I’m convinced you already have the people you need to maintain and improve, but the people outside of your department who want the jobs you have don’t know how to get the skills you need. They need direction and before you direct them, you have to buy into a vision. Workforce planning isn’t skills assessment. This approach does not encourage people to lie about what they know or pad their resume to keep their current jobs. Workforce planning is about providing safe places where everyone can be honest about what they need to continue their career and candid about the skills they have that are being underutilized. This step is about discovering the talent you have and keeping the people you need.
As an example, it never fails that someone comes up to me after class to find out how to get onto my career path. They want to be me, but they are currently misplaced in their job role and they have no idea how to be perceived by the organization as something different than what they are. I tell you what certifications your industry needs to remain competitive and encourage you to start rewarding managers for the certification of their employees. Maximize the money you are spending on tuition reimbursement to teach IT staff how to train for the job that they want within your company. Create jobs within your company that people want. Stop assigning them the work that you think needs to be done and ask them what they can do to help achieve department goals. Focus on outsourcing only the work that people don’t want to do. Stop making your full-time employees do the worst jobs in your company.