The one with Jen Allen Jardine (HS2)

Talent Intelligence Collective Podcast

Welcome to Episode 40 of the Talent Intelligence Collective podcast! In this episode, Alan Walker, Alison Ettridge, and Toby Culshaw welcome Jen Allen Jardine, the self-proclaimed "SWP supergeek" and founder of Beyond the Eightball consultancy, who's currently bringing her strategic workforce planning expertise to HS2 after seven years of asking the uncomfortable questions that organisations need to hear.

The episode opens with Toby analysing the results of the Talent Intelligence Collective's One and Done Challenge, revealing how AI-generated talent intelligence reports can produce dangerously convincing visualisations whilst harbouring significant data hallucinations. The discussion highlights how tech talent consistently skews results regardless of the actual prompt, and the critical importance of human expertise in validating AI outputs—with Patricia's inclusion of visa lead times demonstrating the nuanced thinking that distinguishes expert analysis from algorithmic suggestions.

The news segment examines Saudi Arabia's remarkable skills week initiative, where they've mapped 8,500 skills across just 12 priority sectors as part of Vision 2030—a masterclass in national-level strategic workforce planning that prioritises focused action over comprehensive cataloguing. The conversation explores Mercer's Talent Trends report revealing that only 47% of employees believe their managers understand their skills gaps, whilst job-hoppers receive 16.4% salary increases compared to 5.6% for loyal employees—sparking debate about whether internal talent marketplaces or salary structures are the real retention culprit.

Jen shares her unconventional journey from a working holiday visa in New Zealand to becoming one of the UK's leading SWP practitioners, including her experiences with airline scheduling complexities that cross the international date line and staffing hard-to-fill hospitals in rural Invercargill. Her definition of strategic workforce planning challenges conventional thinking: it's not about timeline horizons but about connecting every people intervention across the business to deliver organisational purpose sustainably and effectively.

The conversation explores why organisations struggle with true strategic planning, with Jen arguing that both public and private sectors fail by seeking false certainty in an uncertain future. She advocates for scenario planning that embraces radical uncertainty—planning for multiple tomorrows rather than trying to predict a single future, using external market intelligence combined with internal knowledge to build organisational agility through constant iteration rather than perfect predictions.

The episode concludes with Jen's three essential tips for SWP success: secure a "badass sponsor" (preferably the CEO) who can drive organisational change, use data to identify and challenge real pain points rather than assumed problems, and critically, start small despite pressure for comprehensive solutions. Her insight that managers often don't understand their teams' skills connects directly back to the Mercer findings, demonstrating how data maturity and decision-making courage are more important than perfect information.

Until next time, stay agile, stay evidence-based, and most importantly, stay intelligent!

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