CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

The workforce planning methods, techniques and best practices that I have shared in this guide is the combination of time-honored practices and strategies applied by both federal- and private-sector leaders along with my professional experiences that span over three decades. My passion for developing a streamlined workforce planning process for federal government use drove me to writing this book to fill a void that many workforce planning stakeholders have been seeking for quite some time.

There are countless WFP methods, techniques and best practices that are available to private-sector organizations, but few targets addressing the federal workforce in a meaningful capacity. Often, many federal agencies workforce planning processes are conducted in a vacuum. Using the recommended processes in this guide, stakeholders’ interaction in collaborating and sharing information can lead to an end-to-end WFP process that can be replicated and

193

scaled to accommodate fluctuating changes in organizational business priorities. The principles and practices shared in this guide represent a tailored approach to eliminating isolations (bottlenecking), barriers and other challenges that can impede effective workforce planning processes.

This guide is designed to serve as a one-stop resource for federal agency executives, senior leaders and other workforce planning stakeholders by adopting a simplified approach to a complex and laborintensive process for recruiting and retaining talent. Each chapter provides high-level overviews along with action-steps for accomplishing an end-to-end SWP process within your organization. No matter the starting point of your organizational workforce planning initiatives, this guide can aid stakeholders with reviewing current practices and adopting updated methods, techniques and best practices for successful WFP implementation.

To effectively use this guide, executives, senior leaders and other practitioners must have a firm understanding of their business environments in terms of connecting the dots throughout all phases of the workforce planning process. It is extremely imperative

that leaders avoid conducting recruitment and succession planning activities without first developing a validated workforce plan that supports talent management strategies. Remember to ensure that a strategic framework exists that is tied to budget prior to starting workforce planning efforts.

Establish timetables and communication plans that link each WFP phase (Supply, Demand, Gap Analysis and Gap Closure Strategies, Succession Planning, Implementation and Evaluation).

By applying these practices and principles, leaders and stakeholders can ensure they are well prepared to attract and retain the best qualified employees to meet both current and future work demands by transforming workforce data analysis into insight.