When the Recession ends!

According to a report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the European Association of People Management (EAPM) just 15% of European companies plan their workforce more than three years in advance - suggesting that many companies may soon face key shortages in skills.

This will be caused by the "double whammy" of falling birth rates and rising numbers of baby boomers entering retirement shrinking the size of the work force.

The report also found that 47% of European companies did not plan their work force requirements more than a year in advance. Companies that have been forced to cut costs and reduce head count during the Recession may struggle to find the people they need when growth eventually returns. Companies therefore need to consider the long-term impact of their actions, even-or especially-in times of crisis.

"In ten years, the scarcest resource for a company will be people," said Rainer Strack, a co-author of the report and senior partner in BCG's Düsseldorf office.

"Companies should understand how their workforce will develop, which job categories drive the business, and how demand will evolve.

With the uncertainty prevailing today, the human resources (HR) department should analyse different scenarios to figure out whether and how to find, hire, retrain, outsource, or lay off employees.

Very many companies were hit hard by the recession and had no option other than to shed staff. One could look at this as an opportunity as many companies will now be as lean as they have ever been and this provides an ideal platform from which to develop.

Staff planning should be a fundemental asect of a business plan, but it rarely is. Any kind of evolution results in change and if this is not planned the result is panic.

One result of the recession and the growth in the available, skilled workforce is that companies have an opportunity to 'try before you buy'. Very many people who would previously have not given consideration to interim or temp-to-perm type arrangements now will and this presents an ideal opportunity for companies to grow their staff at reduced cost and commitment.

The use of 'interims' or a temp-to-perm type arrangement should, of course, form part of the company's long-term strategic planning and, with the exception of a specific and defined interim assignment, a person taken on uder either of these arrangements should be viewed as an eventual permanent employee and, thus, normal recruitment processes should be applied.