Organizations today must hire the right people with the right skills to stay competitive. They must also find ways to keep employees engaged and productive to reduce the risk of losing them to other employers while maintaining or improving their products and services. At the same time, leaders must successfully plan for the workforce of the future, from headcount to pay to skills and training. This is where workforce strategy comes into play.
Explore workforce strategy in this article, including what it entails and six steps to create a successful workforce strategy for your organization.
What is a workforce strategy?
A workforce strategy is a comprehensive plan that outlines how an organization will manage its human resources, talent acquisition and retention programs to meet its business objectives both for the current workforce and into the future. This means focusing on hiring the right talent while creating internal policies to enhance employee engagement, development and retention. The organization must consider:
- Its current and future talent pipeline, including how many employees it needs
- What skills those employees will need
- How much the company can afford to pay (including not just salaries but training costs, benefits and more)
- As well as, how the company will adapt to future workforce needs
To create a functional, effective workforce strategy, organizations must do a thorough skills gap analysis to find current employee competencies versus what’s missing to be successful. This creates a roadmap for creating training and development programs to invest in employee growth.
Organizations should also leverage workforce analytics to gain insight into both employee performance and satisfaction to make informed decisions about talent management and workforce planning. A holistic approach to workforce strategy ensures organizations aren’t just filling positions but are building resilient workforces that will thrive in an evolving business landscape.
Elements of a successful workforce strategy
Every organization has different workforce needs depending on their industry, organizational structure and available resources, including workers. However, there are several general aspects of a successful workforce strategy that any organization should consider.
Workforce planning
To hire the right people, your organization must first understand how roles align with business goals, both now and in the future. For example, if your business roadmap includes expanding into new markets or developing new products or services, your human resources strategy must include forecasting for talent needs.
One important area companies are looking at today is artificial intelligence or automation and how implementing these new solutions will change the talent outlook.
Employee engagement and productivity
Organizations must find ways to keep employees motivated and efficient at work. Prioritizing employee morale and productivity means workers will do better work more efficiently.
At the same time, prioritizing engagement reduces employee turnover while increasing the organization’s reputation in the talent marketplace to attract employees going forward.
Skills development and training
It’s important to implement a strong talent development and training program for your workforce. This accomplishes two important talent program initiatives. First, teams can address skills gaps to equip employees for better performance in their current positions and to meet new challenges head-on.
Secondly, providing employees with development opportunities increases engagement and workplace satisfaction. Satisfied, engaged employees perform better at their work and are less likely to look for new jobs, leading to reduced turnover.
Technology and data-driven insights
Leaders need data to make informed decisions about workforce plans, including productivity trends, returns on investment in training or technology, right-sizing office space and how the company’s salary offerings stack up against competitors.
A good workplace strategy uses internal workforce data from solutions like ActivTrak as well as external data including historical market information and analysis of competitors. Predictive analytics and scenario planning are also important to align the talent strategy with future possibilities and ongoing business strategy.
Building a well-rounded workforce
Hiring people from different backgrounds leads to a more creative, effective and responsive workforce. HR leaders and managers must prioritize hiring a variety of workers from different walks of life. When an organization opens their talent search to people from various geographical locations, educational backgrounds or economic backgrounds, they create a work environment where innovation and creativity thrive.
Many competitive companies today offer remote jobs to expand the boundaries of their talent pool. Others are rewriting requirements around education or experience to include talented individuals who may have been overlooked previously.
Adaptability
Competitive workforces must understand current workforce trends and predict future moves. For example, flexibility and hybrid work models have become expectations for many top-tier workers, and organizations that have adapted to these desires find and recruit talent more easily.
Similarly, these organizations have found ways to measure how changes affect their workforces, from introducing new technologies to changing benefits or policies, to ensure they move forward confidently. With historical data and analysis of market trends, companies future-proof their recruiting efforts for both internal and external changes.
Creating a successful workforce strategy in 6 steps
Strategic workforce planning may be different at each company, but there are several steps every successful workforce plan includes. Consider the following components to ensure your workforce strategy is both effective and sustainable:
1. Assess current workforce needs
The first step in developing a workforce strategy is assessing your current workforce needs. This means evaluating the skills, competencies and demographics of your workforce. Organizations should conduct a thorough analysis to identify gaps in skills or knowledge that could hinder employee performance and to make informed decisions about future hiring and development initiatives. Consider factors like:
- Existing employee skills and competencies
- Gaps in knowledge or expertise
- Workforce demographics and diversity
- Industry trends and labor market conditions
- Employee feedback on challenges and opportunities for improvement
Getting employees engaged in the assessment process will provide valuable insights because they have firsthand knowledge of daily challenges and can highlight improvement areas management might otherwise overlook.
2. Set clear objectives
Once you’ve assessed your current workforce needs, the next step is to set clear objectives. These objectives should align with overall business goals and provide a roadmap for your workforce strategy. Clear objectives help you focus your efforts and resources on specific outcomes, making it easier to measure success.
Objectives may include:
- Improving employee retention rates
- Increasing workforce diversity
- Enhancing employee training programs
- Increasing employee engagement or satisfaction
- Expanding the talent pool to wider demographics
It’s important to establish measurable goals so you can track progress and make necessary adjustments. Again, involving employees in the goal-setting process helps foster a sense of ownership and accountability, which motivates workers to contribute actively to achieving objectives.
3. Use workforce analytics
Workforce analytics are important for developing an effective workforce strategy. Organizations gain insights into employee performance, engagement levels and turnover rates by leveraging data and analytics. This information is invaluable for making data-driven decisions that enhance workforce management.
Some workforce analytics metrics we recommend include:
- Time spent on tasks
- Technology or app usage
- Team performance
- Employee engagement and burnout rates
- Employee utilization and capacity
- Absenteeism rate
- Retention, turnover and attrition rates
- Internal mobility rate
- Workforce skills
Which metrics you measure will depend on your organization’s specific needs, including your industry and strategic goals. The right analytics will identify trends and patterns that you may not be aware of so you can address potential issues proactively. Predictive analytics also help you anticipate future workforce needs so you can plan recruitment and training efforts more effectively.
4. Develop training and development programs
Investing in training and development programs is essential for building a skilled and adaptable workforce. Organizations should create opportunities for employees to enhance their skills and advance their careers. This not only benefits the employees but contributes to the organization’s overall success.
Effective training programs must be tailored to meet the workforce’s specific needs and aligned with the organization’s objectives. Continuous development fosters a culture of growth and innovation. Some programs to consider include:
- Formal training sessions
- Mentorship programs
- Online learning platforms
- Partnerships with educational institutions/continuing education
- Offering to pay tuition or fees for certifications or other training
Meaningful training programs ensure employees understand the latest developments in their fields, ensuring they remain competitive and knowledgeable while also improving motivation and job satisfaction so employees are more likely to stay with the company longer.
5. Enhance employee experience
Employee experience is a critical component of a successful workforce strategy. A positive employee experience leads to higher levels of engagement, productivity and retention. Organizations should focus on creating a work environment that supports employee well-being and fosters collaboration.
Various initiatives support employee experience, such as:
- Flexible work arrangements
- Recognition and reward programs
- Opportunities for professional growth
- Health and wellness initiatives and benefits
- Workplace culture initiatives
- Employee feedback surveys or focus groups
Organizations cultivate a motivated and committed workforce by prioritizing employees’ needs and preferences. By listening to employees and aligning their desires with the company’s capabilities and strategy, leaders ensure the workplace evolves in line with both employee expectations and industry standards.
6. Monitor and adapt
The final step in creating a successful workforce strategy is ongoing monitoring and adaptation of the strategy itself. Organizations must regularly assess how effective their workforce initiatives are and adjust as needed. This includes:
- Soliciting and implementing feedback from employees
- Analyzing performance and productivity metrics
- Staying informed about industry trends
Flexibility and responsiveness ensure your workforce strategy remains relevant and effective. Continuous improvement is the key to long-term success in workforce management. You should also benchmark your strategies against industry best practices and competitor performance to identify opportunities for innovation and enhancement.
Common workforce strategy challenges to avoid
When developing a workforce strategy, there are many common challenges you can encounter. By addressing these proactively, you can ensure success.
Resistance to change or lack of buy-in from leadership
Implementing new strategies often requires a cultural shift within the organization. Employees may be hesitant to embrace new processes or technologies, or leadership may not want to support changes. Workforce strategists should involve leaders and employees as often as possible in the process to create a strategic plan that all team members support and align with.
Inaccurate workforce planning due to poor data
Reliable data and actionable insights are table stakes for workforce planning. It can be easy to get more data than you could ever need, but without reliable analysis, it will only muddy the waters for your workforce strategy. This is why it’s important to invest in the right tools and technologies for effective workforce analytics.
Employee burnout and disengagement
Burnout has been on the rise in the U.S. and is currently at staggering levels. Organizations that fail to address the early signs of burnout risk losing employees to overwhelming stress and medical issues. At the same time, burnout harms team dynamics by forcing other team members to pick up where a burned-out team member has had to leave off.
Burnout and disengagement are often contagious, and organizations must be proactive in addressing employee stress, mental health and well-being to prevent them from taking root.
Managing remote and hybrid teams effectively
Remote and hybrid work have become a regular part of employee life today. According to Gallup, a majority of hybrid workers say the flexibility improved their work-life balance, made them more efficient and productive and resulted in less burnout. But they also said they had less access to work resources, were disconnected from organizational culture and felt they couldn’t collaborate as well.
Employers must develop workforce strategies that allow managers to effectively manage remote and hybrid teams with updated technology and policies so employees and organizations can reap the benefits of these flexible work environments.
Optimize your workforce strategy for long-term success with ActivTrak
A well-defined workforce strategy is vital for any organization that wants to be competitive today and in the future. Leveraging the right data and analysis gives companies a competitive advantage in defining their workforce strategy by showing current workforce gaps, competencies and trends and aligning those with predictive analytics to futureproof the organization’s talent and hiring processes.
Strategize your workforce more effectively with ActivTrak. Gain valuable insight into employee performance, engagement and productivity with our suite of workforce analytics software to enhance workforce management efforts and drive sustainable growth. ActivTrak offers the insights and tools you need to optimize productivity, enhance employee well-being and make data-driven decisions for your workforce.
Contact our sales team today to create a free account and start realizing your organization's full potential.
