Best Workforce Planning & Management Software 2024 - Vena

Workforce planning is the process of analyzing and forecasting your workforce needs to meet your business's short-term and long-term objectives.

When your organization can only go as far as your people can take it, you need to be sure your workforce has the skills your business needs.

To align your HR strategies with your business objectives, you'll need to account for the costs of developing and maintaining your workforce in your business's overall financials. How are you budgeting and forecasting for operational and strategic planning? Are you retaining talent? Are you planning for contingent employees? How are you reporting workforce performance?

When your businesses success depends on your peoples success, having answers to these questions based on quickly accessible, granular data that your decision makers trust is essential to planning your workforce for any situation.

And when reporting on one of your organizations biggest expenditures your people it's important to protect sensitive HR data while maintaining business-wide transparency. Thats why workforce planning is a top priority for organizations, and why finance and operations teams use workforce planning software.

So how do the markets top workforce planning software tools stack up? How do you know which is best for your business needs?

We've compiled user feedback from industry leading peer review platforms on 11 of the best workforce planning solutions on the market with all the pros and cons of each.

Workforce Planning Software: A First Look At 11 High Quality Solutions

1. Vena
2. Datarails
3. Workday
4. Cube
5. Planful
6. Prophix
7. Anaplan
8. Oracle Netsuite
9. Board
10. Jedox
11. OneStream

Why Use Strategic Workforce Planning Tools?

Strategic workforce planning tools provide you with a single platform to align your end-to-end HR planning processes to your organizations overall business strategy.

Labor Management and Planning

Managing a workforce of different employment statuses full-time, part-time and contingent is difficult. You have to manage employee transfers from one area of the organization to another, allocate workforce costs from one part of your company across multiple areas, develop strategies for talent retention and anticipate future workforce needs.

You also have to analyze project scopes and structures to match labor supply with labor demand. Workforce planning solutions allow you to plan granularly and drill down to the employee level, helping you identify deeper actionable insights.

Task Management and Automation

Workforce planning tools improve efficiency through automation. Automated workflows and better visibility into tasks, such as demand forecasting, supply and gap analysis and scenario planning, accelerate the operational performance of these essential workforce planning processes. Workforce planning solutions can also automate calculations for complex compensation structures.

Payroll and Benefit Planning

With a workforce of different employment statuses comes the challenge of compensation planning. With compensation, the risks of exposing or leaving unsecured sensitive data vulnerable are higher. Workforce planning solutions can provide customized user permissions to maintain a transparent HR process for the company, in a secure environment.

Strategic Planning

Having your end-to-end HR planning processes in one platform aligned to your organizations overall business strategy allows your company's decision makers to holistically plan for and make proactive data-driven decisions.

Workforce planning tools enable businesses to plan scenarios, model the risks and outcomes for a number of situations and then make decisions to achieve the best operational and strategic outcomes.

Whether thats decreasing headcount, finding cost efficiencies or reallocating costs to avoid headcount changes, workforce planning solutions empower your decision makers to ensure the company is using its human capital in a way that aligns to the company's long-term objectives and at optimal efficiency.

When the business landscape is uncertain, companies using workforce planning solutions gain a competitive advantage by making those data-driven decisions faster.

What Are The Benefits of Workforce Planning Software?

Workforce planning software increases the efficiency and scalability of your essential workforce planning processes, such as:

• Labor demand forecasting
• Compensation planning
• Business-wide workforce performance reporting

Workforce planning solutions deliver data about your workforce faster and more accurately, so your executives can feel confident in the decisions they make around labor management, task management, compensation planning and strategic planning. Workforce planning solutions also ensure that these HR decisions and costs are aligned to business-wide objectives and financials.

Which Features To Look For in Workforce Planning Software?

To power your FP&A processes, you need a technology platform that will drive confident and connected decision making and ensure business-wide accountability. It should enable you to share actionable and scalable insights across your organization, drive strategic business planning and support real time analysis.

What does this look like? Some features to search for in a workforce planning solution include:

• Ability to support related process such as Incentive Compensation Management/Sales
• Performance Management
• Flexibility to handle more complex workforce planning requirements such as multiple employee types, union affiliation, different methods of planning workforce (i.e. by employee, position type, etc.)
• Integrations with other solutions in your tech stack (i.e. ERPs, General Ledgers, HRIS) for scalability and extensibility
• Pre-built templates and dashboards/visualizations for faster time-to-value and actionable insights
• Detailed, granular planning, with the ability to drill down to the employee level (top-down assumptions, bottom-up inputs, pre-built benefits)
• Automated workflows and compensation calculations

Ultimately, the tool you choose should connect your data, be intuitive for users and stay flexible to your business needs letting you remain agile and proactive as you continue to grow.

The Best Workforce Planning Software To Choose From 

1. Vena

Vena is a corporate performance management (CPM) suite developed to help finance and operations teams streamline their financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and reporting processes, including workforce planning.

The software uses a combination of workflow management, reporting automation and predictive analytics to help organizations increase visibility into their finances, develop more accurate and responsive planning cycles and improve strategic decision-making.

Strengths

• Integrates with various data sources, such as HR systems and employee databases
• Ability to perform scenario planning and what-if analysis for workforce planning
• Platform flexibility allows you to customize the solution to your specific needs for workforce planning

Weaknesses

• Functionality and customization options may result in a learning curve for new users
• Workforce planning heavily relies on the availability and accuracy of integrated data from various systems
• Organizations in highly specialized industries may require additional customization or integration efforts to meet their specific needs

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2. Datarails

Datarails is a software platform that helps organizations streamline financial budgeting and planning, with some workforce planning capabilities. It simplifies the management of financial and operational data, facilitates team collaboration and provides real-time insights to support decision-making.

Strengths

• Centralizes financial data from various sources, such as spreadsheets, ERP systems and HRIS databases
• Enables collaboration among team members involved in the budgeting and workforce planning process, allowing for data sharing, commenting and task assignments
• Automates routine tasks, such as workforce planning data aggregation, consolidation, and calculations, saving time and reducing manual errors

Weaknesses

• Steep learning curve requires onboarding and training
• Organizations with highly specific or complex workforce planning requirements may find certain customization needs challenging to address
• May not offer advanced workforce planning analytics features found in more specialized data analysis tools

3. Workday Adaptive

Workday's Adaptive (formerly Adaptive Insights) is a cloud-based FP&A tool that facilitates financial planning and analysis across various areas, including budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting and workforce planning.

Strengths

• Covers a wide range of planning needs, including financial planning, workforce planning, sales planning and operational planning
• Facilitates collaboration among planning teams by enabling users to share and work on plans simultaneously, supporting workflow management and allowing users to define approval processes and track progress
• Integrates with various financial systems such as, HRIS, ERP software and other business applications

Weaknesses

• For organizations with relatively straightforward planning needs or smaller budgets, the platform's extensive features and functionalities may be perceived as excessive or overwhelming
• Pricing can vary based on factors such as user count, data volume and additional modules small businesses or those with limited budgets may find the pricing prohibitive, particularly if they have minimal workforce planning requirements
• Implementation can be time-consuming, particularly for organizations with complex data structures and multiple integrations

4. Cube

Cube Software is a platform that helps organizations with financial planning, budgeting, forecasting and headcount planning. It consolidates financial data, offers flexible modeling and scenario analysis, supports collaboration and provides reporting and visualization capabilities.

Strengths

• Integrates with various data sources and systems, allowing seamless data flow and eliminating the need for manual workforce planning data entry
• Offers reporting and visualization capabilities
• Provides controls for data validation, data quality and error checking

Weaknesses

• Depending on your industry, the platform may lack certain industry-specific functionalities related to workforce planning
• May find limitations in terms of performance or accommodating extensive data volumes
• Integrating with certain legacy systems or proprietary software may present challenges

5. Planful

Planful is a cloud-based platform for financial performance management, helping organizations enhance their resource management in real-time and optimize workforce planning to help make critical HR decisions.

Strengths

• Application is highly configurable whether in a parent-subsidiary model or stand-alone company environment
• Easy for budget owners to enter budget information and assumptions, and efficient for FP&A to roll up the numbers and run scenario analysis
• Adaptable and customizable for unique use-cases that your business may require

Weaknesses

• Implementation is in some cases done by a third party provider, so there may be a lack of continuity between ongoing support and implementation questions
• Varying implementation timelines with some users experiencing difficulties and delays
• Workforce planning experience can be clunky, where formatting of standard reports is not straightforward
• Workforce planning module has some limitations making forecasting, modeling and budget vs. actual analysis less intuitive

6. Prophix

Prophix is a software platform that focuses on financial planning and analysis for organizations. It offers a comprehensive set of tools and features to streamline budgeting, forecasting, reporting and people planning processes.

Strengths

• Offers flexibility and customization options to tailor financial and workforce planning processes to the specific needs of your organization
• Integrates with various data sources such as HRIS and enterprise systems, enabling data flow and reducing the need for manual data entry
• Offers scenario planning analytics and reporting capabilities

Weaknesses

• Dashboard features are limited compared to industry standard business intelligence tools such as Power BI
• Organizations operating in highly specialized or niche industries may find the platform lacking certain industry-specific functionalities or templates for workforce planning
• May face limitations in terms of scalability and performance for larger enterprises or organizations with complex workforce planning requirements

7. Anaplan

Anaplan is a cloud-based software platform designed for business planning and performance management. It provides a comprehensive suite of solutions for financial planning, sales forecasting, workforce planning and supply chain optimization. 

Strengths

• Feature requests submitted by Anaplan users are actively incorporated into the platform
• Includes reports/dashboard capabilities to compare departmental data for project planning and workforce planning
• Planning and modeling capabilities make it a comprehensive solution for finance and HR planning 

Weaknesses

• Has limitations regarding native auditing of line items
• Managing large volumes of data can be challenging; due to it's configuration as a planning tool, there is a trade-off between calculation speed and data storage capabilities
• Limited options when it comes to native data integration, workflow and notifications

8. Oracle Netsuite Planning and Budgeting

Oracle NetSuite Planning and Budgeting  is a cloud-based business management software suite that provides a comprehensive set of tools for budgeting and forecasting processes including workforce planning. 

Strengths

• Offers customization options
• Includes features for slicing and dicing workforce planning projects, providing a clear view of cost summary
• Graphs are readable, with the platforms strong UI providing a fast learning curve for new team members

Weaknesses

• Geared towards enterprise-class companies, so cost may be an issue for smaller organizations
• Comprehensive ERP system with a wide range of functionalities, which may result in a steep learning curve for new users
• Workflow issues such as an excess of email exchanges and constant tracking required for reviews and approvals

9. Board

Board is a planning system that aims to transition FP&A and planning teams from spreadsheets to the Board software. It caters especially to large, complex enterprise companies seeking multiple solutions, such as finance, supply chain and retail capabilities including budgeting, planning, reporting and workforce planning.

Strengths

• Gives users the ability to quickly slice data by almost any view
• Provides a quick view into your General Ledger
• Enables the creation of personalized workflows, reports, dashboards and ad hoc reports to gain insights
• Data discovery and analysis capabilities enable users to delve deep into their financial position and future planning

Weaknesses

• Users describe a steep onboarding process and learning curve for Board, so training and implementation time should factor into your decision
• Difficulty processing large amounts of data
• System maintenance is not dynamic; users report spending a lot of time replicating structures from their ERP in Board manually

10. Jedox

Jedox is a software platform that focuses on enterprise planning, budgeting and forecasting solutions. It provides a unified platform for data consolidation, analysis and reporting, allowing organizations to streamline their financial planning processes including workforce planning.

Strengths

• Provides a unified platform for various planning activities, including workforce planning
• Supports integration with various data sources, such as HR systems, payroll systems, and other relevant data repositories
• Self-service planning capabilities allows users to participate in workforce planning activities

Weaknesses

• Platform's advanced analytics and predictive modeling capabilities for workforce planning may be limited compared to dedicated workforce analytics tools
• Geared towards enterprise-class businesses, which means it may not be suitable for smaller organizations based on cost
• Users report experiencing a difficult and time consuming development process

11. OneStream

OneStream is a software platform that assists organizations in consolidating financial data and simplifying their financial planning processes. It offers functionalities to streamline budgeting, forecasting, reporting and workforce planning, allowing teams to collaborate efficiently and make informed decisions. 

Strengths

• Integrates with various data sources, including HR systems, payroll systems and other relevant workforce data sources
• Offers collaboration features and workflow management capabilities, facilitating collaboration and coordination among teams involved in workforce planning
• Offers workforce planning analytics

Weaknesses

• Customization around specific requirements (e.g. integrating data sources and establishing planning models) may involve IT resources or OneStream consultants, adding to the implementation complexity
• Not suited for small to medium sized organizations
• Relies on the availability and accuracy of integrated data from various systems; if data sources are inconsistent, incomplete, or unreliable, it can impact the accuracy and reliability of workforce planning within the platform

Conclusion: Choose a Workforce Planning Tool To Achieve Strategic Objectives

Workforce planning software tools enhance the scalability of essential workforce planning processes. They improve the accuracy and delivery speed of your workforce data, providing your decision makers with quickly accessible, granular data they can trust. This helps your business ensure it has the talent required to achieve it's operational and strategic objectives.

Without a workforce planning solution, decisions regarding labor management, headcount planning, task management, payroll and benefit planning and strategic planning are made based on outdated, unreliable data.

But with a workforce planning solution particularly one thats part of a complete planning platform housing data for all your finance-led and extended planning processes you can:

• Map HR strategies to business-wide objectives
• Align HR costs to business-wide financials
• Generate HR reports faster to share across your business

And all this is possible while protecting sensitive data and maintaining business-wide transparency. Whether you're an SMB, mid-market or enterprise class company, the solution you choose depends on your specific needs and constraints, such as a flexible architecture that can handle complexity, cost, adoptability and scalability. 

So if your organization is working against labor constraints as most companies currently are, it's crucial you find a workforce planning solution that will help you best support and enable your talent.