Addressing an Ageing Workforce and Succession Planning through Business Capability Modelling
Background
An organisation was faced with the growing challenge of an ageing workforce, with many of its experienced employees approaching retirement. This posed a serious risk to the continuity of critical operations, as key roles were held by senior personnel with valuable institutional knowledge. Despite the looming retirements, the organisation struggled to visualise the full extent of the issue, making it difficult to plan for the future. A clear, actionable strategy was required to address the potential gaps in its workforce.
Challenge
The organisation’s primary challenges were:
- Inability to visualise the problem: Leadership found it difficult to see the full scope of the ageing workforce issue, making it hard to identify where the most critical gaps would occur.’
- Potential loss of key capabilities due to retiring personnel, especially in leadership and specialised roles.
- Lack of a structured succession plan to address the gaps that would arise as senior employees retired.
- Uncertainty in future workforce needs and the required capabilities to maintain and grow the organisation.
A Business Capability Model (BCM) was introduced to help the organisation visualise the problem and plan a structured response.
Solution
The BCM provided the organisation with a clear, visual tool to address the ageing workforce and succession planning. The following steps were undertaken:
- Mapping current workforce capabilities: The organisation’s existing capabilities were mapped, with a focus on identifying which roles were most affected by the ageing workforce. This provided a complete view of the capabilities held by senior employees and highlighted where retirements could impact operations.
- Visualisation of the workforce problem: One of the most impactful aspects of the BCM was its ability to present the ageing workforce issue on a single page. HR mapped the average age of employees onto their respective capabilities, creating a heatmap that visually represented the areas where the most critical gaps were likely to emerge. This allowed leadership to easily grasp the scale of the problem.
- Identification of capability gaps: The heatmap revealed the departments and functions most at risk as key personnel retired. This gap analysis showed where immediate succession planning was needed and where future skills would be essential.
- Development of a succession plan: Based on the heatmap and capability gaps, a strategic succession plan was put in place. This plan included targeted training for younger employees, mentorship programs, and strategic hiring to ensure critical roles were filled as senior staff retired.
- Long-term workforce planning: The BCM also helped the organisation plan for its future workforce needs, ensuring that it could build capabilities aligned with emerging technologies and evolving organisation requirements.
Outcomes
By using the BCM, the organisation was able to overcome the initial challenge of visualising its ageing workforce issue and take action. Key outcomes included:
- Clear visualisation of workforce risks: The BCM, along with the heatmap generated by HR, gave the organisation a clear, easy-to-understand picture of where upcoming workforce gaps would occur due to retirements.
- Targeted succession planning: With the capability gaps clearly identified, the organisation was able to implement a robust succession plan, ensuring that key roles were filled before critical expertise was lost.
- Informed decision-making: The heatmap allowed leadership to make informed decisions about where to focus training, development, and hiring efforts to address the most pressing workforce gaps.
- Future-proofing the workforce: Beyond addressing the immediate challenge, the BCM enabled the organisation to prepare for long-term workforce needs, aligning its capabilities with future organisation and technological demands.