Category: FAQ
Excerpt: Inaccurate shift planning causes unnecessary costs due to overstaffing, idle time and absenteeism. If you know the economic effects, you can take targeted countermeasures and improve the ROI of your planning.
Too many employees - or too few?
Productivity, service quality, employee motivation – everything stands and falls with planning. However, many decision-makers underestimate this: Inaccurate shift schedules not only cause additional organizational work, but also cost money. And not just too little. Overtime, idle time, absences, uneven workloads – if you don’t plan properly, you pay twice: in terms of budget and trust.
But where exactly do these costs arise? And how can they be quantified – in order to make an informed decision for a better solution? This article takes a look at the hidden costs of poor planning and shows why investing in a professional workforce management system (WFM) such as opcycWFM is not only worthwhile in organizational terms, but also economically.
Invisible costs: when planning becomes a black box
Many companies still rely on Excel spreadsheets or non-integrated tools for workforce scheduling. What initially appears flexible becomes a cost trap as complexity increases. Because where transparency, automation and real-time capability are lacking, expensive side effects arise at various points:
- Overstaffing: Too many employees on duty at the wrong time - at full cost but without full benefit.
- Idle time: Employees are present but not productive - a silent waste of resources.
- Understaffing: Too few staff at peak times - service level violations, lost customers, lost sales, frustration in the team.
- Absenteeism: Dissatisfaction and overwork are reflected in increased sickness rates and ultimately in staff turnover.
- Overtime: Unplanned overtime leads to wage cost increases and decreasing motivation.
- Schedule changes: Every shift swap without a system costs valuable planning time and creates uncertainty.
How much does inaccurate planning really cost?
Figures help to make the problem tangible. A sample calculation: A medium-sized service center with 100 employees…
- has an average of 5 % overstaffing per month = 800 hours of idle time × € 20/h = € 16,000
- approx. 32,000 € p.a. due to incorrect planning, with only 2 more sick days per year per employee.
- triggers 200 unplanned overtime hours per month = 200 × (20 €/h + 5 €/h) = 5,000 €*
- loses 1 % productivity due to suboptimal planning = estimated 15,000 fewer customer contacts per year = high loss of sales / poorer service quality
* assuming 25% surcharges
In total: Poor planning alone can result in additional costs of over 100,000per year – based on a conservative estimate.
Note: These values are based on internal benchmarks as well as cross-sectional data from studies such as the “Forrester Total Economic Impact Study”, which estimates an ROI of +300% over 3 years through the use of WFM systems.
The ROI of a professional WFM system
What does poor planning cost? A lot. But what are the benefits of a good WFM system like opcycWFM? Even more – in a positive sense. Because modern WFM solutions create:
- Increased efficiency: Automated planning reduces manual effort by up to 60%.
- Better capacity utilization: Forecast-accurate shift staffing reduces idle time and avoids overtime.
- Greater employee loyalty: Desired service models and transparent processes increase satisfaction and reduce fluctuation.
- More planning security: early warning systems and real-time monitoring enable precise control - even in the event of unforeseen events.
- Less sick leave: Balanced, fair planning improves the working atmosphere and reduces absenteeism in the long term.
In figures: According to Deloitte optimized workforce management increases operational performance by up to 25%, reduces unproductive hours by up to 20% and significantly reduces staff turnover.
Why many companies are still hesitant
Despite the obvious advantages, many organizations find it difficult to decide on a new WFM system. Frequent reasons:
- "Excel still works" - Yes, but at what price?
- "The team is well-rehearsed" - But is it also permanently under pressure?
- "We don't have time for a new system" - But time is what poor planning eats up.
The error in thinking: The costs of a WFM project are immediately visible – the costs of poor planning, on the other hand, creep up. This is precisely why an economic argument and key figures are needed to convince decision-makers.
How opcycWFM helps you to uncover hidden costs
opcycWFM was specifically developed to bring transparency to planning – technically, operationally and economically.
Your advantages at a glance:
- Real-time forecasting: Requirements are precisely forecast on the basis of historical data and current trends.
- Economic KPI dashboards: Visualization of productivity, deviations, overtime and absences - team or location-based.
- Automated planning runs: less manual intervention, more reliability, less time required.
- Self-services for employees: Preferred shifts, shift swaps, vacation - with clear approval workflows.
- Integrated absence management: sick notes, flexitime, break regulations - all digital, legally compliant and transparent.
This not only makes workforce scheduling more efficient – it also makes it measurably cheaper. The ROI is not achieved through savings, but by avoiding unnecessary costs.
Conclusion: Planning costs - both good and bad. But bad planning costs more.
The duty roster is more than just an organizational tool – it is a financial lever. Those who manage it precisely avoid expensive side effects and gain scope for strategic decisions. Investing in a professional WFM system is therefore not an “IT purchase” – but a business decision.
Would you like to know how high the hidden costs in your planning actually are? Then start with our WFM checklist for an initial inventory or get to know opcycWFM in a free on-demand demo.
More news
The hidden costs of inaccurate shift schedules – and how companies can avoid them
Intraday management: react or control – what dominates your day-to-day service?
How WFM reporting enables data-based decisions
The underestimated KPI: What planning quality reveals about your organization
