Choose at least three of these to apply in your work, repeat them three times...and stick to them! If you can keep your resolutions, your organisation is well ahead of the game in tackling the upcoming workforce shortage.

I resolve to take achievable, pragmatic steps toward workforce planning. Workforce Planning must be a journey, and you should take it a step at a time, rather than attempting to implement a fully fledged approach on day one. Your next step might be introducing environment scanning, creating the right people metrics, or even building a forecast of your "no change future state"...whatever it is, take the step, and then you can take the next one. I resolve to look outward and forward, not just inward and backward. So many of our workforce planning and analysis efforts focus on what has happened in the past inside our organisation. It's becoming more and more important to look at external factors, and look into the future. Ensure that your workforce planning and executive reporting includes these vital aspects. I resolve to learn Strategic Workforce Planning techniques - adding skills such as scenario planning, forecasting, and gap analysis to your current skill set might be the most important step you can take in preparing your organisation for the future. I resolve to treat the talent market as a market, and apply marketing techniques to it. The market for talent is becoming increasingly challenging, and it's time we started to compete in it just as we do in the markets for customers and capital - that way we will be competing to win! I resolve to be willing to forecast the future - yes, forecasting the future is an inexact art, but many disciplines (including finance and marketing" do so - with varying degrees of accuracy, but almost always with value gained in the future. Remember, all our knowledge is about the past, but all our decisions are about the future. I resolve to filter data and convert it to information and insight. While a lot of data can be interesting, very little of it is normally useful. Data becomes information when it is positioned in context, and is insightful when it relates to your organisation - and when the executive can easily understand and interpret it to take action. I resolve to make Workforce Planning a priority in my organisation. Can you imagine hearing "it's not a priority" for business planning? With the talent market hotting up and baby boomer retirements looming, failure to workforce plan could well prevent you achieving your business plans, and the return on investment in workforce planning is usually compelling - make a real business case for your executive! I resolve to stop letting today's issues make me stop planning for tomorrow. Think of Workforce Planning as the ounce of prevention you need to prevent the pounds of cure you are spending putting outy the fires of these burning issues - look to the future and phase out this firefighting. I resolve to share my experiences with other workforce planners - if you aren't a member of the Strategic Workforce Planning Network - join now! I resolve to say "why?" and "what if?" at least three times a week! Contact us if you need help ensuring your employer can get these resolutions in place