For the next six weeks, Major League Baseball teams will train, condition, and practice in preparation for their 162-game regular season. From the fans’ perspective, spring training is just about baseball, but behind the scenes, team managers and owners are diligently focused on two activities not commonly associated with the sports world - workforce planning and skills management.
Each baseball organization uses the pre-season to look at their team’s talent, skills, and abilities and identify what is needed to be a winning ball club this year, next year and five years from now.
Workforce planning is all about making sure the organization will have the talent needed to ensure its success in the future. Teams determine what talent is needed based on supply and demand, and set strategies for finding, growing, and acquiring that talent.
Throughout this process, teams not only consider the talent available in the market, but also how their current players stack up. They think about whether players are likely to improve, they consider what players’ contracts look like, and they determine if players can be leveraged to acquire other talent.
Skills management focuses primarily on the team’s current workforce, but fits into the workforce planning process. The overall goal is to make sure players’ skills support the team’s strategy and it involves defining and assessing each player’s skills, identifying the role requirements needed to meet the team’s goals and analyzing the team’s inventory of skills.
Through this process teams are able to identify the best players for specific situations on the field which maximizes team performance. Teams also identify where they need to focus training and development efforts for their players and which skill shortages exist and need to be filled.
It’s often easy to forget that baseball teams are businesses too and that they face the same challenges as more traditional organizations. But whether you're managing a baseball team, a sales team, a manufacturing organization, or any other team of professionals, look at your workforce needs and set strategies for meeting your goals and ensuring your future success.
Skills management focuses primarily on the team’s current workforce, but fits into the workforce planning process. The overall goal is to make sure players’ skills support the team’s strategy and it involves defining and assessing each player’s skills, identifying the role requirements needed to meet the team’s goals and analyzing the team’s inventory of skills.
Through this process teams are able to identify the best players for specific situations on the field which maximizes team performance. Teams also identify where they need to focus training and development efforts for their players and which skill shortages exist and need to be filled.
It’s often easy to forget that baseball teams are businesses too and that they face the same challenges as more traditional organizations. But whether you're managing a baseball team, a sales team, a manufacturing organization, or any other team of professionals, look at your workforce needs and set strategies for meeting your goals and ensuring your future success.
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