David Edwards is one of the leading global voices in Strategic Workforce Planning, known for his practical, impactful approaches that connect people, data, and strategy. He’s also renowned for combining hard-won practitioner insight with a sharp, sometimes provocative wit and a deep sense of how organisations really work and often, how they don’t.
He has implemented and led SWP in Ericsson and UK bank NatWest and has also led Visier’s workforce planning advisory practice. His background is an eclectic one, having also worked in finance, consulting and operations in organisations ranging from the UK National Health Service to startup software ventures. He has experienced triumphs and disasters, and treasures both for what they’ve taught him.
A passionate advocate for making workforce planning practical, valuable and human, David now focuses on evangelising about the subject and by helping companies make better long-term workforce decisions by demystifying the subject, without drowning in process or jargon. He doesn’t shy away from the messiness of the real world that practitioners encounter: he embraces it.
He is a member of the Workforce Planning Institute’s Global Standards Committee and is a regular co-chair of its London conference. A sought-after speaker and writer, David is known for his clarity, wit and refusal to accept lazy orthodoxy, with a distinctive voice that is part strategist, part storyteller and part bewildered onlooker.
His first book, The Strategic Workforce Planning Handbook, has just been published to considerable acclaim.
David lives in Hampshire UK with Fiona, his wife of forty years, and his yappy dog Dylan.
www.davidedwardsswp.com
