Strategic workforce planning : the future of Work
Jul 23, 2024
The Workforce 2024 Report from global consulting firm Korn Ferry is a comprehensive analysis of the future of work, anticipating the trends and challenges that will shape the future of work and workforce landscapes in the years to come. The report delves into several crucial aspects of workforce planning, offering insights into talent availability, skills demand, and the impact of technological advancements. Two of our eBooks share similar key themes, which we explore in this blog.
One of the central themes in the Korn Ferry report revolves around the evolving talent landscape. There is a critical need for organizations to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive market. With demographic shifts and changing employee expectations, business leaders are urged to adopt a new talent retention strategy. The report highlights the importance of understanding the preferences and motivations of the workforce to effectively engage and retain key talent.
Attracting and retaining top talent can be fully realized by creating a workplace culture that keeps employees happy, motivated and productive. In our Complete Guide to Workplace Hospitality, we explore the growing use of hospitality as an employee experience strategy, in the context of the future of work and the workplace. It’s a familiar concept for most of us, but it’s historically been associated with hotels where they leverage the best services and amenities that make their accommodations attractive to guests to lure them in and keep them coming back.
Offering hospitality services in the workplace creates a culture that is warm, comfortable and welcoming. It delivers a personalized, consistent experience to all employees and guests so that attracting — and keeping — the skilled talent you need to stay profitable and sustainable is within reach. Workplace hospitality services can range depending on the geographic location and demographics served, but often include:
In addition to talent, the Korn Ferry report underscores the significance of organizational culture and leadership in shaping today’s modern workforce. Culture plays a pivotal role in shaping a workforce strategy, as it directly influences employee engagement, productivity, and loyalty and helps drive organizational success. By embedding a strong and positive culture, companies can attract top talent and foster an environment that supports innovation, collaboration, and adaptability to change.
In their report, Korn Ferry asserts the imperative for leaders to cultivate a work environment that fosters collaboration, agility, and diversity. The report advocates for inclusive leadership practices and a strong emphasis on employee well-being to drive engagement and performance. The role of leadership in driving change and aligning the workforce with the strategic direction of the organization is key.
Circles highlighted how to build a positive work culture in our recent Q3/4 2024 Workplace Trends Report, validating the growing importance of work culture in organizations and emphasizing the need for positive, supportive environments that can connect remote and hybrid employees while combatting toxic culture. In preparing our trends report, we found research from SHRM (The Society of Human Resource Management) indicating a concerning trend of employees feeling emotionally drained, burned out, and disconnected from their work culture. Low engagement levels are contributing to high employee turnover rates and reduced productivity, with U.S. workers experiencing an 11-year low in engagement.
Employers are facing challenges in boosting engagement through traditional methods like pay increases, as economic uncertainties lead to wage stagnation. The future of work is shifting towards fostering a thriving culture as a form of currency to enhance the employee experience, boost engagement, and spur business growth.
A thriving culture should include:
What is work and life balance ? Work-life balance is the result that happens when an individual achieves balance between their work responsibilities and their personal life, ensuring neither area overpowers the other. When an employee successfully balances work and life, their stress level diminishes, they’re happier and more productive — and when this collectively happens with a large body of employees, the workplace becomes a more positive environment where workers can thrive.
Employer and employee roles, by definition, have a transactional relationship. Companies financially compensate workers for their time, energy, and effort; workers supply those things to benefit the company. Employers are expanding the concept of ‘compensation’ to include non-monetary benefits and benefits like work-life balance programs, flexible work arrangements, on-site amenities and so forth.
This compensation can and should be an integral part of an organization’s employee value proposition (EVP) — the unique value an employer offers to employees in return for their skills, experience, and loyalty to the organization. A strong EVP can create a culture that inspires valuable talent to want to work at an organization, while simultaneously helping to retain the talent you already employ. Attracting and retaining employees are table stakes for running any business. Keeping employees happy is what helps organizations succeed.
In addition to providing a great workplace culture, incentives and benefits can play a part in supporting workforce goals. A few examples:
Start by assessing the skills, experiences, and competencies of existing employees to understand strengths and areas for improvement. This analysis serves as the foundation for informed decision-making.
Anticipate the types of job skills, positions, and headcount required for future needs, considering industry trends, technological advancements, and organizational goals. This forecasting helps in identifying potential skill gaps and informs the need for talent acquisition or development.
Create specific action plans to address identified gaps, such as hiring initiatives, process improvement, training programs, employee benefits delivery and succession planning. This will ensure the organization’s workforce is well-equipped to meet current and future challenges.
This strategic approach enables companies to maintain a competitive edge by proactively managing their talent resources.
Data analytics platforms are at the forefront, enabling organizations to harness the power of data to generate insightful workforce analyses and predictions.
By addressing critical areas such as talent management, organizational culture and leadership now, organizations can begin navigating the dynamic and transformative nature of work in 2024 and beyond.
