Line of Business: Workforce Planning
AIB has traditionally maintained a conventional bank organizational structure, centered around branches, where branch managers held senior positions with assistant managers. However, as the organization diversified and embraced digital transformation, functions such as data analytics, risk management, and technology became much more important. Consequently, traditional bank and career structures needed to be modernized.
From 2008 to 2019, AIB utilized various HR platforms and tools to enhance its internal organizational structure, providing employees with greater clarity and mobility across the organization while optimizing its HR processes.
By late 2019-2020, AIB had established a clearer career structure with foundational elements that facilitated clarity and mobility for employees. However, the organization still lacked a comprehensive understanding of its entire workforce. Previous tools and solutions worked well for the bank’s internal employees but didn’t analyze external partners and consultants who contributed to AIB’s overall workforce.
The Total Workforce Framework initiative marked the beginning of efforts to gain a broader perspective of the workforce. The AIB team aimed to understand the composition and balance between the internal and external workforce and analyze types of external workers, including partners, daily-rate contractors, and consultants. Rather than grouping them together, Brigín Walsh and her team wanted to understand when and for what activities AIB engaged each type of external worker. The bank sought to visualize data about their external workforce and make informed business decisions based on the insights. For instance, they aimed to determine the ideal ratio between internal and external workforce and establish mechanisms for tracking it.
The next AIB challenge is dynamic workforce planning, traditionally known as strategic workforce planning. While AIB now has a comprehensive understanding of its workforce, both internal and external, the team is still not able to see what the workforce in the future would and should be.
Today, there’s growing momentum to move towards dynamic workforce planning, driven by lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic. Businesses now need to consider proactive approaches rather than reactive ones and focus on dynamic workforce planning and agility. AIB has been collaborating with the Nakisa team to explore functionality that could support AIB’s agile journey.