Managers' perceptions of strategic workforce planning and organizational alignment: A single case analysis
Open Access
- Author:
- Alzahmi, Rashed
- Graduate Program:
- Workforce Education and Development
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- December 04, 2015
- Committee Members:
- William J Rothwell, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
William J Rothwell, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
David Lynn Passmore, Committee Member
Edgar Paul Yoder, Committee Member
Mark D Threeton, Committee Member - Keywords:
- strategic workforce planning
organizational alignment
strategic planning
talent
ADNOC and its Group of Companies - Abstract:
- In the contemporary business environment, organizations are striving to manage their workforce effectively in order to keep up with current needs and achieve sustained high performance while predicting the nature and impact of future changes and challenges. This process requires an effective and appropriate strategic workforce plan (SWP) that meets the organization’s short-and long-term goals. SWP is considered one of the most critical functions determining an organization’s performance and sustainability. It is a process used to align an organization’s human capital strategies and practices to its current and emerging mission and strategic goals to ensure that the organization has the right people, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost. Based on several studies, almost every organization regardless of size engages in some sort of SWP, but too often SWP fails to achieve the desired results. The purpose of this qualitative single case study is to explore, describe, and interpret how managers perceived strategic workforce planning and organizational alignment as aspects of human capital management (HCM) in the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and its Group of Companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The conceptual framework guiding this study is the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) model “Human Capital: A Self-Assessment Checklist for Agency Leaders.” Of this model’s five key areas, the study focuses on strategic planning, organizational alignment, and talent because of their relevance to SWP. The data, which were triangulated with documents and archival records, were collected via face-to-face interviews with employees working as line managers for ADNOC and its Group of Companies. Content analysis was used to understand and interpret the findings. The analysis of the data resulted in the emergence of nine major themes: (1) defining and communicating a shared vision, (2) nationalizing human capital (Emiratization), (3) integrating and aligning policies and practices, (4) identifying current and future workforce needs, (5) promoting engagement and collaboration, (6) evaluating and benchmarking, (7) recruiting and hiring strategies, (8) investing in education, training, and professional development, and (9) offering attractive compensation and benefits. These themes were synthesized into three areas of discussion: strategic planning, organizational alignment, and talent. The study provides significant evidence verifying how line managers perceive SWP and organizational alignment as aspects of human capital management within their respective organizations. The study found that the areas of strategic planning, organizational alignment, and talent are integrated in ADNOC and its Group of Companies, although a few areas requiring further improvement and implementation were identified. Moreover, the study shows that the organization has logical and well-organized human capital policies and practices that are incorporated and aligned well in support of its strategic goals such that they help the organization maintain a competitive advantage. The overall conclusion is that any organization must constantly monitor and evaluate all its practices to ensure that its SWP is aligned with its strategic goals so that its mission and vision can be fulfilled. Findings from this study can be used as a basis for furthering understanding of human capital system development and identifying the key business factors in organizations of a similar size and/or with other similar characteristics that may make their SWP more effective. The study provided significant evidence verifying how line managers perceived SWP and organizational alignment as aspects of human capital management within their respective organizations. The findings led to a deeper understanding and exploration of the procedures and practices employed by ADNOC and its Group of Companies to align the organization’s human capital management system with its SWP in order to maximize value and manage risk. The study found that the areas of strategic planning, organizational alignment, and talent are integrated in ADNOC and its Group of Companies. Moreover, the study shows that the organization has coherent human capital policies and practices that are integrated and aligned to support its strategic goals and sustain a competitive advantage. The overall conclusion is that any organization must constantly monitor and evaluate all its practices to ensure that its SWP is aligned with its strategic goals so its mission, goals and objectives can be fulfilled. Findings from this study can be used as a basis for furthering understanding of human capital system development in organizations and as a basis for any organization to identify the key business factors that may make its strategic workforce planning more effective.