Most companies walk into annual planning blind. They’re scrambling through spreadsheets, missing critical skill signals, and making high-impact decisions without a clear view of their own organization. The result is predictable: reorgs fail, plans stall, and HR gets blamed for problems that start with bad visibility, not bad leadership.
In this episode we talk about workforce planning, data visibility, org structure, reorg failures, skill depth, and why spreadsheets keep undermining teams that should be operating on real insight – not rows and cells. Tom breaks down where planning goes sideways, what HR is missing, and how organizations can finally get ahead of 2026 instead of reacting to it.
Key Takeaways
Almost half of HR leaders say they don’t have clear visibility into their org.
Seventy percent of reorgs fail, which shows how broken most planning processes are.
Ninety-eight percent of HR teams still run planning through spreadsheets.
HR isn’t the problem. The tooling is.
Companies miss critical skills because they plan person to person instead of position to position.
Single-threaded knowledge points make organizations fragile.
Inconsistent data lenses lead to inconsistent talent decisions.
Planning should be continuous, not a once-a-year fire drill.
The first COVID-era RIF exposed how dangerous planning without visibility can be.
Managers can’t see skill impact or team fallout when they plan in rows and columns.
The real value is in the conversation, but teams never get there because they’re stuck gathering data.
As organizations evolve, HR’s job is no longer reactive, it’s about building the future. But how can you lead when you don’t have a clear view of your structure, roles, and gaps? Are you prepared for 2026? Take a look at your OrgChart.
Chapters
00:00 The real visibility gap inside organizations02:00 Why reorgs fail more than they succeed04:00 HR’s Excel addiction06:00 Why talent decisions fall apart10:00 Annual planning vs continuous planning13:00 Making planning fun and interactive16:00 How missing skills break orgs20:00 The danger of fragmented data25:00 RIF mistakes and blind spots30:00 Planning through the lens of positions34:00 Future-proofing and organizational readiness40:00 Where companies should start in 2026
Guest Info
Tom McCarty, CEO, The OrgChartLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-mccarty-1b28762/
Connect with us
William Tincup LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/Ryan Leary LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/
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