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Free Resource · Francis Human Capital Group

Workforce Risk Checklist
15 Questions Every HR Leader Must Answer

If you can't confidently answer these questions about your organization — you have a workforce risk gap. Use this checklist to find out where you stand before it costs you.

📋 15 questions · 5 categories
⏱ Takes about 5 minutes
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Yes — we have this covered
No — this is a gap
Not assessed yet
Click each item to mark Yes or No
Your Score
0 / 15
Click items to score
01
Succession Planning
Do you know who fills your critical roles when they become vacant?
High Risk Area
We have identified successors for all critical and high-criticality roles.
Every position with a criticality score above 70 has at least one named successor with a documented development timeline.
🔴 Critical
We have assessed retirement risk for all employees eligible within the next 5 years.
A formal retirement risk analysis has been conducted and reviewed by HR leadership in the past 12 months.
🔴 Critical
Our succession plan is documented, reviewed annually, and known to senior leadership.
The plan is not just in someone's head — it exists as a living document with ownership, timelines, and accountability.
🟡 High
02
Competency & Skills
Do you know what skills your workforce actually has — vs. what they need?
Medium-High Risk
We have a defined competency framework aligned to our organizational strategy.
Competencies are documented, role-specific, and used in hiring, performance, and development — not just as a poster on the wall.
🟡 High
We have assessed current competency gaps across our workforce in the past 18 months.
A formal gap analysis comparing actual vs. required competency levels has been completed and shared with leadership.
🟡 High
Every employee has an active Individual Development Plan (IDP) aligned to their competency gaps.
IDPs are not compliance checkboxes — they have specific learning activities, timelines, and supervisor accountability built in.
🟢 Medium
03
Compensation & Classification
Are your positions classified correctly and paid equitably?
Legal Risk Area
All positions have been reviewed for correct classification within the past 3 years.
Grade creep, misclassified roles, and outdated position descriptions create legal and financial risk. When were yours last reviewed?
⚖️ Legal
We have conducted a pay equity analysis and can demonstrate equitable compensation across race, gender, and other protected classes.
A regression-based pay equity analysis — not just an average salary comparison — has been completed and is documented.
⚖️ Legal
Our salaries are competitive with current market benchmarks for our sector and region.
Our salaries are competitive with current market benchmarks for our sector and region.
We use BLS OEWS data or equivalent to benchmark compensation annually and adjust when we find we are behind the market.
🟡 High
04
Employee Experience & Retention
Do you know why people stay — and why they leave?
Medium-High Risk
We conduct regular pulse surveys and use the data to make decisions — not just report numbers.
Survey results are analyzed, shared with leadership, and tied to specific action plans with owners and deadlines.
🟡 High
We track and analyze turnover data by department, role, race, and gender.
We know not just our overall turnover rate but which groups, roles, and managers have the highest departure rates — and why.
🔴 Critical
We have assessed psychological safety and Cultural Displacement Anxiety (CDA) indicators in our organization.
We understand whether our workforce feels safe raising concerns, and whether DEI initiatives are creating identity threat or displacement anxiety among staff.
🟡 High
05
HR Analytics & Data Readiness
Can your HR team answer hard questions with data?
Foundation Area
Our HR team can produce a workforce health report — succession risk, competency gaps, attrition trends — within 48 hours of a leadership request.
If your CHRO walked in tomorrow and asked for a full workforce risk picture, how long would it take? If the answer is "weeks," that's a gap.
🔴 Critical
We use data — not intuition — to make decisions about hiring, promotions, and pay.
Promotion and compensation decisions are supported by documented, data-driven criteria that can be reviewed for consistency and equity.
🟡 High
We have a 3-year workforce projection — including projected attrition, hiring needs, and budget impact — documented and reviewed annually.
We are not just reacting to vacancies. We can forecast what our workforce will look like in 1, 2, and 3 years and plan accordingly.
🟡 High
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How to interpret your score
12–15 ✅
Strong workforce foundation. Consider an advisory retainer to maintain momentum and catch emerging gaps early.
7–11 ⚠️
Moderate risk. You have gaps that could become expensive problems. A workforce health assessment is recommended.
0–6 🚨
High risk. Multiple unaddressed gaps across succession, compensation, and analytics. Immediate action recommended.
Francis Human Capital Group
Ready to close your gaps?
Every item you marked "No" is a risk we can assess, document, and help you fix — grounded in I-O Psychology and backed by 20+ years of cross-sector HR expertise.
Start Your Assessment → info@francishcg.com
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