Context
National oil Company
The National Oil Company, managing over 60,000 employees and spanning 16 subsidiaries, represents a significant segment of the national economy, contributing extensively to both local and global energy markets. The company faced substantial challenges with outdated workforce planning methods that impacted its operational efficiency and responsiveness.
Problem
The primary challenge was the opaque and error-prone system of workforce planning, where manual data handling and multiple versions of documents led to inefficiencies and outdated information, severely impacting operational effectiveness.
Research
Research
The research phase included a detailed audit of current planning practices, direct interviews with multiple workforce planners, and an analysis of workflow documentation. Key findings pointed to a critical need for an integrated digital solution that could handle complex data sets efficiently and with fewer human errors. Methodologies applied included:
Surveys and Interviews
Conducted to understand the daily challenges faced by staff at different levels
Workflow Analysis
Mapping out the existing processes to identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies
Technical Evaluation
Assessing the capabilities of current tools versus the proposed digital solution to quantify potential improvements.
Entities
In developing our comprehensive workforce planning system, we've meticulously defined several key entities foundational to accurately modeling our organization's staffing dynamics. These entities are derived from existing artifacts, such as detailed Excel plans, and robust data structures from our SAP system, ensuring high fidelity and reliability in our data sources.
Unit: Represents organizational units within the company, detailing the unit head, title, hierarchical relationships, and associated positions.
Position: Captures critical details about each job role, including title, grade, associated unit, current and future employment, and key attributes like nationality and planned changes.
Employee: Details individual employee characteristics such as name, contact details, gender, employment history, and crucial metrics like performance grades and employment dates.
Additional entities such as Transfer, Succession, Retirement, and Attrition have been integrated to facilitate detailed tracking and planning of employee movements and career progression within the company. Each of these entities is linked through well-defined relationships, ensuring a robust framework that supports both current operational needs and strategic planning.
The integration of these entities into our system was guided by thorough analysis and interpretation of existing organizational data, providing us with a high degree of confidence in the robustness and accuracy of the foundational data used. This structured approach ensures that our workforce planning system robustly supports effective decision-making and strategic workforce management.
Personas
Main personas identified were:
Workforce planner — responsible for internal resource allocation and planning,
Unit manager — who negotiates and approves staff plans.
User Journey
Redesigned to start from the lowest operational units, allowing them to initiate plans and coordinate upwards, ensuring alignment and consistency at every organizational level.
Identified Workforce Planning Process Challenges
After conducting detailed research and engaging with key personas involved in the workforce planning process, we have clearly identified and validated a series of challenges. This validation was achieved through comprehensive discussions with major stakeholders. The findings highlight critical areas in need of improvement, ensuring strategic alignment and enhanced operational efficiency across the board. This document outlines these challenges, grouped into three main themes for clarity and focus.
Data Management Challenges
Challenge
Business Impact
User Impact
Plan Development and Approval
Challenge
Business Impact
User Impact
Communication and Tool Limitations
Challenge
Business Impact
User Impact
Solution
Solution outline
Solution Outline for Workforce Planning System
In addressing the challenges identified in our workforce planning process, we have developed a comprehensive solution that integrates all planning components into a unified database system. This solution effectively addresses the issues of data management complexity, data categorization, multiple spreadsheet management, planning accuracy and updates, and strategy formulation for fulfillment.
Unified Database Architecture
Centralized Entity Management
By centralizing all resources into one structure, every entity—such as an employee, position, transfer, and retirement plan—is connected and managed within a singular system. This integration ensures that an employee cannot be erroneously assigned to multiple positions simultaneously, as all assignments are controlled at the system level. This approach not only simplifies management but also enhances the accuracy of our staffing plans.
Unit-Centric Organization
The system is designed to focus on units as the fundamental organizational structure, under which all positions are consolidated. This structure allows for more effective management of positions within each unit, making it easier to handle updates and track changes across the organization.
Collaborative Work Environment
Shared System Access
Workforce planners, unit management, and higher unit management all operate within the same system interface. This shared environment ensures that data is always current and accessible, facilitating real-time visibility of all plans, whether they are finalized or still in progress.
Enhanced Communication and Feedback
The unified system allows stakeholders to see changes, provide feedback, and approve plans before formal submission. This capability significantly reduces the time required for approvals and minimizes delays and last-minute adjustments.
Streamlined Updates and KPI Integration
Single Interface for Comprehensive Management
All relevant data and updates are accessible from a single screen within the system, streamlining the process of managing and updating workforce plans. This consolidation helps users quickly navigate and make informed decisions without having to switch between multiple interfaces or systems.
Pre-calculated KPIs and Metrics
The system includes built-in KPIs and metrics relevant to both workforce planners and unit managers. These indicators are designed to provide immediate insights into performance and staffing needs, aiding in faster and more effective decision-making.
Impact and Benefits
Implementing this solution not only resolves the primary challenges of our previous planning processes but also enhances operational efficiency and strategic alignment across the company. By simplifying the management of workforce data and fostering a collaborative environment, we ensure that our workforce planning is both agile and accurate, significantly improving overall business performance and employee satisfaction.
Sketches
Sketches Main Screen
During the sketching phase of our project, we made critical decisions that significantly shaped the design of our workforce planning system. Our primary focus was to work at the unit level, a choice driven by several logical and practical considerations.
Unit-Level Focus
UNIT
Top-Level Metrics: At the top of the interface, we display combined metrics for all positions within a unit. This provides a high-level overview of key performance indicators (KPIs) from a staffing perspective.
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Primary Entity - Position: Within each unit, the position is the main entity of focus. Each position needs to show:
Current Employment: Details of who is currently occupying the position.
Future Plans: Details on upcoming changes, including the planned fulfillment method (e.g., internal transfer, hiring)
Position
Current Employee
Future Employee
[EDIT]
Position
Current Employee
Future Employee
[EDIT]
Position
Current Employee
Future Employee
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Position
Current Employee
Future Employee
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Position
Current Employee
Future Employee
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Combined Metrics and Holistic View
• Top-Level Metrics: At the top of the interface, we display combined metrics for all positions within a unit. This provides a high-level overview of key performance indicators (KPIs) from a staffing perspective.
• Detailed Position Data: Below the metrics, we display raw data for each position, including current employment details and future plans. This structure allows users to:
• Understand overall performance at a glance.
• Dive into the specifics of each position to make detailed adjustments as needed.
Sketches Position Editing Screen
In our sketching phase, we also designed the Position Editing Screen to provide detailed information about each position and facilitate editing and future assignment planning. This screen is crucial for managing the specifics of each position within a unit, allowing users to handle current employment details, reasons for changes, and future assignment planning seamlessly.
Position Details and Current Employment: Details of who is currently occupying the position.
Position Details
Current employee details
Details of Reason for Leaving: Information about why the current employee is leaving the position (e.g., termination, transfer, retirement, succession).
Planning reason
Transfer
Succession
Retirement
Termination
Retirement details
Retirement Type
Retirement Date
Save
Future Plans: Details on upcoming changes, including the planned fulfillment method (e.g., internal transfer, hiring).
Future assigment
Transfer
Succession
Retirement
Termination
Transfer
Employee
Transfer Date
Save
Final Design
Prototypes underwent multiple iterations based on feedback from end-users, focusing on improving navigation, data visualization, and interaction patterns.
Conclusion
The National Oil Company, managing over 60,000 employees and spanning 16 subsidiaries, represents a significant segment of the national economy, contributing extensively to both local and global energy markets. The company faced substantial challenges with outdated workforce planning methods that impacted its operational efficiency and responsiveness.