System and method for workforce requirements management

Abstract

The present invention provides a workforce requirements management system and method that determines future demand for service related transactions or activity and optimizes the planning of workforce to meet the future demand. Initially, the workforce requirements management system reviews historical data regarding transaction volume and service activity to determine the future demand for such transactions or service activities. The historical data may come from a conventional enterprise resource planning application and/or include demographic data and/or economic indicators. The workforce requirements management system can optimize a forecast by isolating certain variance factors and refining the forecast accordingly. A forecast can also be optimized by estimating transaction times and correlating variance factors with estimated transactions times. Additionally, the workforce requirements management system can optimize the forecast based on the queuing model employed for the particular service. Finally, the workforce requirements management system can create a long term resource plan that identifies the most efficient balance of full time equivalent and part time equivalent staffing levels to meet the long term forecast need at the desired service level at the lowest overall labor cost. Specific outputs generated by the workforce requirements management system include a transaction forecast, a resource forecast, a resource plan, and a resource schedule.

1 . A method for managing workforce requirements of a service industry organization, the method comprising:
 analyzing historical transaction data to generate a transaction volume forecast;   analyzing the historical transaction data to identify demographic variance factors;   analyzing the demographic variance factors to identify at least one demographic variance factor having a statistically significant impact on transaction time;   determining a transaction time based on the at least one demographic variance factor identified; and   creating a full time equivalent requirement forecast based on the transaction volume forecast and the transaction time.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein analyzing the historical transaction data to identify the demographic variance factors comprises comparing a fluctuation in the historical transaction data caused by each of the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein analyzing the historical transaction data to generate the transaction volume forecast comprises generating the transaction volume forecast based on the historical transaction data and the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the transaction volume forecast comprises a transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  further comprising:
 determining coefficients based on the at least one demographic variance factor; and   generating an enhanced transaction volume forecast based on the coefficients and the transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining a service rate per location by analyzing a standard time per transaction per location;   determining an average customer arrival rate per location per time interval;   calculating a service level per location based on the service rate per location and the average customer arrival rate per location per time interval; and   if the service level per location meets or exceeds a target service level, calculating full time equivalent requirements to meet the target service level.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  wherein determining the transaction time comprises calculating the transaction time using multivariate regression analysis. 
     
     
         8 . A system for managing workforce requirements of a service industry organization, the system comprising:
 a processor configured to analyze historical transaction data to generate a transaction volume forecast, analyze the historical transaction data to identify demographic variance factors, analyze the demographic variance factors to identify at least one demographic variance factor having a statistically significant impact on transaction time, determine a transaction time based on the at least one demographic variance factor identified, and create a full time equivalent requirement forecast based on the transaction volume forecast and the transaction time.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the processor, to analyze the historical transaction data to identify the demographic variance factors, compares a fluctuation in the historical transaction data caused by each of the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the processor, to analyze the historical transaction data to generate the transaction volume forecast, generates the transaction volume forecast based on the historical transaction data and the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the transaction volume forecast comprises a transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11  further comprising:
 the processor configured to determine coefficients based on the at least one demographic variance factor and generate an enhanced transaction volume forecast based on the coefficients and the transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8  further comprising:
 the processor configured to determine a service rate per location by analyzing a standard time per transaction per location, determine an average customer arrival rate per location per time interval, calculate a service level per location based on the service rate per location and the average customer arrival rate per location per time interval, and if the service level per location meets or exceeds a target service level, calculate full time equivalent requirements to meet the target service level.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8  wherein the processor, to determine the transaction time, calculates the transaction time using multivariate regression analysis. 
     
     
         15 . A computer readable medium comprising executable instructions which, when executed by a processor, manage workforce requirements of a service industry organization by directing the processor to:
 analyze historical transaction data to generate a transaction volume forecast;   analyze the historical transaction data to identify demographic variance factors;   analyze the demographic variance factors to identify at least one demographic variance factor having a statistically significant impact on transaction time;   determine a transaction time based on the at least one demographic variance factor identified; and   create a full time equivalent requirement forecast based on the transaction volume forecast and the transaction time.   
     
     
         16 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15  wherein the executable instructions, to direct the processor to analyze the historical transaction data to identify the demographic variance factors, directs the processor to compare a fluctuation in the historical transaction data caused by each of the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         17 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15  wherein the executable instructions, to direct the processor to analyze the historical transaction data to generate the transaction volume forecast, directs the processor to generate the transaction volume forecast based on the historical transaction data and the demographic variance factors. 
     
     
         18 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15  wherein the transaction volume forecast comprises a transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast. 
     
     
         19 . The computer readable medium of  claim 18  further comprising:
 the executable instructions configured to direct the processor to determine coefficients based on the at least one demographic variance factor and generate an enhanced transaction volume forecast based on the coefficients and the transaction volume per transaction type per time interval per location forecast.   
     
     
         20 . The computer readable medium of  claim 15  further comprising:
 the executable instructions configured to direct the processor to determine a service rate per location by analyzing a standard time per transaction per location, determine an average customer arrival rate per location per time interval, calculate a service level per location based on the service rate per location and the average customer arrival rate per location per time interval, and if the service level per location meets or exceeds a target service level, calculate full time equivalent requirements to meet the target service level.