Common Mistakes in Workforce Planning

Having scaled billion-dollar businesses as a people/talent leader, I see executive teams get drawn into the same traps alarmingly often in these final stages of the year. Here’s how I identify and counter these critical mistakes: 1️⃣ Sleeping on leadership gaps/changes. Savvy execs have already identified weaknesses in leadership and are acting to get key people in place ready for next year. Remember that loyalty is not identical to competence; be honest with yourself about who can strategically take you to the next level and who has been 'getting us by' whilst the storm passes (reward/reposition accordingly). My VC contacts have reported that demand has doubled for leadership hires already in Q3; expect a ton of movement in Q4 and 'don’t be that company' rushing to make last minute changes. 2️⃣ Beginning strategy planning too late. Starting to plan in December is a guaranteed way to stall in Q1, waste resources and piss off your entire company in the process. If you can't start by October and be finalised by November end, revisit point one. In early December, communicate it widely to your people. Be bold and offer a limited-time, generous exit package for those who are not 100% on board; you need motivated people only in Q1. Finally, kick-off your team on the very first day back in January via a riveting all-hands launch... the backlog of junk mail can wait! 3️⃣ Lifting off the gas on hiring in December. It is a myth that no hiring happens in December, made up years ago by lazy recruiting/hiring teams. Guess what? Most people are chilling out in December, waiting for the leadership team to finish strategy planning and provide direction! The biggest moves happen in this period; you just don’t hear about them until January. At worst, it's a perfect time for Recruiters to source and screen, but don't ignore your responsibility to interview. Avoid the January rat race and catch that worm early! 4️⃣ Being a grinch with time-off over the holidays. You’ve got your new leaders, your 2024 plans are announced, and your managers are ahead on hiring. January is a long month and you need people pumped to execute rather than miserably flicking through InMails from Recruiters. Plan to proactively give people the maximum amount of time-off that you possibly can in December, without it significantly hindering your business. Of course you'll need volunteers for certain coverage, but the sentiment alone from insisting that people maximise R&R will drive up engagement and loyalty. Make sure to communicate that, in return, we are operating at full-throttle on Jan-1. Get ahead of the crowd, take control, and lets ready-up for an unbelievable 2024. For help executing on these recommendations, hit me up. Also, let me know what I’ve missed in the comments/share war stories and join my 30k followers for occasional insights if you’d like; I write my own content 😊 🚀 #leadership #strategy #hr #people #hiring

We continue to see upheaval in the insights profession and have way too many candidates for too few open positions. Some days it feels dysfunctional battlefield filled with desperate, frustrated people – and that’s on the hiring side. Insights Career Network interviewed 38 recruiters and hiring managers and 32 job seekers last year on the hiring process in insights and I have spoken to countless professionals through our bi-weekly meetups that tell me we are facing a Qualification Paradox; How do we have an abundance of both underqualified & overqualified candidates, but none that are ‘just the right fit’? There’s room for improvement. What’s Not Working: ❌ Quick Apply: Do you really need MORE applicants?  Many of the recruiters and hiring managers interviewed said they wanted customized applications but couldn’t guarantee they would read cover letters. ❌ Lengthy Timelines & Extensive Cast Studies: Multiple rounds of interviews, long waiting periods, rejection notifications months after the application, and minimal feedback leaves candidates frustrated. Requiring original research work or strategic planning exercises can backfire with experienced candidates wary of doing “free work”. ❌ Lack of Transparency & Ghosting: Applicants and interviewees are left in the dark about where they stand in the process, even especially after interviewing. ❌Overemphasis on “Perfect Fit”: Companies often focus too much on checking every box, overlooking candidates with diverse, transferable skills ❌Internal recruiters without proper context: They can only work with the guidelines they are given, so they may be more likely to lean on what they know, including biases about geographic location and age, when filtering candidates when there are gaps. ❌Brain Drain. It is now common for an experienced market research, UX, CX or another insights professional to be unemployed from the insights profession for 2 years. Many chose to leave or retire early. How Can We Make It Better? ✅ Set clear timelines, communicate them to interviewees, and stick to them ✅ Tailor the process to the position level:  entry/junior level ⇒ 2-3 interviews,  mid level ⇒ 3-4 .interviews,  senior/exec level ⇒ 4-5 ✅ Improve Communication: Cut them lose as soon as you know they aren’t a fit. Even a simple “We’re still reviewing applications,” can go a long way. ✅ Partnership and alignment: Invest in the relationships between Hiring Managers, Talent Acquisition and Recruiters – ensure that the needs and requirements for the role are realistic, intimately understood and that success criteria are clear. Focus on potential and note flexibility on education, location, or adjacent experiences. ✅Throw some AI at the quantity problem. But remember who is in charge and train the tool to include what’s really important to you. ✅ Experiment: Share the questions you plan with candidates prior to the interview, consider experienced candidates for individual contributor roles.  Randy Adis

74% of CEOs admit to making bad hires that haunt them for years. Here are the 6 biggest mistakes even the "pros" admit to making: 1. Hiring the "Mini-Me" ↳ Subconsciously hiring your personality doppelgänger. ↳ Creating an echo chamber instead of a diverse powerhouse team. 2. Shiny resume syndrome ↳ Getting so hyped up with big names on CVs and ignoring actual impact. ↳ Overlooking scrappy self-starters who could run circles around your Ivy League hires. 3. Putting urgency above culture fit ↳ Panic-hiring to fill seats quickly — leaving you with a cart full of junk you’ll regret later. ↳ Sacrificing long-term fit for short-term relief. 4. Skipping the trial run ↳ Not making use of paid trial periods or project-based assessments. ↳ Missing out on seeing how candidates actually perform in real-world scenarios 5. Overselling the position way too hard ↳ Painting the role as all rainbows and unicorns ↳ Hiding challenges or downplaying difficult aspects of the role that lead to early turnover. 6. Speedrunning the onboarding process ↳ Thinking a one-day orientation is enough (spoiler: it's not) ↳ Forgetting that new hires need a bit of hand-holding in their first few months Feeling a bit called out? Don't worry, we've all been there. But here's the thing: recognizing these pitfalls is the first step to avoiding them. Here's to building teams that don't just fill seats, but fill potential. If this just saved you from your next hiring disaster, share this and help a fellow homie from making the wrong hiring moves. Let's make hiring less of a headache! And hey, while you're at it, give me a follow for more straight-talking advice on building teams that rock. Trust me, your future self will be glad you did.