The Incredible Shrinking Workforce

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The Incredible Shrinking Workforce ?

• Ian Maher
• Raytheon / BATEC
• February 28th 2005

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Addressing Tomorrow's Issues Today

• Proactive and strategic workforce planning is key
  to attracting and retaining the best and the
  brightest in a labor-shortage environment.
• Building a highly competent but loyal workforce
  through effective workforce management programs
  is critical to sustaining superior performance.
• Protecting your "organizational memory" is a
  prerequisite to maintaining a competitive
  advantage and thriving in the next wave of talent
  shortage.
• The payoff will be long-term for organizations
  that devote effort toward educating and assisting
  employees (from "juniors" to "seniors") in
  leveraging career opportunities resulting from
  the possible labor shortage.

3
Client Issues

• 1. How do you develop strategies to proactively
  address a possible shrinking workforce?
• 2. How will companies address the lack of
  employee loyalty when trying to retain the best
  and brightest?
• 3. How will employees leverage opportunities
  resulting from the possible labor shortage?

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Increasing Your Workforce IQ
True or false? How would you answer the following?

• 1. IT is a solvent that causes jobs to dissolve.
• 2. The main source of job loss in the United
  States has been the lower cost of labor in other
  countries.
• 3. There are more than eight million Americans
  looking for jobs, so there's no reason to worry
  about a labor shortage ... yet.
• 4. In the next few decades, more employers will
  want their employees to work past age 65 on a
  full-time or part-time basis.
• 5. The modern corporation couldn't exist without
  the majority of its work being done by permanent,
  regular employees.

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Workforce Planning An Overview
What is workforce planning?
Meeting employer and employee needs, if done
correctly.

• Ties current and future human capital needs to
  business/IT objectives.
• Develops workforce sourcing strategies to meet
  organizational needs in the midst of certainty
  and uncertainty.
• Provides a cost-effective means of managing
  resources.
• Encourages individual employees to make informed,
  responsible, professional development decisions.
• A wave of IT talent shortage is a looming.
• To be better prepared for future upturns and
  downturns.
• To avoid the pitfalls of understaffing and/or
  overstaffing.

Why is workforce planning a burning issue once
again?
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Effective Workforce Planning Process

• 1. Set Strategic Direction
• Organization's strategic vision, mission
  objectives
• Human capital strategy

• 2. Perform Workforce Analysis
• Supply analysis
• Demand analysis
• Gap analysis

• 4. Monitor, Evaluate Revise
• Assess the effectiveness
• Make adjustments
• Address internal/external changes new
  organization needs

Workforce Planning

• 3. Develop Implement Workforce Plan
• Develop strategy plan to close the gap
• Communicate implement the strategy plan

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Workforce Strategy and Timing Questions to Answer
Strategy
Planning
ResourceAssembly
Execution
Deployment
3 years
1-to-3 years
1 year
1-to-6 months
1 month

• Where will our company be?
• Whatbusinesseswill we be in?
• What kind of people will we need?
• With whom will we partner?
• What kind of investments must we make?

• What will bethe IT organization's role?
• What skills, knowledge, proficiency and
  competencies will we need?
• What should we focus on?
• What delivery models should we use?

• Where are our gaps?
• Which skills should we build? Buy?
• Do we have professional development plans?
• How many people should we prepare?
• With whom will we work?

• For whatwork do we have the right skills?
• Which gaps can we fill?
• Which gaps can't we fill?
• Who and what gets priority?

• Who should we assign to what role?

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Lost Employee Loyalty ?
What has to employee loyalty?

• Employers moved away from lifetime, long-term
  employment relationships.
• The "war for talent" shifts the focus to
  short-term financial gains.
• Flattened organizations implied fewer
  opportunities for growth.
• Hiring talent from outside implied the
  devaluation of in-house talent.
• Downsizing, restructuring and outsourcing
  disengaged employees' minds and hearts.

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Rebuilding Employee Loyalty

• Start building loyalty prior to the first day of
  employment.
• Campaign through your longtime employees and
  focus on your "star" performers.
• Target loyalty issues by employee life cycle
  phase and demographic characteristics.

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Rebuilding Employee Loyalty
Hiring from outside vs. developing from inside

• Evaluate the success profiles of your in-house
  talent vs.external talent
• Refocus on developing in-house talent and
  competencies.

Understand and positively influence
workplacesocial dynamics.
LOYALTY
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Risk of Organizational Memory' Loss
Like a human being, an organization
accruesmemory as it grows and matures.

• Memory comprises a company's experiences and
  organization-specific knowledge.
• It's difficult to characterize and document, but
  it holds a company together and enables it to
  operate efficiently and effectively.
• Misapplying prior successes or repeating past
  mistakes.
• Losing competitive advantage.
• Losing employee productivity.

As soon as the organizational memory is gone,an
organization runs the risk of
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Keeping Your Organizational Memory' Intact
Things you can do to prevent organizational
memory loss

• Perform workforce composition diagnostics.
• Implement knowledge management and transfer
  programs.
• Foster partnerships between your senior
  experienced staff, your junior up-and-comers
  and your input network.

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What Lays Ahead for Employees?
Opportunities, opportunities and more
opportunities

• More-fluid workforce and diverse work experience
• Better fit of jobs to individual profiles
• More opportunities for personal and professional
  growth
• A balanced, win-win employment relationship
• College graduates (all ages)
• Midcareer, seasoned professionals
• Retiring workers and retirees

How to leverage opportunities resulting from
changing workforce trends
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Locally?
A success story

• Insurance Company External Service Provider
• The Blended Model
• Define IT Competencies Model
• Apply to Recruitment Criteria
• Internships from local Colleges
• Agreement (contractual) with External Service
  Provider to recruit entry level IT staff.

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What Lays Ahead for Employers?
Challenges and/or opportunities

• Evolution of employment relationship
• More new or replacement of knowledge-based jobs
• A globally sourced and diverse workforce

Employee-Centric Relationship
Employer-Centric Relationship
Equal Balanced Relationship
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Recommendations

• Develop a strategic workforce plan and
  proactively address the issue of organizational
  "brain drain."
• Continuously invest in organizational initiatives
  that build and enhance employee loyalty and
  retain the best and brightest.
• Get everyone (from "juniors" to "seniors") to
  take charge of their careers and contribute to
  the company's long-term success.
• Focus on sourcing, developing and retaining
  skills and competencies needed for future
  success.
• Tap into a diverse workforce to fulfill
  short-term and long-term human capital needs.

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The Incredible Shrinking Workforce ?

• Ian Maher