Use case: Using a schedule for personnel planning

This use case describes how Detailed Planning Manager can combine with Template Studio and Workflow Manager to create a process for entering, reviewing, and approving personnel actuals and budgets.

The business problem

Collecting data for personnel budgeting is a complex process. Reviewing and approving the data often requires many iterations. Performing all these actions through spreadsheets is cumbersome. Also, maintaining the confidentiality of data is a major concern.

The solution

The administrator creates a schedule in Detailed Planning Manager for department managers to enter expenses. The administrator also uses Template Studio to a create a review template. In Detailed Planning Manager, the administrator links the template to the schedule, and then adds both to a workflow activity/task pair, in the usual way.

The benefits

The entire collection, review, and approval process is streamlined. All data access is controlled and the entire process is auditable.

How it's done

When the workflow runs, the process is as follows:

  1. Workflow notifies a department manager, who opens the schedule. The manager's role is as owner of the schedule, that is, the person responsible for editing and adding data, which comes from the Detailed Planning model.

     Note:  Detailed Planning Manager security ensures that the only data that appears in the schedule is for the manager's own department. This means there only needs to be one version of the schedule, which works for all departments.

  2. The manager updates the department's personnel data, for example, salaries and expenses, then selects Actions > Calculate to run the calculations for salaries, benefits, and taxes, producing the summarized version of the data.

     Note:  Running Calculate is never destructive; no permanent data is overwritten; all the data affected is in the system's memory and lasts only for the session. If you click Save, the data is written to a cache inside the Detailed Planning Model; no cube is affected.

  3. The manager wants to see the summarized version of the department's personnel data along with other, non-personnel expenses, and so posts the data to the finance cube, by selects Actions > Update.
  4. In the schedule screen, the manager selects Actions > Template. The linked review template opens, showing how the data looks in the finance cube, where it rolls up into the Expenses Summary Report.
  5. If dissatisfied with the result, the manager returns to the schedule, makes further edits, and again selects Update; the manager then returns to the review template and clicks Refresh to make the changes appear there.
  6. After making the final updates, the manager clicks Submit, moving the workflow to the next stage.
  7. Another user, in the role of approver, is notified and opens the same review template to look at the summary data in the finance cube. If satisfied with the results, the approver clicks Approve; if the approver wants the department manager to make changes to the report, the approver clicks Reject and Workflow notifies the manager.