eworkforce blog

Great article on the socialprise  http://www.livingstonbuzz.com/2008/07/07/the-socialprise/

Great post on the challenges companies are facing regarding Talent Management.

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jun2008/ca20080620_891131.htm

Putting these challenges through the my eworkforce filter I would suggest that companies need to:

1)  Alter the way in which they identify, hire, and manage resources.  Companies needs to focus on breaking down the silos typically seen betwen the day-to-day management and recruiting process to create a more dynamic approach.

2)  Provide a flexible work environment in which a person’s value is not determined by their tenure with the organization. I actually disagree with challenge number 9 in the article.  Companies need to embrace the reality in today’s market.  Technology and globalization has enabled people to change jobs frequently. Companies that embrace this and adapt their processes to this reality will thrive.

3)  Companies need to invest in solutions that enable flexible managment approachs (I am obviously biased here given I sell collaborative workforce management software).  This will go a long way in developing environements that retain the Gen Xs and attract the Gen Ys.

It seems every day the Wall Street Journal has a new article on the current or upcoming recession (depending on the opinion), the dollar freefall, or the meltdown of another company.  No matter how you look at it, the short term US economy is in for some troubled times.  Given this, I would prose 5 questions every senior leader should be asking about their organization: 

 1.  Is your current workforce capacity aligned with your customer demand and do you have the process and analytics in place to forecast your needs 6, 12 or 18 months out?

In any company that is dependent on people, it is critical that your workforce capacity is aligned with your customer demand.  An excess of workforce capacity results in increased expense.  A deficit of workforce capacity results in potentially lost revenue.  When capacity and demand are not aligned this ultimately leads to lower profit.

 2.  Are your best people working on your highest strategic priorities?

Managers are often not able to see the forest through the trees when it comes to their people and how they align with the strategic priorities of their company.  Although your company might be utilizing your workforce 110%, do you have the process and analytics in place to tell you if you are allocating your people most efficiently with respect to your highest strategic priorities?

3.  Do you know what skills your organization requires 6, 12 or 18 months out? 

Today’s business environment is dynamic.  As new opportunities arise, companies must adapt their workforce to meet these opportunities.  The skill-sets you have in place today might not be the skill-sets you require in the future.   Senior leaders that want to get ahead of the competitive curve need to consider the skill-sets future customers will require and how this compares to your current workforce. 

4.  If you were asked to optimize your workforce to maximize profit, how would you answer?

In troubled economic times, even a small change in profit can affect the long term prospects of a company.  As can be seen by recent payroll numbers, often the first reaction is to reduce organizational headcount resulting in lower expense.  However reduction in expense is only half of the equation.  By not understanding how these reductions affect your ability to generate future revenues you may actually be compounding the problem. 

5.     What is the total amount of time your workforce spends on non-value add activities? 

Administrative overhead is a fact of life.  But small reductions in non-value add administrative activities multiplied across your workforce can have bottom line effects.  The first step is to ensure you have the ability to measure how much time your workforce is spending on non-value add administrative activities.  The second step is to then do something about it.

Just when you think you’ve heard all the buzzwords enter the socialprise. Phil Wainewright from ZDNet has a great article on an emerging trend in enterprise computing.