Whitepaper

Identifying Critical Roles,

Easier Said Than Done!
A best practice approach to addressing
the missing link in talent management

“ Colin Beames is a global thought leader

in SWP. His content is more advanced
By Colin Beames than typically what has existed on this
subject.”
BA (Hons) Qld, BEng (Hons), MBA, MAPS
Corporate Psychologist Mike Haffenden, CEO, Corporate Research Forum, UK
2 Summary

The Business Case for Identifying contribute to strategic impact.

Critical Roles

The business case for identifying Critical Roles A Critical Role Model Best Practice
is compelling. By investing disproportionally Approach
in the people and resources associated with
such roles, this will have maximum leverage We present the Advanced Workforce
on enhancing organisational performance, Strategies (AWS) Skills-Based Workforce
contribute to the achievement of strategic and Segmentation
Model, adapted from the work
business objectives, and provide longer-term of Lepak and Snell (1999), as a “best practice”
competitive advantage. approach to the identification of Critical Roles.

Role differentiation (e.g., “make” versus “buy” This model serves as a basis for identifying
roles) constitutes the essence of developing an various role types (Critical Roles, “make” roles,
effective workforce strategy, starting with the “buy” roles, roles suitable for outsourcing). It
identification of Critical Roles. 
 is based on analyzing roles according to two
dimensions of skills: (1) skills value and (2) skills
However, definitions of what constitutes Critical uniqueness. Critical Roles are defined as having
Roles abound, many of which are piecemeal higher skills value (i.e., impact on business
or ad hoc, lacking in rigour, and/or of limited outcomes) and higher skills uniqueness (i.e.,
utility. Furthermore beyond the rhetoric around cost).
Critical Roles, there is very little available by way
of a framework, model and methodology for
identifying Critical Roles. Thus the identification Case Studies in Critical Roles
of Critical Roles in practise is easier said than
We present three case studies that illustrate
done!
the adverse consequences of failing to identify
Consequently there is a danger of relying on Critical Roles. These consequences include
“gut feel” and opinion with politics filling the poorer performance, higher turnover and
gap, resulting in unintelligent people investment unintelligent or misplaced investment decisions
decisions and less than optimum organisational in people.
outcomes.

Conclusion
Critical Role Traps, Considerations,
The “best practice” approach to the
Value Creation and Strategic identification of Critical Roles, including a model
Impact and associated methodology, accommodates
all of the Critical Role considerations, common
We highlight three common traps in identifying
traps and limitations outlined in this white paper.
Critical Roles and discuss a number of other
Such a rigorous approach that has been lacking
Critical Role considerations. We also explore
in the HR domain, constitutes a vital missing link
role value creation and strategic impact as key
in talent management and Strategic Workforce
concepts in the identification of Critical Roles.
Planning.
We conclude that the identification of Critical
Roles is an exercise in complexity. There is a
need to understand the deeper characteristics
of roles and how roles create value and
3 Table of Contents

2 Summary

4 Part 1: About Critical Roles

4 The Business Case for Identifying Critical Roles
4 Many Definitions of Critical Roles
5 3 Common Traps and Limitations in Identifying Critical Roles
6 4 Other Critical Role Considerations
7 Critical Roles: A Complex Concept

8 Part 2: A Best Practice Approach to Identifying Critical Roles

8 The AWS Skills-Based Workforce Segmentation Model
9 Four Role Types
10 Intelligent Investment
10 Calculating the Cost of Turnover for Critical Roles
10 External Focus of the AWS Skills-Based Workforce Segmentation Model

12 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

12 Case Study 1: A Misplaced Emphasis by Relying on Organisation Charts Resulting in
Unintelligent Investment
15 Case Study 2: Mistaken (Role) Identity and the High Cost of Turnover 

16 Case Study 3: Not Seeing the Wood for the Trees and Performance Issues

17 Conclusions

18 References

19 Appendices

19 A: The Skills Segmentation Questionnaire (SSQ) and Plotting of Roles

20 B: The Workforce Strategy Audit Survey (WSAS)
21 C: Critical Roles and Talent Management

23 About the Author

24 About Advanced Workforce Strategies

4 Part 1: About Critical Roles

The Business Case for Identifying “gut feel”, and/or are of limited utility.

Critical Roles
We contend that two key considerations in
identifying Critical Roles are value creation and
The quickest route to increasing strategic impact.
shareholder wealth is to increase
employee performance in critical
Value Creation
positions. (Becker, Huselid & Beatty, 2009)

Value can be manifested in a number of ways,

The identification of Critical Roles should e.g., enhanced customer satisfaction, cost
be a key focus for organisations in their reduction, improved quality, greater efficiency
people investment decisions. By investing or time to market, improved systems and
disproportionally in the people and resources processes, improved financial performance
associated with such roles, this will have (e.g., ROI, cash flow), product and services
maximum leverage on enhancing organisational innovation, etc. So roles need to be assessed
performance, contribute to the achievement of according to the various types of value that they
strategic and business objectives, and provide create (i.e., against a value creation framework),
longer-term competitive advantage. including the impact of this value creation (e.g.,
whether localized or widespread across the
Roles come first before people without organisation).
diminishing the importance of the latter. A role
exists, as part of the organisational structure,
to perform a function that ultimately contributes Strategic Impact: Linking Roles to the
to the provision of products and services that Business Strategy
the organisation provides. Not all roles are
of
or create equal value, so it follows that the Determining the strategic impact of roles
people in those roles are also not of equal involves linking the business strategy and
value in terms of their contribution to business outcomes to the concept of “Role Criticality”.
outcomes. For example, if the business strategy is to
improve the quality of its products and services,
Note. Irrespective of the value of people, they then roles associated with quality assume
still need to be treated with respect, honesty greater importance. Alternatively if the business
and fairness. model is changing to a web-based model, then
roles associated with improved processes and
This role differentiation (e.g., “make” versus
systems (including design implementation and
“buy” roles), including the identification of
maintenance of IT systems) assume greater
Critical Roles, constitutes the essence of
importance.
developing an effective workforce strategy.

Another strategy consideration is the critical

capability(s) of the organisation and how
Many Definitions of Critical Roles
certain roles may be more closely linked to
As is the case with many concepts in the Human the maintenance and strengthening of this
Resources domain, there is no universally capability(s).
accepted definition of what constitutes a Critical
Note. The critical capability(s) or an
Role. This is a somewhat “grey” area with some
organisation is what differentiates it from its
Critical Role definitions and approaches being
competitors. It is the reason why customers
piecemeal or ad hoc, lacking in rigour, relying on
buy its products and services.
5 Part 1: About Critical Roles

For example, it may be the case that an a “blunt” approach. It indicates a lack of
organisation’s critical capability is its cheaper understanding of the true value of a role in
products (i.e., the organisation competes on relation to the business, the lack of a workforce
cost and price). Therefore roles associated strategy, and is an exercise in mediocrity!
with controlling costs and increasing internal
efficiencies become more significant as
these roles are more closely linked to the 2. Identifying Critical Roles Based on
critical capability of the organisation and the Organisational Structure Considerations
preservation of its longer-term competitive
advantage.

3 Common Traps and Limitations

in Identifying Critical Roles

Many organisations are locked into obsolete

mindsets and models that have exceeded their
“use by” date in the identification of Critical
Roles. To that end, we have identified three Some organisations may adopt a hierarchical
common traps. model of determining Critical Roles based
on organisational charts and job title
considerations. Whilst this hierarchical
1. Identifying Critical Roles by Job model may be suitable for defining reporting
Evaluation/Salary Levels arrangements and determining limits of
authority, it doesn’t explain how roles create
value and how they are linked to the business
The conventional approach to job
strategy and business outcomes.
evaluation is static, inflexible and primarily
focused on internal equity... There is a
Put another way, it is nonsense to think that jobs
need to move away from conventional
at the same level in an organisation:
approaches to determining job importance
and job-worth to a model that focuses on • Contribute equally to the achievement of the
future value creation, strategic job worth business strategy and outcomes; or
and competitive advantage. (Becker,
• Have the same Employment Value
Huselid & Beatty, 2009)
Proposition or Pyschological Contract or
cost of turnover.
The above quote says it all and reinforces the
importance of value creation and strategic If Critical Roles are determined by organisational
impact referred to previously. With respect structural considerations, by continuing to
to salary levels, to a certain extent they are a invest in talent/roles by hierarchical level, and
reflection of market forces and internal equity not by value creation and strategic impact,
considerations, and may not necessarily reflect the danger is that over time, this results in
the true value of a role’s contribution to the an underinvestment in some roles and an
business (i.e., value creation, competitive overinvestment in other roles.
advantage). Furthermore paying all people in
the organisation at the same salary benchmark This misplaced investment includes
level (e.g., at the market mid-point) constitutes consideration of selection and recruitment,
6 Part 1: About Critical Roles

remuneration and benefits, learning and Such mistakes are therefore likely to damage
development, engagement and retention, the reputation of the organisation (including its
availability of resources, etc. Furthermore, given OH&S record) resulting in heavy compensation
that we are moving towards more networked pay outs and/or loss of customers. Hence
organisations and away from hierarchy, the this loss of reputation impacts adversely on
hierarchical segmentation model is becoming the value creation of the role (i.e., destroys
less relevant anyway. value). High-risk should therefore be taken into
consideration in identifying Critical Roles.

3. “Hard to Fill” Roles Are Not

Necessarily Critical 2. Legally Required Roles

Some organisations may equate “hard to fill” Some roles are required for legal and
roles with being Critical Roles. “Hard to fill” compliance reasons. Without these roles
adds to the costs associated with the role (or being occupied by appropriately licensed or
role uniqueness – see later) in that most likely qualified staff, the organisation is unable to
the role is vacant for a longer than normal operate (legally) and would be in breach of
period (i.e., compared to other roles) when the legislation or licensing conditions. Any such role
incumbent leaves. Hence the cost associated vacancy would most likely cause a shut down
with lost performance due to this vacancy as of operations with an increase in costs and/
well as the additional effort and cost incurred in or a loss of revenue. These roles may therefore
sourcing candidates is typically higher. adversely impact on the value creation (i.e.,
destroy value). Required roles should therefore
However, “hard to fill” is more a reflection of a be taken into consideration in identifying Critical
shortage of supply (i.e., external factors) rather Roles.
than internal organisational factors, including
role characteristics and how the role adds
value. Furthermore, “hard to fill” roles may 3. Disproportionate Influence of the Role
not necessarily be high value adding roles or
have limited strategic impact (e.g., tradesman It may be the case that a role has a
in a large mining processing plant). Such disproportionate impact on business outcomes
roles should not therefore be automatically such as reducing costs, increasing sales or
categorized as being Critical. revenue, innovation with the development of a
new product or service, etc. In other words, the
Note. The concept of “hard to fill” is further role has value adding creation over and above
elaborated upon later in this white paper. what would normally be the case. Under such
circumstances, this value adding impact should
be taken into account in identifying Critical
4 Other Critical Role
Roles.
Considerations

4. Critical Roles: A Fluid Concept

1. High Risk Roles
Some may argue that all roles are critical. To
Some organisations may equate high-risk roles use a sporting analogy, it is important that all
with being Critical Roles. High-risk roles are players are on the field to remain competitive
those roles where the making of a mistake may but depending on:
result in severe or catastrophic repercussions.
7 Part 1: About Critical Roles

• The state and duration of the game; answer to this question will depend on the
• The strengths and weaknesses of your team; characteristics or nature of the business,
including the business strategy. There is no
• The strengths and weaknesses of the
magic wand or silver bullet solution - each
opposition team;
business needs to be assessed taking into
some positions will be more Critical than others account all of the above considerations.
at a particular stage of the game (e.g., defensive
versus attacking positions). Despite the rhetoric about the importance
of Critical Roles, a simple google search
As in the case of business, the identification reveals there is little by way of a model and
of Critical Roles is a fluid concept not fixed. methodology in the definitive identification of
As the business strategy changes, so will the Critical Roles. What is required is a framework
classification of some of the roles (i.e., from of understanding, a model and a methodology
Critical to Non-Critical and vice versa. that:

• Takes into account the above limitations and

Critical Roles: A Complex Concept considerations;
• Is comprehensive, rigorous and has the
From the above common traps, limitations
utility to apply to any organisation of any
and considerations, there is some degree of
complexity in the identification of Critical Roles. composition and size.
In short, Critical Roles are not easy to identify.

For example is the Marketing Director more

critical than the Director of Services? The
 Part 2: A Best Practice Approach
8 to Identifying Critical Roles

The AWS Skills-Based Workforce value, and (2) skills uniqueness, relating to the
delivery of products and services. Critical Roles
Segmentation Model
are defined as having higher skills value (i.e.,
impact) and higher skills uniqueness (i.e., cost).
The most prominent conceptual
 model
remains Lepak and Snell’s (1999) Note. Unfortunately there is a gap between
architectural theory of HRM (Cappelli and research and practice in the HR domain, as
Keller, 2014) is often the case in other fields. This skills-
based model has not necessarily made its
way into the mainstream HR space despite
Advanced Workforce Strategies (AWS)
its prominence in the academic field. Many
has developed a Skills-Based Workforce
HR professionals are not necessarily au
Segmentation Model adapted from Lepak and
fait with journal articles, research and what
Snell’s (1999) HRM architectural model, as
some of the HR gurus are advocating and
illustrated in the diagram below.
have adopted, or contrived other models
that are less rigorous and of lesser utility.
This workforce segmentation model of roles
is based on two dimensions of skills: (1) skills
High

Quadrant 4 Quadrant 1
“Specialists” “Criticals”
PC Long term (Relational) PC Long term (Relational)
$ Higher initial investment $ Higher investment
T 1.5–2.5 T 2–2.5

E.g. Train drivers, air traffic controllers, casino E.g. managers, designers, etc. Have tacit
dealers, etc. Associated with firm specific knowledge which may be path / supply
Skills Uniqueness

systems, procedures, equipment, or products. chain dependent.

Quadrant 3 Quadrant 2
“Doers” “Professionals, Skilled / Semi Skilled”
PC Short/long term (Transactional) PC Short/long term (Hybrid)
$ Low investment $ Lower investment
T 0.3–0.5 T 0.5–1.0

E.g. Manual labour, admin. E.g. Nurses, CPA’s, project engineers, etc.
Generic skills, influence costs, efficiency,
customer benefits and services, etc.
Low

Low Skills Value High

PC Psychological Contract Type $ Investment in Training & Development

T Turnover Multiple of the Salary of the Job
 Part 2: A Best Practice Approach
9 to Identifying Critical Roles

Valuable Skills Unique Skills

Valuable skills may create lower costs, increase Unique skills are organisational specific, unlikely
revenue, contribute to innovation,
or enhance to be found in the open market, hard to replace,
internal organisational efficiency. They comprise and may be difficult for competitors to imitate
or
up to nine key value drivers: duplicate. These skills need to be nurtured over
time, given that they are not developed and
1. Revenue/sales, acquired overnight. Hence organisations are
2. Stakeholder relations, more likely to invest in the education, training,
3. Cost and efficiency, and development of these skills (i.e., they have
4. Quality, a higher cost tag associated with them). This
5. Innovation, investment may be in the form of on-the-job
6. Organisational capability, training over a period of time, or specific upfront
7. Reputation/risk management, in-house training before the individual is able to
8. Financial, and undertake the job.
9. Processes/systems.

Various roles will comprise one or more of these “Hard to Fill” Roles
value drivers, with their impact ranging from
localized to widespread across the organisation, As referred to earlier, “hard to fill” is a de facto
and can be analysed accordingly. component of uniqueness but uniqueness is a
more fundamental and broader concept. “Hard
Some of these value drivers may be more to fill” doesn’t get to the heart of the total cost
important than others to the achievement of the of the role that the concept of uniqueness does.
business strategy at a particular point in time. As This total cost includes the “hard to fill” cost
referred to earlier, it may be that a key business (extended time to replace plus the additional
strategy is to improve the quality of products sourcing cost), plus the time to acquire
and services. Roles that are associated with adequate performance in the role, and/or the
quality therefore become more important in that initial investment in training required before
they have greater strategic impact. the person is able to undertake and/or perform
adequately in the role.
Note. The business strategy must precede
the workforce strategy otherwise the latter
will exist in isolation – it will be disconnected Four Role Types
from the needs of the business. Many
organisations are delusional about their With the AWS Skills-Based Workforce
workforce strategy claims. Having bundles Segmentation Model, various roles within an
of HR policies and undertaking ad hoc HR organisation can be analysed and classified
initiatives (e.g., leadership development, according to four possible employment roles or
talent development, succession planning) skills quadrants:
falls well short of having developed a
whole of workforce strategy. For further • Criticals – high skills value and high skills
information, access the AWS white paper uniqueness; 

entitled “How to Avoid the 12 Deadly Traps • Professionals, Skilled or Semi-Skilled –
of Strategic Workforce Planning”. high skills value and low skills uniqueness; 

• Doers – low skills value and low skills
uniqueness; and 

 Part 2: A Best Practice Approach
10 to Identifying Critical Roles

• Specialists – low skills value and high skills salary level. The cost of turnover of a role, or
uniqueness. 
 more specifically its turnover multiple, will vary
according to what segment it belongs to.
As referred to earlier, whilst various opinions
abound as to what constitutes a Critical Role, Consider the following example where for
a
the AWS Skills-Based Workforce Segmentation Critical Role (Quadrant 1), say the turnover
Model offers a sound framework for defining multiple is 2.5 and the salary level is $200k
such roles. per annum. The cost of turnover for this role is
therefore $500k.
As indicated in the diagram on page 8, each
segment has a different psychological contract Consider now 20 Doers leaving (Quadrant 3)
(or employer/employee relationship including where the turnover multiple is 0.5 and the salary
an EVP), different levels of investment, and a level is $50k per annum. The cost of turnover
different turnover multiple as elaborated upon for these 20 people leaving is also $500k, which
below. is equivalent to one person leaving in a Critical
Role! This fine grained calculation of the cost of
turnover underpins an accurate assessment of a
Intelligent Investment potential key people risk to the business.

Given that there is a finite limit for organisations This is why reporting turnover for the
as to what and where they should invest in organisation as a whole (or any other metric for
their people (and roles) in order to maximize that matter), is an exercise in futility! It fails to
the ROI in their people, the question arises as identify the true cost and associated risk.
to how should such investments be allocated.
The AWS Skills-Based Workforce Segmentation
Model provides a framework for determining External Focus of the AWS Skills-
intelligent investments in roles, including the Based Workforce Segmentation
individuals occupying those roles, with “make”
Model
roles (i.e, Quadrants 1 and 4) obviously requiring
higher levels of investment in learning and The focus of this AWS Skills-Based Workforce
development. Segmentation Model is external, as opposed
to the internal relativity focus of typical job
Similarly levels of investment in recruitment
evaluation models. The AWS Model provides a
and selection should also vary with “make”
basis for:
roles attracting a more intensive process. The
cost
of making a mistake in a poor selection and • Understanding the deeper characteristics of
recruitment decision (i.e., risk) becomes much roles (including classification of role types); 

greater for “make” roles (i.e., higher cost of
• How and where roles create value; and 

turnover – see example below).
• Linking the importance of, and impact of
the role on, the delivery of products and
Calculating the Cost of Turnover services. 

for Critical Roles
In the case of the latter point, this after all is the
The cost of turnover can be defined as the reason as to why the organisation exists in the
turnover multiple for the role in question by its first place. 

 Part 2: A Best Practice Approach
11 to Identifying Critical Roles

Note. Advanced Workforce Strategies
has

developed the Skills Segmentation
Questionnaire (SSQ) consisting of 52 items,
that enables roles to be analysed and
plotted according to these two dimensions
of skills. There is also provision in the
scoring of this questionnaire to:

• W
 eight the relative importance of the
nine skills value drivers to the business
strategy, thus linking roles to that
strategy;
• A
 ccommodate “hard to fill” roles in the
scoring of the uniqueness component;
• R
 ecognise the risk of making a mistake
and the value destroying implications;
• A
 ccommodate the disproportionate
impact of a role on the business.
Investments in talent/roles can then be
optimized to ensure the maximum ROI in
people. Refer to Appendices A and C for
further information. 


 
12 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

About these Case Studies

1
Case Study:
A series of case studies follow that demonstrate A Misplaced
a failure to accurately identify Critical Roles and
Emphasis by Relying
the associated adverse consequences. They
include examples of: on Organisation
Charts: Unintelligent
• A misplaced emphasis with unintelligent Investment
people investment decisions;
• Poorer performance due to underestimating
the impact of the role and the required
The Scenario
capability;
• Higher turnover and poorer performance • A Nor-for-Profit (NFP) organisation in the
through a failure to provide adequate training health services, disability area experiencing
and support. rapid growth.
• A National Disability Insurance Scheme
(NDIS) is about to be introduced that will
impact on the existing business model.
• The organisation needed to transition to a
more customer-centric organisation in an
increasingly competitive market.

Organisational Structure

CEO

Executive
Assistant

Director of Director of Director of Advocacy

Project Manager
Services Operations Fundraising Manager

Mgr of Residential Various Specialist Various Project

HR Manager
Services Managers Staff

Mgr of Community
IT Manager
Services

Finance & Admin Nurses & Health

Manager Professionals

Marketing &
Comm’s Manager
Ultra critical roles Critical roles Professionals
13 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

• The core business of the organisation Comparison of Three Roles: Director of

includes provision of the following services: Fundraising (Dir FR), Residential Services
–– Live in accommodation; Manager (RSM) and Community Services
Manager (CSM)
–– Education, information and support;
–– Physiotherapy and nursing services. Skills Workforce Segmentation Plots

• Fundraising is given prominence in the

organisational structure, including events,

Specialists
donors, grants, lotteries, philanthropy, etc.,

Criticals
Skills Uniqueness
Ultra Criticals
with Managers appointed in each of these
sub-areas.
• Fundraising is important to the survival of
the organisation as an important source

Professionals
of revenue (it is a means to an end), even Doers
Ultra Professionals
though it doesn’t constitute core business.

Analysis Low Medium Skills Value Higher

Direct Reports to the CEO RSM CSM Dir FR

Skills Workforce Segmentation Plots

• The organisational structure doesn’t reflect

the relativity of Critical Roles with:
Specialists

–– T
 he CEO, Director of Services, Director
Criticals
Skills Uniqueness

Ultra Criticals
of Operations, the Residential Services
Manager and the Community Services
Manager being ultra-critical roles, with the
latter two roles not reporting directly to
Professionals

the CEO;
Doers

Ultra Professionals
–– T
 he Director of Fundraising (who reports
directly to the CEO) is a critical role, but
Low Medium Skills Value Higher
not an ultra- critical role (i.e., less critical
than the Residential Services Manager
CEO Dir Ops Dir FR Dir Serv and the Community Services Manager).
EA Adv Mgr Proj Mgr
14 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

• There is a danger of the organisation losing

its way being seen as, or becoming, a fund
raising and events organisation that provides
health related disability services as opposed
to the reverse. In other words, there is a
danger of over emphasizing the importance
of and investing in fund raising positions at
the expense of its core business.

Note. The AWS Skills-Based Workforce

Segmentation Model and associated Skills
Segmentation Questionnaire (SSQ) and
plotting tool enables diverse roles within
this organisation to be compared in terms of
their relative “criticality”.

Solution

The organisation needed to invest in improving

its delivery of quality services (see above) so it
remains the “organisation of choice” in the niche
disability services area that it operates in.
15 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

Skills Workforce Segmentation Plots

2
Case Study:
Mistaken (Role)
Identity: High Cost of
Specialists Criticals
Turnover

Skills Uniqueness
Actual Role

Scenario
Specialists Professionals
Implied Role

• A global IT Company providing business

intelligence software solutions to clients Skills Value
(“blue chips”).
• IT Professionals were working on site at • This is an example of a role being under
clients’ offices installing software packages. misrepresented with the consequences of
• There was a lack of training of these IT high turnover and poorer performance.
Professionals in these software packages.
• These IT Professionals were floundering and Solution
leaving (turnover 35%) because they felt
frustrated and inadequate. • There was an increased focus on improving
the training and development of IT
• Clients were also becoming dissatisfied as
Professionals, both at the initial employment
a result of the IT professionals’ performance
stage and ongoing.
difficulties.
• Also a key manager (who some of these IT
Note. The above was also confirmed by Professionals reported to) was transferred to
a combination of interviews and survey a more strategic and technical role, to which
findings. he was better suited.
• Turnover was reduced to 20% in the first 12
Segmentation and Role Characteristics Plot months with annual savings of $4.1m.

• The role (IT Professional) was being treated

as a Professional role (Quadrant 2 “buy role”)
but it was actually a Critical role (Quadrant
1 “make role”), because of the necessity
to acquire unique knowledge associated
with the products, as illustrated in the role
analysis and plot.
16 Part 3: Case Studies in Critical Roles

• Consequently mistakes were being

3
Case Study: frequently made resulting in production
Not Seeing the Wood inefficiencies, and also short-term decisions
made that were not in the best interests of
from the Trees: Role
the longer-term economic development of
Importance and the mine.
Performance Issues
• The company hadn’t recognised the impact
and importance of the Mine Planning role.

Scenario
Segmentation and Role Characteristics Plot

• A global coal mining company was suffering

• The role was being treated as a Professional
from a shortage of Mine Planners and
role (“buy role”) but it was actually a Critical
experiencing production inefficiencies at a
role (“make role”) because of the necessity
number of their mines.
to acquire unique knowledge associated
Note. These were large mining operations with the operations and characteristics of the
(e.g. 1,000 people working at various mine mines, as illustrated in the role analysis and
sites, operating 24/7). plot below.

There are a number of activities involved in

Skills Workforce Segmentation Plots
open cut coal mining including: overburden
removal, drilling and blasting, loading and
hauling, blending, processing, stockpiling,
and loading out.
Specialists Criticals
Skills Uniqueness

Within a mine site there are a number of pits

over large area (e.g. 70km long). Variations Actual Role

in coal quality exist between these pits with

various types of coal blended and produced
Specialists Professionals
for client requirements. Implied Role

• Integration of the various mining activities

Skills Value
was critical to mine operating efficiency (i.e.,
a Critical capability).
Note. This Mine Planning role importance
• The role that impacts most on integration issue was identified as a peripheral issue to
was that of Mine Planner. a larger consulting assignment. The obvious
• The company employed junior solution was to direct greater effort towards
(inexperienced) engineers in Mine Planning the management, training and development
roles as part of their career development. of Mine Planners.
• The company also employed contract Mine
Planners who were unfamiliar with the mine
operations.
17 Conclusions

The Last Word on Critical Roles

We have advocated the need for Executives and

Managers, including HR professionals to:

• Develop a Critical Role mentality;

• Understand the deeper characteristics
of roles and how roles create value and
contribute to strategic impact.

The “best practice” approach to the

identification of Critical Roles, including a model
and associated methodology, accommodates
all of the Critical Role considerations, common
traps and limitations outlined in this white paper.
Such a rigorous approach that has been lacking
in the HR domain, constitutes a vital missing link
in talent management and Strategic Workforce
Planning.

Note. In Appendix C, we have set out

nine key steps in integrating Critical
Role identification as part of a Talent
Management Program.

 
18 References

Beatty, R. W., Becker, B. E., & Huselid, M.

A. (2009). The differentiated workforce:
Transforming talent into strategic impact,
Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business
Press.

Cappelli, P., & Keller, J. R. (2014). Talent

management: Conceptual approaches and
practical challenges. The Annual Review of
Organisational Psychology and Organisational
Behavior, 1, 305-331.

Lepak, D. P., & Snell, S. A. (1999). The human

resource architecture: Toward a theory of human
capital allocation and development. Academy of
Management Review, 24(1): 31–48
19 Appendices

Appendix A: The Skills Thereafter, appropriate HR strategies can be

applied to the various roles.
Segmentation Questionnaire (SSQ)
and Plotting of Roles
The Structure of the SSQ
Advanced Workforce Strategies has developed
a questionnaire — the Skills Segmentation The SSQ comprises four components:
Questionnaire (SSQ) — a 52 item questionnaire
that enables roles to be analysed, classified and 1. Assessing the skills value (includes nine
then plotted according to the AWS Skills-Based skills value drivers) relative to the role;
Workforce Segmentation Model (see example
role plots below). 2. The impact of these skills on the provision
of the products and services to external
customers (i.e., localised or widespread);
Skills Workforce Segmentation Plots
3. The optional weighting of each of the
nine skills value drivers, according to their
importance to the business strategy; and
Specialists

Criticals
Skills Uniqueness

Ultra Criticals 4. Assessing skills uniqueness (includes both

specific and generalized unique skills)
relative to the role, as reflected in time
and/or intensity of training required to
acquire these skills.
Professionals
Doers

Ultra Professionals
These drivers are: (1) revenue/sales, (2)
stakeholder relations, (3) cost and efficiency,
Low Medium Skills Value Higher
(4) quality, (5) innovation, (6) organisational
capability, (7) reputation/risk management, (8)
Driver HR Manager Supervisor (Construction) Factory Manager financial, and (9) processes/systems.
Technician Teacher Nurse CFO
Journalist Biz Dev Manager Sales Person

An External Orientation
The Benefits of the SSQ
Thus the SSQ has more of an external
With this generic tool, various jobs or roles orientation relating to the provision of products
within an organisation can be classified and services to external customers and value
according to four possible employment roles or creation. After all this is the very basis for the
skills quadrants: existence of the organisation.

Note. Access to the SSQ and associated

• Criticals (includes the two sub-categories of
plotting of roles is only available in the
Criticals and Ultra-Criticals);
Advanced Version of the Develop a
• Professionals, Skilled or Semi-Skilled Strategic Workforce Plan Pack.
(includes the two sub-categories of
Professionals and Ultra-Professionals); The Basic Version of this Pack can be
• Doers; and purchased on line from the Advanced
Workforce Strategy Web Site.
• Specialists.
20 Appendices

Appendix B: The Workforce This comprehensive Report includes the

following key nine sections:
Strategy Audit Survey (WSAS)
1. Alignment between business and workforce
Advanced Workforce Strategies has developed
strategies
a “cutting edge” workforce strategy audit survey
comprising 11 sections and 65 items.
2. The documentation, scope, involvement
and process in developing your workforce
This audit survey represents arguably the
strategy
most comprehensive and advanced approach
to assessing the state of development of an
3. Workforce segmentation and role
organisation’s workforce strategy and people
differentiation
management practices.
4. Collection, integration, analysis and
Benchmark survey data has been collected from
interpretation of HR data
a significant number of organisations across
Australia, both in the private and public sectors 5. Acquisition of human capital (i.e.,
and also in the UK. recruitment and selection)

Questions that the Workforce Strategy Audit 6. Utilisation/engagement and retention of

Report is able to answer include the following: human capital

• How do the workforce management 7. Development of human capital (i.e., learning

practices in your organisation rate against and development)
best practice?
• Do you really have a workforce strategy? 8. Deployment of human capital

• How aligned is this workforce strategy with

9. Implementation and outcomes of your
your business strategy?
strategic workforce planning
• What are the areas that you need to focus on
in further developing your workforce strategy Targeted recommendations are then provided to
and people management practices? address areas of perceived deficits.

For further information contact

Advanced Workforce Strategies at:

info@advancedworkforcestrategies.com
21 Appendices

Appendix C: Critical Roles and Step 2: Determine the future requirement

for these roles in terms of numbers of roles
Talent Management
(consider optimistic and pessimistic scenarios),
How Does the Concept of Critical Roles including the associated experience and skill
Integrate with a Talent Management requirements.
Program?
Step 3: Determine the existing risk of the
We suggest the following nine key steps in incumbents in these roles. This includes
integrating Critical Role identification as part reference to the type of risk and approaches to
of a Talent Management Program. Unless the assessing that risk as outlined below:
Talent Management program is linked to the
• The risk of leaving (survey findings and past
business needs and role importance, it will exist
turnover analysis)
in isolation and such a non-strategic approach
will result in a waste of resources and less than • The risk of lower engagement (survey
optimal business outcomes. findings)
• The risk of retirement (age analysis with
Please note that:
numbers of people approaching retirement)

• We start with role considerations first as part • The risk of skill deficiencies (performance
of a strategic approach; management system)

• These steps have been simplified for the • The risk of inexperience (age and length of
purposes of outlining and demonstrating the time in current role analysis)
approach; • The risk of poorer performance (performance
• The order of these steps, whilst following management system)
a logical sequence, may overlap and will
Note. We distinguish between engagement
require continual refinement.
and retention risk as we consider they are
Note. Roles exist for the purposes of different constructs.
performing a function that contribute to the
Step 4: Based on the analysis of Steps 2 and
provision of products and services to clients
3, project future people/talent requirements for
or customers.
each of these various roles or role groupings.
Step 1: Analyse roles with the SSQ to determine
the number of Ultra-Critical and Critical roles Step 5: Determine numbers of likely successors
and their relativities. available now and in the future (e.g., 1 to 3
years, 3 to 5 years, 5 to 8 years) for each of
Note. 1. These relativities will determine these various roles or role groupings.
levels of investment decisions relating to
various roles as not all roles are of equal Step 6: Assess current numbers of high
value or contribute equally to business potentials (assuming they have been identified)
outcomes. for each of these various roles or role groupings.

2. Where there are strong similarities Note. Many high potentials may be suitable
between some roles, they may be grouped for various roles.
together.
22 Appendices

Step 7: Determine the appropriate balance in

numbers between developing from within versus
recruiting externally for the various roles or role
groupings.

Note. There will be an optimum balance

between investing in and developing from
within versus recruiting externally.

Step 8: Depending upon this balance in

Step 7, determine forecast requirements and
progressively recruit additional people/talent as
required.

Step 9: Determine development plans for

existing high potentials for the various roles or
role groupings in question, taking into account
role relativities from Step 1.
23 About the Author

Colin Beames same, employee engagement and retention,

high performance teams in alliances and large
BA (Hons) Qld, BEng (Hons), MBA, MAPS multi-disciplinary projects, HR, human capital
measurement, M/A, OH&S, organisational
reviews and development, psychometric testing,
Managing Director, selection and recruitment, start-ups, strategic
Advanced workforce planning and business improvement,
Workforce talent management, and TNAs.
Strategies
Apart from developing and commercialising the
Workplace Relationship Development Indicator
(WRDI®) diagnostic survey tool, Colin has also
developed and commercialised a number of
other diagnostic survey tools (all based on a
model of the psychological contract applied
Colin Beames is an author and thought leader to different contexts), and other HR tools and
in workplace trends and human capital, with IP. The latter includes the development of a
a deep and expansive knowledge of these Strategic Workforce Planning Pack.
subjects. In his first career life, Colin worked
as an engineer in senior management and Colin has presented workshops on Strategic
consulting roles in the mining and resources Workforce Planning, both throughout Australia
sectors. Then in the early 90’s, he made a mid- and overseas, including such illustrious HR
life career change to organisational psychology. bodies as the Corporate Research Forum and
the HR Society in the UK.
The topic of Colin’s psychology honours thesis
was mid-life career change. His Master of He has written and published two books:
Business Administration included a dissertation
• “Aligning Workforce and Business Strategies:
on psychological contracts in the workplace and
Mobilising the 21st Century Workforce”.
the development of the Workplace Relationship
Development Indicator (WRDI®) diagnostic • “Transforming Organisational Human
employee engagement and retention tool. Capital: Emerging Stronger from the GFC
and Beyond” (now in its 3rd edition). In this
Colin’s organisational consultancy experience book, Colin examines emerging trends of
includes assignments in Australia and overseas, management and organisational studies over
both in the private and public sectors, the past two decades and how these can be
across a wide variety of industries. More harnessed to guide management practice
specifically, these assignments have included: and improve organisational performance.
assessment centres, career development,
change management, coaching, development These books are available for purchase from
and commercialisation of diagnostic surveys the Advanced Workforce Strategies web site at:
including administering and reporting on the www.advancedworkforcestrategies.com

“ Colin Beames is a global thought leader in SWP. The content presented in the recent 1 day SWP
workshop, which was one of most successsful events being oversubscribed with 170 participants ranging
from HR Directors/Managers from national and global firms, was more advanced than typically what has
existed on this subject.”

— Mike Haffenden, CEO, Corporate Research Forum

24 About Advanced Workforce Strategies

Advanced Workforce Strategies (formerly known Consulting Approach

as the WRDI Institute), is a boutique Australian
consultancy firm specialising in the development Our consulting approach is highly collaborative,
and provision of a range of “cutting edge” resource rich, high yield and designed
human capital consulting services, products, to maximise the transfer of learning and
tools, and resources. knowledge. We aim to build capability and self-
sufficiency in our clients, whilst minimising our
We believe in the adage that if you can’t consultancy input.
measure it, then you can’t manage it! Our
work is holistic, rigorous and innovative, Our client list includes global, national and SME
combining latest empirical research and “best firms including NFPs, both in the private and
practice” frameworks, models and architecture public sectors.
underpinned with sound methodologies, applied
in the form of practical solutions that work.
Workshops
We are committed to enhancing people
management and performance, and raising the We run public and in-house workshops on
importance of the people factor in organisations strategic workforce planning, workforce
– arguably the biggest single driver of business segmentation and HR analytics.
success. To that end, we assist organisations,
their executives and HR professionals to:
Online Resources
• Adopt better people measures and reporting;
Resources available from our web site include
• Align their business strategies with their
the Develop a Strategic Workforce Plan Pack.
workforce strategies;
This comprehensive and resource rich Pack
• Address the people challenges and includes a Workbook and Guide, Templates,
complexities of the 21st century workplace; a Sample Workforce Strategic Plan, Excel
• Manage people risk, maximise the ROI in Tools, etc.
people and make better people decisions;
and
Contact Details
• Improve performance and achieve enhanced
business outcomes. Postal:
Locked Bag 4012, South Melbourne
VIC 3205, Australia

Tel: + 61 0411484923
Fax: + 61 3 9505 9044

Email: info@advancedworkforcestrategies.com
Web: www.advancedworkforcestrategies.com

© 2016 Colin Beames

www.advancedworkforcestrategies.com