From planning to action: Effective workforce strategy execution

There's quite a lot to consider when you finally come to execute the action plan that supports your workforce transformation, but there is something you need to accept first: your plan will always be incomplete. 

That future state will continue to evolve and change, and this needs to be factored into the processes you lay down to support the workforce plan. Think about the infrastructure you need or the people and departments that can act as custodians of the planning process. 

For most companies, strategic workforce planning should be more mature than it is, and those businesses rely on inadequate collaboration and a haphazard approach to the future state rather than a controlled and informed process of getting from A to B.

Someone needs to be accountable for the plan, and this doesn't, by default, mean human resources. HR should be a stakeholder and a key contributor to the strategic workforce plan, but other teams could be more suitable to drive activity forward. I've seen this managed quite effectively through the chief operating officer, a role closer to the customer and to the changes that need to be made to bring about the required transformation.

In any case, the plan owner should ensure clear objectives and milestones are set. Consider this example objective: Increase the organization’s digital capabilities by upskilling 40% of the current workforce in key digital areas and hiring 15 new employees with specialized digital skills, seeking to achieve a 25% improvement in operational efficiency and a 30% increase in online sales within the next 18 months.

Depending on the size of the organization and the scale of change required, this is likely to be an extensive set of milestones. Each will need individual oversight, so careful consideration should be given to the people asked to manage the implementation of these plans.

Before any implementation, please ensure you have a carefully considered and well-thought-through engagement plan. Your existing workforce is going on the journey with you, and change is always unsettling for people, so there are simple things you can and should do to support them through this.

You should adopt regular, transparent, two-way dialogue at all levels of the organization — even when this is painful. Be prepared for the outpouring of honest opinions in public settings under the cover of anonymity. You'll hate it, and people will cringe, but knowing the worst things on people's minds is far better than operating in blissful ignorance and assuming everything is wonderful.

Ultimately, workforce transformation should be seen as bringing a positive outcome for the business, but you will need to work to bring your stakeholders along on the journey with you.

As you develop your action plan and begin to implement, it will become apparent that the more precise and data-driven your metrics are, the more sophisticated your analytical support should be. You'll need expertise and technology to help you monitor your progress and understand the movement in metrics, assess what's working and what's not, and drive actions to mitigate risk. 

From day one, be sure you have a clear idea of the review and iteration process so you can keep your plan alive — and not just as a document you review once a year. Continue to be transparent in the review of progress, even if it's not going to plan. This will help you build trust and drive success down the line.