Planeamento estratégico da força de trabalho
Human Resources

What is strategic workforce planning?

6 de June, 2025

The business world is highly dynamic, marked by constant change and uncertainty. In this context, the pressure on human resources departments is unavoidable.

It is necessary to have a people management strategy that ensures that the company has the most suitable talent to achieve business objectives and to address current and future challenges.

This strategy has to involve not only anticipating hiring needs, but also policies that favor the retention of professionals and the existence of upskilling and reskilling opportunities.

That’s the premise of strategic workforce planning. Find out what it is and what the main benefits are for organizations.

What is strategic workforce planning?

Strategic workforce planning aims to ensure alignment between employee skills and long-term business objectives.

This approach aims to identify any gaps in the workforce and develop a consistent people management strategy that allows the company to have the most qualified talent to grow and succeed.

Unlike more traditional strategies, which are limited to responding to immediate needs in teams, this is a long-term approach that anticipates future demands.

To be able to anticipate these demands, HR managers must ensure a robust combination of the following elements:

  • People;
  • Technology;
  • Human resources management policies (recruitment and selection, value proposition for employees, salary and employee benefits policies, professional training, etc.).

Objectives of strategic workforce planning

According to the Innovate HR Academy, the goal of strategic workforce planning is to optimize teams in four aspects: size, structure, cost and agility.

  • Size: a team that is too small may be overloaded and will struggle to produce what is expected. On the other hand, a team that is too large may indicate that people are working inefficiently. It is essential to find the optimum point between the results expected of a team and the number of people needed to achieve them.
  • Structure: the profiles of the people who make up the teams, as well as their skills, must be the most appropriate to help the company with its current and future challenges. The structure also involves aspects such as progression and succession management.
  • Cost: the aim is for workforce costs (recruitment costs, remuneration, non-salary benefits and other charges) to be balanced and sustainable.
  • Agility: agility and adaptability are currently two of the most important characteristics in the workforce. Professionals must have the ability to adapt to changes and the different demands that arise in the market.

Benefits of strategic workforce planning

Adopting this talent management model brings with it a number of advantages.

1 – Cost reduction

Strategic workforce planning helps to optimize the attraction and retention of talent, making it possible to reduce costs linked to recruitment and selection, possible overstaffing and turnover (and consequent productivity losses).

2 – More effective talent management

When companies are able to anticipate the profiles they need to hire in the medium and long term, know what skills and motivations professionals should have and have a clear strategy for internal progression and succession, human capital management becomes more effective.

3 – Preparing for the future

For different reasons – technological developments, socio-economic changes, etc. -the talents that help companies grow today will not be enough to do so in the future. Strategic planning of teams, functions and skills helps organizations to be prepared for change before it happens.

If companies identify the key competencies for their future success, and build a plan so that these competencies exist within the teams, businesses are in a better position to face the unexpected.

4 – Flexibility

Companies need to anticipate different growth scenarios, budget cuts, technological developments, market changes and so on. With more strategic and consistent planning, they can adapt quickly to these transformations and manage change more effectively.

5 – Risk mitigation

It seems clear that if an organization has the ability to be proactive in managing change, rather than just reactive, it will be in a better position to mitigate any risks associated with that change (for example, risks associated with excess or lack of manpower, the budget for hiring talent, ageing human capital, lack of key competencies, among others).

6 – Better HR decisions

Strategic workforce planning provides a clearer vision of the people management strategy to be followed. As a result, human resources decisions are more informed, predictable and transparent.

7 – Alignment with organizational objectives

It is essential that human capital – its skills, values, motivations and attitudes – is aligned with business objectives and the organizational culture. Ensuring this alignment is also an integral part of strategic workforce planning.

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