Workforce planning has generally been a challenging strategy for HR and talent acquisition (TA) leaders to ensure that they have the right talent in place to meet the needs of the business and at the right time. With continuing talent shortages and lack of in demand skills stalling this planning process, TA leaders now have an option to not only meet their current needs but also plan for inevitable future business changes.
Skills-based workforce planning removes the focus on identifying the hard (technical) skills gaps that exist but to focus on the soft skill gaps. Soft skills are more in demand in today’s economy as they take longer to develop and mature in a person and are found across all industries. Hard (technical) skills are typically industry or role specific but can be taught or developed in less time than soft skills. Shifting to focus on softer skills such as the ability to positively cope with constant change enables TA professionals to break free of traditional limitations and access a far wider talent pool.
In this short video, Tom Bolton, client services director, Cielo, outlines why we're seeing an increase in the number of organisations looking to complete a skills-based workforce planning, the benefits that are being realised to TA teams and their organisations, and how TA leaders can commence with this new planning process by addressing the following questions:
- Why is there a rise in skills-based workforce planning?
- How can skills workforce planning help your talent acquisition team?
- What advice can you give businesses considering this approach?
