Client impact

Issue

Customer service organization in a financial services firm had to improve strategic resourcing capability to ensure workforce alignment with future business needs and the drastic changes brought by digitalization. The organization’s ability to attract, retain and develop its critical workforce capabilities was considered a key priority for both business and HR leaders. OnWork partnered with the organization to build its strategic resourcing plan and simultaneously develop its internal HR capabilities.

Approach

Through a series of workshops involving business and HR, we identified the critical future workforce capabilities and gaps vis-à-vis the present workforce. We applied targeted analytics to zero in on key workforce outcomes in select, business-critical roles. Sales performance analysis linked human capital attributes like tenure and experience directly to sales performance and informed how the workforce should be structured. Mobility analysis identified “feeder” jobs which disproportionally nurtured key workforce segments, an important piece of the internal talent supply. By blending qualitative and quantitative approaches the team was able to engage in a candid dialogue about future resourcing needs.

Impact

The hands-on approach resulted in a shared understanding of key strategic resourcing priorities among business and HR. Through a new process blueprint, HR improved its internal capability to facilitate future engagements in the area. Several immediate actions were also identified. Performance review was adjusted to better motivate learning of critical future capabilities. Recruitment profiles were pivoted to emphasize key capabilities and behaviors. Given lower sales performance among higher-tenured customer reps, more scrutiny was put on internally sourced talent. Briefly, in a matter of few months the organization was able to make more nuanced people decisions while improving alignment with evolving business needs.