Building a Talent Assessment and Development framework to support Workforce Planning

In our online training course - Getting Started with Workforce Planning, Al Adamsen takes us through the principles behind workforce planning and how to apply these principals within your organisation to create a strategic workforce plan. In the video below, Al gives an overview of the Talent Assessment and Development framework, and looking at each dimension of the framework and how building such a framework can support your Workforce Planning process.

What is the Talent Assessment and Development Framework?

The Talent Assessment and Development framework (TAD framework) is a holistic framework made up of 10 dimensions, that enables you to look at talent both internally and externally through the same lens.

What are the 10 dimensions of the TAD framework?

No.1 - Skills

Skills are the technical skills in which an individual leverages to do a particular job such as programming, R or Python for example. They are distinct from behaviours.

No.2 - Behaviours

This refers to how someone shows up in the world. Do they have a growth mindset or are they a learner? Do they bring positive energy? Do they communicate well? How we develop in these dimensions should be distinct. Many just throw these behaviours into competencies. However, I advocate that they are nurtured separately to skills or competencies. It's important to be clear on what this language means in your organisation.

No.3 - Experiences

Experiences obviously alludes to what someone has done, it can also refer to what somebody needs to be doing in the future to accomplish something or to develop in a certain way.

No.4 - Education / Knowledge

Education refers to formal degrees or certifications that individual might possess. Knowledge, however, is informal. Reading a book or watching a YouTube video can help you grow your knowledge base. Whatever the case is, often there are times where this is not captured. Increasingly as the HR Technology market grows, there are tools available now that enable this. Imagine the insights available if we were actually capturing this in a database that we could reference moving forward?

No. 5 - Contribution / Accomplishments

What does someone do to contribute to their team outcomes? as well as what someone accomplishes individually? Note that this is different from responsibilities. Responsibilities are theoretical contributions, Accomplishments are tangible, real achievements. They're more concrete and from a data perspective, they're more searchable activities.

No. 6 - Activities and the Use of Time

How does someone spend time in pursuit of what they're contributing to or accomplishing? Where do they have to alter how they split their time? and we can also ascertain the capacity, If someone is spending 40 to 50 hours to complete one of three things, we must ask; are those other two things getting done? So, now we have a way by which to measure how people are spending their time relative to the work that they're actually delivering on.

No. 7 - Relationships

What relationships does someone have or need to have to get certain work done? Do they have too many relationships? Do they have too few relationships? Do they have not the right type of relationships? Being aware of this from an organisational perspective as well as from an individual perspective is absolutely critical. This is where ONA - Organisational Network Analysis, is starting to playing a larger role.

No. 8 - Purpose and Passions

What sparks and sustains someone's energy and focus? We've talked about the wise use of time and relationships. What we need to ask ourselves is, are people spending time in alignment with how they want to show up in the world? What do they believe their purpose is? and what their intentions are? If the organisation and the individual documents this, we can have clarity in terms of not only what someone can and should be doing in the near term but where they want to go, moving forward.

No.9 - Compensation / Financial

From an organisational perspective, the question we're asking is, how much am I willing to pay to get that work done thats identified in the contributions and accomplishments dimension?

From an individual perspective, the question shifts to, how much do I need to make in order to do that particular piece of work?

No.10 - Benefits / Wellness

Now when we talk about benefits, this does not only relate to the health care needs of an individual or what the organisation is going to offer but, also the key attributes that are going to make someone have a more positive well-being and experience at work. In other words, maybe they only want to work 30 hours a week and have a very short commute each day. Being very conscious of what an organisation is offering and what an individual is willing to accept or what they see as non-negotiable is absolutely critical.

In Summary, these are the 10 dimensions of the Talent Assessment and Development framework. You'll notice that as we reviewed the dimensions of this framework we toggled between the organisational perspective as well as the individual. This is because in the ideal future state what we're doing as an organisation aligns to the individual. This framework can be used by individuals to help develop themselves and identify their future priories, but also by organisations to help inform their Workforce Panning strategy. Leveraging such a framework as you build out your Workforce Planning capability will help you determine the skills within your organisation, as well as who has them. Combining this with the insights you have on the future state of your workforce plan, will enable you to align the right people with the right skills in the right roles to the right work.


Online Training on Workforce Planning

If you’re looking to get started in workforce planning checkout our newest online training course, Getting Started with Workforce Planning. This introduction to workforce planning will ensure that as a HR professional, you not only understand how to create a strategic workforce plan, but also how you can gain buy-in and manage your workforce planning activities.

WFP promo_Bground.jpg

The course covers the following key areas:

  • What is workforce planning?

  • How to create a strategic workforce plan

  • How to consider external talent supply and demand

  • How to involve and get buy-in from key stakeholders for your workforce plan

This course aims to provide a solid foundation to the principles behind workforce planning and shows you how to create a strategic workforce plan for your organisation.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Manpreet Randhawa is the Head of Digital Content for myHRfuture.com. In her previous role as the Change Management Lead for People Planning, Design & Analytics at Cisco Systems, she was responsible for defining and executing on the change management strategy to successfully implement and sustain the digital and cultural transformation across the enterprise. Manpreet is very passionate about change management and technology and how to use both to transform the employee experience and prepare companies for the Future of Work.