Category: FAQ
Excerpt: Confusing tables, manual errors, inefficient planning – Excel slows down your workforce management! Find out why modern WFM systems offer forecasts, automation and flexibility – and how you can plan your workforce efficiently.
Excel as a WFM tool? A productivity killer
Many companies continue to rely on Excel for their personnel planning, as it appears to be a fast, flexible and cost-effective solution. However, what appears practical at first glance often turns out to be inefficient, error-prone and difficult to scale in practice – especially in dynamic service centers that rely on real-time planning, automation and flexible employee scheduling.
If personnel planning has to be constantly updated manually, countless tables have to be synchronized and confusing calculations have to be carried out, Excel quickly becomes a productivity killer. In this article, we explain the biggest weaknesses of Excel in workforce planning and show why a professional workforce management system (WFM) is the only sensible solution for future-proof and efficient workforce management.
Administration and scalability: Excel becomes a problem from 30 employees upwards
Excel may be sufficient for small teams with just a few employees, but once a company reaches a certain size, spreadsheets quickly reach their limits:
- Lack of central data management: every adjustment requires manual copying and updating.
- Complex structures: With over 30 employees, complex tables with many formulas and macros are created.
- Susceptibility to errors: An incorrect value or incorrect formatting can distort entire calculations.
WFM systems solve this problem:
- Data centralization: All personnel master data, working hours, qualifications and absences are managed in one place.
- Automatic update: Changes in availabilities or shifts are synchronized immediately.
- Scalability: Whether 50 or 20,000 employees - a WFM system remains performant and efficient.
Employee wishes and employee experience: Excel does not offer any self-service functions
Nowadays, employees expect more flexibility and opportunities to help shape personnel planning. Excel, however, makes it almost impossible for them to be actively involved in the planning process.
- No direct access for employees: All changes must be made by the planner.
- No real-time adjustments: Vacation requests, shift swaps or short-term availability must be coordinated manually.
- Lack of transparency: Employees only see their duty roster once it has been finally distributed - requests for changes are then difficult.
How a WFM system provides support here:
- Employee portal: Employees can swap shifts, submit preferred times and manage their own availability.
- Automatic consideration of requests: systems prioritize requested times based on rules and availability.
- Increased satisfaction and personal responsibility: employees have control over their working hours and experience a better work-life balance.
Planning reliability and service level: Excel does not offer reliable forecasts
In a dynamic service center, precise forecasts are crucial to ensure optimal personnel planning. But Excel is not a forecasting tool – it cannot process historical data from ACD systems or take seasonal fluctuations into account.
- No real-time forecasting: changes have to be entered manually.
- No simulation of service level scenarios: Different utilization scenarios cannot be calculated.
- No integration of external data sources: Marketing campaigns or other external factors are not taken into account.
A WFM system solves these problems:
- Real-time forecasting: The demand forecast is based on historical and current data from ACD and HR systems.
- Simulations and "what-if" analyses: Different personnel deployment scenarios can be calculated and optimized.
- Automatic adjustment of planning: The system automatically adjusts shift plans based on live data.
Multi-skill planning and more/less work: Excel is too rigid for complex requirements
Teams with different qualifications work in modern service centers. The correct assignment of tasks is essential – but multi-skill planning is almost impossible in Excel.
- Inflexible skill allocation: Excel cannot automatically schedule suitable employees with specific skills.
- Lack of dynamic adjustment: staff deployment cannot be changed ad hoc when requirements change.
- No consideration of overtime/undertime: Overtime or minus hours are difficult to take into account in planning.
WFM systems offer massive advantages here:
- Dynamic skill planning: The system automatically recognizes which employees are qualified for which tasks.
- Automatic adjustment of additional and reduced work: Planned campaigns or increased demand are directly included in the planning.
- Flexibility in control: ad hoc changes can be implemented in real time.
Automation and efficiency: Excel means manual work
The biggest weakness of Excel is the lack of automation. In a professional WFM system, forecasting, planning, controlling, reporting and time recording are seamlessly integrated, resulting in intelligent process control. Excel on the other hand requires tedious manual work:
- Plans have to be constantly revised manually.
- There are no automated reports or real-time analyses.
- Shift schedule changes have to be communicated by e-mail or telephone.
WFM systems automate and optimize processes:
- Shift planning at the touch of a button: the system automatically calculates the optimum work schedule.
- Real-time dashboards and reporting: all relevant KPIs at a glance, without manual data entry.
- Seamless integration with other systems: Automated synchronization with ACD, HR and payroll systems.
Legal requirements and compliance: Excel can pose a risk for personnel planning
When it comes to personnel planning, companies not only have to keep an eye on efficiency and productivity, but also comply with a large number of legal regulations. Particularly in call centers, which often operate with shift work, overtime and flexible working hours, compliance with labour law requirements (Working Hours Act, minimum break regulations, collective agreements and works agreements, weekend work and overtime pay, time recording obligations, vacation entitlement and public holidays) is essential.
- Excel cannot be used to automatically check whether planned shifts comply with labor law regulations. Violations of the Working Hours Act or collectively agreed regulations often go unnoticed - until there are consequences under labor law.
Advantage of a WFM system:
- A workforce management system integrates legal requirements directly into the planning algorithms. Automatic alerts prevent violations before they occur and offer companies planning security.
Conclusion: Excel is not a reliable WFM solution
Excel can handle simple planning tasks, but it is far too inflexible, error-prone and inefficient for modern service centers. A professional WFM system drastically reduces manual effort, improves forecast accuracy and offers employees flexible, transparent planning.
Is your WFM growing with you? Or are you still caught in the Excel trap? Optimize your planning and save valuable resources. You can find out how this works with opcycWFM either in an on-demand product demo or alternatively in a personal consultation with our experts.
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