Unlocking forward-looking insight to visualize the future organization

This article is one in a series sharing best practice insights for continuous organization effectiveness.  Other articles can be accessed through links provided at the end.

Leading practitioners recognize the limitations of point-in-time analysis: when key measures reveal inefficiencies it can be too late to act without causing disruption.  Prevention is always better than cure; forward-looking insights equip decision makers with the ability to manage organization effectiveness adaptively. 

Insights are based on the full scope of the workforce

A key transition point we see is the progression beyond people data to establish positions as the basis for insight.  This development comes in response to three limitations experienced with people data alone:

• The full scope of the workforce is not revealed because unfilled positions are not accounted for.  Furthermore, contingent employees (contractors and other off-payroll employees) are typically excluded from source people data
• Key Measures constantly fluctuate as employees join, move through, and leave the organization
• Analysis is limited to points in time and previous reporting periods. 

“People data alone was insufficient to meet our planning aspiration. To plan with confidence, we needed to know the full potential size and cost of the workforce.  We needed insights which were based on all positions, not just those which were filled.  When key measures are constantly fluctuating due to joiners and leavers, you lose credibility.”

Forward-looking insights are based on the full scope of the workforce

With positions established as the basis for insight, the future organization can be visualized, and the size and cost of the workforce can be forecast.  Equipped with forward-looking insights, industry leaders take adaptive action to ensure resourcing levels match business requirements:  hiring can be paused or prioritized, and resourcing investments can be repurposed to meet changing needs. 

This benefit is unlocked by specifying the date at which planned position changes will take effect (e.g., the date at which new positions are expected to be filled, or when existing positions will close), and by specifying position costs.  Through this small data enhancement, trend lines showing the size and cost of the workforce over previous reporting periods are extended over the future duration of the planning horizon.  As outlined in an accompanying article, when actuals deviate from forecasts – because real life rarely goes to plan, – the reasons for differences are immediately visible (e.g., positions opening earlier or later than planned, or at a higher or lower cost than planned).

“Leaders don’t just want to know the picture today, they need to anticipate tomorrow; how their organization will look in 3, 6, 9 months’ time and whether this is in line with planned business performance.”

A consistent approach to position planning prevents unintended consequences

We observe organizational changes being continuously planned on an ongoing basis:  Multiple business partners across the organization planning new positions, and identifying existing positions to be closed or changed.  When position planning is an offline, fragmented process, unintended consequences can result due to limited visibility on the overall effect of hundreds of different actions.

“Every month, as HRBPs are planning changes, they immediately get to see how the overall size, cost and structure of the organization will change as a result:  whether the organization is staying in line with established targets, or getting off track.  This is reviewed in the position approval process, so we don’t end up with hundreds of individual actions having a negative overall effect.”

A consistent approach using a common set of properties to specify position changes brings clarity in contexts where constant change is the norm.  We typically see four categories of properties being used:

1. Properties used to define positions, e.g., the title, its location in the hierarchy, the function it will be part of, its geographic location, planned grade and cost
2. Properties used to specify the date at which changes are planned to take effect, e.g., the date at which a new position is planned to be filled, or when an existing position is planned to close
3. Properties used to record the rationale for planned changes
4. Additional properties required to calculate key measures.

Applying a common set of properties reduces the burden of manual data entry and maintains data quality: property values can be selected from pre-set lists, and logical rules can be automated, for example defining the relationship across geographic levels (e.g., regions, countries, states, cities and sites).

With a consistent approach, the impact of planned actions can immediately be seen:  insight reveals whether proposed changes result in alignment or divergence from overall targets.  Delegated planning by multiple colleagues is consolidated for decision-makers to anticipate the overall impact of multiple planned actions.  Upstream insight reduces the risk of unintended downstream consequences. 

This article is one in a series sharing best practice insights for continuous organization effectiveness.  An overview can be found here, and related articles can be accessed through the following links:

• Establishing key measures which meet the business need for insight
• Getting control over the constantly changing workforce
• Embedding active management in the business planning and review processes
• Influencing outcomes for organizational effectiveness