How do you cope with uncertainty and volatility in your HR demand and supply?

1 Assess your current situation

The first step to cope with uncertainty and volatility is to assess your current situation. You need to understand the internal and external factors that affect your HR demand and supply, such as your business strategy, your organizational structure, your workforce profile, your labor market conditions, your competitors, and your customers. You also need to identify the gaps and risks that exist between your current and desired state of HR, such as skills shortages, turnover, retention, diversity, engagement, and performance.

2 Forecast your future needs

The next step is to forecast your future needs based on your strategic objectives, your environmental analysis, and your scenario planning. You need to estimate the quantity and quality of human resources that you will need in the short, medium, and long term, as well as the possible changes and fluctuations that may occur. You can use various methods and tools to forecast your HR demand and supply, such as trend analysis, regression analysis, Delphi technique, benchmarking, and simulation.

3 Develop your action plan

The third step is to develop your action plan to align your HR demand and supply. You should define the specific actions, resources, responsibilities, and timelines that will help you close the gaps and mitigate the risks identified in the previous steps. Additionally, you should prioritize these actions based on their urgency, impact, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness. To cope with uncertainty and volatility, you can consider recruiting and hiring talent that matches your current and future needs; developing and retaining talent with potential to grow and adapt; reskilling and upskilling talent that needs new or enhanced competencies; redeploying and reallocating talent to fill different or emerging roles; outsourcing and contracting talent for flexibility and expertise; or downsizing and releasing talent no longer needed or fit.

4 Monitor and evaluate your results

The final step is to monitor and evaluate your results to ensure that your action plan is effective and efficient. You need to measure the outcomes and impacts of your actions on your HR demand and supply, as well as on your organizational performance and goals. You also need to review the assumptions and data that you used to forecast your future needs, and adjust them if necessary. You also need to solicit feedback and input from your stakeholders, such as your managers, employees, customers, and partners, to improve your HR planning process.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?