If you've ever used Excel, you know how powerful and versatile it can be. But let's face it: as your organization grows, those familiar spreadsheets can feel more like a challenge than a solution.
Excel as a basis for workforce planning, but with limitations
When it comes to employee scheduling, many companies still do (parts of) the process in Excel. You probably have your current employees with their related data in a good system. But elements such as vacancies, outside hires and the actual number of employees per department versus the ideal (or allowed) situation often complicate things. Let alone creating a budget or forecast when you want to add future salaries or perform scenario analysis.
The disadvantages of Excel
At some point you run into roadblocks if you stick with Excel. Staff scheduling is becoming increasingly difficult and error-prone. It's difficult to stick to a standard process and it will require a lot of manual work. And perhaps most importantly when it comes to sensitive HR data in Excel files: you don't have a "single version of the truth" and run into security issues.
For companies working with employee scheduling software, such as Vena, this is a thing of the past. It's a platform designed to make the most of Excel while solving common problems. In this blog, we'll tell you how Vena can help you take your employee scheduling process to the next level, making it more efficient, reliable and scalable.
1. Optimize workflow and process management for workforce scheduling.
Excel's flexibility is great, but your staff scheduling processes often require sequential steps, different user rights or formal approval workflows, and that's where Excel falls short. Vena bridges these gaps with web-based workflow management: tasks are sequenced and permissions assigned, approval processes are built in, complete with audit trails for transparency. Salaries, for example, are visible only to those who absolutely need access, ensuring process integrity without rigidity.
2. Improve data quality and accuracy
Maintaining current, complete and consistent data is crucial for workforce planning. Excel's reliance on manual data entry and file sharing increases the risk of errors and data corruption. Vena reduces this with centralized data storage, reducing errors caused by manual data entry or file sharing. Input templates secure designated fields, ensuring consistency. Yet you can still give users the flexibility they need, for example, to enter new jobs or add individual compensation elements.
3. Efficient data integration with ERP and HR systems.
Planning often involves pulling data from ERP systems or specific HR systems such as AFAS/Workday, or exporting forecasts to solutions such as Power BI. Excel struggles with large data sets and maintaining reliable links to external systems. Vena simplifies this with robust data integration. One-time connections enable real-time import and export, so you can be assured of accurate and up-to-date data without expanding models.
4. Faster performance and real-time calculations
Large data sets and complex formulas can make Excel slow, especially in collaborative environments. Vena's database eliminates these bottlenecks. Millions of rows can be imported or copied in minutes, while real-time calculations run seamlessly in the background. This allows users to enter data, update models and analyze results without performance delays. As soon as you change a salary or add employment, all related elements such as pension costs and taxes are calculated instantly.
See Vena in action?
Want to see how Vena makes your workforce planning more efficient and reliable? In our interactive demo, we show you how to optimize Excel processes and get more control over your workforce planning. Watch the demo here
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