Harvard Management Update recently pushed out an old article on Hiring for Intangibles, which got me thinking about intangibles in workforce planning.  The article stated what most HR professionals see as the obvious:

Whether you’re trying to fill an executive-level position or one closer to the front lines, intangibles such as attitude can spell the difference between a hire who proves merely competent and one who goes on to shine. Of course, serious candidates usually need to meet a certain baseline in terms of their education and experience. But beyond that, other criteria come to the fore in assessing how well the candidate is likely to perform one year, three years, five years down the road.

Well, duh!  BUT, when most organizations are doing their workforce planning, they are still focused on headcount and (sometimes) skills - all hard, demand based stuff...not planning for how they will identify, attract and retain the people with the intangibles the organization needs for real success.  Time to move on - a good strategic workforce planning methodology can very definitely incorporate intangibles as well as tangibles....so why are many people still stuck in the numbers game?