Healthcare organizations continue to face ongoing staffing challenges, including high turnover rates, nursing shortages, and staff burnout. On top of this, fluctuating patient demand and skills gaps are putting further strain on resources.
All these challenges highlight the need for effective workforce planning and the right tools to manage staff to meet current and future needs.
In this article, you’ll learn more about healthcare workforce planning tools, including what they are, how they can help your healthcare organization, and what top tools you can use to simplify workforce planning and improve patient care.
A healthcare workforce planning tool is any software, system, or method used to help healthcare organizations anticipate and manage their staffing needs.
It supports workforce planning by helping healthcare organizations forecast future staffing requirements, manage shifts, analyze data such as patient volumes, track staff availability, and address skills gaps to ensure they have the right clinicians to do the work.
These tools also assist organizations in maintaining strict compliance with staffing regulations, improving overall operational efficiency, reducing costs, and ultimately enhancing the quality of patient care.
There are plenty of workforce planning tools on the market. Below is a list of five top tools that can assist you with everything from scheduling and labor forecasting to talent management and
long-term staffing solutions. The tools range from comprehensive workforce management solutions like SAP SuccessFactors to traditional talent management assessments like the 9-box grid.
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based human resource (HR) software designed to help organizations manage various HR and workforce management functions, including recruitment, payroll, onboarding, performance management, and workforce planning.
Key workforce planning features healthcare professionals should look out for include:
Workday Adaptive Planning, a cloud-based platform designed for organizations of all sizes, including small, medium, and large organizations, is widely used by healthcare organizations for planning, budgeting, forecasting, and modeling.
It equips healthcare organizations with various tools to develop strategic workforce plans, including:
For more detailed insights on workforce planning with Workday Adaptive Planning, check out Krishna Singh’s article on LinkedIn.
Shiftboard is an all-in-one solution for industries like healthcare with complex staffing requirements that helps organizations automate scheduling and workforce management.
Key benefits include:
HWFE is an Excel-driven tool developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) to estimate workforce needs based on patient surges and ongoing demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The tool’s flexibility means it can easily be adapted for planning responses to other healthcare emergencies.
Initially designed for the EU market, it can be tailored to different regions like the United States, as Kenya and Mali have demonstrated by customizing the tool to local healthcare contexts.
This would simply involve inputting relevant local healthcare data, such as hospital capacities and staff availability, to plan effectively for workforce needs during health crises .
The 9-box grid is a classic talent management tool that categorizes employees based on their performance and potential. Employees are divided into one of nine segments, with the
horizontal axis representing performance (low, medium, and high) and the vertical axis representing future growth (low, medium, and high).
| The 9-Box Grid | Low Performance | Medium Performance | High Performance |
| High Potential | Low Performer, High Potential | Medium Performer, High Potential | High Performer, High Potential |
| Medium Potential | Low Performer, Medium Potential | Medium Performer, Medium Potential | Medium Performer, Medium Potential |
| Low Potential | Low Performer, Low Potential | Medium Performer, Low Potential | Medium Performer, Low Potential |
Healthcare organizations can use this grid to identify top clinicians who are ready for promotion, those in need of development, and those who may not be the best fit for their current role. For example, a moderate performer with medium potential will benefit from development and training programs, while a lower performer with low potential may need to change roles or leave the organization altogether.
Similarly, a high performer with high potential is often ready for leadership roles and simply requires a little nudge in the right direction with career advancement opportunities, whereas a high performer with low potential may need to be better nurtured in their current role to ensure they maintain consistent performance.
Note: Behind every data point is a human with unique experiences and potential. So, while the 9-box grid helps assess talent and determine appropriate strategies for employees and the organization, it’s important that you integrate it into a broader talent management strategy that emphasizes the human touch. Talk to your employees and engage in meaningful conversations to understand what truly makes them tick and how you can get the most out of them.
The right workforce planning tools are crucial in helping healthcare organizations manage staff to meet both current and future needs. Not only do they help forecast staffing requirements and manage shifts, but they assist in improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
The key, of course, is choosing the right tools in the first place. This post highlighted five, from Workday Adaptive Planning and Shiftboard to HWFE and the 9-box grid.
Just remember that even the best workforce planning tools are meaningless without a skilled workforce. That’s where PRS Global comes in. By connecting healthcare organizations with qualified professionals from around the world to address workforce shortages, PRS Global ensures that facilities are equipped with the right talent to deliver high-quality care.
As an end-to-end staffing solution backed by the necessary skills and expertise, they’re able to tackle everything from sourcing and matching talent to fulfilling immigration requirements and coordinating flights and housing.
If you’d like to learn more about what partnering with PRS to fulfill your staffing needs looks like, please connect