Configuring Workforce Planning

This article gives you the details on all the configurations required for Workforce Planning and the setup process. 

Configuration Checklist

This checklist is a comprehensive guide to completing all necessary configurations for your Workforce Planning. 

Navigate to Maintenance > Administration > Configuration Tasks and complete the following tasks required for Workforce planning:

Configuration Tasks

The first step to setting up the Workforce Planning is to complete configuration tasks. Configuration tasks allow you to set parameters by which you will build your application to create your personalized experience. 

• General Financial Configuration: This section includes tasks related to defining the foundational financial structure of your Planful application. It covers defining financial segments (dimensions), budget entities, fiscal year parameters, budget parameters, currency parameters, and workforce planning criteria. Learn more about General Financial Configuration here. 
• Ivy: Ivy is Planful’s proprietary framework for unified, smarter, and faster data handling across data integrations, planning, consolidation, and close processes in the Planful Structured Planning application. Learn more about Ivy configuration here.
• Data Integration Configuration: This section focuses on how you will load data into the Planful structure. It covers various options for data integration, including Web Service Access and Cloud Services. You can configure security access and data loading options for data integration. Learn more about data integration configuration here.
• Define Workforce Planning Budgeting Criteria: This task tells the system how you want to budget for Human Resources. It directly correlates with the templates you'll set up. End-users will use these templates to input budgeting data. Learn more about this configuration here.
  Additional reference: Workday Setup
• Define Reporting Areas: This task is associated with configuring reporting cubes. Reporting cubes are multi-dimensional structures used for data analysis and reporting. The configuration of reporting areas is automatic when associated configuration tasks are complete. Learn more about reporting areas here.

Security Administration

Define application access security settings in the Security Administration page. 

The following are the tasks required for Workforce Planning:

• Enable Employee Review %
• Enable Email on Budget Approval Workflow

Workdays Setup

You can use Workdays to calculate employee salaries in the Workforce Planning templates. For the Workforce Planning template, you can select Workdays from the Salary Calculation Basis list box on the Define Workforce Planning Budgeting Criteria Configuration task. The values for workdays are extracted from the Workday Setup page. You can use the Workdays Setup page to establish workdays for all months in a fiscal year. Click here to learn more about Workdays Setup.

Associated Configurations

Let’s see the associated configurations to be completed in the Maintenance section for Workforce Planning after completing the above Administration tasks.

• Currency: Currency is assigned at the budget entity level within planning. So, if working in a multi-currency environment, the assigned currency applies to that entire budget entity. Refer to the guide to know all currency and currency-related functionality, no matter which module uses it. Learn more about currency here.
• Hierarchies and Entities: Entities are a combination of dimensions. This combination of dimensions forms entities that make a hierarchy called the Budget Entity Hierarchy. The Budget Entity hierarchy is important because you will create budget templates and map them to each entity within the hierarchy. Entities are dependent upon templates. You cannot enter data (budget) against an entity without templates. Entities and templates are dependent upon scenarios. Learn more about hierarchies and entities here.
• Attributes and Attribute Hierarchies: Attribute hierarchies are created for reporting purposes and provide a way to summarize members. An Attribute Hierarchy can be used as an alternative common chart of accounts hierarchy. Learn more about attributes and attribute hierarchies here.
• Load Data to Planful: When you complete the Configuration Tasks, you are essentially telling the system how you want your application structured (you defined the chart of accounts, fiscal year, and so on). Now, data needs to be loaded to that structure. Learn more about how to load data here. 
• Scenario Setup: Create different types of scenarios, which represent versions of a budget or forecast for a fiscal year. For Planning, you'll create an entity hierarchy in addition to your finance hierarchy. Templates are created and mapped to entities so budget users can input data against the entity. Learn more about the scenario setup here.
• Process Reporting Area: The Process Reporting Area page allows you to process reports or templates whenever you add new data or update existing data. This functionality helps you to reflect the latest data in reports or templates. Learn more about the process reporting area here.
• Dimension Security: Security for dimensions must be activated, and users must be granted security to specific dimensions for reporting purposes. Dimension Security is applicable for attributes, attribute hierarchies, point-of-view reporting, reports, and report sets. Learn more about Dimension Security here.
• Standard Reports: Planful delivers presentation-quality financial reports, budget workflow, and administrative reports. Deploy Standard reports to make them active and available to users. Users can only generate standard reports for entities/data to which they have access by their assigned Budget Approval Role or within Dimension Security. Learn more about Standard Reports here.

After completing all the configurations above, we will proceed to setting up Workforce Planning.

Set-Up Workforce Planning

To set up Workforce Planning, follow these steps from setting workforce defaults to employee loading using Data Load Rules (DLRs).  

After completing the configuration tasks before setting up Workforce Planning, we proceed to setup.

• Workforce Defaults Configuration: Start by configuring the default settings for Workforce Planning. Workforce Defaults must be set before creating Workforce templates or loading employee data.
• Template Mapping: Complete the template mapping to budget entity and scenario. Unlike traditional templates where the individual rows, columns, etc. are defined in the Template Setup, the HR - Workforce Planning template operates differently. Here, the system automatically adapts the template design in response to updates made to the workforce components. However, mapping the HR - Workforce Planning template to the entity and scenario happens in the Template Setup area under the Planning Templates section, in the same place where the traditional templates mapping is also done. Click here to learn how to map a template to budget entity and scenario.
• Setup Definitions in Workforce Planning Setup: Set up default attributes, Compensation items, Employee Types, and Pay Plans in the Workforce Planning Setup option.  
• Use DLRs to Load Employees: Use Data Load Rules (DLRs) to load employee data into the WFP. 
• User Access Configuration: Create and configure the user access roles, particularly those related to approval processes.
  After mapping the template to an entity and scenario, you need to add the users and ensure that they have access to the scenario and the correct approval role to perform input and template actions. 
  • Add the user from the User tab in the Maintenance > Administration > User & Role Management.
  • Click the security options icon and configure the following:
    • Scenario Access: To perform budget input on a selected scenario entity.
    • Approval Role Setup: To provide access to the budget entity and HR workforce planning template.
    • Workforce Reporting Security: To report on employee-specific compensation and other financial dimensions.

Once this setup is complete, the HR - Workforce Planning template can be accessed from the Planning Control Panel. It is used to set up employees according to planning entities and to set up allocations, employee positions, and salary calculations. Click here to learn more.