Strategic workforce planning

Firms should structure their strategic workforce planning to comply with federal and state
laws. This paper analyzes the hiring practices of three firms with respect to strategic workforce
planning to demonstrate a contrast between organizations. The firms are Abercrombie & Fitz,
Hooters and Price Amazon
Gonzales vs. Abercrombie Fitch & Co (2003)
Abercrombie & Fitch is an American-based clothing line. In 2003, a suit was filed against
Abercrombie & Fitch because the organization practiced racially discriminatory hiring practices
against African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. The suit was filed in the U.S
district court in San Siro by Kristin Gonzales (plaintiff) and others on the basis that Abercrombie
& Fitz (defendant) practices racial discrimination. In the application, the court heard that
Abercrombie & Fitch paid African Americans and Latinos less wages than other American male
employees despite doing the same amount of work. The organization also practiced racial
discrimination in hiring when it failed to consider employees for positions that they had qualified
for if they were Asian, African American, or Latinos. The organization also practices
discrimination in its employee promotion practices. The plaintiffs submitted based on the Equal
Pay Act of 1953, which was enacted to abolish sex-based wage disparities, and the Equal
Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. The court, in its proceedings, considered the two other
employees’ scope of work for testing whether it required the same skill, effort, and responsibility.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was also enjoined in the suit after its inquest
into the employment practices of Abercrombie, and Fitz found that its practices were inconsistent
with schedule VII of the equal pay act. The judges also considered the four tenets for affirmative
defenses: seniority, work quantity and quality, merit, and any other factors besides sex and held

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that Abercrombie & Fitch was liable to compensate the African-American, Latino, and Asian-
Americans for their years of work. It was agreed that a settlement of US$ 40 million would be
sufficient for the plaintiffs. The organization was also ordered to amend its policies to reflect
equal employment and diversity.
Latuga vs. Hooters Inc.
Hooters is an American-based chain of restaurants. In 1993 a suit was filed in the United
States District Court of Illinois on the basis that Latuga had been discriminated against by
Hooters Inc on a gender basis when his employment as a waiter was not considered. This suit
was based on the provisions of Title VII of the civil rights act of 1964. Hooters Inc, in its
defense, held that it was their company policy not to consider male applicants’ front house
positions. The plaintiff sought injunctions and monetary compensation for the discrimination.
The plaintiff felt that he suffered disparate treatment. The suit was amended to include other
male employees of the Hooters chain of restaurants on the basis that they were denied front
house positions and deterred from applying or promotion onto these positions (). In 1997 the
plaintiff and defendants entered into a class settlement to terminate the case and award the
plaintiffs US$ 2 million. Hooters Inc was also directed to amend its hiring practices and
committed to making front house positions gender-neutral.
Strategic workforce planning for both organizations lacks dynamism. Strategic decisions
are taken with consideration to risks and conforming to employment law. Abercrombie & Fitch
and Hooter’s strategic workforce planning exposes them to legal and regulatory risks. Their
processes for evaluating workforce supply needs do not consider fully internal supply as
recommended by (Cascio & Aguinis, 2018). For example, Hooters anticipate that women can
only fulfill their front house workforce needs. Therefore, they failed to consider male candidates

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for such positions for employment and promotion. Abercrombie & Fitch also structure their
strategic workforce to discriminate against African-American, Latino, and Asian American talent
pools. This is further demonstration that their workforce forecasts do not anticipate
organizational demand for diversity in the workforce. For both organizations, the lawsuits expose
weaknesses in internal systems.
Amazon strategic workforce planning
Amazon is a global e-commerce giant. Their strategic workforce planning suggests an
organization that is committed to maintaining its global status through talent management. For
example, Amazon launched an employee training campaign aimed at employee development.
With such development, employees could quickly move into more advanced roles or adopt new
career paths at Amazon. Amazon has the infrastructure to actualize such training. For example,
Amazon runs the Amazon Technical Academy that focuses on training employees in the
software division or those who are interested in joining. Amazon also runs the Amazon
Technical apprenticeship program, which trains employees on cloud computing technology. This
program currently prioritizes war veterans or serving servicemen and women with a background
in information technology. Amazon will use internal data to grow its percentage of a skilled
workforce through processes such as employee data mapping and data science.
Amazon has used a strategic workforce to achieve its operational and marketing targets.
Amazon relies heavily on the application of technology to streamline critical business processes.
This is visible in their strategic workforce activities, where the organization focuses on
information technology skills.

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Amazon’s strategic workforce planning is also structured to ensure employee
development and reduce employee turnover(Rahman & Naz 2013). Employee turnover disrupts
business operations. Organizations spend time and money to ensure that they get a replacement
that best fits the organizational needs. However, those costs can be avoided if organizations
dedicate the resources to employee development. Amazon’s employee development model is
carried out to ensure that employees progress through career advancement. Career progression is
essential in reducing employee turnover and the costs involved in replacing employees.
Amazon has become the world’s most reputable e-commerce organization by ensuring
employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is critical in ensuring employee retention (Collins
et al., 2008). In Amazon’s strategic workforce planning, employee training ensures employee
satisfaction through increased work output. Training equips employees with new skills, which is
critical to increased output. Therefore, employees can complete tasks with ease. The new skills
acquired by employees assist them in acquiring skillset diversity. Skillset diversity is essential in
strategic workforce planning when anticipating workforce future demands. For instance, the
organization may have future workforce requirements but may not have the financial capacity to
fill those positions. In such a case, employees may be required to take additional roles.
Employees with skillset diversity can handle additional roles better than employee with only one
line of training. Additionally, some future vacancies in an organization may require to be filled
by employees a deep understanding of the organization’s policies and procedures. Skillset
diversity allows employees to have an upward or sideways trajectory in career development.

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References

Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2018). Applied Psychology in Talent Management (8th ed.).
SAGE Publications, Inc.
Collins, K. S., Collins, S. K., McKinnies, R., & Jensen, S. (2008). Employee Satisfaction and
Employee Retention. The Health Care Manager, 27(3), 245–251.
https://doi.org/10.1097/01.hcm.0000318755.24332.4b
Rahman, W., & Nas, Z. (2013). Employee development and turnover intention: theory
validation. European Journal of Training and Development, 37(6), 564–579.
https://doi.org/10.1108/ejtd-may-2012-0015