Nowadays, almost all of our client engagements revolve around a common theme: strategic workforce planning. Whether it’s employer branding, culture, communication, sustainability, or leadership, the skills of tomorrow are always a critical factor for long-term success and business performance.

Ownership

We’ve made a couple of observations. Or perhaps the first is more of a challenge. In many organizations, strategic workforce planning is still seen as an isolated HR issue—something the “HR department should handle.” Given that strategic workforce planning permeates almost every aspect of the business, this is a rather poor starting point. Thankfully, our second observation is more promising: more and more organizations are realizing that long-term competitiveness is not just built on the right products, technology, or business models. It’s built on how well we mobilize, engage, and develop our employees’ capabilities—for their wellbeing, but most importantly, for the company’s performance and future competitiveness.

In today’s rapidly shifting technological landscape, changing demographics, uncertain global conditions, and employees seeking more than just a paycheck, one thing is clear: workforce planning is no longer an HR silo. It’s a business-critical, strategic issue for the entire organization. To meet this challenge, we need a new approach to workforce planning that connects directly to performance management and overall talent management.

What is Strategic Workforce Planning – Really?

Let’s be honest: the term “strategic workforce planning” doesn’t exactly make anyone’s heart race. It sounds dry, bureaucratic, and mechanical—as if it’s just about placing the right skills in the right positions, without engaging people or unlocking their potential. And as if we already knew exactly what skills we need. That might have been the case in the past when HR could skillfully manage workforce planning and succession planning. But today, we need skills that universities haven’t even identified yet, and that companies are still struggling to define.

What if we started talking instead about “competence-driven growth” or “future capacity”? These might not be perfect terms either, but they signal something different—that we’re talking about development, innovation, and competitiveness, not just administration.

Workforce Planning – A Shared Responsibility

Workforce planning is no longer something that can be delegated to one part of the organization. It needs to be integrated into every strategic decision—from business development to budgeting processes and growth strategies. Leadership must collectively identify and clarify which competencies are crucial for the company’s competitiveness and anchor these in the business plan and the entire organization.

And let’s not forget the power of collective learning and sharing! Talent management isn’t just about developing one’s own skills—it’s about fostering a culture where everyone takes responsibility for their own growth as well as their colleagues’. This collective learning is one of the most powerful drivers of engagement. And as we know, engagement fuels both innovation and performance.

Forward, Upward!

It’s time to rethink how we talk about and work with strategic workforce planning. It’s no longer just about identifying the right competencies. It’s about linking them directly to the strategy, unlocking potential, and ensuring that both individuals and organizations grow together. Future competitiveness isn’t just about having the right people in the right place—it’s about securing the entire business’s future by creating a culture where talent thrives, and the whole company takes ownership of its growth.