Recently, I attended a Federal Contracting Forum for Women Owned Businesses through the U.S. Women’s Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C.  One of the speakers, Jeffrey Beyer, from Citizant, a technology company located in Chantilly, VA, talked about the decisions that businesses make concerning where to invest their dollars in areas that are either financial or resources based or sometimes both.  As always, it’s a difficult decision because you want to hire more people to do the work, but you don’t always have the work to hire the people right away.  Consequently, decisions on where and when to invest can be daunting.   After reflecting on this discussion, I thought about how every organization has this challenge, whether they are a federal contractor or work exclusively in the private sector.  Firms make decisions on resources based on a number of things; some firms are always in a reactionary mode and can’t catch up to their current needs in order to plan ahead.    The following areas should be taken into consideration when pondering resource allocation decisions:

Strategic Resource Planning:  Some firms have the luxury of hiring strategically and before they hire they go through a planning process.  Organizations that go through a strategic planning process typically complete this process on an annual or bi-annual basis.  Part of the strategic planning may focus on Workforce Planning.  Some of the questions asked in workforce planning may include:  1) What are the organization’s upcoming projects and or assignments, 2) what are the firm’s goals and objectives, 3) what market sectors or new business is in the near future, 4) is the right staff in place to handle the upcoming workload, and 4) does the staff have the right skill sets and competencies for the positions?

Budgeting for Increased Resources:  After going through the workforce planning the focus should be on budgeting the necessary funds for these additional resources.   When organizations go through this process, think about these considerations:  1) Determine the number of positions needed for the next budget cycle; 2) how many of these positions are additional positions to those already in place, 3) identify the number of new positions and the potential promotional opportunities for current staff within the organization; 4) identify skill sets that are needed and complete a gap analysis, and finally,  5) identify a hiring strategy and timing for onboarding the new positions.

Forward planning involves going through the process of focusing on workforce development and planning.  Budget analysis for this will keep your organization focused on the future, the growth and the overall development and retention of staff.  The benefits of hiring strategically, rather than reacting to the workload, outweigh the energy and expense required by putting in the time and effort it takes to go through this process.  Strategic planning, forward thinking and investing in your resources pays off in the long-run and can position your organization for success.