In the first step, you look ahead. What developments do you expect in the next three to five years? Think about developments in your department's field, the job market or changes in the organisation. What ambition do you have for your team? How does this ambition fit into the strategy of your unit and of VU Amsterdam? What risks do you see? You can, for example, make a SWOT analysis. Translate this picture of the future roughly into the knowledge and competencies you need for a successful team in the future. 

In the next step you map the composition of your current team, for example in skills, experience and performance. Also use information such as age and years of service to factor in future changes. In this step, you take a “picture” of your team and each employee's position in performance and in development. Can an employee still grow in their position? Is it time for a career move now or in a few years? What outflow is to be expected? You discuss this picture with other managers. This creates a joint picture of the current team and its possibilities for the future. 

You can visualise this step in several ways. Preferably use the Succession module in SuccessFactors, with a matrix that displays the chosen academic focus areas for academic staff through talent flags.  

You then compare the scan of the current team to the ideal team of the future. If we do nothing, where will we be in five years? Are we realising our ambition or is action needed? For example, in development, advancement policy or attracting new talent. In doing so, look not only at individual employees, but also at function groups within your team and across teams. A talented employee might fit better into the ideal team in another department. In this way, Strategic Personnel Planning contributes to the sustainable employability of employees.       

In this step, you work out the actions needed to grow your current team into the team you need in the future. For example, in training plans that match the strategy, talent policies for specific employee groups or a new recruitment strategy. Make this plan as SMART as possible.  

In this step, you will implement the measures. Discuss the outcomes of Strategic Personnel Planning with your employees. Main points can be discussed in a team meeting, individual outcomes can be discussed in the annual consultation. The plan of approach helps to steer the development of employees and to properly align individual development wishes with the future ambitions of the team. 

Remember to regularly review the plan of action: circumstances change quickly and it is important to regularly adjust your plan accordingly. Some units therefore choose to conduct an annual potential scan in order to adjust the plan of action in time.