Provide responseWhen I think about workforce planning, one step that really stands out as the most challenging is figuring out which roles in an organization are actually critical. It sounds simple on paper, just pick the jobs that matter most, but in reality, its messy. Not every role contributes equally, and sometimes the ones creating the most value isnt obvious at all. Thats what workforce segmentation is all about. Digging into the data, talking to leaders, and really understanding which positions drive the business forward (Sparkman,2018).What makes this hard is how many moving parts there are. Youre balancing the external labor market, internal skill shortages, business strategy, and even future technology trends, all at once. And data doesnt always cooperate. HR data can be inconsistent or incomplete, and sometimes leaders disagree about whats truly critical (Sparkman,2018). Plus, the landscape keeps changing. Whats a critical role today could look very different a year from now, which means you have to constantly reassess and adjust (Deel,2022). Thats exhausting but necessary.As for whether most organizations are good at this. Honestly, I dont think so. At least not yet. A lot of companies understand that workforce planning is important, but they struggle to put it into practice. Theres resistance to change, or maybe leaders dont fully buy into the idea of aligning workforce strategy with business goals (Sparkman,2018). Ive seen organizations treat workforce planning as a one-time checklist item instead of an ongoing, evolving process. The ones that do it well seem to embed it deeply into their culture and operations. They see it as something living and dynamic, and they usually reap the rewards, like being more agile and competitive (McDermott,2019).So to me, the challenge isnt just identifying the critical roles but also keeping the whole process alive and relevant as everything around you changes. Thats what separates the organizations that succeed from the ones that just get by.