TM - January 2008 - (Page 12)

[leading edge] by Dr. Jac Fitz-enz I I Hubcaps for a Buggy t is a good sign that workforce planning has come back into vogue. Popular up through the mid-1980s, planning was swamped by the 1990 layoff mania and reversed almost immediately by the dot-com boom. In both cases, no one had time for or interest in planning beyond tomorrow’s lunch. With today’s market changes moving at near warp speed, the familiar cycle curve has been twisted into DNA loops. What was the order of the day yesterday is obsolete tomorrow, but still hovers in the background to return the next day in new forms. will be operating. But this is not the end of planning. It’s the beginning. A workforce plan also needs to address the human resource function’s capability to support the plan. If it doesn’t, it’s like introducing a new automobile without a dealer network or after-market parts sysplans or diagrams, make things happen. We have to realize that people are our only active asset, and all others depend on the human touch to make them useful. I have yet to meet an HR director who will claim that all HR units are working together. The requirements of integration and synchronization simply do not exist in HR. Each function, from planning through staffing and compensation to development and employee relations, runs largely on its own timetable. Of course, there is some agreement at the top of HR about what needs to be done, but I have T aking a Position It is difficult to know where to stand in the middle of an earthquake, and that is where we are now in the war for talent. Californians know the only buildings that survive quakes are those with solid foundations reaching down to bedrock. Although planning is coming back, much of what I have seen is akin to putting hubcaps on a buggy in the vain hope that it will turn into a Bugatti. Much of new-age planning doesn’t address talent’s underlying shortcomings. Knowing the gap between talent needs and talent haves is not enough. We must abandon the familiarity of our buggy and build a new chassis onto which an engine and transmission can be placed. In short, we need a 21st-century infrastructure. Stronger Foundation The requirements of integration and synchronization simply do not exist in HR. Each function, from planning through staffing and compensation to development and employee relations, runs largely on its own timetable. About the author Dr. Jac Fitz-enz is founder and CEO of the Human Capital Source and Workforce Intelligence Institute. He can be reached at editor@TalentMgt.com. tem. The new vehicle might be a breakthrough until it breaks down. With no infrastructure behind it, there is no way to repair it. HR’s Support Structure yet to find an integrated approach to make that happen. No matter how hard we strive to meet the organization’s needs, we still see articles about why people hate HR because we confuse our customers, managers and employees with disconnected information and distracting requests. Managing the Future When we plan any venture, from a vehicle or a building to a human capital strategy, we have to answer two seminal questions: What is the purpose of this, and into which environment will it be placed? The purpose of a workforce plan is to provide the talent continuity needed to sustain the organization. The environment is the near-term future in which the organization Structures depend on processes for fulfillment. Given today’s volatile marketplace, the question for HR is: Are our processes capable of servicing emerging needs? Are our current staffing, compensation and development routines adequate for tomorrow? It is common to set up a process and run it without periodic checks. This presumes the conditions at inception still apply today and tomorrow. This is a risky assumption that can come back to hurt us. To use the automobile metaphor, is the market still driving buggies or is it driving Bugattis? The Soft Side An insightful man once told me, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” He meant that people, not There is no magic required to solve these deficiencies. But, it can help to first scan the future for emerging needs. Second, audit processes for utility and value. Third, we can truly work together. Staffing can do a better job if it knows what upgrades compensation has planned. Development can plan and design more effectively if staffing alerts it to skill levels in the labor pool. In the end, the holy grail of engagement requires that we support Bugattis, not buggies. 12 January 2008 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of TM - January 2008

TM - January 2008 Editor's Letter Contents Learning Connections: Working With Those People Leading Edge: Hub Caps for a Buggy Human Performance: Hawthorne Effect Revisited Beyond Affirmative Action: The Changing Face of Recruitment Assessment Centers in Talent Management: Strategies, Use and Value Nontraditional Benefits- How to Hook the Best Talent Intersection of Web 2.0 and Talent Management Cross-Training for Workforce Agility Mapping Talent Among Younger Workers Dashboard: Using Personality Data to Identify and Develop High-Potential Leaders Application: Shaffer Title Uses Myers-Briggs to Develop Common Corporate Language, Jump-Start Growth Insight: Dreier, Stein & Kahan LLP: Using Strategy to Bring Back the Law Profession Advertisers' Index Editorial Resources Full Potential: Stop in the Name of Leadership

TM - January 2008

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