Staying in Front of the Talent Curve: Using Human Capital Planning to Forecast Future Talent Needs

by Donald H. Ruse and Karen Jansen Wright, Sibson Consulting

Executives must make daily decisions about the number and type of talent they need to run their business. Unfortunately, they often lack the information it takes to make these critical decisions, making it difficult for them to manage their talent portfolio in a way that ensures they have the right people in the right place at the right time to stay in front of the talent curve. The result is unintentionally costly decisions that can hurt a company’s profitability and growth. The organization ends up overstaffing, understaffing or having an inappropriate mix of the skills it needs to implement its strategies.