Strategic Workforce Management for Business Partnerships

Strategic Workforce Planning (SWP). Here's my cheat sheet to help align SWP and scenario planning. Many SWP efforts still operate as static, once-a-year exercises—often built around a single business scenario. But what if that scenario doesn't unfold? My cheat sheet has questions to help think through: 1️⃣ Business Context ↳ Define 2-3 plausible/realistic business scenarios ↳ Clarify scenario assumptions & supporting evidence ↳ Identify triggers to indicate a scenario will happen ↳ Determine the base (most likely) business scenario ↳ Evaluate the business impact of each scenario 2️⃣ Talent Implications ↳ Create a workforce plan for the base scenario ↳ Identify how plans will shift for alternate scenarios ↳ Identify talent commonalities across all scenarios ↳ Pinpoint talent actions that apply to all scenarios ↳ Prioritize talent actions that apply to all scenarios 3️⃣ Execution Factors ↳ Identify conditions for when you shift from base plan ↳ Identify risks and mitigation tactics for each scenario ↳ Tailor communication for different scenarios ↳ Engage key stakeholders and align them on actions There's more to SWP and SP than this. But this resource can help structure your thinking and conversations. Even directional insights in a few of these areas can help organizations respond more effectively to uncertainty. ❓Did anything here resonate with you? What would you add or change? ♻️ Repost to help others strengthen SP and SWP 🔔 Follow Brian Heger for daily insights 🗞️ Get my newsletter https://lnkd.in/dWThftwK for more #hr #workforceplanning

In a recent session of the Essentials of Stakeholder Engagement class I lead at the University of Colorado Boulder, Shannon Nicholas of Colorado Succeeds shared valuable insights on enhancing stakeholder engagement within education and workforce development. Here are key takeaways for businesses aiming to elevate their engagement strategies: 1. Mutual Benefit Partnerships: The link between exceptional schools and business success is undeniable. Engaging stakeholders from both realms in strategic partnerships can magnify educational outcomes and workforce readiness. Such collaboration not only aligns goals but also fosters robust support for educational advancements. 2. Business Involvement in Education: Addressing the talent demand highlights the need for businesses to actively participate in shaping educational frameworks. By working with educators and policymakers, businesses can ensure that educational programs align with workforce requirements. Steps like engaging in curriculum design, offering internships, and supporting apprenticeships are key to integrating real-world skills into education. 3. Strategic Investment for Systems Change: Tackling the skills gap goes beyond mere financial contributions; it calls for strategic and systemic efforts. Engaging stakeholders in strategic planning sessions, roundtable discussions, and collaborative forums can facilitate the sharing of insights, resources, and best practices for impactful educational initiatives. Effective stakeholder engagement demands open communication, trust, inclusivity, and a willingness to embrace diverse perspectives. By leveraging these strategic insights, we can forge a collaborative path forward that not only addresses the current challenges but also sets the foundation for a resilient and skilled future workforce. #StakeholderEngagement #WorkforceDevelopment #BusinessEducationPartnership #SystemicChange #FutureOfWork #TalentDevelopment #StrategicCollaboration #systemsthinking Parallel Labs

This first Monday in September - While we in the US annually honor and recognize the American labor movement and the works and contributions of laborers to the development and achievements of the United States, this Labor Day, I am thinking about the #workforceofthefuture , including my children. What fluencies they will need (like #data ), what challenges do we need to train them to solve (like #environmentalmanagement ), and what systems, policies, and regulations will they need to refresh to ensure #equity and #justiceforall ?   Grateful to Tracy Palandjian, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance for helping me and my colleagues at UPS get smart on #workforcedevelopment innovations. Hearing about the collaborations Social Finance has brokered with the private sector, governments, and civil society to build innovative partnerships and investments that measurably improve lives was inspiring. We learned about the power of intentional design and an "investor" mentality and how workforce development can unlock new talent pipelines, increase business efficiency, and create a more inclusive and equitable workforce system.   To learn more, here's some resources I have found helpful (please post others in the chat!): ♦ Visionary thinking from former Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Tracy: An Overhaul of How Workers are Trained and Educated: https://lnkd.in/etGkjJuD ♦ A 2-pager about Employer-led Talent Finance with examples from American Diesel Inc Training Centers (ADTC) and Google: https://lnkd.in/ePQpg5S9 ♦ Podcast about the Google Career Certificates Fund with Hector Mujica, Troy Blackwood, Jake Edwards): https://lnkd.in/ekRqyCzj ♦ Fantastic (and very digestible) reference about "Thinking Like a Talent Investor" by Justin Bakule, Taylor DeStefano, Genoveva Díaz Álvarez de Toledo, and Kyle Doran. Don’t miss the practical infographics:  -Employer Engagement in Talent Development (page 7)  -How Talent Finance Works (page 8)  -Funding Options (page 11) ♦ Lessons learned from the New Jersey Pay if Forward Program in this piece by Lata Reddy and Tracy. Eight companies (BD, Campbell's, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Prudential Financial, PSEG, RWJBarnabas Health, and Verizon) came together to shape a program to advance #nursing, #HVAC, #welding, and #cybersecurity job opportunities. And for those who want to go deeper: Book with case studies about innovative financing for workforce development: Workforce Realigned, a collaboration Social Finance led with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. https://lnkd.in/eP4muc3r And if you prefer podcasts: https://lnkd.in/eNQ5sVZ7 #laborday #futureofwork #workforcedevelopment