Building the foundation of your workforce one block at a time

In recent years, an imbalance has emerged between job openings and the unemployment rate. This disparity has intensified the hunt for individuals with specialized skills, sparking fierce competition among businesses during recruitment and impacting the overall return on investment (ROI) for recruiting functions.

Brad Fisher, a senior director with Baker Tilly’s Oracle Cloud practice, addressed these challenges in a presentation on workforce planning strategies. While his talk primarily targeted organizations seeking government contractors like aerospace and defense companies, the insights offered are applicable across various industries.

Taking a skills-based approach to building the future workforce is similar to assembling a sturdy structure that stands the test of time but has flexibility to change quickly with technology leaps. Here are a few important building blocks that will contribute to the overall stability and functionality of your workforce:

• Macro perspective of today’s workforce: Understanding current dynamics, such as the rising cost of hiring new workers, the increasing need for specialized roles, the impact of technological advancements on job roles and the effects of low unemployment on the availability of talent is paramount to successful planning. 
• Strategic alignment with HR strategies: The importance of aligning an organization’s business strategy with its HR strategies, including environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity and inclusion propels organizations toward success. Oracle Cloud tools like EPM Cloud that has a robust ESG module within its planning application and modeling capabilities like its Strategic Workforce Planning application are user friendly tools that can bring this alignment of business and HR strategies to life. The critical role of HR in shaping company culture lies in nurturing an environment where employees feel valued, supported and aligned with the organization’s mission. Having communication tools such as Oracle Cloud’s HCM Communicate are vital to make sure your employees feel empowered and heard.  
• Skill development: People (headcount and costs) are not the ultimate need with workforce planning, it’s the skills and competencies those people have today and ability to expand in the future. To set team members up for success, organizations can define, measure and develop skills by analyzing the specific skills and competencies required for each role not just for today, but more importantly for the roles of tomorrow.   
• Expansion/relocation considerations: There are many factors to consider when planning to relocate individuals or expand the business, such as determining optimal locations based on an ROI analysis of staffing potential at the lowest cost both internally and externally. 
• Succession planning: Employee-first approaches to succession planning, include identifying top performers and highest potential individuals within the organization and preparing them through mentoring and training to fill positions as older generations retire or build the leaders for the future. What is even more critical is to not have this information in spreadsheets but keep everything in one place where updates by employees and managers can be made in real time like it can be done in Oracle HCM Cloud.  
• Employee retention: The impact of employees’ skills, competencies and desires on retention is profound. Retention starts day 1 of onboarding as many “jumpers” decide within the first 2 weeks if they will leave the company within a year. This is where building appropriate “journeys” in Oracle Cloud is mission critical to begin your fight of attrition on day 1. When employees feel that their skills are valued, their competencies are recognized and their desires align with the organization’s goals, they are more likely to stay committed and engaged. Organizations that actively invest in skill development, provide growth opportunities and listen to employees’ aspirations create an environment conducive to long-term retention. 
• Workforce planning: The “build, buy, borrow” approach to workforce planning involves investing in training for internal promotion (“build”), traditional recruiting (“buy”) and utilizing current employees or contractors to fill workforce gaps (“borrow”).

Understanding workforce planning is pivotal for organizations aiming to thrive in today’s market. Building the future of your organization takes one step at a time!

How Baker Tilly can help

Digital transformation will propel your organization ahead of your competitors. Baker Tilly is a premier Oracle PartnerNetwork Member, with global capabilities across Oracle’s Cloud platforms. When a platform like Oracle Cloud is designed and implemented appropriately, it is a game-changer. Baker Tilly helps clients strengthen their software investment and improve their business practices by modernizing and optimizing their strategies, processes and technology. We have advised and lead over 450 Oracle Cloud transformations.