Workforce Planning & Alignment

In their struggle to meet the difficult demands of the global economy, corporate executives have become increasingly aware of the value and potential of the vital “human capital” on which their business depends. They have learned that their ability to stay ahead of the competition and meet corporate goals depends on their ability to make smart HCM decisions and execute sharp HCM strategies effectively to ensure that they have the right workforce portfolio.

SAP HR has the workforce planning and alignment capabilities that smart HCM decisions and strategy execution require. A total solution, it provides data analysis and reporting tools, as well as strategic enterprise management capabilities such the balanced scorecard analytical framework and business planning and simulation – everything needed to formulate the corporate strategy, analyze the workforce requirements and optimize the workforce accordingly, implement and monitor corporate strategy, and continuously evaluate how various scenarios will affect business goals.

This scenario shows a generic variation of a workforce planning and alignment process. The process begins with the business strategists identifying the corporate goals in a balanced scorecard. These goals are communicated to the corporate HR executives, who collaborate with the business strategists to define the human capital portfolio required to fulfill the corporate goals. Measurements to monitor the human capital readiness of the enterprise are defined by the the business strategists together with corporate HR executives and the controlling department. The next step is to gather the information available to make a clear picture of the current workforce capabilities. The data is analyzed to identify trends in the enterprise’s workforce, which in turn enables a forecast of future workforce capabilities. The future workforce capabilities are then compared to the human capital requirements needed to achieve corporate goals identified earlier in the process, and gaps are identified. Talent action plans to close these gaps are formulated and, together with defined measurements to monitor the results of the action plans, they are communicated to the subsidiaries for execution. The corporate HR executives monitor the execution of the talent action plans in the subsidiaries. In parallel, the business strategists monitor the human capital readiness of the enterprise. In the dynamic business environment, corporate goals have to be adjusted. In turn, it is necessary to review the human capital requirements needed to fulfill corporate strategy and goals and adjust them as necessary.

The benefits of Workforce Planning and Alignment are:

1. Enterprise can better exploit business opportunities by having a better understanding of the workforce capabilities and what is needed
2. Enterprise is enabled to develop and launch new products within windows of opportunity
3. Meet production goals
4. Meet sales goals
5. Improve market perception of the enterprise's long term viability
6. Improve employer branding
7. Align HR activities to corporate goals
8. Improve employee motivation and retention