Key Takeaway from SSOW North America: How a Detailed Workforce Planning Strategy Can Mitigate the Great Resignation’s Impact

The great resignation is the latest challenge business leaders face due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

During SSON’s SSO Digital Week North America 2022, participants of the “Bridging the Talent in Shared Services” fireside chat with Nathan Tymann, Director of Strategic Workforce Planning & Early Talent at Red Hat, shared their concerns when asked about the current hiring market. Survey results from the event showed that 100% of respondents hope to improve turnover in their organization.

A recent report by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics legitimized these concerns. The report showed that 4.5 million workers quit their jobs in March 2022. That same report showed job openings climbed to 11.5 million in March, the most in history since the department began tracking the statistic in December 2000.

Which brings us to the question, with seemingly everyone in the business world struggling with high turnover rates, or seeing room for improvement, what are some strategies your business can implement to make itself more attractive to prospective job applicants?

Addressing hiring needs in a competitive market

Tymann shed some light on strategies business leaders use to attain and attract talent during SSO Digital Week North America.

Some of those strategies include:

- More aggressive and proactive benefits (ex: equity awards in publicly traded companies),

- Improved health and wellness benefits,

- Retention benefits,

-And providing autonomy where employees work from.

During Tymann’s segment, he detailed the importance workers put on what they can call their office.

“The vast majority of people want some flexibility. They want to be able to decide when they come into the office and they want to decide when they work from home,” Tymann’s said.

By offering a hybrid work model, many employers can make themselves more appealing to recruits which can help reduce turnover.

With more job openings and fewer applicants, recruiters are forced to broaden the scope of their search. As a result, many companies are changing how they assess applicants. No longer are four-year degrees and a wealth of applicable experience required. Employers are now willing to think outside the box about what work skills can translate to their needs and what educational backgrounds provide enough knowledge to qualify a candidate. By lowering standards, recruiters are opening themselves to a larger applicant pool and reducing job openings.

Although these benefits and shifting recruiting expectations are helpful for handling turnover, Tymann believes that establishing a workforce planning strategy can be one of the most valuable approaches for a company when trying to get ahead of the crowded hiring market.

What is a workforce planning strategy?

The goal of a workforce planning strategy is to create objectives for developing a diverse talent pipeline for your business. These planning strategies typically assess current employees, their fit in the company, and what missing skills should be obtained through outside hires.

While most areas of business planning typically focus on short-term goals, a strong workforce planning strategy should be projecting growth and future hiring needs at least 1-3 years out, which could help businesses be more resilient against labor market fluctuations like those seen today.

A formal workforce planning process can be organized and executed by a team of professionals who understand hiring demands and forecast future hiring needs based on attrition rates and growth. A strategic workforce planning team should also communicate with talent acquisition and finance to ensure budgets, and hiring expectations, are aligned.

Tymann adds that a strategic workforce planning process should regularly analyze market trends and help organize future hiring objectives for the business.

How quit rates have impacted leadership talent searches

The Department of Labor Statistics report showed the highest quit rates were affecting areas like retail and manufacturing; however, Tymann says many business leadership positions are also experiencing elevated turnover rates.

Based on Tymann’s analysis, many businesses have handled high turnover rates by promoting employees with little to no leadership experience.

While these new leaders bring new energy and proposals, their new ideas can also provide less certainty for long-term employees.

Leaders need to deliver a unified message surrounding the business’s foundational values, culture, and team norms. Business leaders are also responsible for determining what strategies increase productivity on a team-by-team basis and what working engagement models fit each team’s needs. This is where a strategic workforce planning process can be a tool for business leaders.

A company with a strong workforce planning strategy can determine what skills a leader needs to best fit into the team they would be leading. It can also support a new leader by pairing them with employees who best fit into the working engagement model the leader is trying to implement.

“Many employees might be feeling stress in regards to ongoing changes in personnel,” Tymann’s said. “Strategic workforce planning is a way to smooth out that change and make no particular change feel too drastic for employees.” 

A clear gap in Business Resiliency Strategy

Despite the benefits of a clear workforce planning strategy, many businesses are navigating the current hiring market without one. Seventeen-point-six percent of respondents of another survey offered during Tymann’s segment at SSO Digital Week said their company does not have a workforce planning strategy, and 29.4% of respondents were unsure if their business used one.

The 53% of respondents whose business already consults a workforce planning strategy are at an advantage when handling the great resignation. With an efficient process, businesses are more strategic and proactive when addressing hiring needs and have clear objectives for managing high turnover rates.

While many businesses are operating without a workforce planning strategy, Tymann’s says they are becoming more popular across the business world, and as the great resignation continues, he believes they will become even more essential to a companies ability to stay resilient while facing labor market fluctuations.