Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition
Forecast the gap, then choose a staffing lever
Workforce planning compares demand (work volume, skills, locations) with supply (current headcount, attrition, retirement, internal mobility). The difference is the gap, and responses are often summarized as build (develop), buy (hire), borrow (contract or temporary), bridge (retrain or redeploy), or bind (retain). Job analysis is the foundation: it produces the job description (tasks, duties, responsibilities) and the job specification (knowledge, skills, abilities). Competency models extend this into behaviors.
Acquisition essentials
Know sourcing and the employer value proposition; structured, behavior-based interviews; and validated selection tools. Distinguish reliability (consistency) from validity (job-relatedness) and the validation approaches: content, criterion, and construct. Adverse impact is assessed with the four-fifths rule. Recruitment metrics include time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, source-of-hire, offer acceptance rate, and quality-of-hire; most are lagging, while pipeline and applicant-flow measures are leading. Compliance touchpoints include application and interview recordkeeping, background checks under FCRA (disclosure, authorization, adverse action), and Form I-9 verification.
Traps
Do not confuse a job description with a job specification. Do not select unstructured culture-fit interviews as best practice. The four-fifths rule is a computation: divide the protected group's selection rate by the highest group's rate; below 0.80 suggests adverse impact.
Worked example
One hundred men and sixty women apply; thirty men and twelve women are hired. Male rate is 30 percent, female rate is 20 percent, and 20 divided by 30 equals 0.67, below 0.80, so adverse impact is indicated and the procedure should be reviewed. Rule of thumb: forecast first, then choose build, buy, borrow, bridge, or bind, and never skip job analysis.