26 of the best workforce planning software tools [2026]

Key takeaways on workforce planning software:

• Workforce planning software helps businesses optimize headcount, predict future staffing needs, and align workforce needs with budgets.
• Choosing the right platform streamlines operations, reduces manual work, and supports long-term growth.
• Integration with existing systems like HR, payroll, and finance platforms helps create seamless data management.

Best workforce planning software: Quick overview

What is a workforce planning software?

Workforce planning software helps businesses manage their current and future staffing needs. It typically uses tools like AI-powered data analysis, reporting dashboards, and scenario modeling to align staffing with your company’s goals and budget. 

For example, it can show whether your team has the right number of employees for an upcoming project, highlight roles with skill gaps, or identify areas where you may be overstaffed. These insights help make decisions about hiring, training, or restructuring easier.

Why should you use strategic workforce planning software tools? 

Strategic workforce planning helps teams make better staffing decisions using real data instead of guesswork. These tools bring workforce information into one place and help you plan ahead by showing how today’s staffing choices affect future quarters.

They help teams answer practical questions, such as how many people you will need, which roles may be short, and how changes in hiring, turnover, or hours will affect costs. By modeling different scenarios, teams can see the impact of decisions before committing to them.

These tools also reduce manual work. Instead of tracking headcount and staffing changes across spreadsheets, teams use automated workflows that keep plans up to date, highlight gaps, and make it easier to adjust as conditions change.

The best workforce planning software for CFOs and business leaders

This list is based on third-party evidence rather than vendor claims. Sources include verified user reviews on G2, analyst research and market reports, and publicly available product documentation covering headcount modeling, scenario planning, reporting, integrations, and controls. Let’s look at the best workforce planning software for CFOs and business leaders.

1. Cube

What it is: AI-powered FP&A software for workforce planning, headcount forecasting, and financial intelligence.

Who it’s for: Finance teams who need to align workforce costs with budgets, evaluate multiple hiring scenarios, and streamline workforce planning directly within Excel or Google Sheets

Cube is an AI-powered FP&A platform that simplifies workforce planning and helps finance teams stay ahead of change through clear financial intelligence. Built for speed, scale, and accuracy, Cube enables smarter, faster decisions about headcount, staffing levels, and resource allocation without disrupting existing workflows.

With AI-powered headcount forecasting, teams can align workforce costs to budgets, model multiple hiring scenarios, and predict future needs with greater confidence. Cube’s intelligent insights help identify trends, flag anomalies, and guide planning decisions in real time.

Native integrations with Excel and Google Sheets let teams plan, analyze, and collaborate directly in the tools they already trust—while Cube’s AI works behind the scenes to power a more agile, strategic approach to workforce planning.

Companies like Edge Fitness Club and Smart City trust Cube to optimize their planning, eliminate manual work, and give their leaders more time to focus on strategy. Cube also provides quick onboarding, competitive pricing, and responsive support to drive faster time to value.

Features:

• AI-powered insights: Automate data consolidation, detect anomalies, and surface predictive insights to make smarter, faster decisions.
• Smart forecasting: Generates AI-assisted forecasts that use historical trends and drivers so teams update outlooks quickly and test new assumptions with less manual work.
• Intelligent mapping: Converts plain language mapping rules into structured dimensions and hierarchies so changes cascade across entities, accounts, and models without error-prone rework.
• Spreadsheet native modelling: Keeps bi-directional sync with Excel and Google Sheets so FP&A can plan, report, and model in familiar files while data stays centralized.
• Governed, secure AI: Relies on structured, controlled financial and operational data with SOC 2 Type II, role-based access, and audit trails so AI insights stay transparent and compliant.

➡️ See all of our features here.

Pros:

• Lets teams create, compare, and analyze staffing scenarios tied to financial goals
• Provides customizable dashboards for up-to-date headcount visibility and org design decisions
• Enables collaborative planning so HR and finance can review assumptions and share insights
• Integrates with dozens of applications for seamless functionality
• Lets teams adjust headcount plans quickly when priorities, budgets, or market conditions change

Cons:

• Works best for mid-sized businesses—it’s not a personal finances app.
• Doesn't provide multilingual support right now.

Pricing: Custom pricing starts at $30,000 annually. 

2. ADP Workforce Now

What it is: HCM software for workforce forecasting, headcount planning, and HR management.

Who it's for: HR teams who need tools to manage employee data, forecast staffing needs, and streamline workforce planning processes.

ADP Workforce Now is a human capital management (HCM) platform with tools for workforce forecasting and headcount planning. It offers customizable dashboards and predictive analytics on headcount and attrition so organizations can address staffing needs.

Key Features:

• Demographic insights: Break down employee age, gender, and skills
• Headcount planning: Forecast and allocate headcount based on organizational needs
• Attrition insights: Analyze turnover trends and areas of concern
• Predictive algorithms and historical data: Use past workforce data to forecast future staffing needs

Pros

• Offers a wide variety of reporting options
• Features a user-friendly design
• Includes a self-service portal so employees can access pay stubs and tax documents

Cons

• Users report customer support can be difficult to get ahold of
• Users report the onboarding experience can be confusing for employees
• Uses an interface that can feel dated, with navigation that can take extra steps for common tasks
• Limit reporting flexibility, so highly tailored reports may require exporting to spreadsheets

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

3. Anaplan

What it is: Planning software for scenario modeling, headcount forecasting, and workforce optimization.

Who it’s for: Teams who need to evaluate hiring scenarios and analyze skill gaps.

Anaplan is a planning platform that connects HR, finance, sales, and operational strategies to tackle workforce planning. It offers tools for real-time collaboration, scenario planning, and skill gap analysis. 

[Source]

Key Features:

• Scenario planning: Model multiple workforce scenarios to anticipate future needs
• Skills gap analysis: Identify skill shortages and plan targeted hiring or training initiatives
• Real-time collaboration: Enable cross-departmental teams to update and align workforce plans instantly
• Demand forecasting: Predict workforce requirements based on market trends and internal business goals

Pros

• Handles large datasets effectively with in-memory processing capabilities, making it popular among data scientists and analysts
• Utilizes the proprietary Hyperblock® calculation engine, enabling users to create scenarios with unlimited dimensions
• Provides multi-device support for PC, iOS, and Android so users can access data on any platform

Cons

• Requires in-depth training and support, making it difficult for users to learn and navigate intuitively
• Demands a challenging implementation process, often involving third-party consultants and taking over a year in complex cases
• Comes with a high price tag, making it out of reach for most small and medium-sized businesses

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

4. Board

What it is: Enterprise planning software for workforce planning, scenario modeling, and performance tracking.

Who it’s for: HR teams who want to model various scenarios and optimize resource allocation.

Board is an enterprise planning platform that can help HR teams run their talent management. It provides tools for tracking headcount, modeling workforce scenarios, and optimizing talent acquisition strategies. It should be noted that Board markets itself towards enterprises, not smaller to mid-sized companies.

Key Features:

• Headcount modeling: Forecast workforce needs and evaluate the impact of hiring or downsizing scenarios.
• Talent analytics: Monitor metrics like turnover rates and workforce productivity.
• Skill gap analysis: Identify gaps in workforce skills.
• Dynamic dashboards: Visualize workforce data and performance metrics in customizable reports.

Pros

• Features a user-friendly interface suited for those with some financial software experience
• Offers a low-code experience, various customizations, and ad hoc reporting opportunities
• Provides strong data discovery and analysis capabilities that deliver deep insights into financial position and future planning.

Cons

• Users report a steep onboarding process and learning curve requiring significant time for training and implementation
• Limited training resources and documentation are available within the platform
• Best suited for financial planning power users who aim to build bespoke financial applications and reporting structures

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

5. ChartHop

What it is: People operations software for headcount planning, organizational charting, and workforce analytics.

Who it’s for: HR and operations teams who want to visualize workforce data and identify gaps in skills or team structures.

ChartHop is a people operations platform with added HRIS features. It’s designed to help organizations match staffing needs to business goals. Charthop allows teams to forecast headcount, analyze workforce trends, and visualize organizational changes in real time. 

ChartHop’s flexible architecture allows users to easily create their own custom reports and dashboards and develop powerful visualizations that help them make sense of it all. Additionally, ChartHop users can access up-to-date data in real-time across all their departments and teams, so they always have accurate and current data on what’s going on at any given moment.

Key Features:

• Headcount forecasting: Predict workforce needs and allocate resources based on business priorities
• Org chart visualization: Create dynamic org charts to track team structures and plan future changes
• Scenario planning: Model different hiring scenarios to understand potential outcomes and budget implications
• Budget tracking: Integrate headcount planning with financial data to account for budget constraints

Pros

• Provides an easy-to-use system that allows users to quickly view their data in real-time
• Offers AI-powered data insights to help decision-makers contextualize and analyze large datasets
• Delivers competitive pricing and strong value for the features included on the platform

Cons

• Lacks flexibility in customizing reports, dashboards, and certain visualizations
• Features a user interface that isn’t intuitive, making it challenging for new users to adapt quickly
• Presents issues with editing or modifying data once it’s in the system—particularly for business goals and org chart data

Pricing:

• ChartHop Basic: $2/mo per employee
• Code Modules: $8/mo per employee

The first module is $8/employee per month, and each additional module is $4/employee per month. The minimum contract is $9k/yr.

6. Deel

What it is: Global HR software for managing international hiring and workforce management across multiple countries.

Who it’s for: HR teams who need to streamline global workforce planning and ensure compliance with international labor laws.

Deel is a global HR and payroll platform that offers tools to help organizations manage international workforce needs. While its primary focus is on global payroll, its AI-driven insights can support strategic workforce planning. The real-time data visualization and a global hiring toolkit can help make decisions about compensation, talent allocation, and compliance across 150+ countries.

Key Features:

• Global talent insights: Analyze workforce data to guide strategic headcount planning across different countries
• Automated compliance checks: Ensure all hiring practices meet local labor laws
• Real-time data dashboards: Visualize workforce and financial data to support headcount allocation and cost management
• Compensation benchmarks: Access market salary data to plan competitive and cost-effective compensation packages

Pros:

• Supports direct hire, temp-to-hire, and contract-based planning
• Provides numerous integrations to connect with other HR and payroll functions from various microservices
• Includes compliance support for international hiring, payroll costs, and taxation requirements

Cons:

• Customer service receives mixed reviews, with users citing a lack of support after the initial sales process
• Billing operates on a calendar month cycle with no proration so signing up early in the month is necessary to maximize value
• As a newer product, the platform has some rough edges in design and user experience according to user feedback

Pricing:

• Deel Contractor: $49/mo
• Deel EOR: $599/mo
• Deel Payroll: $29/mo per employee
• Deel US Payroll: $19/mo per employee
• Deel US PEO: $89/mo per employee

7. ActivTrak

What it is: Workforce analytics software for productivity monitoring and workload management.

Who it’s for: Finance teams who want to optimize resource allocation and track workforce efficiency.

ActivTrak is a workforce analytics platform that helps with workforce planning through productivity insights and team performance tracking. It provides visibility into employee workload distribution, engagement, and capacity planning to help teams make decisions about resource allocation. 

ActivTrak’s tools use AI to enable businesses to monitor staffing levels and identify skill gaps. It also offers real-time alerts so managers can be alerted when employees engage in risky behavior—like visiting malicious websites.

Key Features:

• Capacity planning: Monitor team capacity to maintain balanced workloads and avoid overburdening employees
• Skill gap analysis: Identify skill gaps within teams to inform training and hiring decisions
• Workload forecasting: Predict future workload demands to plan staffing levels
• Employee engagement insights: Measure engagement metrics to maintain morale and productivity across the workforce

Pros:

• Features an intuitive user interface with expected functionality and additional extras that pleasantly surprise users
• Includes productivity tracking tools enabling managers to assess team productivity and refine internal processes effectively
• Offers security measures like two-factor authentication and ActiveDirectory integrations for secure access

Cons:

• Implementation can be challenging with some reviewers noting a lengthy process that might hinder user adoption
• Pricing lacks transparency with some users reporting higher-than-expected total costs per license compared to initial marketing communications
• Limited flexibility in features like whitelisting or restricting access to specific websites

Pricing:

• Free: $0
• Essentials: $10/mo per user
• Essentials Plus: $15/mo per user
• Professional: $19/mo per user

8. Planful

What it is: FP&A software for budgeting, forecasting, workforce planning, and performance tracking.

Who it’s for: Finance teams who need to streamline headcount planning and create financial strategies.

Planful is a cloud-based financial performance management platform with features for workforce planning. It can model various workforce scenarios, forecast staffing needs, and manage employee-related expenses. Planful also provides dashboards that allow HR and finance teams to work together on workforce allocation. 

Key Features:

• Workforce modeling: Simulate different staffing scenarios to assess their impact on budgets and forecasts
• Collaboration tools: Enable collaboration between HR and finance teams 
• Automated reporting: Generate reports on staffing levels and expenses
• Model comparison: Compare real-time comparisons of plan versus actuals

Pros:

• Offers a feature-rich platform that can serve as an all-in-one financial planning tool for smaller companies.
• Provides flexible pricing, which reviewers say is competitive and scales with companies as they grow.
• Benefits Excel users with familiar syntax, making it easier for savvy users to stay in their spreadsheets—even though it’s not fully Excel-native.

Cons:

• Delivers a wealth of features that may overwhelm smaller companies—even the lower price tiers might exceed their needs.
• Struggles with integration, with implementation times ranging from 4 months to up to a year.
• Operates sluggishly at times, with users reporting slow data pulls and the need to restart processes to make adjustments or research other data.

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

9. Orgvue

What it is: Organizational design software for scenario modeling, workforce analytics, and data visualization.

Who it’s for: HR and leadership teams who aim to optimize workforce structure and forecast future needs.

Orgvue is an organizational design platform that enables businesses to tackle workforce planning. It offers AI-powered tools for data visualization, scenario modeling, and continuous planning. Orgvue integrates data from multiple sources to provide a comprehensive business view.

Key Features:

• Dynamic data management: Consolidate data from multiple sources into a single view
• Scenario planning: Simulate various future workforce scenarios and assess their impact
• Advanced visualization tools: Access interactive dashboards for visualizing workforce composition, trends, and areas needing optimization
• Collaboration and Workflows: Support cross-department task assignment and status tracking

Pros:

• Offers robust customization features within an easy-to-implement platform
• Provides end-to-end workforce and employee management tools to seamlessly connect operational needs with centralized data
• Includes various templates for creating clean, user-friendly reports and dashboards

Cons:

• Advanced features come with a steep learning curve requiring prior knowledge of organizational data systems
• Handling large datasets, especially those with links, can cause lag or freezing
• The absence of an autosave function necessitates careful data management
• Limited integration options make it challenging to maximize the software's overall value

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

10. Visier

What it is: AI-powered workforce planning software for predictive analytics.

Who it’s for: HR and finance teams who need to forecast workforce trends, address skill gaps, and make staffing decisions.

Visier is a workforce planning and people analytics platform that uses AI to help businesses make decisions about their workforce. It offers tools to identify talent gaps, forecast workforce needs, and model staffing scenarios. Visier can integrate with existing HR systems to provide insights for workforce planning efforts.

Key Features:

• Workforce analytics: Analyze workforce trends and uncover areas for optimization
• Scenario modeling: Test different workforce strategies and evaluate their impact on business outcomes
• Talent gap identification: Identify skill gaps across the organization to plan future hiring or upskilling initiatives
• Data Integration: Pull information from various HR systems for a centralized workforce view

Pros:

• Provides a high-level overview of staffing, enabling easy access to workforce data
• Includes robust analytics tools to help contextualize and understand organizational metrics
• Features an intuitive software design, making it accessible for casual users to navigate and derive value from reports and data

Cons:

• Mobile functionality lacks the smoothness and intuitiveness of the full web-based platform
• Reporting, customization, and export features have room for improvement​​—as noted by multiple reviews
• Lacks notifications or follow-up features for time-sensitive tasks or required communications

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

 11. SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management

What it is: HCM software for workforce analytics, headcount planning, and employee lifecycle management.

Who it’s for: HR teams who want to optimize workforce planning, track performance metrics, and staffing decisions.

SAP SuccessFactors offers workforce analytics within its HCM suite. It provides insights into employee trends, skills gaps, and performance metrics. SAP SuccessFactors uses AI to power reports with 2,000+ predefined metrics on people data for HR to make staffing decisions.

Key Features:

• Real-time workforce insights: Access up-to-date information on workforce trends and performance metrics
• Predictive analytics: Forecast workforce needs and potential challenges using historical and real-time data
• Skill and competency analysis: Identify gaps in workforce skills and develop plans to address them
• Data integration: Combine data from various HR systems into one unified platform 

Pros:

• Provides visibility across different business units, enabling better-informed workforce planning decisions
• Offers automated onboarding and offboarding features like assigned training and hosted video courses, simplifying transitions and improving tracking
• Integrates seamlessly with the larger SAP environment for businesses already using other modules

Cons:

• The user interface and navigation need improvement with elements like pop-up modals causing frustration
• Search functionality is less robust, making navigation challenging for unfamiliar users
• System speed can lag, particularly when handling large datasets or customizations in workforce planning

Pricing: $33.48/year per person

12. Vena

What it is: FP&A software for financial planning, workforce forecasting, and scenario modeling.

Who it’s for: Finance teams who need to streamline budgeting, forecast workforce costs, and headcount planning.

Vena offers workforce planning software that integrates with Excel to help businesses manage labor expenses and headcount planning. It offers tools for employee-level planning, payroll and benefit forecasting, and automated variance analysis. It can connect with HRIS and ERP systems to pull in people's information.

[Source]

Key features: 

• Scenario planning:Model different workforce scenarios to assess their financial impact
• Dynamic modeling:Plan for changes to payroll, tax, and fringe benefit rates
• Data integration: Sync with HRIS and other tools for up-to-date workforce insights

Pros: 

• Works within Excel spreadsheets
• Enables multiple members to work together on a single report
• Keeps Excel as the primary interface while storing data in a cloud database
• Supports budgeting, forecasting, and reporting with audit trails and permission controls

Cons: 

• Suffers from a high learning curve
• Slows down as your datasets get bigger
• Runs into compatibility issues for Mac users and limited integration for Google Workspace

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

13. Runn

What it is: Resource management software for capacity planning, project scheduling, and forecasting.

Who it’s for: Project managers who need to allocate resources, track team workloads, and forecast future staffing needs.

Runn is a resource management software with features to plan and allocate workforce needs. It offers features for resource scheduling, project planning, capacity management, and project forecasting. Runn provides a comprehensive view of team availability and project timelines for decision makers.

Key features: 

• Resource scheduling: Assign team members to projects and manage workloads
• Project planning: Plan, budget, and track projects to ensure timely delivery
• Capacity management: Monitor team capacity to prevent overbooking and underutilization
• Project forecasting: Predict project outcomes and financials to inform strategic planning

Pros: 

• Features a user-friendly UI
• Allows you to see where people and projects are at a glance

Cons: 

• Users report minimal reporting options
• Users report minimal security profiles

Pricing: 

• Starter: $10/mo per person
• Professional: $14/mo per person
• Premium/Enterprise: Pricing is not publicly available

14. Connecteam

What it is: Workforce management software for scheduling and communication.

Who it’s for: Operations teams managing deskless or mobile workforces.

Connecteam is a workforce management platform that can streamline communication, scheduling, and employee engagement. It offers tools for managing daily operations and real-time communication. Its mobile-first design makes it favorable for remote and deskless teams.

Key features: 

• Employee scheduling: Create, manage, and distribute schedules while tracking availability and shift swaps
• Task management: Assign tasks, monitor progress, and get status updates to improve efficiency
• Real-time communication: Share updates, send announcements, and facilitate team chats
• Time tracking and timesheets: Monitor work hours, track overtime, and generate detailed timesheets for payroll

Pros: 

• Allows teams to align their projects remotely
• Centralizes scheduling, payroll, and HR in one app
• Supports shift scheduling, task assignments, and communication tools
• Includes a knowwledge base

Cons: 

• Mobile app lacks features from desktop app
• Users report the search functionality can be clunky
• Requires time to learn the full platform beyond scheduling

Pricing: 

• The Small Business Plan: Free
• Basic: $29/mo
• Advanced: $49/mo
• Expert: $99/mo

15. Clearcompany

What it is: Talent management software to support hiring, engagement, learning, and performance tracking.

Who it’s for: HR teams and business leaders seeking tools to align workforce planning with recruitment, employee development, and performance management goals.

ClearCompany is a talent management platform that supports workforce planning through analytics and talent alignment tools. It helps businesses centralize headcount forecasting, staffing scenarios, and budget inputs in one common system. ClearCompany can also integrate with payroll and HRIS systems in real time.

Key features: 

• Workforce analytics: Analyze workforce data to forecast staffing needs and identify skill gaps
• Performance tracking: Monitor employee contributions to projects
• Recruitment tools: Streamline hiring processes with customizable workflows and automated candidate screening
• Employee engagement insights: Gather feedback and measure engagement to improve retention strategies

Pros: 

• Features a straightforward user interface
• Offers customizable workflows for workforce reports
• Provides access to a dashboard

Cons: 

• Suffers from slow customer support response times
• Slows down on load times when running reports
• Suffers from a tedious process that is not veru intuitive

Pricing: Pricing is not publicly available

16. Rippling

What it is: A workforce management platform that brings human resources, payroll, information technology, and spending into one system. 

Who it’s for: Teams managing employee data and workflows across departments.

Rippling is a workforce platform that combines human resources, payroll, information technology, and spending tools in one system. It supports workforce planning through features such as headcount planning, role-based permissions, approvals, reporting, and automation workflows. Teams can use it to manage employee data across the lifecycle, connect hiring plans to payroll and costs, and coordinate planning inputs across human resources and finance.

Key features: 

• Headcount planning: Create and share hiring plans across departments, track open roles and costs, and use permissions and approvals to help keep hiring aligned to plan
• Platform automation (Workflow Studio): Build automated workflows using employee and application data to reduce manual processes
• Reporting and analytics: Build reports and analyze workforce and operational data using dashboards, filters, drilldowns, and pivots
• Integrations: Connect Rippling with other tools through its integrations ecosystem
• Global workforce support: Tools to help manage and support teams across various countries

Pros: 

• Centralizes payroll, benefits, time off, onboarding, and work application access in one platform
• Includes custom apps and workflow tools to support internal processes
• Syncs employee data across modules when updates are made
• Supports integrations with training, finance, and other business tool

Cons: 

• Takes longer to load pages or complete actions at times
• Requires significant upfront setup during implementation
• Some modules can feel confusing or limited in configuration
• Limits export formats for some survey and reporting outputs

Pricing: Pricing isn’t available on its website

Other great workforce planning software

Here are a few other workforce planning software options that allow you to forecast staffing needs, model headcount scenarios, and keep workforce data in one place for planning and reporting:

• UKG Pro: Tracks workforce and HR data in one system, with scheduling and labor planning components for operational teams.
• Deputy: Provides shift scheduling, time tracking, and labor cost controls for hourly teams with multi-location needs.
• When I Work: Manages schedules, time tracking, and shift communication for teams that run on rotating coverage.
• Resource Guru: Handles resource scheduling and capacity planning for project-based teams that allocate people across workstreams.
• Kantata: Supports resource planning and utilization tracking for services teams that need visibility into capacity and staffing demand.
• Float: Plans team capacity and allocations across projects, with workload views for near-term resourcing decisions.
• Prophix: Connects workforce planning to budgeting and forecasting, with headcount and compensation planning as part of FP&A workflows.
• Dayforce: Supports workforce planning workflows alongside time and attendance, scheduling, and payroll management
• Workforce.com: Provides scheduling and labor forecasting features, with payroll and compliance workflows in the same system
• Personio: Combines core HR data with headcount planning, hiring forecasts, and people analytics for growing teams, particularly in Europe.

What is workforce planning?

Workforce planning is the process of anticipating future workforce needs and creating business strategies to meet them. It involves determining the right numbers and types of employees to ensure you’re adequately staffed for upcoming projects and initiatives.

The workforce planning process includes various activities such as analyzing employee turnover rates, designing compensation packages, assessing training requirements, forecasting labor demand, and more.

Workforce planning aims to visualize your current workforce and extrapolate from there to fulfill future demand.

Workforce planning has also become a bigger priority because the talent landscape keeps shifting. The World Economic Forum reports that employers expect 39% of workers’ core skills to change by 2030, which makes it harder to rely on last year’s hiring plan or organizational design.

The challenge is not only skills. It is also the mix of employee and nonemployee labor. Deloitte reports 84% of executives say managing a blended workforce ecosystem is important to organizational success, yet only 16% say they are ready. That readiness gap is a practical reason to formalize workforce planning instead of treating it as an occasional exercise.

Get our guide to headcount planning template for optimal workforce planning

Industry-specific workforce planning examples

As industries evolve, the strategic approach to workforce planning becomes a pivotal factor in navigating the dynamic landscape of workforce dynamics. Here are a few custom industry examples.

• Real estate: Tailoring workforce planning software to align with project timelines, planning headcount needs for various phases, and adapting staffing levels based on evolving project dynamics and market trends.
• SaaS (Software as a Service): Employing workforce planning for optimized tech staffing, agile scheduling, and adaptive resource allocation to meet dynamic software needs and align with evolving market and tech trends.
• Healthcare: Optimizing workforce planning software for the dynamic needs of patient demand, implementing skill-based allocation strategies for healthcare professionals across specialties, and ensuring compliance adherence to achieve optimized and patient-centric staffing solutions.
• Manufacturing: Analyzing historical production data and market trends to forecast seasonal peaks accurately. This insight helps the manufacturing company anticipate periods of increased demand.

What's the difference between workforce planning vs. workforce management?

According to ADP, workforce management has three big responsibilities:

1. People and resource allocation
2. Attendance tracking
3. Legal compliance

On the other hand, the NIH Office of Management says workforce planning has the following functions:

1. Analyzing, forecasting, and planning talent supply and demand
2. Assessing talent and skills gaps
3. Ensuring the organization has the correct number of skilled workers to fulfill its strategic objectives

So workforce management is more about managing people, while workforce planning is more of a long-term view. It's a higher-level view than the everyday actions and interactions of employees. 

Looking for workforce management software tools? We've got you covered.

What's the difference between workforce planning and headcount planning?

This is simpler than it appears. Headcount planning is a subset of the workforce planning process. With workforce planning, you're looking at the holistic company, but headcount planning is really only concerned with the number of heads you have.

That said, the terms are commonly used interchangeably; it's not "wrong" to say headcount planning when you mean workforce planning or vice versa.

Download this free headcount planning template for streamlined workforce planning

How to choose between these workforce planning software 

Start by defining the workforce planning problems you need to solve before booking demos. Workforce planning software only adds value when it supports the decisions your teams make every month, such as forecasting labor costs, aligning headcount with demand, managing schedules, or planning hiring.

Next, list the specific challenges driving the purchase. This might include seasonal staffing swings, cost forecasting, turnover planning, multi-location scheduling, or capacity constraints by role. Use that list to narrow your shortlist to tools that support both operational planning and finance modeling. Then, set a budget that includes licensing, implementation, training, and ongoing support, and align priorities with HR, finance, and operations so the evaluation matches real constraints.

Finally, evaluate tools based on the capabilities that impact day-to-day execution and scale:

• Scheduling and coverage planning: Enables role-based scheduling, availability rules, locations, labor limits, shift swaps, approvals, coverage gap visibility, overtime risk alerts, and scheduled vs actual hour comparisons.
• Workforce supply analysis: Provides views of headcount, roles, skills, capacity, and employment types, with filters by team or location and visibility into how turnover and role changes affect coverage.
• Time off and absence management: Centralizes PTO, sick leave, approvals, and team calendars while flagging coverage gaps before requests are approved.
• Task and shift execution: Assigns work by role, shift, or location and tracks completion with clear ownership, due times, and status visibility.
• Communication and collaboration: Reduces operational noise by storing shift notes, policy updates, acknowledgements, and message history in one place with targeting by role, location, or shift.
• Demand forecasting and scenario planning: Models staffing needs using historical demand, seasonality, planned initiatives, and constraints, with what-if scenarios and feedback loops based on actual results.
• Hiring and succession planning: Connects workforce gaps to hiring plans, internal moves, and succession coverage, with timing tied to forecasted demand rather than ad hoc staffing.

Ultimately, adoption determines ROI. Prioritize tools that keep workflows clear for managers, require reasonable setup effort, and include training and support that helps teams move off spreadsheets without disrupting operations.

Common workforce planning pitfalls to avoid

Even the best workforce planning strategies can fall short if certain mistakes are overlooked. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid so your organization can build a more effective, cohesive, and future-ready workforce plan.

1. Incomplete or outdated data: Mitigate this risk by establishing a proactive approach to regularly updating and maintaining accurate workforce data. This ensures that decision-makers have timely and reliable information for effective workforce planning.
2. Lack of integration across departments: Overcome this obstacle by fostering cross-departmental collaboration and investing in integrated workforce planning systems. This ensures a cohesive approach and a shared understanding of workforce dynamics across the organization.
3. Failure to anticipate future skill needs: Address this challenge by engaging in regular skills assessments and implementing continuous learning initiatives. Proactively identifying and cultivating the skills needed for the future ensures that the workforce remains adaptable and aligned with evolving organizational requirements.
4. Inability to adapt to external factors: Avoid this risk by staying informed about external influences and proactively adjusting workforce planning strategies. A keen awareness of industry trends and dynamics allows organizations to remain agile and responsive to external changes, ensuring ongoing strategic alignment.
5. Misalignment with business strategy: Ensure cohesive planning by aligning workforce goals with the broader strategic objectives of the organization. This strategic alignment enhances the effectiveness of workforce planning in contributing to overarching business success.

Improve your workplace with the right workforce planning software

Now that you know all about workforce planning software, you're better prepared to choose the right tool for your business. Effective workforce planning fills critical roles, aligns your people strategy with your financial goals, and helps to build a forward moving organization.

If you’re looking for a tool that covers workforce and financial planning, consider Cube. Cube’s AI-powered financial intelligence platform supercharges FP&A teams where they do their best work—across spreadsheets, browsers, chats, and beyond. With agentic AI in a spreadsheet-native FP&A platform, finance teams can use AI for analysis while keeping ownership of the narrative.

They can run multiple scenarios across different plans, compare outcomes, and use dashboards to review headcount data in a single view for org design and budget discussions. 

Ready to go from data chaos to decision clarity?

Book your free demo with Cube.