Workforce segmentation
Workforce segmentation is a vital step to better understand our people and prioritise roles for action. One of the simplest ways to do this is in line with the framework for human resources architecture, devised by Professors David Lepak and Scott Snell . An adapted version of this framework, below, proves highly effective for segmentation of the workforce based on their capabilities.
It separates the workforce into four quadrants based on the uniqueness and value of workforce segments to the organisation.
- Specialists are those roles that are unique to the organisation or the industry and tend to require expertise in exclusive technologies or processes. As a result, performance levels are fairly uniform; once competence is achieved there is little or no variability in the value that is generated. A great example are drivers on the London underground: their high levels of training are focused on operating the tube trains and do not transfer to a bus. Provided they are competent and safe, a driver cannot operate in the underground in a way that creates greater or lesser value to passengers than their peers could generate.
- Professionals are very much the opposite of specialists and are common across all industries. Great examples are those who work in HR, finance and project management, where professional standards are set by bodies that sit outside the organisation, such as CIPD, ACCA and APMP. These knowledge workers rarely find themselves working within constrained processes; as a result, the performance and value generated between two different professionals can differ greatly.
- Operators are the administrative and manual roles that exist within our organisations. They include the entry-level roles that might be the first step towards a specialist or a professional role. Though their capabilities are common across industries, they remain guided heavily by processes, which means there is little variability in performance and value.
- Criticals share many characteristics of both specialists and professionals, which is often the background of those workers. Like specialists, these roles will have capabilities that are unique to the organisation. However, just like professionals these are knowledge workers where individual performance can drive exponential value for customers and the organisation. These roles are what are often known as the “A Positions” within a business, “those in which top talent significantly enhances the probability of achieving the business strategy”.
