What is its purpose?

The planning staff module enables you to review and adjust staffing to meet demand (SMART forecast) all in one screen. The goal is to reduce manual workload and make forecasting less error-prone. You can import scheduled hours and base salaries from an external system(s) and forecast down to the individual staff member level.

Click here to view the Staffing screen overview and definitions.

Intended users and requirements

Financial Controllers and General Managers are the intended users.

This module is intended for use with automated import files from a timekeeping system.

How to use the staffing tool

To access the page via the side menu, go to PMI Planning, Profit & Loss, select relevant department, and then select the staff view.

Step 1: Import hours from your timekeeping system (TKS) 

1. Click on the Tools icon in the top right-hand corner.
2. Choose the time period and the departments you want to import and select Update.
3. We recommend that you import data each month for three consecutive months ahead and last month once schedules are completed in your timekeeping system.
4. Be sure to only update for periods and departments with timesheet data as this update removes existing values and shows only what is found in TKS report. So never update housekeeping if it is outsourced and you get an invoice at the end of the month. But you can write in the overall hours and cost manually for a complete record.

Step 2: Review the chart to identify any potential over or under-staffing 

1. The yellow and orange bars show if you are over or understaffed compared to your SMART forecast hours (the purple line).  
2. Roll your mouse over the bars to see exactly how many hours you are away from the target. 
3. Use this to consider what months may need an additional scheduling review. 
4. Note, there may be a valid reason that your schedule does not meet your exact SMART forecast hours. You don’t have to adjust if you see discrepancies, this is for you to consider. For example, you have a big event happening at the end of June, but will be cleaning the rooms on the first day of July as they are checking out on a weekend.  

Step 3: Make changes to your forecast in the table

Step 4: Verify your changes using sense check 

1. To ensure you haven’t made any errors in your updates, and generally validate the prepopulated details activate the sense check mode in the top left corner of the table.
2. This will highlight any data that seems incomplete or illogical compared to other months in your staff forecast. Scroll over the highlighted cells for explanations. For full details on how to use sense check, read the sense check article here.

Step 5: Save and view the effect of your changes 

1. Once you are done, select save in the top right corner of the table.
   1. Any changes made here are available in your WiP Forecast in Profit and Loss.  Exactly where values are included is controlled by the normal P&L formulas.
   2. Updating the actual schedules based on these adjustments will need to be done directly in your timekeeping tool.
2. Look back at the graph or the summary rows to verify if your changes have aligned hours to the forecasted demand.
3. To return to a different P&L view, select the desired view in the dropdown breadcrumb.

Video tutorial