Lower barriers to entry and the rise of ecosystems and integrated value chains are eroding organizational boundaries and spurring convergence. Automation, the need for digital skills, demographic shifts and globalization are upending labor supply and demand. The future is in flux. Advances in talent analytics are finally allowing workforce planning to become as dynamic as this environment. Prescriptive analytics tools help organizations go beyond describing “what is happening now” or “what might happen in the future” to control “what should happen.” Scenario-based strategic workforce planning is a digital playground for the business to constantly optimize workforce choices—testing, learning and tweaking across dimensions and futures—to deliver the business strategy.

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Strategic workforce planning
finally gets strategic

2. 2
Today’s strategic workforce
planning is often neither strategic,
nor planning. But with the
availability of data and rapid
digitalization of analytics, it can be.
Without proper
planning, business
strategy is just
wishful thinking…

3. Welcome to
the digital
playground
55%
of executives say their organization
does scenario planning at best annually.
Workforce planning is finally becoming as
dynamic as the business environment.
The availability of prescriptive analytics
helps organizations go beyond describing
“what is happening” or “what might
happen” to control “what should happen”.

4. The big
picture beats
tunnel vision
61%
of executives say they are not well
prepared to change the workforce skill and
job mix to transition into a digital business.
No blind spots.
Only a silo-busting, multi-domain planning
approach provides an eyes-wide-open,
real-time view of all the variables that
impact talent strategy.

5. Humans and
machines work
in unison
Machines have limitless computational
power. Humans bring nuanced judgment.
Machines conduct simulations, while
humans analyze results to understand
how personnel shifts impact the talent
pool for the most critical positions across
the organization.
Top new skills that managers say are needed
to succeed in their roles in five years:
42%
Digital and
technology
know-how
33%
Creative
thinking and
experimentation
31%
Data
analysis and
interpretation

6. The future
is built on
sand
Change is constant. And fast.
Strategic workforce planning does not
aim to predict a single, “perfect” future.
It’s about identifying optimal solutions to
prepare the workforce for the inherent
uncertainty of every possible future.
30%
of executives see uncertainty as an
opportunity to create competitive advantage.

7. Change the
workforce
planning game
Abandon the idea
of perfect data
Simulations depend on
the right data for the task
at hand.
Plan the work,
work the plan
Strategic workforce planning
must be a continuous, iterative
and closed-loop process.
Master both art
and science
A combination of roles
are required with left-
and right-brain skills.
Focus less on ownership,
more on action
Both the business and human
resources must be involved
and aligned.
Trade business cases
for trial and error
Choose a priority area, trial it
and extrapolate results to
pinpoint the broader potential.

8. 8
Strategic workforce planning finally empowers
companies to operationalize predictions of changing
workforce supply to shape the future of work.
There’s no delivering the business
strategy without it—and definitely no
competing as a digital business without it.

9. 9
@AccentureStrat @Accenture-Strategy
For more information, visit:
accenture.com/StrategicWorkforcePlanning
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