Staff planning software – Using three-step staff planning process

Recent researches conducted by independent agencies in the USA showed that almost half of small-sized and mid-sized enterprises face the problem of non-optimal allocation of employees due to improper organization of staff planning process . This problem results in insufficient and incomplete development of HR management plan which is the basis for managing employees and assigning working hours. Often the problem becomes more aggravated when the enterprises do not use special software to manage employees and allocate working hours efficiently. In this context, staff planning is the primary process on which the senior management of the enterprises should be focused first of all. And such software should be used to simplify this process and make it more efficient.

The process
Definition : HR planning is a process aimed at developing strategies and policies that match supply of employees to availability of jobs at organizational or departmental level. It involves reviewing available human resources, identifying future requirements, and taking steps to ensure that supply of employees meets current demand. That process shouldn't be considered from just one angle, as it is a complex system. Such a system can be described as a three-step process:

The software
To run the three-step process, staff planning software is required. Such software is a solution that managers can use to create a HR management plan , use templates , and keep all information about the process in a single place (a database). An example of such software is VIP Task Manager.

VIP Task Manager uses a client-server platform and allows keeping information about staff rosters and job assignments in a single database. The software has the following staff planning tools :

• Resource List is a staff planning tool that allows adding user accounts to your database. The tool displays user accounts as a list, so you can use it to create a plan rosters. You can set roles per user and specify user details.
• Task Tree is a tool which is perfect to develop staff plan templates and share staff plan examples. It allows using Permissions Panel to define user access level to information in your database.
• Task List is to track tasks and job assignments. It helps monitor staff plans and staff planning templates. You can use Charts Panel to get a big-picture view of the staff planning process.
• Calendar helps schedule and display jobs, tasks and events on multiple calendars.

VIP Task Manager has a free trial copy. You can download the 30-day free staff planning software from this website. The 30-day free edition is available in two editions: Professional and Standard.