Strategic workforce planning: Align talent to enable business strategy

Transform strategy into success with tech-enabled tools and capabilities paired with McKinsey’s talent expertise
Request a demo
What talent do you need to succeed—now and in the future? Tap into workforce management to evolve faster than ever.

Strategic workforce planning is crucial to achieve your business strategy. Organizations must anticipate workforce needs, address skills gaps, and optimize their talent strategy to maintain a competitive edge. Leading organizations invest heavily in talent; strategic workforce planning helps maximize return on that investment.

McKinsey’s approach helps organizations translate their strategic goals into the talent they need, ensuring the right skills are available at the right time. Our strategic workforce planning solution leverages unparalleled data and analytics to deliver talent insights quickly and more effectively.

How we support you

Maximize your return on talent to stay ahead of skill shifts

Strategic workforce planning links your talent to business strategy so that you can understand who you have today, what gaps will appear tomorrow, and how to close those gaps faster.
Request a demo
Laptop screen showcasing McKinsey Skills intelligence
Link talent to business value
With a deep understanding of your strategy, we anticipate how your talent needs will evolve over time. We identify the key talent drivers of business outcomes, pinpointing the critical roles and skills essential for success and how to align systems to adapt. This yields a clear talent roadmap for today and tomorrow.
Identify and close gaps before they cause disruptions
We identify skills gaps and how to overcome them to ensure the right talent is in place. By analyzing and forecasting demand, organizations are able to align resources and proactively upskill, redeploy, or hire talent to solve gaps before they impact performance.
Evaluate and stay ahead of competitive landscape
We leverage proprietary data to analyze talent needs, benchmark against competitors, anticipate industry shifts, and align workforce capabilities with future goals. This helps companies support an ever-changing workforce while solidifying a competitive edge.

Recent client impact

Our capabilities

The latest in strategic workforce planning—enabled by leading research, data, and technology

Laptop screen showcasing McKinsey Skills mix
Define capacity and capabilities
Understand the current and future state of roles, skills, and job families needed to deliver maximum performance
Laptop screen showcasing McKinsey Role planner
Align on a robust skills taxonomy
Bring structure and granularity to your internal taxonomy with gen AI and workforce management software
Laptop screen showcasing McKinsey Demand planner
Forecast labor pool shifts
Understand future needs and implications on certain talent pools over the next five to ten years
Laptop screen showcasing McKinsey intelligence
Benchmark and analyze
Remain competitive amid shifting technology needs and significant demographic shifts
Request a demo

Featured experts

Vincent Bérubé
Senior PartnerMontréal
Helps clients define their AI and digital strategies and execute at-scale transformations to capture the benefits of these technologies.
Sandra Durth
PartnerCologne
Drives stronger business performance by helping develop and guide transformational programs that inspire leaders and employees at all levels to adopt new ways of working, organizing, and leading
Neel Gandhi
PartnerNew York
Advises leading organizations on how to strengthen their talent-management capabilities and build an HR function that operates as a true strategic partner and value driver for the business
Cheryl Lim
PartnerKuala Lumpur
Advises public- and private-sector clients in education, youth employment and engagement, and tourism, as they pursue policy, system, and organization transformation

Track value from talent management with our strategic workforce planning solution.

Request a demo