Workforce Planning

Defining Strategic Priorities

A workforce plan built without a clear strategy behind it doesn't hold up. In collaboration with Total Rewards, business partners, and leaders, I assess the organization's current state using two complementary frameworks: the STARS model, to understand what stage a function or initiative is actually in, and TOWS analysis, to translate that context into real strategic priorities.

STARS

Every function or initiative sits at a different point in its life cycle, and that stage changes what actually needs to happen next. I use Michael Watkins' STARS model to diagnose which of six stages a team or initiative is really in before deciding on a strategy, since the right move for a struggling turnaround looks nothing like the right move for a team in accelerated growth.

Some are just getting off the ground, building their foundation from nothing (Startup). Others are scaling fast and need to hold onto agility while the pace picks up (Accelerated Growth).

Some have already found their footing and just need steady hands to keep the momentum going, especially if they're following someone who did the job well before them (Sustaining Success). Others are starting to drift off course and need a correction before small issues become a real crisis (Realignment).

Some are already in serious trouble and need real work to rebuild trust and performance (Turnaround). And some have simply run their course and need a clean, deliberate wind-down rather than being kept alive past their usefulness (Shutdown).

TOWS

A strategy built only from internal opinions misses half the picture. I use TOWS analysis, a deliberate flip of the traditional SWOT, to map external threats and opportunities against internal weaknesses and strengths first, so the priorities that come out of it are grounded in the real environment, not just internal assumptions.

Row 1: External Environment

External Environment: the market trends, economic conditions, customer needs, and competitors that shape business strategy from outside the organization.

Threats: external factors that could hurt performance, competitiveness, or the organization's ability to hit its goals.

Opportunities: external conditions or emerging trends the organization can use to drive growth, innovation, or competitive advantage.

Row 2: Organizational Capabilitiesw

Organizational Capabilities: the internal strengths, resources, processes, and competencies that make business success possible.

Weaknesses: internal limitations, capability gaps, or process inefficiencies that hold back performance or create risk.

Strengths: internal advantages, expertise, or capabilities that set the organization apart and support its strategic goals.

Row 3: Strategy Development

Strategy Development: where internal and external insight come together to define priorities, address risks, and act on opportunities.

Critical Threats: the risks serious enough to need immediate attention, given their potential impact on business continuity or strategic goals.

Targets of Opportunities: the highest-value opportunities worth the organization's investment, resources, and focus for maximum impact.

Workforce Assessment

You can't plan for where you're going without an honest look at where you are. I partner with leaders to evaluate team structures, identify alignment gaps, and confirm the right people are in the right roles. At the center of this is a comprehensive talent review, capturing:

Competencies: what skills and capabilities actually exist across the team today.
Performance: how people are delivering against expectations right now.
Aspirations: where individuals want to grow, not just where the business needs them to.
Skill gaps: the specific capabilities missing relative to where the function is headed.
Retention risk: who's most likely to leave, and what that would actually cost the organization.

Together, these build a single, comprehensive talent inventory, the foundation every later step in workforce planning builds on.

Talent Strategy

Closing a workforce gap costs less when you pick the right lever. I design strategies that strengthen future capabilities, retain key talent, and balance supply with three-year demand, choosing from five levers depending on the situation: buy, build, borrow, redeploy, or automate. Every initiative gets measured to confirm outcomes outweigh costs.

Buy: acquire talent from outside the organization to quickly fill skill or role gaps.
Build: reskill and upskill employees to grow needed capabilities within the workforce.
Borrow: use contractors, freelancers, or temporary staff to meet short-term or specialized needs.
Redeploy: shift employees into roles where their skills can be applied more effectively.
Automate: apply technology to handle routine tasks, increasing efficiency and reducing manual work.

Strategic Workforce Planning Toolkit

Good planning needs structure, not a rigid formula. My workforce planning toolkit is plug and play, leaders can draw on the pieces that fit their situation, whether that's defining strategic priorities, assessing current talent, developing talent strategies, implementing an action plan, or monitoring and adjusting over time, without needing to work through every step in order. Each piece brings real visibility into organizational structure, capability, and readiness, using the same frameworks covered above.

Define Strategic Priorities: align workforce needs with organizational strategy, using the STARS and TOWS frameworks covered above.
Assess Current Talent: understand your current workforce health and risks, drawing on the 9-box, skills analysis, role analysis, succession plans, spans and layers, talent inventory, and risk analysis.
Develop Talent Strategies: design solutions to close gaps and build future capability, using the buy, build, borrow, redeploy, and automate levers, along with a targeted retention strategy.
Implement Action Plan: turn strategy into action through a 3-6-12 month plan, with metrics gathering built in from the start.
Monitor and Adjust: measure outcomes and adapt, tracking performance, engagement, retention, attainment, and attrition over time.

Case Study

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