Enterprise simulation approach to optimizing workforce planning and task reallocation

Abstract

Organizations have adjusted their workforce to cope with changes caused by disease outbreak, economic instability, or geopolitical crisis. Therefore, quickly and efficiently determining the optimal number of employees and reallocating tasks to them has become the most critical capability for their survival and growth since serious crises occur more often than ever. This study proposes an enterprise simulation approach to optimizing workforce planning and task reallocation that allows scientific analysis and validation. The proposed approach uses a simulation model, called business process for workforce planning (BPWP) simulation model, that can accurately estimate the performance of employees for all business process of the entire organization given a workforce plan and task allocation. To address workforce shortage caused by increased sales, absenteeism, etc., internal substitute candidates are identified using graph neural network and process mining techniques. Then BPWP simulations are performed to evaluate the impact of reallocating the workload to these candidates and determine the task reallocation that takes the shortest time to complete the process instances. If internal employees cannot handle the increased workload, however, the minimum number of external employees to recruit is determined. Conversely, the proposed approach also provides a solution for organizations facing workforce surpluses. Considering either the change rate of retained tasks or work performance ability, it adjusts the number of internal employees to the minimum level required to satisfy the decreased workload using the BPWP simulation. The proposed approach will enable organizations to make decisions on workforce planning and task reallocation rapidly but scientifically, by accurately estimating employee performance in response to workload changes. It is expected to provide insights that can help companies survive and achieve sustainable growth in a rapidly changing and volatile business environment.