Who Owns Workforce Risk?

In any large business there will be a number of people-related functions. From HR operations to organisational development, compensation & benefits, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) and talent acquisition (TA) to name a few. Which of these, if any, owns workforce risk? 

This was one of the questions we discussed during the Lightcast Skills Dinner in London in partnership with Orgvue and Skill Collective. This was our second dinner in the City, bringing together workforce planning experts from enterprises and our consulting partners.

I'm excited about the value this partnership brings to our joint customers. By combining Lightcast’s labour market and skills data with Orgvue’s ability to ingest, visualise, and connect customer data, we can uncover powerful insights and opportunities that were previously out of reach.

During the evening we explored how well-equipped businesses are to answer critical questions about workforce risk and what insight from data is needed to drive effective workforce planning. Here, we share some insights from the evening that demonstrate the cross-functional nature of workforce risk, as seen from the different viewpoints of the workforce planning community that joined us.

Organisational transformation + workforce risk

Managing workforce risk should form part of the foundation of any transformation strategy. Gathering financial and commercial data alongside skills data and labour market data in order to scenario-model is an intrinsic part of the transformation process. In more practical terms, change can trigger higher employee turnover, and if that happens at a senior level, it has knock-on effects elsewhere which can alter the pace of transformation.

Skills strategy + workforce risk

Workforce planners highlighted a gap between how roles are described internally and what the same role looks like externally – exposing a workforce risk and a need to update skills within roles. As well as updating the current talent pool, there are also opportunities to automate parts of roles which can lead to pushback and further risk. The job of some workforce planners is to shift organisational mindset towards skill portfolios rather than fixed skills tied to a job role.

AI + workforce risk

For the first time, companies are talking about under-utilisation of their workforce. There’s now an awareness that employers are not making use of all the skills their people have and they’re looking for ways to become more skills-led. The rise in AI (which is largely responsible for the fact that one in four jobs has experienced a 75% change in the skills required in the last three years) is also driving workforce planners to re-consider which skills are needed within roles.

Talent acquisition + workforce risk

The talent acquisition function plays a practical role in managing workforce risk but the function itself is having to undergo change. In one example, an organisation received over two million applications for a role in hours due to outdated technology that doesn’t filter out AI applications, posing a risk to the business’ ability to hire. Managing the brand, especially around rejection, is another facet to the risk experienced by the talent acquisition function.

Location strategy + workforce risk

Even in a hybrid and remote-working world, location strategy is still driving workforce planners to look for the best places to locate sites or hubs. That doesn’t necessarily mean heading to a hotspot where competition is fierce, but it means taking a view of the skills that are missing from your workforce based on the business plan and using data to guide your location planning to fill that skills gap in the most efficient way.
 

How to mitigate workforce risk

Since workforce risk is clearly a shared responsibility and a shared risk, it’s difficult to allocate accountability to one team but it should: Be on the radar of the CEO; be on the risk register; not sit in an underfunded part of the HR function; be informed by a powerful combination of internal and external data.

Thank you to all our guests who came ready to openly share their learnings and stories so that others can build a more resilient and future-ready workforce.

Interested to join our next dinner for senior workforce planning professionals? Reach out to us here.

"A really great, informal evening of peer to peer networking - but with conversations guided to talk about and share good practice on very topical issues facing HR practitioners globally. We discussed how organisations are managing workforce risks, how they are pivoting and planning ahead given the rise of AI and how skill strategies are coming to life in different industries. Super fun and very engaging." - Matt Mee, Director of Partnerships & Channels | EMEA & APAC at Lightcast 

"A brilliant dinner of engaging peer to peer conversation, with just the right amount of 'normal' and really valuable sharing of knowledge, pain and insights." - Alison Ettridge, Director of Global Talent Intelligence at Lightcast