If you're in charge of a team, you understand the importance of using workforce planning software in today's business world. Without the right tools tailored to your company's needs, it's challenging to keep up and stay competitive. This article will highlight essential features to seek in workforce management tools and then introduce some top choices to enhance your workflow.
Importance of Workforce Planning Tools
Workforce planning involves analyzing and predicting the number of employees you need to achieve your business goals in the short and long term.
Since the success of your organization relies on the abilities of your workforce, it's crucial to ensure they possess the necessary skills. To align human resources (HR) strategies with business objectives, you should consider the costs associated with developing and sustaining your workforce within your overall financial planning.
Organizations and finance and operations teams utilize workforce planning software for the following reasons:
Strategic Planning
Aligning end-to-end HR planning with overall business strategy on a single platform allows decision-makers to make proactive, data-driven decisions. Workforce planning tools enable businesses to model various scenarios, assess risks, and make decisions to achieve optimal operational and strategic outcomes.
Labor Management
Managing a diverse workforce with full-time, part-time, and contingent employees can be challenging. This involves handling employee transfers, distributing workforce costs, retaining talent, and predicting future workforce needs.
Payroll Planning
Compensation planning becomes complicated with different employment statuses, increasing the risk of exposing sensitive data. Workforce planning solutions address this by offering customized user permissions to maintain transparency in HR processes within a secure environment.
Task Automation
Workforce planning tools help streamline tasks by automating processes such as demand forecasting, supply analysis, and scenario planning. They enhance operational efficiency and automate complex compensation calculations.
In uncertain business landscapes, companies using workforce planning solutions gain a competitive edge by making faster, data-driven decisions.
Features of an Ideal Workforce Planning Software
Here are some key features to look for in a workforce planning solution:
Automated Workflows and Calculations- Streamlined workflows and automated calculations for efficient and error-free processes.
Flexibility - Capabilities to handle diverse workforce planning requirements, such as multiple employee types, union affiliations, and different planning methods (e.g., by employee, position type).
Integrations - Seamless integration with other solutions in your tech stack (e.g., ERPs, General Ledgers, HRIS) to ensure scalability and adaptability.
Support for Related Processes - The ability to assist in processes like Incentive Compensation Management, Sales, and Performance Management.
Templated Dashboards- Ready-to-use templates and visualizations for quicker implementation and the generation of actionable insights.
Detailed and Granular Planning- The ability to conduct detailed planning with granularity, allowing you to drill down to the employee level, including top-down assumptions, bottom-up inputs, and pre-built benefits.
In the end, the selected tool should seamlessly link your data, offer user-friendly features, and stay flexible to meet your business requirements, enabling you to stay nimble and proactive as your business expands.
10 Best Workforce Planning Software to Choose From
Here are the best workforce planning software tools to choose for your business in 2024:
Datarails
Datarails is a software platform designed to make financial budgeting and planning easier for organizations, including some features for workforce planning. It helps manage financial and operational data, promotes teamwork, and offers instant insights for better decision-making.
Key Features:
Collects financial information from various places, like spreadsheets, ERP systems, and HRIS databases, and puts it all in one central location.
Facilitates teamwork among budgeting and workforce planning team members by enabling them to share data, leave comments, and assign tasks.
Streamlines and combines workforce planning data, consolidation, and calculations, saving time and reducing errors compared to manual processes.
Advanced AI chatbot feature and automated storyboards for presenting data.
Anaplan
Anaplan is an online software system made for business planning and managing performance. It offers various tools for financial planning, sales predictions, workforce planning, and improving supply chain operations.
Key Features:
User suggestions are regularly added to the platform.
Creates reports and dashboards, helping to compare data across departments for project and workforce planning.
The planning and modeling capabilities make it a complete solution for finance and HR planning.
Board
Board is a planning system designed to help FP&A and planning teams move away from using spreadsheets and transition to the Board software. It is particularly useful for large enterprise companies with diverse needs in finance, supply chain, and retail. The software includes features for budgeting, planning, reporting, and workforce planning.
Key Features:
Easily analyze data from various perspectives.
Offers a quick overview of the General Ledger.
Enables the customization of workflows, reports, dashboards, and ad hoc reports for gaining insights.
Jedox
Jedox is a software platform designed for business planning, budgeting, and forecasting. It offers a single platform for consolidating, analyzing, and reporting data, helping organizations simplify their financial planning, including workforce planning.
Key Features:
Unified platform for different planning tasks.
Integration with various data sources like HR systems and payroll systems.
Self-service planning.
Netsuite
NetSuite Planning and Budgeting is a cloud-based business management software suite. It has a range of tools for budgeting and forecasting, including workforce planning.
Key Features:
Customization options are available.
Includes tools for analyzing and organizing workforce planning projects.
User-friendly interface with readable graphs.
Planful
Planful is an online tool designed for managing financial performance. It assists organizations in real-time resource management and optimizing workforce planning for important HR decisions.
Key Features:
Easily configurable for different business structures.
Simple for budget owners to input budget details and assumptions.
FP&A team can compile the numbers and conduct scenario analysis.
Prophix
Prophix is a software platform designed for organizations to manage their financial planning and analysis. It provides tools to make budgeting, forecasting, reporting, and people planning easier.
Key Features:
Flexible and customizable.
Integration with different data sources like HRIS and enterprise systems, reducing manual data entry.
Scenario planning analytics and reporting capabilities.
Vena Solutions
Vena Solutions is a tool designed for finance and operations teams to make managing finances easier. It uses workflow management, automated reporting, and predictive analytics to make it easier for organizations to see their financial situation.
Key Features:
Connects with different data sources.
Can do scenario planning and what-if analysis for workforce planning.
A flexible platform that can be customized to fit the specific needs of workforce planning.
Workday Adaptive
Workday Adaptive is an online financial planning and analysis tool that operates in the cloud. It helps with budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, and workforce planning.
Key Features:
Addresses different planning requirements like financial, workforce, sales, and operational planning.
Promotes teamwork among planning teams through collaboration.
Connects with various financial systems.
Conclusion
Workforce planning software is vital for making workforce planning processes more efficient and scalable. These tools help businesses get accurate and quick workforce data, align talent with goals, and avoid relying on outdated information. Choosing the right workforce planning solution depends on the organization's needs. In companies facing labor challenges, finding the right tool is crucial for supporting talent effectively, regardless of size or market.