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Strategic Staffing: A Practical Toolkit for Workforce Planning Author: Thomas P. Bechet Publisher: AMACOM, 2002. ISBN 0814407285.
Strategic Staffing, released in the last half of 2002 by AMACOM, is a great addition to the HR planner's bookcase. The book is designed to help the reader understand and initiate strategic staffing processes. It provides specific examples and learning exercises for developing the necessary skills for successful workforce planning, and provides excellent examples of successes and typical failures for those undertaking this type of activity.
The definition of workforce planning has evolved over time, but is commonly described as "having the right people at the right place, at the right time, with the right skills and competencies to achieve the objectives of the enterprise at the right price." Bechet abandons this complex definition and substitutes strategic staffing. he explains: "Strategic staffing is the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications of business strategies and plans. Better still, strategic staffing can be defined as the process of identifying and addressing the staffing implications of change."
I once worked for a strategic planning executive who lectured, "the real purpose of a strategic plan is not to have a precise forecast of the future, but rather to position an organization...