Why Resource Planning Needs a Seat at the Leadership Table

By Matt Cockett, CEO of Dayshape

Growth. Transformation. People. They’re the words you’ll hear in almost every boardroom conversation. CEOs have them top of mind, and rightly so. But there’s a tendency to focus on the destination and lose sight of the route that gets you there. The day-to-day operational work that turns ambition into action. The quiet engine behind a firm’s success.

At the heart of that engine is resource planning. It’s not just admin or scheduling. In people-based businesses like professional services, it’s the framework that keeps everything standing—and moving in the right direction.

Resource planning has often been treated as something functional. It’s what happens once strategy is done. Once a pitch is won, a new client onboarded, or a new programme agreed. But this approach puts the cart before the horse. Because how work is allocated directly influences whether that strategy can succeed. It affects profitability, yes, but also culture, delivery, retention, growth. The ripple effect is huge. The reality is that a firm cannot claim to be people-first, performance-led or client-focused unless it understands how it’s planning, using and supporting its people.

That’s why resource planning deserves a seat at the leadership table. The firms doing this well aren’t seeing it as an operational chore, but as a strategic enabler. This shift is already happening at some of the world’s biggest professional services firms, where resource managers are central to conversations about business planning and forecasting. And it’s not a token seat, they’re there because they offer a perspective others simply don’t. They sit across functions, see the pressure points in real time, and understand the levers that can be pulled to protect delivery and support growth.

What makes their insight so powerful is not just data, but context. Resource managers don’t just know who is working where. They understand which teams are stretched, which individuals are nearing burnout, and where capacity is being wasted. They can tell you if a growth plan is achievable with current headcount, or if your most valuable people are stuck on the wrong work. When they’re given space to do more than just firefight, their insight helps leaders answer big questions. Can we deliver on our promises? Can we take on that new client? Where do we need to invest? How fast can we grow?

But this only works if resource planning is on the C-suite agenda. It’s not enough to loop in a resource lead once decisions have been made. They need to be part of setting the direction. That means access to the full picture. Not just capacity charts, but client dynamics, strategic priorities, team sentiment. Resource managers need to know the why, not just the what. Because without understanding the broader context, they’re being asked to solve problems blindfolded.

When this works well, it becomes less about managing spreadsheets and more about fine tuning the engine of the business. Resource leaders can surface patterns and tell those stories with clarity. Spotting where work is consistently underpriced, or where junior staff are overloaded, or where teams are chronically short on specialist skills. They provide a narrative that links numbers with meaning, helping leaders move from reactive planning to proactive decision-making. And they do it with a blend of operational know-how and human understanding that is hard to replicate elsewhere.

There’s also a cultural benefit that’s often overlooked. Firms talk a lot about supporting employee wellbeing and creating sustainable workloads. But that doesn’t happen by chance. Good intentions need infrastructure. And that’s what resource planning provides. Done well, it’s one of the most effective tools a firm has for spotting burnout before it happens. For ensuring people are fairly allocated, properly recognised, and able to grow in their roles.

All of this points to one simple truth. If you want to build a healthy, scalable business – one that supports its people, serves its clients and delivers on its promises – you need to get serious about resource planning. Not as a process to be improved, but as a capability to be elevated. That starts with giving it the recognition it deserves, and the leadership access it needs.

Because when you bring resource planning into strategic conversations early, everything else becomes easier. You’ll make better decisions, with fewer surprises. You’ll move faster, with more confidence. And you’ll build a business that’s not just fit for today, but ready for whatever comes next.