Strategic Talent Planning Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Advanced Certificate on completion
Who attends Head of Talent Acquisition, Workforce Planning Manager and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-TPM-030

Before you join: Participants should have experience in HR, recruitment, workforce planning, talent management, learning, people analytics or operational leadership.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Strategic talent planning is the discipline of turning business priorities, service demand and technology change into decisions about workforce size, skills, roles and talent pipelines. HR leaders must balance permanent recruitment, contingent labour, internal mobility, development and succession while managing cost, delivery risk and scarce capability. For digital services, this includes competition for engineers, product professionals, cyber specialists, data roles and service-management talent.

This course develops the methods needed to build an evidence-based talent plan. Participants examine strategic workforce planning, skills taxonomies, demand forecasting, capacity modelling and resourcing-channel economics. They learn to design employer value propositions, improve candidate journeys, use structured selection methods, manage performance and conduct talent reviews. The course also covers succession planning, internal mobility, people analytics, talent dashboards, data governance and implementation governance.

Instruction combines short expert briefings with sector-based cases, group analysis, planning simulations and structured application work. Participants work with scenarios such as scaling a digital public service, reducing contractor dependency in a bank technology function and filling critical cyber-security roles. Delivery is available as a five-day classroom course in 50+ cities or live online, with training days running from 08:30 to 16:30. Participants receive a certificate of completion and leave with a practical strategic talent planning pack they can adapt for their own organisation.

The course is suited to experienced HR, resourcing, talent, workforce planning and people analytics professionals who influence workforce decisions or lead major talent initiatives.

What you will be able to do

  • Build a strategic workforce plan using demand, supply, capacity and scenario assumptions
  • Design a skills taxonomy and gap analysis for priority workforce segments
  • Forecast staffing demand using workload drivers, productivity ratios and attrition data
  • Evaluate resourcing options using sourcing-channel economics and build-buy-borrow analysis
  • Create structured selection systems using competency indicators, work samples and rating rubrics
  • Run talent reviews using nine-box criteria, succession slates and readiness definitions
  • Construct talent dashboards using quality-of-hire, mobility, retention and skills-risk measures
  • Produce a 90-day implementation roadmap with governance, milestones and risk controls

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Ability to present workforce scenarios credibly to senior business and finance stakeholders
  • Stronger judgement on when to hire, develop, redeploy, contract or outsource talent
  • Practical methods for diagnosing recruitment bottlenecks and improving source quality
  • Confidence to facilitate talent reviews, succession discussions and performance calibration
  • Reusable planning materials for leading a strategic talent initiative

For your organisation

  • Earlier identification of critical skill shortages and delivery risks
  • Better alignment between hiring budgets, workforce demand and service priorities
  • Reduced dependency on urgent recruitment and poorly controlled contingent labour
  • More defensible selection, performance and succession decisions
  • Clearer talent metrics for executive, finance and operational governance

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can translate business strategy into workforce demand, supply and capability priorities.

  • Business strategy translated into workforce demand, capability and capacity assumptions
  • Scenario planning using baseline, growth, constraint and disruption cases
  • Strategic workforce planning cycle: scan, model, act, monitor and refresh
  • Critical-role segmentation through value, scarcity, risk and replacement-time criteria
  • Build-versus-buy-versus-borrow decisions matched to skills supply evidence
  • Workforce planning governance, decision rights and planning-calendar integration

Participants can define critical skills and convert capability gaps into talent actions.

  • Skills taxonomy design using job architecture, proficiency levels and skill families
  • SFIA mapped to digital roles, responsibility levels and development pathways
  • Skills inventory data standards, validation rules and self-assessment controls
  • Gap analysis comparing current proficiency, future demand and external supply
  • Adjacent-skills analysis identifies redeployment pools for scarce technology roles
  • Skills-based workforce plans convert gaps into hiring, learning and mobility actions

Participants can model workforce demand and test staffing assumptions under uncertainty.

  • Demand forecasting models using workload drivers, productivity ratios and service volumes
  • FTE calculations distinguish productive hours, shrinkage, vacancies and contractor capacity
  • Capacity plans incorporate automation assumptions, service-level targets and seasonal peaks
  • 13-week hiring forecast reconciles requisitions, start dates and attrition
  • Monte Carlo simulation tests staffing-risk ranges under uncertain demand assumptions
  • Scenario scorecards compare cost, service, risk and capability trade-offs

Participants can select resourcing approaches and manage talent pipelines for priority roles.

  • Resourcing strategy balances permanent hiring, contingent labour, outsourcing and internal mobility
  • Talent segment propositions tailored to engineers, product managers and cyber specialists
  • Build sourcing-channel economics from conversion rates, cost-per-hire and time-to-fill
  • Recruitment funnel diagnostics identify drop-off, bias and bottleneck points
  • Talent pools managed through consent, relationship cadence and skills tagging
  • Vendor management scorecards assess agencies, RPO providers and contingent suppliers
  • Inclusive attraction plans use accessible processes, targeted outreach and language checks

Participants can design evidence-based attraction and candidate experience plans for critical talent segments.

  • Employer value proposition research links employee evidence, candidate needs and role realities
  • Personas define motivations, barriers, channels and messages for priority talent segments
  • Recruitment marketing campaigns specify audience, proposition, content, channel and conversion measures
  • Candidate journey mapping exposes friction from application through preboarding
  • Realistic job previews align expectations, performance standards and working conditions
  • Measure source quality through retention, performance, diversity and hiring-manager satisfaction
  • Digital reputation governance addresses review sites, social media and response ownership

Participants can design valid, fair and documented selection processes for priority roles.

  • Structured interview guides link competency indicators, questions, probes and anchored ratings
  • Work-sample tests mirror critical tasks while protecting validity and accessibility
  • Assessment-centre designs combine simulations, assessors, scoring rubrics and quality controls
  • Selection validity evidence distinguishes predictive value, reliability, fairness and utility
  • Adverse-impact monitoring applies four-fifths rule and documented escalation thresholds
  • Decision matrices integrate evidence, panel calibration, references and conditional offers
  • UK GDPR principles govern candidate data, retention schedules and access rights

Participants can align performance management with strategic outcomes, skills and role expectations.

  • Performance architecture connects enterprise objectives, team outcomes, role expectations and skills
  • OKRs distinguish outcome measures, key results, confidence ratings and review cadences
  • Goal-setting quality checks test alignment, controllability, measures and time horizons
  • Continuous performance conversations use SBI feedback, feedforward and documented commitments
  • Calibration sessions examine rating distributions, evidence standards and manager bias
  • Performance improvement plans define gaps, support, milestones, evidence and consequences
  • Recognition and reward links reinforce critical behaviours without distorting performance data

Participants can create succession and internal mobility plans for pivotal roles and talent segments.

  • Nine-box talent reviews separate performance evidence, potential indicators and readiness
  • Succession slates identify emergency, ready-now and ready-later coverage for pivotal roles
  • Talent review protocols calibrate potential judgements and challenge nomination bias
  • Development plans combine stretch assignments, mentoring, coaching and formal learning
  • Internal mobility marketplaces match skills profiles, aspirations and short-term assignments
  • Retention-risk assessments combine flight indicators, labour-market signals and manager insight
  • Knowledge-transfer plans protect continuity before planned exits and critical transitions

Participants can define talent measures and present evidence for workforce decisions.

  • People analytics questions framed through decisions, hypotheses, measures and accountable owners
  • Talent dashboards combine demand, supply, hiring, performance, mobility and retention metrics
  • Leading indicators distinguish pipeline health, skill risk and successor readiness
  • Quality-of-hire measurement combines performance, retention, ramp-up and manager evaluation
  • Attrition analysis separates regretted loss, controllable drivers and population segments
  • Data storytelling presents uncertainty, assumptions, actions and decision consequences clearly
  • Metric definitions establish data lineage, ownership, refresh frequency and auditability

Participants can implement a strategic talent plan with clear accountability, risks and review points.

  • Integrated talent plan aligns workforce scenarios, resourcing actions, budgets and milestones
  • RACI matrices assign accountability for HR, finance, technology leaders and managers
  • Risk registers track skill scarcity, hiring delays, attrition and supplier dependencies
  • Quarterly business reviews test workforce assumptions against operating results and forecasts
  • Change adoption plans address manager capability, communications, incentives and resistance
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence 30-, 60- and 90-day talent planning priorities
  • Personal application plan identifies stakeholders, first decisions and evidence required

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Strategic workforce planning scenario model
  2. Skills taxonomy and capability-gap analysis template
  3. Resourcing-channel economics scorecard
  4. Structured selection and interview rating pack
  5. Succession and talent-review framework
  6. 90-day talent plan implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Head of Talent Acquisition — needs to align hiring strategy with future workforce demand
  • Workforce Planning Manager — needs stronger forecasting, scenario modelling and governance methods
  • HR Business Partner — needs to translate business plans into talent priorities and interventions
  • Talent Management Lead — needs integrated succession, mobility and development processes
  • People Analytics Manager — needs decision-focused talent metrics and dashboard design
  • Digital Services Leader — needs practical options for building scarce technical capability

Skills and tools covered

Strategic workforce planningSkills gap analysisTalent acquisition strategyPerformance management designSuccession planningPeople analytics

Tools and standards

SFIA, Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), Nine-box grid, RACI matrix

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce each planning method, followed by case analysis, group exercises and decision simulations. Participants interpret workforce data, compare staffing scenarios, diagnose recruitment funnels and conduct structured talent reviews. Cases reflect digital services, regulated employers and large operational functions. Facilitated discussion tests assumptions, trade-offs and stakeholder objections. Individual application planning converts course methods into priorities, measures and first actions for each participant's workplace.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience in HR, recruitment, workforce planning, talent management, learning, people analytics or operational leadership. They should understand basic headcount, turnover, recruitment and performance measures, and be comfortable discussing workforce data with managers. Familiarity with spreadsheets is useful because planning examples use demand, supply and cost assumptions. Prior experience of formal workforce planning, statistical modelling, HR information systems or psychometric assessment is not required. The course explains the planning methods and gives participants structured templates for applying them.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should have practical exposure to HR, resourcing, talent management, workforce planning or people analytics. Formal forecasting, psychometric assessment and advanced statistical experience are not required.

Participants should bring a laptop for planning templates and case materials where possible. They may also bring non-confidential workforce figures, role profiles or current talent priorities to use during application planning.

The course suits experienced HR and talent professionals, workforce planners, recruitment leaders, HR business partners and digital services leaders. It is particularly relevant where scarce skills, service growth, workforce cost or succession risk require coordinated action.

Recruitment and performance management are covered as parts of an integrated talent system rather than as standalone processes. The main focus is making strategic choices about workforce demand, capability, supply, risk and investment.

Participants leave with templates for scenario planning, skills gaps, sourcing economics, succession and implementation planning. These can be used to structure a workforce discussion, talent review or resourcing decision after the course.

The five days contain approximately 32.5 contact hours, normally from 08:30 to 16:30 each day. Time is divided between instructor input, cases, group exercises, simulations, discussion and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

Related courses in Talent & Performance Management