Post by Rolland V. Mougenot

My takeaways from the 2025 London SWP Conference (partial by construction, given the depth and breadth of presentations, panel discussions, and informal exchanges at this year’s London edition - a 1st SWP conference for me, not the last hopefully - appropriately nested in the vicinity of the Tower Bridge) 1/ SWP as exploration and crafstmanship * “Strategic Workforce Planning is not about being right, it is about being ready” ⛵️ [Adam Gibson] * Aim at directional correctness 🧭 [Alison Devenish] * Adopt an entrepreneurial approach 🎨, select and combine the SWP methods and tools that best fit your context and objectives [Nick Kennedy] * Scenarize and regularly review & adjust 🔩 2/ Enrolling stakeholders while keeping one’s faith and ambitions * Work collaboratively and cross-functionally 🌉 [David Wilkins], let others do the work even to some extent [Dr. Tatiana Villalobos Baum] * Form tiger teams 🐯 or more durable circles - with Finance, IS, executives, managers, etc. - to work on scenarios, work redesign, task ontologies, action plans etc. [David Wilkins] * Still, do not let your SWP end goals be watered down * And, conversely, beware of pledges and targets set with no link to SWP 🌪️ (ie with no corresponding people strategy nor realistic plan) [Helen Ashley FCIPD, Lindsey Clarke] * Resist the urge of rushing to action 🪷. Consider current pain points and longer term challenges as “dual tracks” to address in parallel [Nick Kennedy] * Show results/progress in the 1st year of implementation 🧩 [Tracy Holmes and Jack Andrews] 3/ Optimistic forays into the AI workforce equation * The demand for AI job roles and enabling functions (cybersecurity, legal, data engineering, cloud) has skyrocketed 📈 [Vijay Swaminathan] * 55% of businesses acknowledge wrong decisions 🤔 in making employees redundant after introducing AI into the workforce [Oliver Shaw Orgvue] * For some businesses (incl. those championing CX), generative & agentic AI could well coexist with a larger workforce 📊 [Steve Page] * Far from disappearing, junior positions will be richer and more purpose-driven 🏔️ [Steve Page, Neil Pickering, Ralf Buechsenschuss] 4/ On the horizon * SWP helping managers make sense of their organization’s strategic objectives * Beyond a natural inclination towards ‘Buy’ * Geographic Intelligence at the forefront [Vijay Swaminathan] * The convergence of roles [Vijay Swaminathan] * “There is a case for fungible resources”, in blue and white collar jobs [Fiona Vines] * It pays off to care : By practicing inclusion-by-design and other diversity-centric actions (that can benefit wider swathes of the workforce than the primary target group), SWP is also generating RoI (safety, creativity, etc.) [Fiona Vines] * Look out... for when you think you have SWP under control… the question changes, which makes it all the more stimulating and humbling [Nick Kennedy ] The dynamic endures, with renewed intentionality #SWPConference #WorkforcePlanning #WPI