Reconciling Finance with HR: How Unified Workforce Planning Can Boost Delivery on Business and Talent Objectives, explores the importance of integrating workforce planning across finance and HR to achieve business and talent goals.

Thanks to Jedox, and “better decisions group” (bdg) for putting together and sharing this helpful guide. You can download the full guide from Jedox website or NeoForm LinkedIn page.

Here are the most interesting and useful points about workforce and headcount planning:

1. The Current State of the Global Workforce

• Employee Expectations: Post-pandemic, employees prioritize flexibility, career advancement, and competitive pay. Remote work is now a standard expectation, with 80% of employees wanting to work remotely at least two days a week.
• Talent Scarcity and Surplus: The pandemic has created talent shortages in some industries (e.g., healthcare) while leading to layoffs in others (e.g., tech).
• DEI and AI: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are critical, with 86% of leaders emphasizing their importance. Additionally, 90% of business leaders believe AI is crucial for improving work outcomes.

2. Key Stakeholders in Workforce Planning

• Executive Management: Drives innovation, capital allocation, and DEI initiatives.
• Department Heads: Responsible for resourcing teams to meet functional goals.
• HR Teams: Handle recruiting, hiring, engagement, and employee development.
• Finance Teams: Budget, forecast, and perform scenario planning to support workforce decisions.

Key Insight: Effective workforce planning requires collaboration between these stakeholders, supported by a unified data platform.

3. The Downside of Lacking Data

• Data Silos: HR and finance data are often stored separately, leading to inefficiencies and miscommunication.
• Cultural Disconnect: HR’s qualitative data (e.g., “gut feelings”) can lack credibility with finance teams, leading to conflicts and inaccurate workforce plans.
• Inefficient Hiring: Without accurate data, organizations may make hasty hiring decisions, leading to talent shortages and missed growth opportunities.

Key Insight: A unified workforce planning framework can bridge the gap between HR and finance, enabling better decision-making.

4. The Post-Pandemic Employee Life Cycle

• Recruiting: New talent pools have emerged, but talent scarcities persist. Employers must strategically identify and attract talent.
• Onboarding: Virtual onboarding has become common, requiring mentorship and coaching to reduce early attrition.
• Learning and Development (L&D): Constant upskilling and reskilling are now essential due to higher employee expectations and the rise of remote work.
• Retention and Exit: Employers must focus on employee well-being, culture fit, and managing churn to retain institutional knowledge.

Key Insight: The pandemic has reshaped the employee life cycle, requiring organizations to adapt their workforce strategies to retain talent and manage attrition.

5. A Unified Workforce Planning Framework

• Corporate Objectives: Executive management sets strategic goals, such as revenue targets, product evolution, and ESG initiatives.
• Workforce Requirements: Department heads define the number of employees and skill sets needed to achieve corporate goals.
• HR and Finance Collaboration: HR calculates employee costs (salaries, benefits, training) while finance integrates these costs into budgets and forecasts.
• Iterative Process: Workforce planning is an iterative process, with HR and finance collaborating to adjust plans based on real-time data.

Key Insight: A unified planning platform enables HR and finance to collaborate effectively, ensuring that workforce plans align with business objectives.

6. The Long-Term Value of Strategic Workforce Planning

• Talent: Organizations must quickly hire and retain talent while setting clear productivity expectations. Data-driven insights (e.g., sales productivity ratios) help align employee performance with business goals.
• Growth: A unified workforce plan ensures budget consistency and accuracy, enabling organizations to track growth and respond to investor queries.
• Capital Raising and Allocation: Consistent workforce data improves a company’s ability to raise capital and allocate resources effectively, especially in uncertain markets.
• ESG: Workforce planning solutions can track DEI metrics, pay equity, and salary reviews, helping organizations address systemic biases and improve employee satisfaction.

Key Insight: Strategic workforce planning provides long-term value by enabling organizations to compete for talent, drive growth, and meet ESG goals.

7. Conclusion

• Workforce as Lifeblood: Human capital is more critical than ever in a competitive, global talent market.
• Data-Driven Decisions: Closing the data gap between HR and finance enables organizations to align business and talent objectives effectively.
• Adaptability: Organizations must rethink talent strategies and employee life cycles to thrive in a post-pandemic world.

Key Insight: Unified workforce planning empowers organizations to make data-driven decisions, adapt to changing market conditions, and achieve both business and talent objectives.

Final Thoughts:

By leveraging a unified planning platform, organizations can align their workforce strategies with business goals, improve decision-making, and drive long-term success.