Build a Strategic IT Workforce Plan
Staff your IT organization for success; availability is not a skill set.
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Contributors
- Anne Roberts, President, Leadership Within Inc.
- Cindy Grant, Vice President, HR, Trisura Guarantee Insurance Company
- Laurie Johnson, GC3 Getting Connected Coaching & Consulting
- Martha McIver, Vice President Canada HR, CBRE Limited
- Noelle Sargent, EVP, HR, International Financial Data Services
- Talent has become a competitive differentiator. To 46% of business leaders, workforce planning is a top priority – yet only 13% do it effectively.
- CIOs aren’t sure what they need to give the organization a competitive edge or how current staffing line-ups fall short.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- A well defined strategic workforce plan (SWP) isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have.
- Integrate as much data as possible into your workforce plan to best prepare you for the future. Without knowledge of your future initiatives, you are filling hypothetical holes.
- To be successful, you need to understand your strategic initiatives, workforce landscape, and external and internal trends.
Impact and Result
The workforce planning process does not need to be onerous, especially with help from Info-Tech’s solid planning tools. With the right people involved and enough time invested, developing an SWP will be easier than first thought and time well spent. Leverage Info-Tech’s client-tested 5-step process to build a strategic workforce plan:
- Build a project charter
- Assess workforce competency needs
- Identify impact of internal and external trends
- Identify the impact of strategic initiatives on roles
- Build and monitor the workforce plan
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should build a strategic workforce plan for IT, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.
1. Initiate the project
Assess the value of a strategic workforce plan and the IT department’s fit for developing one, and then structure the workforce planning project.
2. Analyze workforce needs
Gather and analyze workforce needs based on an understanding of the relevant internal and external trends, and then produce a prioritized plan of action.
3. Build the workforce plan
Evaluate workforce priorities, plan specific projects to address them, and formalize and integrate strategic workforce planning into regular planning processes.
Guided Implementations
This guided implementation is a seven call advisory process.
Guided Implementation #1 - Initiate the project
Call #1 - Scoping call to establish the relevance of this project for your organization
Call #2 - Discuss your current state assessment and project plan
Guided Implementation #2 - Analyze workforce needs
Call #1 - Discuss your organization’s culture and identify role and staff competencies
Call #2 - Determine impact of internal and external trends
Call #3 - Determine the workforce implications and discuss gaps
Guided Implementation #3 - Build and monitor the workforce plan
Call #1 - Identify projects to address gaps in the workforce plan
Call #2 - Review metrics and determine a schedule for the review of key initiatives
Info-Tech Academy
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Human Resources Management
Have the right people, in the right place, at the right time.
This course makes up part of the People & Resources Certificate.
Course information:
- Title: Human Resources Management
- Number of Course Modules: 4
- Estimated Time to Complete: 2-2.5 hours
- Featured Analysts:
- Carlene McCubbin, Sr. Research Manager, CIO Practice
- James Alexander, SVP of Research and Advisory, CIO Practice
- Now Playing: Academy: Human Resources Management | Executive Brief
Book Your Workshop
Onsite workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost onsite delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
Module 1: Identify Project Goals, Metrics, and Current State
The Purpose
- Develop a shared understanding of the challenges your organization is facing with regards to talent and workforce planning.
Key Benefits Achieved
- An informed understanding of whether or not you need to develop a strategic workforce plan for IT.
Activities
Outputs
Identify goals, metrics, and opportunities
- Identified goals, metrics, and opportunities
Segment current roles
Identify organizational culture
- Documented organizational culture
Assign job competencies
- Aligned competencies to roles
Assess current talent
- Identified current talent competency levels
Module 2: Assess Workforce and Analyze Trends
The Purpose
- Perform an in-depth analysis of how internal and external trends are impacting the workforce.
Key Benefits Achieved
- An enhanced understanding of the current talent occupying the workforce.
Activities
Outputs
Assess environmental trends
- Complete internal trends analysis
- Complete external trends analysis
Identify impact on workforce requirements
Identify how trends are impacting critical roles
- Identified internal and external trends on specific IT roles
Explore viable options
Module 3: Perform Gap Analysis
The Purpose
- Identify the changing competencies and workforce needs of the future IT organization, including shortages and surpluses.
Key Benefits Achieved
- Determined impact of strategic initiatives on workforce needs.
- Identification of roles required in the future organization, including surpluses and shortages.
- Identified projects to fill workforce gaps.
Activities
Outputs
Identify strategic initiatives
Identify impact of strategic initiatives on roles
Determine workforce estimates
- Identified workforce estimates for the future
Determine projects to address gaps
- List of potential projects to address workforce gaps
Module 4: Prioritize and Plan
The Purpose
- Prepare an action plan to address the critical gaps identified.
Key Benefits Achieved
- A prioritized plan of action that will fill gaps and secure better workforce outcomes for the organization.
Activities
Outputs
Determine and prioritize action items
- Prioritized list of projects
Determine a schedule for review of initiatives
- Completed workforce plan
Integrate workforce planning into regular planning processes
- Identified opportunities for integration
After each Info-Tech experience, we ask our members to quantify the real time savings, monetary impact, and project improvements our research helped them achieve. See our top member experiences for this Blueprint, and what our clients have to say.
Client
Experience
Impact
$ Saved
Days Saved
Cianbro Corporation
Guided Implementation
10/10
$31,405
5
Canada Border Services Agency
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
20
Granite State Management & Resources
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
2
AARP Inc
Guided Implementation
10/10
N/A
1
The Master's University
Guided Implementation
10/10
$10,000
5
District Of Thunder Bay Social Services Administration Board,The
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
The City of Red Deer
Guided Implementation
9/10
$7,000
7
Vinci PLC
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
Agriculture Financial Services Corporation
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
Proquest
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
5
Liquor Control Board of Ontario
Guided Implementation
10/10
$10,000
10
Bemis Associates Inc
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
2
City of Virginia Beach
Guided Implementation
8/10
N/A
20
MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority
Guided Implementation
9/10
N/A
N/A
FAA AAC ACCTG OFC
Workshop
8/10
$127K
30
FAA AAC ACCTG OFC
Guided Implementation
8/10
$19,100
15
ArcBest Technologies
Guided Implementation
6/10
N/A
5
Lifecare International
Guided Implementation
6/10
$6,366
15
