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HR People Pod – Ep 59: Strategic workforce planning | Skills forecasting and productivity | The iced coffee debate

October 7, 2026 · 32 min

Show notes

The CIPD’s latest Resourcing and talent planning 2026 report, supported by Omni, reveals that an increasing number of organisations are extending their workforce planning timeframes from the short to the medium term. Overall, 24% take a short-term approach (up to six months), down from 31% in 2024. However just a fraction of organisations (16%) are planning more than two years into the future.


So how can organisations build a strategic workforce plan for three to five years out, when the pace of change makes even the near future hard to predict?


Plus, as recent City & Guilds research suggests that a shortage of so called ‘soft skills’ is restricting productivity and growth – how should we be recruiting and developing those skills in the workforce?


And finally, hear more on whether these HR leaders would bring an iced coffee to a job interview...

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