Workforce planning is about having “the fastest driver in the fastest car”, according to the senior general manager, group HR at international shipping company Maersk. Thomas Hedegaard Rasmussen told the recent Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development Recruitment (CIPD), Resourcing and Talent Management Conference that it was a waste of talent if the top performers weren’t in the most important jobs. “It’s very simple: right person, right job, right time. It’s not rocket science,” he added.

Talent is what enables us to deliver on the strategy. Most important is leadership talent. Some executives are better at performing some tasks than others – for example, some are better at fixing companies and some at growing companies

THOMAS RASMUSSEN, MAERSK

Rasmussen said in his experience traditional suceession planning only worked in 25% of cases. He said one reason was that 50% of staff changed their minds about their career intentions. And he outlined Maersk’s approach to its top 1,000 employees:

• Defining talent “Talent is what enables us to deliver on the strategy. Most important is leadership talent,” said Rasmussen Looking at the 30% “mission critical positions”, the 60% that are “impactful” and the 10% that are “less impactful”. For instance, “the sales director for Brazil, which is growing, is more important than the sales director for Denmark, which is a mature market”, explained Rasmussen
  
• Identifying top talent involves focus on performance. Must be in the top 30% quartile of performers in two of the last three years
  
• Matches talent to the future needs of the business in which two or three business scenarios, such as business expansion, are explored. Those that can deliver top quartile performance in those future scenarios
  
• Examining a candidate’s ’state of readiness’ are they ready now, in less than a year or in three to five years? “Some executives are better at performing some tasks than others for example, some are better at fixing companies and some at growing companies,” said Rasmussen
  
• Those identified as having potential are also interviewed by HR “We really get to know them,” said Rasmussen.
  
• Rasmussen said the approach encouraged proactivity instead of simply reacting to vacancies.