Strategic Workforce Planning: Vital Tips for Professionals in the Public Sector

Rachel Bangasser

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, you are almost certain to find a sense of urgency that drives both Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP) and change in the public sector, due to issues such as decreased fiscal resources, increased retirement, and altering work responsibilities. The SWP process comes at an important time as the mean age of the workforce continues to rise across the United States. This is particularly concerning in government. In fact, researchers have stated that state government has an older workforce than any other public sector.¹ As the first wave of the baby boomer generation has started retiring, there has been a strain on state government, which is projecting a tidal wave of retirements during the next few years. While trying to maintain and develop institutional knowledge, there is a lack of resources allotted toward talent management or areas such as, but not limited to, organizational research, recruitment, employee training and development, and retainment. Basically, this creates a perfect storm for making SWP an essential practice in current government settings.

The SWP process assists mission-focused organizations in finding long-term direction. This is done by determining the pivotal functions that are geared directly toward achieving an organization’s mission while driving toward its vision. Furthermore, SWP is a procedure that assesses the talent supply and demand, focuses on the future, assesses gaps between the current and future workforce, creates a reasonable action plan that closes gaps, and implements and evaluates that plan.² Each step offers value to the planning procedure. In essence, SWP is not an easy task. In a governmental setting, SWP needs to occur with limited fiscal resources and in enterprises with multiple union contracts, various legal obligations, and ever-changing environments. Many public organizations offer a variety of services to citizens or to those who serve citizens at the national, state, or local level. The assortment of services offered by a government entity can make strategizing demanding but nonetheless essential.

To assist governmental professionals with SWP, I have provided nine vital tips that I have learned from my own experiences in the public sector while developing, implementing, and consulting in the planning process. I have had a lot of assistance in my learning. Something that I have not provided in my writing is one solid model—an answer to how SWP is done. Although many of the basics of SWP are listed, I have learned that the process changes with each situation. Ultimately, I have learned by trial and error and have taken notes along the way. I am hopeful that these experiences will be helpful to you. These tips are intended to give you a jump toward initial success when doing SWP, regardless of the model you choose or develop to work best for your organization.

SMALL SCOPE FIRST—ENTERPRISE SECOND

If your organization is new to SWP, start in a small department or division. If you are just starting out, your goal in the short term is to learn. Remember that in the long run there is value to SWP at both small- and large-scale levels. Organizations that are more advanced in SWP complete their processes at both levels. The large-scale level provides a strong framework for organizations as they are able to analyze their talent supply and demand, do gap analyses, and make action plans as a whole.

Results have a tendency to be more streamlined on the larger level of the organization because all functions are on the same playing field and are analyzed that way. Realistically, this is very difficult because of lack of knowledge, time, and resources. Because of that, analyses and plans tend to be done at department and division levels. This smaller-scale action can help with hiring different types of positions, since job functions change in different departments even though positions may be the same. For example, an information technology (IT) department will think differently from a communications department. Separate plans will reflect that thinking. Each department may require web-based technology functions but for different reasons and as part of a different strategy. Employees should understand which functions are pivotal throughout an organization. They should also understand the supportive roles behind those pivotal functions.

There are times when this information is applied to a full governmental entity, which typically comes out during a time of crisis. It often starts with information at the department or division level. In fact, identification of “critical employees,” is often done during situations such as financial cutbacks, layoffs, or shutdowns, or during some sort of change initiative. Many times, essential functions are based on law or statute, or what is considered to be the safety of the public. During those times, institutions do only what is required for the public versus what is deemed to be in their best interest. It oftentimes has nothing to do with strategy because it may not be an option during times of crisis. For those reasons and for best results, SWP should not be done during time of crisis, but during well-planned opportunities.

START WHEN YOU HAVE EXECUTIVE SUPPORT AND A STRATEGY

There are two things that you need to have before you begin SWP, whether it be in a department, a division, or a whole organization: executive support and a strategy on how you will reach the vision. Whether you are doing this at a departmental or enterprise level, both support and strategy should be worked into your initial discussions, contracting, and planning. Starting with an executive’s signature and a clear strategy drives this initiative in the right direction, especially when implementing your action plan. Overall, this will carry the long-term effects of this process much further.

As previously stated, in governmental organizations mission statements are directed toward providing the most exceptional services to citizens, assisting those who serve citizens in the most effective and efficient ways, or a combination of the two. Alongside the mission is a vision for the future, or where the organization is going. The strategy drives that vision and is aligned with the mission. How is the organization going to reach its future? Even if you are working with a department or division or a whole governmental organization, the strategy should align with the mission of that organization.

As part of being supportive, the affected group needs to own and executives need to drive the SWP process. To gather support, inform leaders about the process and potential results before starting. Discuss budget, other resources, and time restraints that may be involved. Provide documents that clearly state where different levels of participation are needed for SWP so questions can be answered. For change to occur, you must be transparent with information and present it to the executives at the right time. Overall, executives need to understand that this process—as well as what you are bringing to your work environment—involves change and may require significant time and resources. You, as a professional, need to understand the depth of your resources, the scope of the project, and the means of the organization’s strategy. Your in-depth comprehension and leadership will guide your action plans and implementation processes, as well as assist in gathering the support you need from the right people.

SEGMENT EFFECTIVELY

Segmentation is a primary feature of SWP. It requires you to focus on internal and external supply and demand as well as related global trends that are occurring in the industry. Segmentation is very difficult. In fact, it is the most complicated of the practices involved in SWP and can feel personal. Employees want to work in pivotal functions and struggle when in a position that requires change. It is important to clarify throughout this process that segmentation is not personal. It is based on job functions, not full positions or a specific person.

It is important to remember that SWP in the private and public sector is going to be different in some ways. In the public sector, you need to consider union contracts, a smaller set of resources, specific job classification systems, different employee involvement, and legal obligations that are tied to daily operations. However, many of the concepts that are used in the private sector can be used in the public sector. The philosophy is the same: Change occurs. Government competes for talent in the same industries as the private sector. Government also invests in talent and needs to retain talent.³ Keeping this investment geared toward what is pivotal is wise.

There are pivotal functions that drive the strategy in governmental organizations, similarly to private organizations. These functions drive the organization forward. Perhaps one way to determine your pivotal functions is by answering this question: In what functions would a change in the quantity or quality in talent compromise an organization’s ability to execute their strategy?⁴ There is a low percentage of pivotal functions in an organization. Some of these public sector functions are considered essential by, but are not limited to, law or statute when you think about your mission.

After those pivotal functions are determined, you must determine what the core functions are in your organization—those functions that support the pivotal functions. These are most of your organization’s functions. Pivotal functions could not be completed without these core functions. Last, you assess functions that are noncore, or those that can be restructured, outsourced, or changed. This is the smallest group of segmented functions. These functions should not be confused with positions. These functions could be a portion of a position.⁵ The pivotal functions are critical to driving long-term success of the organization’s mission. For example, if the organization’s mission is linked to service and protection, such as in a law enforcement organization, it is likely that a law enforcement-oriented function will be linked to the pivotal group. The IT functions may be supportive. However, there may be an IT function that drives a specific investigative program, such as computer fraud. That specific function may be determined as pivotal to that organization.

Pivotal functions require specialized knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors (KSABs)⁶ as well as competencies that are driven by your talent management system. Assessment of KSABs and competencies will determine the talent that is needed in an organization. An organization’s most talented employees are best deployed in applicable, pivotal functions. For example, the mission of a community corrections setting may be to reduce recidivism. Placing the most talented probation officers on caseloads where reduction in recidivism is strategically prioritized and of interest is important. In a financial setting, part of the mission may be to effectively serve those who serve citizens. Depending on the strategy, the best fit for the most talented financial staff may be to manage the largest accounts that serve the highest number of citizens. Essentially, placement of talent is worth considering. Explore your options.

What about the nonpivotal functions, which total the work of most of the employees in an organization? Core and noncore functions do not drive the strategy toward achieving a mission. The focus of supportive, or core, functions is crucial. Pivotal functions cannot operate without strong skill in supportive functions. Separate from that, although difficult in a union-based setting at times, noncore functions should be changed whenever possible so individuals are not spending time on tasks that are not beneficial to the organization. Regardless of your plans with noncore functions, make sure you consider legal and contractual obligations before implementing and announcing potential changes.

FOCUS ON THE FUTURE

In SWP, it is important that the group you are working with has a handle on the current state of affairs. What are the dynamics of this organization? What are the dynamics of the group activities? When the current state is understood, move on to the future and stay in that mind-set. Decisions should be made with the future in mind, or the strategic workforce plan will be outdated by the time the planning process is done.

To assist groups with focusing on the future, there are many futuring techniques that can be practiced. The most important point of futuring is that you choose a multimodal avenue with both qualitative and quantitative approaches. Numerically, solid projection data is helpful for validation and discussion purposes. A qualitative approach that has demonstrated effectiveness, such as scenario planning or what-if strategies, is also important. A combination of the two is most effective; however, it is more important that you provide the opportunity for your team to have innovative dialogue and planning while using evidence in their decisions. Essentially, dialogue is part of a learning and problem-solving environment. Resolutions are created in environments where individuals are allowed to advocate their opinions and ask questions while testing their theories publicly.⁷ If you do not have the opportunity to be open in your workplace, it leads to miscommunication, errors, self-sealing processes, and self-fulfilling prophecies. In the case of the SWP process, lack of open dialogue will prevent solid direction, instill an unwillingness to collaborate, and stop a potential change effort before it starts. In my experiences, groups tend to rely on one or the other—either a qualitative planning approach or a numerical projection—to come up with new ideas. Use of both options is best and will result in more creative ideas as long as you include a rich, open dialogue.

PRACTICE A WHOLE SYSTEMS APPROACH

The SWP process is not solely responsible for incorporating talent into an organization or closing skills gaps in a specific area. Looking at SWP as part of a whole system is what Peter Senge describes as systems thinking.⁸ There is an interrelationship between SWP and other pieces of talent management, such as strengthening areas involving specific talent, engaging new and current talent, developing and training employees, positioning the right people into the right jobs, promoting the right leaders, and retaining the people that fit into your organization. All of these concepts need to align with each other, as well as the mission, vision, and strategy of the organization. This is an example of a cyclical process that should be validated by evaluation and metrics. Making changes to one piece of the system affects all pieces, especially in the long term. Adapted from the human capital process implemented by Armament Research Development and Engineering Center,⁹ Figure 1 demonstrates a whole systems approach to talent management. Figure 1 shows a stronger indication for linking the practices together and evaluating separately, which is important in your continuous change efforts.

For example, you may have an action plan derived from an SWP process that works on the hiring of additional accounting staff with specific skills. In the short term, the plan may indicate only acquiring staff through job fairs, specific job announcements, or other recruiting techniques. In the long term, there needs to be several considerations: engaging and onboarding, making sure that the staff members are in the right positions, and addressing their futures, including retainment. There is a high need for retaining accounting staff in the public sector. Governmental accounting systems are very specific. The skill is tough to teach and resources are tight. Furthermore, competition between the public and private sectors in hiring accounting staff is high. All of these considerations need to be thought through during the planning process. It will impact your activities, allotted resources, and outcomes.

FIGURE 1. INTEGRATED TALENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

An example of when SWP, in my experiences, was necessary was when a whole public sector’s financial system was updated. The change in the system process positively impacted the way the whole enterprise operated. There was a lot of staff changeover at the time of implementation. Different divisions had to look at how the new technology would change workloads, job functions, and task completion intervals. Staff had to add some tasks and remove others from their lists of job responsibilities. Vacancies needed to be filled differently. It took months of planning and training prior to implementation. Skills that had been needed before were now different. This is a great example of where the SWP process was necessary in filling the gap between current and future workforce needs.

CHOOSE THE ROLES OF PARTICIPANTS CAREFULLY—GO BEYOND HR AND HIGH-LEVEL LEADERS

In many cases, SWP is a responsibility that is left under the umbrella of HR. The responsibility of SWP should be broader than one organizational unit. It is essentially an organization-wide initiative that requires partnership, dialogue, and commitment, while being sponsored by a high-level director or executive. People who are directly involved with the work unit and related functions know the work best. These are people who should be involved in the process. Human resources is typically involved throughout the whole process to assess how these changes may impact the organization through labor relations, staffing changes, or organization development.

In choosing your team, you need a project leader who guides the SWP process; a project sponsor who drives the need and support for the intervention and commitment to the changes; an executive team that develops an initial strategy and shows support throughout the process; a cross-sectional team that completes the planning process; a business intelligence group (research analysts) that assists with data analysis; a team of high-level leaders who give their opinions and support throughout the process; and an implementation team that carries out recommendations of the workforce planning team. You may also benefit from communication specialists, subject matter experts, and project managers who can help with change implementation. Choose your team carefully.¹⁰ People should want to participate and make changes. Based on my experiences, people who have no interest, were forced to participate, or are too busy are not for your team. They should understand your organization and its various job-related functions and be willing to be a part of the change initiative.

Before starting this initiative, team members should understand their roles. Participants will want to have an understanding of what they will be doing and be able to assess how it will impact their own work situations prior to getting started. The purpose of gathering the cross section of people described above is to collect different opinions, broaden ideas, and bring the knowledge of those who work directly with the various functions straight to the planning table. I recall one experience in the planning process that involved little variation in position level. Participants were all managers. The dialogue did not speak to the functions, and it was difficult to steer the team in that direction. They needed a more direct link to skills gaps and areas of talent. To solve that problem, first-line supervisors and a few staff members were added to the planning process, which added deeper perspective.

BE PROACTIVE—REVISIT PLANS AND STRATEGIES

It is important SWP be looked at as a continuous process rather than a project that is over at the time of completion. This proactive approach to SWP enables a strong workforce environment throughout the constant changes in government that extend from adjustment in leadership, elections, variation in funding, workforce decisions, or needs of the clientele. All of this change impacts the whole system within a government entity, including the workforce and its priorities. This can mean that new organizational philosophies emerge, new business ideas develop, job functions change, or a new vision appears. All of this creates the need for a reevaluation of strategy and pivotal functions. This means that ongoing SWP is inevitable. This approach is your best option. The continuous process of SWP ensures that you are ready for change and will make the best hiring decisions for the future.

Although going through the full planning process is ideal, there are shorter ways to plan strategically. It can be done in a short meeting between a manager and HR. Such a meeting may not allow you to gain insights from a cross section of individuals. However, there may be times when holding such a meeting is the best option due to time constraints and lack of resources. For example, there may be an IT manager who has a clear strategy, understands the industry, and knows what she is looking for based on some research that she did, as well as the needs of the organization. She may be versed in applicable data, supply, demand, and trends. If so, holding such a meeting may be best for the department as she works to fill the gaps and reach the strategic goals. This process still requires the development and knowledge of strategy. Sometimes, it is the most realistic process that a person has time to complete.

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Whatever your SWP process entails, you need to communicate profusely and effectively with the organization. As a professional, you need to assess the level of communication needed at both large and small scales. When leading an SWP intervention, strong communication with the people you are working with is essential so they understand the process and their roles and responsibilities, while the organization may only require information that the process is occurring and updates of how it is going. Prior to implementation of your plans, communication on a larger scale will need to increase from awareness to a clear understanding. The organization needs to understand what will be happening. Regardless, communication will be the key to implementing planning efforts and change that your team is making.

Individuals are more likely to jump on the bandwagon of support if they understand the topic, don’t foresee any unnecessary delays, and don’t feel hot buttons of emotion being pushed.¹¹ Communication about what is going well and what is not going well builds a strong sense of trust. Follow up on the things that you say you are going to do. Clear communication demonstrates confidence in your decisions. That confidence also comes through in your work, whether it is in SWP or the implementation of a new model or plans. You will need that support and trust for this entire process.

BE A CHANGE AGENT

Previously in this chapter, it was stated that this process is complex. No matter what your role in an SWP initiative is, your task is difficult when you are making changes in the workforce of a government entity. You may not be the person driving this change effort; however, you may be the person in charge of making the change. This requires strong leadership skills that include guidance of a strong team. Address your immediate struggles, including those with personnel, so the change process will be more effective. This may require you to go down the path of requesting changes in legal obligations, contract agreements, policies and procedures, or general practices. Assess your options, urgencies, and timing. Find a way to make the change and evaluate your efforts. This part is fun, especially when you make a positive, effective difference in how government functions.

In conclusion, there is no single approach to SWP—no cookie-cutter tactic. The path is different for each situation, organization, and industry. You need to assess the situation that is before you and start with an approach that fits with your resources and the group you are working with. By keeping these tips in mind, you will launch a strong foundation in helping your public organization move forward while striving toward attaining your mission.

References

1. G. B. Lewis and Y. J. Cho, “The Aging of the State Government Workforce: Trends and Implications,” American Review of Public Administration, XX (2010), pp. 1–13.

2. Human Capital Institute, Strategic Workforce Planning: Participant’s Guide (Washington, D.C.: HCI, 2010).

3. Ibid.

4. John W. Boudreau and Peter M. Ramstad, Beyond HR The New Science of Human Capital (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2007).

5. Camden Delta, XYZ Client: A Guide to Identifying Pivotal Roles (2010).

6. D. H. Ruse and K. E. Jansen, “Stay in Front of the Talent Curve,” Research Technology Management (November–December 2008).

7. Chris Argyris, Flawed Advice and the Management Trap: How Managers Can Know When They’re Getting Good Advice and When They’re Not (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000).

8. Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline (New York: Currency Doubleday, 1990).

9. Human Capital Institute, Human Capital Strategist: Resource Guide (Washington, D.C.: HCI, 2011).

10. Human Capital Institute, Strategic Workforce Planning (Washington, D.C.: HCI, 2010).

11. John P. Kotter and Lorne A. Whitehead, Buy-In: Saving Your Good Idea from Getting Shot Down (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2010).

Rachel Bangasser is a human resources leader in state government. She continues her employment in government because of her desire to make change that benefits large numbers of people. Drawing on more than twelve years of experience in government and nonprofit organizations, her specialties include Strategic Workforce Planning, human capital analytics, employee engagement, and change management. She has teaching experience in courses related to research methods, stress management, and conflict management. Rachel holds a doctorate in Organization Development from University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. Questions or comments regarding her work should be directed to [email protected].