed Talent Solutions can help you source permanent and contingent labour, as well as providing upskilling and reskilling support. Get in touch to find out more.
