Planning is everything. The plan is nothing.
The year 2020 went differently for all of us than we expected. All plans had to be revised, and the pandemic dynamics are still not broken. The above quotation from Eisenhower underlines the value of planning in the current time. The description of possible future time paths and targets in the context of the planning is and remains a central value, even if the plan itself has to be adapted again and again.
In the context of workforce management, this understanding fits particularly well and we are pleased that Gartner, one of the leading providers of market research results and analyses, includes the topic of workforce planning in a current article. In particular, the importance of strategic personnel planning is underlined with a reference to Dynaplan. Read more about this in this newsletter.
On our side, too, we continue to strengthen the toolbox for thinking in scenarios. Our next HR practice group on 18 May will elaborate on this. We hope to see as many of you as possible in the digital format.
We wish you continued confidence for the upcoming planning rounds and a happy Easter.
Your Dynaplan team
Contents at a glance
- Dynaplan’s SWP solution featured as tool of choice in Gartner report
- HR practice group
- Best Paper Award Praxis 2020
- Dynaplan’s methodology and toolset in use at SBB
- Strategic workforce planning at Infineon
- Scenario comparison in Smia 2.0.1
- Technical support overhauled
Community
Dynaplan’s SWP solution featured as tool of choice in Gartner report
Dynaplan is featured as a global player in strategic workforce planning in the Gartner report Workforce Planning — How to Use Technology to Support Planning Processes.
The study describes how qualitative conversations and storytelling still dominate the process of identifying action plans at the strategic level, with little technology support beyond generic productivity suites. The research firm advises organisations to instead invest in a portfolio of specialized solutions.
In particular, the article highlights how long-range planning using scenario simulation plays a key role in identifying the best course of action, further reinforcing Dynaplan’s approach as the best-of-breed solution for strategic workforce planning.
HR practice group
It is our great pleasure to invite all our customers to the next HR practice group on 18 May. Due to the ongoing circumstances, we will again meet virtually. We will share best practice approaches to specific strategic workforce planning (SWP) questions and further develop our methodology and toolbox to enhance the contribution that SWP can bring in the respective organisations. This time, we will especially look for ways to enhance the scenario methodology, and discuss options to increase the impact of the resulting HR measures. This event is free of charge and exclusively for our customers.
Best Paper Award Praxis 2020
The Best Paper Award Praxis 2020 was granted to the authors of Driver based simulation in controlling at Infineon by the journal Controlling. The paper describes how Infineon set up and uses Dynaplan’s dynamic business planning solutions to support the evolvement of controllers towards business partners. By using driver-based simulation models, efforts for generating aggregated financial predictions have been reduced, providing more time for value-adding activities.
Solutions
Dynaplan’s methodology and toolset in use at SBB
The Swiss federal railways SBB employs over 30 000 men and women in 150 different occupations. Planning and managing those capacities is an important cornerstone of the organisation. Dispersed processes have now been merged into a holistic and company-wide approach, integrating both a quantitative perspective on the workforce development as well as a qualitative view on the changes ahead. Topics include the ongoing digitalization of many activities, and the resulting impact on required competencies in the different professions. We are proud that SBB has chosen Dynaplan’s methodology and toolset to support the rollout of this new approach in the different business units.
Strategic workforce planning at Infineon
Infineon has been using Dynaplan Smia for driver-based simulations in managerial accounting for several years now. We are happy that our solutions are now also used for strategic workforce planning. Complementary to the existing portfolio, Dynaplan adds a forward-looking perspective to classical reporting and analytics systems. To accomplish this, Infineon benefits from Dynaplan’s certified interface to SAP BW. Simulations and HR plans that distinguish between location, organisational unit, and job cluster can be created and updated at the push of a button. Lars Peuker, head of people analytics says:
Technology
Scenario comparison in Smia 2.0.1
Working with scenarios is one of the best tools available for making good strategic decisions. With Smia 2.0.1, we’ve simplified scenario comparison significantly. We are now building a new version of our HR library cockpit around the new concept.
Instead of you having to manually add scenario comparisons to each view, we can pre-make comparisons for you using the reference scenario feature. All you have to do is change the reference, and all the comparison spreadsheets and charts update to point to the values of your choice. This allows you to quickly compare various scenarios with your current working model, and to put any two scenarios side by side in the cockpits by restoring one and picking the other as a reference.
When we roll out these new cockpits to your models, you will be able to experience the future more clearly than ever before.
Technical support overhauled
Our platform for technical support has received a big overhaul. It is now more user friendly and more secure. Creation of technical support tickets from inside Smia has also been improved.
