The Challenges & Benefits of Implementing Strategic and Tactical Planning Processes and Tools in Workforce Management

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In this presentation

• Background to SEAMS

• Asset Management vs Workforce Management

• Strategic and Tactical Planning– Problems– Challenges– Benefits

• Summary

Enable analytics & data to better inform decision making to reduce cost, increase profit and

balance risk to improve corporate performance and return on investment

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SEAMSBuilding Analytic Capability

Enable analytics & data to better inform decision making to reduce cost, increase profit and

balance risk to improve corporate performance and return on investment

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SEAMSBuilding Analytic Capability

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Asset Management vs Workforce Management?

Asset & Project Investment Decisions Dashboard Management Accounts

Strategic Asset Management System

(ERP/EAM/Works Management/Asset Register)

Financial and Accounting System

Real-time Data Capture

Geographical Information System (GIS)

Field Force / Mobile Workers

Ad-hoc Spreadsheets and Databases

Asset risk model in MS Access

Spreadsheet deterioration

model

Reg. depreciation register as document

Condition forecasting

bespoke app.Copy

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The Problems – In the words of the Market• Water Company

– Discontent with current scheduling system so planning upgrade– Increase in backlog of events that impacts customer service– Overuse of contractors leading to increase in cost– Peaky demand that needed smoothing (proactive vs reactive)– Struggling to achieve efficiency targets in operations

• Gas Distribution Network– Geographic location of gangs inefficient– A lack of succession planning and training for skills

• Facility Management– Contracts not being run efficiently– Taking on too many unprofitable contracts– Getting hit with penalties due to inefficient resource allocation– A realisation of a lack of strategic planning and forecasting

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The Challenge – Analytics Terminology

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The Challenge – Analytics Tool Landscape

Most Field Force DispatchClick

TableauCliq

Business Objects

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Supply and Demand Balance

People

Hours

Skills

Location

...

Tasks

Duration

Materials

Location

...

Demand Supply

OptimisationResource & skills profileDeployment locationsTraining needs & succession External contractor requirements

Timing of worksEfficient skills deployment

Balanced reactive vs. proactivePlanned seasonal impacts

ReactiveIncidents, accidents, failures

Pro-activeReplace, Maintain, Plan

Responsive

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The Benefits – Forward Planning

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The Benefits – Our findings

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So why is everyone not doing it?

• It often gets put in here

• Leads organisations into the perilous trap…1. Try do something quick and easy in Excel to “test” value2. Do this with someone who is not strategic and struggles with

analytics3. No processes put in place to support strategic planning4. Spreadsheet ends up being of no use and gets lost on C drive5. Company concludes strategic planning is worthless/limited so

don’t bother progressing further6. Upgrade to next version of job scheduling tool as we

understand that

The “Too Hard” Box

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Is my data good enough?

• It is easy to point at data and say it isn’t good enough as an excuse for doing nothing

• You will be surprised at how much improvement you can get in your decision making from the smallest amounts of data

• You can wait forever for the perfect data and never move forward

• Let your decision making processes drive your data improvement, not the other way around

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Summary

• Relatively untapped cost and performance efficiencies

• Pitfalls to be aware of and avoid

• Significant challenges

• The benefits make it a worthwhile challenge

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Questions?