#68 Strategic Workforce Planning: Building Tomorrow’s Team Today

Speaker A: All right, team, welcome to another episode of the Exceptional Leadership Podcast. As always, I'm your host, Matt Hamilton. Delighted to have your company with me from wherever you might be listening to the show from around the world. Always good to have you on board. Before we get started, crew, I will just encourage you to hit the follow or the subscribe button if you'd be so kind. I know a lot of you listen to the show but haven't yet subscribed or followed. And it does, I can assure you, make a massive difference, uh, to the algorithm and basically really helps the show, uh, get sent out far and wide to other people who might benefit. So if you wouldn't mind, take five seconds and hit the follow or subscribe button for me. Now, without further ado, let's get into today's topic and it's going to be strategic human resources management. That is a mouthful. I don't know if you have any idea what it is. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. If you do decide to study an mba, though, it is one of the subjects that you will be sure to study. Now, it is really important we all do it or should do it in leadership positions. But I'll give you a little bit of a synopsis as to exactly what it means. The strategic nature of our, uh, human resources management, uh, in organizations covers things like human resources planning. Right. Very, very important for us as leaders to be across this. If you lead people, you lead teams. Doesn't matter if it's a small team or a big team. You need to be thinking about whether or not you have the resources under you to get the job done, to meet the demand that you are faced with. Right. The strategic element of this conversation really comes into focus when we talk about future planning. Okay. So we might have enough people and enough expertise in our team to do the job and meet the demand right now in today's current conditions. But are we, as leaders, keeping an eye to the future? Will we have the resources required to meet the demand and, uh, that we'll face in 12 to 18 months from now? And it is important as leaders that we do have an eye to the future. So there's a couple of little things I want to touch on today. We won't go into it, uh, at an MBA level. We'll just keep it fairly high level. But I want to talk about some human resources planning and what that might look like in a case study example. We'll use Google today, uh, labor market scanning. So this is where we start to talk about things like Are we looking internationally for recruitment or can we get what we need from a labor perspective domestically? Very important to keep that in mind uh, for those higher level positions like CEO positions, CFO positions, uh, you know, doctors, sort of really highly skilled positions like that. Quite often you do have to go internationally looking for those people such as the skill set. So we need to keep that in mind. Really does depend on what role you're trying to fill and then we will uh, have a look at some labor supply analysis. Now don't get scared, I know it sounds a little bit heavy but we'll keep it um, digestible. What I want to do though is kick off the episode by having a look at a case study example. So I said we'd use Google. I uh, want to explore how Google aligned uh, their recruiting strategy with their business strategy. And once we get through this, I think you'll have a bit more of an idea as to what we need to work towards together as a leadership group to ensure that we're managing our human resources in a strategic fashion. So let's get into it. How did Google align recruiting with business strategy? Well basically strategic human resources management means recruiting and managing people in ways that directly support an organization's long term goals. So it's not rocket science, right? We need to keep an eye on the future and make sure we can meet future demand by getting ahead of the problem before it becomes one. Because recruiting people takes time, right? And you know, you can quite easily spend a couple of months trying to recruit for a specialized position, vetting candidates, assembling an interview panel, coming up with the right questions to ask, having two or three candidates that you can't split so you want to talk to them all a second time can blow out really quite quickly. And then you've got your approval process on the end of that, um, whereby you have to get those above you to sign off on the decision that you eventually make when it comes to hiring. Quite often that's how it works. If you're in government, particularly private sector, not so bad. Alright. Now the thing about Google was uh, that they recognized early on that innovation would be its primary source of competitive advantage. So it designed its recruiting process to attract people who would create new products, solve for complex problems and thrive in a highly collaborative environment. They really had quite a good profile as to the sort of person that they wanted to recruit that would drive their business to new heights specifically and this is the mindset that I want you in, depending on the organization that you're a part of. So Some key recruiting practices for us all to keep in mind. First, one that I want to touch on is hiring for cognitive ability and problem solving in the context of Google as an organization. So rather than focusing only on credentials, it was interesting to note that Google emphasized analytical thinking, learning ability and problem solving skills and this supported their strategy of continuous innovation. The second thing that we can observe about the Google strategy is that it was data driven recruiting. So they became known for applying analytics to their hiring decisions. The company studied which employee characteristics correlated with success and used data to refine recruiting and selection methods. Now I've been a part of similar recruitment campaigns where we had personality, uh, tests or assessments to understand what the person might stress out about, um, what scenarios they might thrive in overall, what sort of a fit they might be for that role specifically and the broader organizational culture as a whole. So we have um, indeed implemented some data driven recruiting as well. I do think it absolutely has a place but again tailor it specifically to the organization that you work for and the industry that you're in. Thirdly, um, Google focused on strong employer brand. So Google invested really heavily in creating a reputation as an exceptional place to work, competitive compensation, challenging work, career development opportunities. And of course those workplace benefits, uh, were in place to attract top talent from around the world. And they've done that very successfully and that's one of the ways that they did it. They also paid close attention to structured selection processes and this is something that we can all, all go away and implement literally Monday morning when it comes to recruitment. Big, big fan of structured selection processes in Google. It looked a little bit like this. So the company developed rigorous interview and assessment processes to improve hiring quality and reduce bias. Multiple interviewers evaluated candidates against consistent criteria tied to job success. So a couple of take home, um, messages there. The first multiple interviewers. I like to have at least three people on the panel when I'm interviewing. The reason for that is that oftentimes multiple perspectives will fill in your blind spots and help counteract any uh, subconscious bias that you might have. It is really beneficial to have multiple perspectives. The other thing that stood out to me there is consistent criteria. Now I mentioned at the top of the episode that we need to have good questions. I always like to throw in conflict management questions because I'm a big fan of assessing a person's personality for cultural fit. In my experience you can, you can get a person um, up to speed from a skill set perspective, but you cannot fix a poor personality. So if you give me the choice between choosing someone who has a fantastic personality, good attitude and undoubtedly will be a good cultural fit with great skills, but still maybe a little bit to go, maybe a few gaps to fill in versus someone who is absolutely perfect skill set wise, but not a great personality. I'm choosing the former every single time culture has to be nurtured. And that brings us beautifully to point five here that Google focused on for their recruitment strategy and that was cultural fit and culture ad. So Google sought employees who would collaborate effectively while also bringing new perspectives and this helped to maintain an innovative culture as the company grew. Huge focus on innovation obviously unsurprisingly at a place like Google. So a couple of um, strategic, strategic impacts to note here as a result of that framework that they're working to, those recruiting practices helped Google attract highly skilled employees in a very, very competitive labor market. When you consider the environment that Google operates in, right, that Silicon Valley, um, environment where literally every single big name company that competes with them is offering fantastic benefits, great compensation, uh, and a really competitive, compelling mission. Those recruiting practices helped them attract those employees that they needed to get the job done despite the competition. Secondly, it helped them to build a workforce that was capable of innovation and rapid growth. Critical obviously to Google's business model. It helped them maintain a strong organizational culture which is an absolutely non negotiable part I think of any really successful business. Uh, and it helped them develop products that strengthened its market position and then finally they were able to create a difficult to copy competitive advantage that was based on human capital. Now this sometimes gets lost in the conversation, but I think people are your biggest asset when it comes to business. Um, if all your people leave, you are left with absolutely nothing. So we need to keep in mind that the human capital aspect of what we do from a business perspective is really the foundation of all the success that we want to have. So we have to manage really well accordingly. Now recruiting is not just about filling vacancies, okay. It's about intentionally designing your recruitment process to support your organization's broader business strategy. Uh, in Google's case it was innovation and growth. That sounds like a couple of really good measures for most of us. But you might have something specific in mind that you're looking to achieve through your recruitment process. Now the alignment between recruiting practices and organizational goals, uh, is what makes it an example in this case Google, uh, of strategic human resources management. A couple of really, really good principles followed by Google, uh, to help them get where they needed to go. Now I'll give you a practical example of something that I do every year to help me keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to our, um, labor, uh, market analysis and strategic human resources management. There is something called the Hays salary guide. Uh, you will have something similar in your part of the world, but for us it's the um, survey that covers a lot of different organizations and employees across Australia and New Zealand. And it basically takes the temperature of the workforce and it provides really good data along the lines of how many people are currently looking for work, new work, how many people believe they're underpaid, how many people think that they're paid enough, how many people think they're paid too much, uh, average salaries across every single, uh, occupation and every single level within that occupation that you can think of. Um, and then also broader market trends. Right, so what are uh, employees looking for from an employer? Is it just salary or is it things like really good flexible conditions such as paternity leave, um, is it working from home benefits? Or have those things just become standard expectations now that don't even really mean they qualify as a perk? So it really helps managers like us get a great overview as to what people expect from employers, uh, across a really broad survey size. Right across two countries in this case. So that's an example of some really, uh, simple measures that I take and that you can take to ensure I keep my finger on the pulse when it comes to what the labor market is doing in my particular industry. So there's a few things there for you to get your teeth into when it comes to looking at your next recruitment campaign. But I suppose the take home message here that I'm wanting to convey is make sure it's strategic in nature. I'm a big fan of building in a little bit of slack so that you can, uh, accommodate future demand if you think that, you know, the organization you're a part of or the team you lead, uh, might be stretched, you know, two years from now, maybe it's a good idea to start thinking about when you want to design a new job, right, for someone to fill, to meet that demand way ahead, way ahead, before it becomes a problem so the person can get up to speed, get familiar with how the company operates, feel like they're a part of the team and, and then really hit the ground running by the time that demand comes through the door and you really do need the rubber to hit the road. It takes people a while to feel comfortable. Now I'm going to close on this because this is really, really important, really important part of this whole Puzzle. You know, unless you are the top dog, unless you are, uh, the big boss, uh, most of us as leaders and managers will need to ask permission to recruit, right? That is, is there enough funds available in the organization to fund this new position? Is it going to be a contract position? Is it going to be a permanent full time position? Is it going to be a permanent part time position? Your job is to make sure you give your manager, your approving manager, all of the information they need in front of them in the form of a briefing note to make their decision as easy as possible. When it comes to giving you the green light to go ahead and recruit, don't make the mistake of saying, look, we need a new analyst, right? By way of example, and not giving your manager any evidence or any data driven statistics and figures or insight as to why you're, uh, asking, you know, for $150,000 a year to be freed up so that you can go and recruit that person, make their job easy in the same way that if you were in that seat, you would want your employee to make your life easy. Think about how it reflects on you. If someone comes to you and says, hey boss, look, I think we really need to consider hiring a new analyst. It's going to cost us about $150,000 a year. Big investment, but here's why. And they produce a beautiful little four, five page briefing note that outlines the increasing pipeline of work that's expected to come through the door over the next three to five years. Um, the return on investment that can be expected from that work versus the expenditure that you're going to have to outlay for this new employee. And then overall, why you should consider pulling the trigger on that decision, right? All the facts and figures at your fingertips, your perception of that person is going to be dramatically enhanced, isn't it? You're going to go, wow, they are really in tune with what I need to do my job well. They know the business like the back of their hand. They're planning for the future, they're being very strategic. And you know what? I'm comfortable that they've done the work and the analysis required to make sure this is a meaningful investment from this organization's perspective. I want you to take that same mentality and I want you to apply it when you go to your boss asking for a new team member. Right? Remember, oftentimes your boss has a boss too, and they have to be able to justify their decision. So be mindful of how you ask for things when it comes to our Strategic human resources management and recruiting processes. Um, it is important to remember that it is no different to an investment of any other kind. We need to justify the allocation of funds and demonstrate a good return on investment and failure to prioritize that can lead to pain down the road that you as a manager will have to shoulder. It might be in the form of redundancies because you haven't recruited wisely and made sure that you've assessed the demand work wise that's going to come through the door in the future against what that employee is going to cost you. Okay? For businesses to stay healthy, we need to make sure that we are bringing in enough money to pay all these wages and make a decent profit on the other end. And if you get that calculation wrong, so you as a manager, right, Those of us in middle management, we usually end up having to implement the decisions that are made around redundancy and cost cutting measures and things like that. Not a nice situation to find yourself in. So do your due diligence and make sure that this is a worthwhile long term investment and give your superiors some real confidence, right, that you've analyzed and that you're going to make sure this is a good decision if they give you the green light. Guys, that was a lot. There's a lot of information. Um, I hope that came across okay and was clear. Um, and you as a result have got some value from that and you can take that into your next recruitment process with a bit of an idea as to how you can get the best possible result for your team, your boss, and the business as a whole. Guys, uh, check out exceptionalleadershippodcast.com I've got a beautiful little series of blogs up there which cover every topic you can think of, uh, from a leadership perspective. So have a read through that if you want to brush up on some leadership topics. Uh, and also while you're there, do the show a favor and do yourself a favor and subscribe to the Brief. It's a newsletter that comes out once a fortnight, usually a Monday morning, my time. And it just details the thoughts that I'm having with respect to leadership. Um, at that time, separate content to the podcast. Good little reminder, good little sort of mental, uh, reset to prepare you for the week ahead every fortnight. 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