The workforce planning workflow

The calculators on this site each answer one question. Real planning strings them together: a forecast becomes a budget, a budget becomes a roster, a roster gets stress-tested and then justified. This page is the thread — the planning cycle as eight steps, with the right tool, article and lesson at each one. Work straight through it for a project, or jump to the step you’re stuck on.

The planning cycle 1 · Forecast how much demand 2 · Check how good was it 3 · Size FTE & budget 4 · Shape the day 5 · Staff each interval 6 · Optimise service level 7 · Stress-test what-if 8 · Justify business case … and the case you make funds next year’s forecast. The cycle repeats.
Eight steps from demand to decision. Each links to the calculator that does that job.

1Forecast the demand

How many contacts will arrive, and how long will they take?

Everything starts with volume and AHT. Pick a method that matches your data and horizon, then project the demand — and remember a forecast is a range, not a single number.

Volume forecaster Which method? Forecasting guide Forecast with ranges

2Check the forecast

How good was last cycle’s forecast — and is it biased?

Before you trust a forecast to drive staffing, measure how it has performed. Watch bias before MAPE: a forecast that leans one way mis-sizes the whole operation, week after week.

Forecast accuracy Why accuracy is the wrong goal The noise floor

3Size capacity and budget

How many people, over the year, and what do they cost?

Turn the demand into a full-time-equivalent headcount and an annual cost — the anchor number for budget season — then build the month-by-month required-vs-available picture.

FTE & budget builder New-hire ramp & lead time Capacity-plan template Capacity Planning paper Capacity Academy track

4Shape the day

Where in the day does the demand actually land?

An annual total never staffed anyone. Spread the volume across the day into an interval profile — because two days with the same total can need very different rosters.

Intraday profile builder Intraday profile lesson

5Staff each interval

How many agents per interval, net and gross of shrinkage?

Size every interval with Erlang, then gross up for shrinkage to get the headcount you actually roster. The explorer is the fastest way to feel the trade-offs first.

Visual Erlang explorer Erlang C Shrinkage build-up What is Erlang?

6Choose the service level

Is 80/20 right — or are you over- or under-serving?

The service target is a cost decision, not a tradition. Find the level that costs least, and test whether the marginal opening hour earns its keep.

Cost-optimal service level Reduce or extend hours? As Much Art as Science

7Stress-test the plan

If the forecast is wrong, which error hurts most?

No plan survives contact with reality unchanged. See how the roster moves when volume, AHT, the target or shrinkage come in wrong — and buffer the input you’re most exposed to.

Staffing sensitivity Which error costs most

8Make the business case

What is good planning worth — and what does getting it wrong cost?

Close the loop by putting a pound sign on it: the value of the planning function, the cost of attrition and overtime, and the EBITDA impact of getting the numbers right.

Planning value & business case Cost of attrition EBITDA impact Business-case paper

This is the plan-ahead cycle. The rest of the operating cycle has its own workflows: scheduling, real-time and quality assurance. See all the tools on the calculators page, the full library on the reading paths, or learn the method end-to-end in the ccPlanning Academy.