International mobility and strategic workforce planning: A winning combination
International mobility regained momentum as soon as borders began reopening. Multinational companies were among the first to relaunch international recruitment, buoyed by a post-COVID economic upturn. However, the economic environment has forced many companies to revise their recruitment strategies. The competition has intensified, especially in the most attractive sectors. Recruitment challenges mainly involve finding and retaining international talent. Organizing work by considering the global context (and its globalized recruitment processes) is also crucial.
Companies are betting on new strategies to increase their appeal to foreign talents. Human Resources (HR) departments had already adapted to new worker aspirations (more remote work, autonomy, short international assignments, workation, etc.). They are now partnering with strategic workforce planning services to manage talent recruitment. This planning plays a significant role for companies active in the international recruitment market.
Strategic workforce planning first assesses the company's current and future talent recruitment needs. What are the growth prospects? Which type of labor will the company prioritize? Planning helps clearly define the company's needs and anticipate labor shortages, especially at key positions. The planning service then proposes an action plan to recruit foreign talent and allocate them according to the company's current and future needs (generally over 2 to 5 years) while avoiding labor shortages.
The essential role of workforce planning
Companies already have an operational planning service managed by the HR department that addresses current needs—a short-term strategy. The company's needs must contend with rising raw material costs (depending on the industry), immigration reforms that either facilitate or complicate recruitment efforts, etc. It's not always easy to adopt a global vision, anticipate needs for international talents, and plan their transfer to subsidiaries or partner companies (transfers often requested by employees to gain skills).
Operational planning is necessary for a company's proper functioning. However, growth-oriented structures cannot rely solely on operational planning, as it offers no long-term visibility.
This is where strategic workforce planning comes in. Combining current (short-term) and future (long-term) needs creates an effective growth strategy and facilitates better international recruitment and transfers. Establishing a strategic workforce planning service ensures structured coordination involving HR services, supervisors, managers, and senior executives.
Strategic workforce planning adds value to the company. It considers employee needs and recognizes their skills. The flexibility in work organization ensures everyone is in the right place at the right time to maximize their skills. As employees increasingly favor short international assignments and workations, strategic workforce planning provides a better overview of the company's ability to develop a borderless work organization.
Strategic workforce planning: Procedures
Good strategic workforce planning relies on several pillars. First, it involves assessing the company's current resources and market positioning. Is it understaffed? Overstaffed? Which departments are the most/least competent/productive?
Evaluating the company's current resources helps determine its strengths and weaknesses and identify gaps. This stage is recommended for evaluating competitors' performance. How does the company position itself in the market?
A thorough assessment of resources and gaps enables a finer analysis of labor and training needs. Is there a need to recruit foreign talents? Should current talents be sent for training abroad? What partnerships should be established? The analysis facilitates the implementation of a detailed recruitment and work reorganization plan, including creating positions, redefining roles, training, etc. The planning always includes regular monitoring of the implemented strategy and adjustments as needed based on the evaluation results.
