Feature

Future workforce planning

Most IT organisations plan their future workforce requirements well in advance, taking into account any possible contingency, writes Sudipta Dev

Long-term capabilities, requirements and gaps are identified during an annual planning exercise which is reviewed on a quarterly basis by the top management team Anuj Kumar Vice-president, HR Induslogic

Strategic workforce planning does not just mean formulating the best way to attract and retain the best talent, but also anticipating the future workforce needs of the organisation. Driven by their business growth, most IT companies plan few years in advance, with each quarter having its own individual targets. This includes dealing with the issue of attrition, which is a challenge for most IT companies. Considering the dynamic nature of the industry, flexibility is however the norm with mid-term target achievements determining the long-term workforce plans. To counter any unexpected situations, most organisations hire more than what they need, taking into account complex situation arising out of skills, specific manpower needs and high attrition.

Workforce planning in the IT industry is made complicated not only due to business targets, but also because the competencies and skill sets of the human resource have to be upgraded to meet the demands of the market. “Planning is not always about increasing the existing resource pool, but can mean training existing resources with new skill sets or domain knowledge based on business direction. The future may not necessarily mean more demand, it could just be a demand for a different product requiring competencies different from what exists in the organisation currently,” states Abraham Punnoose, Director, Marketing and Business Development, Roamware. He adds that another practice is to track potential resources in the industry, and to engage them even though there may not be an immediate need for their skills. This ensures that one always has a pool of potential resources that can be accessed when required.

For an organisation like Cap Gemini India, which is on a major expansion spree, the planning is done about one to two years in advance. Chandrasekhar Sripada, the company’s Vice-president for People Relationship Management, points out that considering its dynamic nature, a one-year period in the IT industry is equivalent to a five-year period in many other industries. “Since consulting, technology and outsourcing services are customer-focussed, we make estimates of manpower and budgets as per our customer requirements in close collaboration with overseas business units, our sales force and HR. In short, business growth drives workforce planning,” says Sripada.

Ugam Solutions plans its future workforce needs differently for different categories. For entry-level people it is done a year in advance; this is broken into quarterly planning. For senior-level people there is almost three years of advance planning. This of course also includes grooming internal talent to fill those positions. “The quarterly and yearly plannings have to synchronise with the business plan. A profile break-up is given to the recruitment teams. These profiles are clearly tracked so that there are no surprises. Every profile is assigned to a different person in the recruitment team, and there is a well-defined matrix,” remarks Sunil Mirani, CEO of the company.

Dealing with unexpected situations

A profile break-up is given to the recruitment teams. These profiles are clearly tracked so that there are no surprises, and there is a well-defined matrix Sunil Mirani CEO Ugam Solutions

And what happens if it is not possible to get the required number of people? Or if the projected business does not materialise? At Impetus Technologies the projection is done always keeping in mind possible contingency situations. “There are backup plans and strategies to implement in case we are unable to reach the required figure. We also maintain a buffer within the company to account for such unexpected situations if they arise. Our internal resource pool management handles any such issues,” informs John Winchester, Vice- president, Engineering, Impetus. The resource pool in the company is used for emergency situations.

Caution is evidently the key. Planning for future workforce needs is not just a matter of ascertaining the right number, but how well an organisation can deal with any eventuality. Agrees Sripada, “Strategic planning from a time perspective has changed significantly. Now it is not about how much in advance you plan, but how well you plan for any change or eventuality. The essence of strategy today is the ability to cope and respond to change. In the entrepreneurial sense, the companies must plan and proactively invest in hot and emerging skill areas.”

Most companies have learned to plan and deal with emergencies like last minute dropouts or a sudden demand for people possessing a particular skill set. Nabonita Phukan, Head of Human Resources at Red Hat India, says that workforce planning basically involves proactive planning to avoid talent surpluses or shortages. “We work very closely with our business groups and try to keep active talent in the pipeline (a defined recruiting channel) to meet our specific needs. We also aim at managing out talent inventory (current employee database) effectively. This helps us in taking care of sudden changes in supply and demand,” she says. In this case, the skills and competency matrix framework for the existing talent inventory is very useful.

At Induslogic, they have frozen hiring for the next three months on the numbers given by the sales/business development people. Anuj Kumar, the company’s Vice-president of HR, informs that this is part of a three-month rolling forecast. “The plan achieves two objectives—sales people are excited by the numbers and employees are excited by the growth potential. We have a very high utilisation ratio ranging between 92 percent to 94 percent, which leaves us enough room to utilise people effectively.”

Contingency planning for different projects are also drawn up at Kanbay, which is working in the financial services space. The risk mitigation strategy is based on the following hierarchy of needs:

• Is this a first-time opportunity for the company?
• Is there an existing pool available within the company?
• Are people resources for such projects available on a retainer basis?

Most companies can deal with excess staffing for two or three quarters. “Experience has shown that business often turns around. In a period of lull, the resources need to be focussed on product improvement & R&D so as to strengthen the base of existing products and also help the company figure out the product roadmap,” opines Punnoose.

Geometric Software assigns people sitting on the bench to internal assignments. Alternately, based on market forecasts, they undergo further training, informs Vinda Chitnis, the company’s Vice-president of HR.

Monitoring system

Many organisations have a system in place that continually monitors their workforce needs, abilities, gaps and imbalances. Red Hat India has a system of quarterly reviews for both business and workforce performance, which helps them to identify the level of skills/competencies of the existing workforce. “This also helps us determine our specific requirement, and how to source for the same through the right channel,” states Phukan.

Induslogic has a very detailed sales forecasting system which is updated daily and is visible to all concerned on a real-time basis. “This is discussed and reviewed by the top management team every week. The deployment is updated on a daily basis and its possibilities are discussed. Long-term capabilities, requirements and gaps are identified during an annual planning exercise which is reviewed on a quarterly basis by the top management team. The human resources department works closely with business people to cover the gaps and remove imbalances,” informs Kumar.

Roamware has an alternate system in place which continuously evaluates the engineering skill sets vis-a-vis the product road map for the next 18-24 months. “For example, if a company that works in the GSM space wants to migrate some of its products to the CDMA world as part of its 18-month plan, it’s important that there be a planned initiative to incorporate domain knowledge either by training or inviting advisory resources from the CDMA space to orient the team or hiring consultants/specialists for a limited window of time to train and orient the team,” states Punnoose.

Taking into consideration the dynamic nature of the market and the high attrition rate for skilled manpower, the greatest security for any organisation is having in place a robust system which can deal with any eventuality—and most companies are learning to build exactly that.

sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com