On the Level: Strategic Workforce Planning from Micro to Macro

Strategic workforce planning (SWP) is the process that ensures companies have the right people at the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost to execute their business strategy. Beyond this enterprise-level approach to SWP, however, there are circumstances when it pays to plan at a micro level, focusing on smaller segments of a workforce, or to take a macro approach that reaches beyond the organization and into its operating environment. This report describes how SWP can be deployed at different levels, and discusses the advantages and limitations of doing so, with examples and specific diagnostic questions for determining a company’s optimum SWP deployment level.