Adaptive Headcount Modeling
Workforce planning continues to be a driving force in Workday Adaptive Planning implementations. While out-of-the-box functionality is a staple of what Adaptive brings to the table, layering on automation and stability with detailed data requires a tailored build. At Stormloop we aim to maximize Adaptive Planning functionality by providing creative and scalable structures that are built to last and leverage the tool’s integration capability to its fullest.
Lean Data Structures
Lean data structures are a key pillar of our recommendations for clients. What this involves is creating a Level Structure that contains a single element (such as subsidiary or company) and creating list dimensions to allow for the system’s reporting and modeling capabilities to scale over time.
By avoiding hierarchical structures within our base elements (dimensions), we are able to leverage an unlimited amount of groupings (attributes) to turn single points of data entry into multiple forms of reporting structures.
A common example of this is with Cost Centers or Departments. Oftentimes these elements are key in assigning system access amongst users as well as supporting several key reporting elements such as Business Units. By taking the Cost Center/Department out of a hierarchical level structure the system becomes cleaner and easier to use without sacrificing functionality.
Meta-Data and Data-Based Integrations
Inside of Adaptive we want our clients to maximize the amount of time that they are able to work on value-add activities and minimize the time where they are doing system maintenance. A key way that we achieve this is by recommending that our clients have us set up meta-data loaders to ensure that the data structures in their source systems align with what is in Adaptive.
An example of this is leveraging tables from the source system which lay out a company’s department values and the various groupings or hierarchies associated with these departments. Accompanying a data load to refresh an active employee’s roster list, we will install a simultaneous load of the updated department structures to ensure reporting aligns with the latest system updates.
In Adaptive, this is commonly accomplished through the use of Tasks which can be automated or run ad-hoc. Meta-data integrations, data-based integrations, and tasks all ensure that the source of truth and Adaptive remain synchronized to effectively reduce system maintenance.
Centralized Reporting Structure With Detailed Data Contexts
In Adaptive, thinking in terms of working backward from an output of the system (reporting) is an effective way to ensure the system fulfills reporting requirements and allows admins and developers greater insight into using the system as an end-user.
Oftentimes to make these outputs both complete with detailed data and easy to generate with tailored end-user experiences we will produce multiple “touch point” sheets that then feed their data into “reporting” sheets.
The above brings together Workday data feeds and Adaptive “touch point” user adjustments into a single sheet where accounts can be utilized for multiple reporting purposes.
Simplifying the end-user experience while producing effective reports is the name of the game for Adaptive implementations.
Segmentation Between Source System Data Pulls and Adaptive User Adjustments
While it's tempting to use Adaptive’s wide range of functionality to empower a flexible user experience, it’s equally important to balance individual customization with an instance build that is most scalable for the organization as a whole.
An effective method that we have to promote this balance is by putting guard rails on end-users over which Sheets (data sets) they can interact with and which ones are kept locked for reconciliation purposes.
Locked Workday Open Positions Data:
Editable Forecasted New Hire Adjustments:
Taking the above as an example; we have created separate sheets that serve similar purposes in the creation of forecasted headcount and headcount expense data.
The first sheet is grayed out and represents our scheduled Workday Open Positions load. It should tie exactly to the source system at the time of refresh. The second sheet is a user “touch point” where end-users can digest what Workday is giving to them, and adjust the numbers as they see fit.
At the end of the day both feeds converge into a consolidated reporting sheet to give users a one-stop-shop for self-service reporting.
Uniform Modeling Built to Scale
With large enterprise companies starting to use Adaptive, there is often an issue of separate teams having different methods of creating their forecasts. With an initial implementation of Adaptive, we like to think of the build as creating a base structure that fits a majority of the organization's needs while doing so in a way that allows us to enhance the instance with add-ons to support specific teams’ needs.
An example of this is modeling for headcount expenses. In many cases, the use of Adaptive can help an organization standardize how they are forecasting for items such as salary, benefits, and payroll taxes. That being said, it is a common ask for sales finance managers to include detailed modeling for incentive-based compensation (commission expenses) based extensively on custom elements buried in excel files.
How do we balance the needs of the many versus the needs of an individual team?
In this scenario, we encourage the organization to build models that are clean and produce results for a majority of the company’s needs. Once this is established and users become more comfortable with the system, there often is a long list of enhancements suggested by individual team members.
As long as we have set up the foundation of the instance to support these enhancements with items such as centralized reporting structures and lean data structures, add-ons become much quicker to implement. By controlling the forecast cycle and expanding Adaptive’s capabilities over time, users have more buy-in.
Have you enjoyed this blog and want to dive into the upcoming builds or an existing build you want to implement these recommendations? Please don’t hesitate to reach out to Stormloop’s Adaptive Team.
Contact us at info@stormlooptech.com to learn more.
Follow Stormloop here: https://www.linkedin.com/company/stormloop-technologies-llc
Written by: Nate Devine
Follow Nate here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-devine-5080a3ba/
