Most fear to even to use the word “depression,” but now is the time for corporate HR to begin thinking about such an eventuality. As most people know, there are two key economic drivers that impact our economy: 1) productivity (product and service output) and 2) employment. The government has …
Read More »Workforce Planning
Using a Contingent Workforce Strategy to Avoid Layoffs
When economic times are volatile and businesses are facing a downturn in revenue, many CFOs turn their attention to cost-containment. A logical place to start cutting costs is labor, given that in many industries labor costs account for an average of 60% of all variable costs. The volatility in the …
Read More »Workforce Planning: Preparing For the Next Economic Downturn
The Downturn is Coming, But When? Many HR individuals I’ve met do not even like to discuss the topic of economic downturns. I presume this avoidance is based on the premise that even “talking” about them somehow will make them happen. Unfortunately, the consequences of not discussing or preparing for …
Read More »Workforce Planning: Now Is the Time to Upgrade Your Plan
Most of us have read about upcoming workforce trends like decreasing employee loyalty, differing generational expectations, and the impending retirement of the baby boom generation, but surprisingly few organizational leaders are fully aware of how those issues will impact them. Several of the organizations I have worked with in recent …
Read More »What Separates Great Workforce Planning From an Average Effort? Part 2 of 2
In Part 1 of this article, I outlined the first six of 13 key factors that differentiate great workforce planning efforts from mediocre workforce planning efforts. Here are the remaining seven points to note. Factor #7 Demonstrate the likelihood that your recommended actions will actually work. In addition to …
Read More »What Separates Great Workforce Planning From an Average Effort? Part 1 of 2
Few would argue that workforce planning is not a hot topic these days. Just five short years ago, it was nearly impossible to find a titled role for workforce planning in corporate America. Yet today, more than 54% of the Fortune 100 have dedicated FTEs to the activity. Even …
Read More »Strengthening Your Leadership Bench with External Succession Planning
Lack of Leadership Bench Strength: A Growing Problem As the second phase of the War for Talent slowly builds momentum, more and more firms are going to experience havoc directly related to the absence of leadership bench strength. The problems that have crippled smaller firms historically will establish a footing …
Read More »Strengthening Your Leadership Bench with External Succession Planning, Part 2
Beyond this commitment, what follows are the major steps: 1. Make the business case for external succession planning. The first step is to present arguments to your senior leadership about the need for including external talent and development opportunities in your succession plan. Generally that means documenting current development problems/shortages, …
Read More »Talent Management Road Kill
Patience Is Waning Senior leaders thoroughly understand that building an organization or changing one takes vision, planning, patience, and flawless execution. To that point, they have given HR five years. All indicators are that HR has yet to change or plan to change anything, and that the patience of senior …
Read More »Talent Management Road Kill, Part 2
Readers responding to Part 1 raised some very valid points: R. Bistrick noted that many in HR have no associated industry work experience, which limits their understanding of the business and its issues to one of keywords, often without the benefit of context. (This is certainly true for many corporate …
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