A detailed workforce planning model including non-linear dependence of the capacity on the size of the staff and cash management

This paper introduces an original planning model which integrates production, human resources and cash management decisions, taking into account the consequences that decisions in one area may have on other areas and allowing all these areas to be coordinated. The most relevant characteristics of the planning problem are: (1) production capacity is a non-linear function of the size of the staff; (2) firing costs may depend on the worker who is fired; (3) working time is managed under a working time account (WTA) scheme, so positive balances must be paid to workers who leave the company; (4) there is a learning period for hired workers; and (5) cash management is included. A mixed integer linear program is designed to solve the problem. Despite the size and complexity of the model, it can be solved in a reasonable time. A numerical example is included to illustrate its performance.Preprin

Cost-efficient staffing under annualized hours

We study how flexibility in workforce capacity can be used to efficiently match capacity and demand. Flexibility in workforce capacity is introduced by the annualized hours regime. Annualized hours allow organizations to measure working time per year, instead of per month or per week. An additional source of flexibility is hiring employees with different contract types, like full-time, part-time, and min-max, and by hiring subcontractors. We propose a mathematical programming formulation that incorporates annualized hours and shows to be very flexible with regard to modeling various contract types. The objective of our model is to minimize salary cost, thereby covering workforce demand, and using annualized hours. Our model is able to address various business questions regarding tactical workforce planning problems, e.g., with regard to annualized hours, subcontracting, and vacation planning. In a case study for a Dutch hospital two of these business questions are addressed, and we demonstrate that applying annualized hours potentially saves up to 5.2% in personnel wages annually

Integración de decisiones de inversión en capacidad en la planificación agregada

En este trabajo se presenta un modelo de programación lineal mixta para un problema de planificación agregada en el que se incluyen decisiones de ampliación de la capacidad que suelen inscribirse en un nivel de planificación estratégica. Se supone que el equipo adicional (que puede adquirirse o no) y el antiguo se integran para dar lugar a una nueva configuración productiva única, con costes variables distintos de los correspondientes al equipo antiguo. El modelo, cuyo objetivo consiste en maximizar el beneficio, incluye además la gestión financiera.Postprint (published version

Evaluation of the impact of strategic staff planning in a university using a MILP model

A mathematical model for optimising the strategic staff planning in universities is used to analyse the impact of different personnel and academic policies on the strategic staff plan, considering a preferable staff composition. The personnel policies are evaluated allowing or not the dismissals of permanent workers; the ratio of internal promotion for workers and the personnel budget. The academic policies are tested through the impact of different demand trends. Addressing the specificities of the university, the optimisation model considers not only economic criteria, i.e., personnel costs, but also other factors related to the fulfilment of the required service level and the achievement of a preferable workforce composition. Several computational scenarios are used, based on real data from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain). The results show the adjustment to the preferable workforce composition through the available mechanisms (dismissals, hiring and internal promotions).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Determining personnel promotion policies in HEI

This paper addresses the determination of personnel promotion policies in public Higher Education Institutions (HEI) considering aspects such as worker's promotion rules, hiring and laying off, workforce diversity and budget constraints. The problem is formulated as a Mixed Integer Linear Program. The objective of the proposed optimization model is not only expressed in economic terms but also addressing the achievement of a preferable staff composition and service level. The model is formulated generally, hence it can be useful for different types of universities taken into account their specificities and characteristics. Specifically, this paper addresses the problem of finding the relationship between economic resources for workers'promotion and the pursued preferable staff composition. The model is applied to a real case, in which several analyses are performed under different scenarios characterized by possible trends in the available budget and the demand. The analyses are for different workforce structures, which reflect different academic and personnel policies. The results address the performance of the proposed model in achieving the preferable structure and also on how promotions --and associated expenditures--, are for young researchers and experienced personnel according to each considered scenariPeer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

A decision support system and a mathematical model for strategic workforce planning in consultancies

Strategic staff planning in consultancies is a major problem that directly affects the firm’s performance and capacity for dealing with projects appropriately. Furthermore, the decisions taken now will have long term consequences, because consultants are highly qualified workers who need very long learning periods to achieve enough expertise. In other words, the size and composition of the future workforce depends on the decisions taken today. It is important to underline that the system anticipates future capacity adjustment in response to forecasted demand requirements; therefore, it is flexible to plan the workforce in different scenarios and time horizons. This paper proposes a decision support system based on a mathematical optimization model for solving strategic staff planning, taking the company’s strategies, policies and objectives into account and optimizing both the costs and the staff composition. The tool is tested by applying it in an office belonging to a multinational consulting firm.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Modelos empíricos aplicados a análise da capacidade produtiva: Aplicações em cenários de incertezas / Empirical models applied to productive capacity analysis: Applications in uncertainty scenarios

Cenários caracterizados por realidades de incerteza levam os governantes da esfera federal a procurarem repensar e desenvolver ferramentas que possam garantir vantagem competitiva quanto a utilização de seu capital humano em períodos marcados por fragilidades na política fiscal e monetária da nação. Surge, dessa forma, a necessidade de localizar o conceito de dimensionamento em uma literatura internacional, nacional e diversa, partindo de uma definição adequada ao contexto da gestão organizacional visando a garantia de economicidade para o setor público. O objetivo deste estudo teórico é fornecer uma referência quanto a métodos quantitativos de dimensionamento da força de trabalho. Sendo assim, apresenta-se três tipos de modelos algébricos, estatísticos e de otimização. Salienta-se suas similaridades e idiossincrasias, além de exemplificar suas práticas. Por fim, o conjunto de possibilidades apontadas neste artigo viabiliza métodos para compreender a realidade organizacional em uma proposição estratégica para uma gestão mais capacitada para tomadas de decisão

Enabling flexibility through strategic management of complex engineering systems

”Flexibility is a highly desired attribute of many systems operating in changing or uncertain conditions. It is a common theme in complex systems to identify where flexibility is generated within a system and how to model the processes needed to maintain and sustain flexibility. The key research question that is addressed is: how do we create a new definition of workforce flexibility within a human-technology-artificial intelligence environment? Workforce flexibility is the management of organizational labor capacities and capabilities in operational environments using a broad and diffuse set of tools and approaches to mitigate system imbalances caused by uncertainties or changes. We establish a baseline reference for managers to use in choosing flexibility methods for specific applications and we determine the scope and effectiveness of these traditional flexibility methods. The unique contributions of this research are: a) a new definition of workforce flexibility for a human-technology work environment versus traditional definitions; b) using a system of systems (SoS) approach to create and sustain that flexibility; and c) applying a coordinating strategy for optimal workforce flexibility within the human- technology framework. This dissertation research fills the gap of how we can model flexibility using SoS engineering to show where flexibility emerges and what strategies a manager can use to manage flexibility within this technology construct”--Abstract, page iii

Dimensionamento na administração pública federal: uma ferramenta de gestão da força de trabalho

Este livro é o terceiro volume de uma série de seis livros que possuem como tema central discutir o dimensionamento da força de trabalho (DFT) no contexto da administração pública federal (APF). O DFT tem como principal funcionalidade contribuir na indicação do quantitativo ideal de força de trabalho necessária para que a equipe possa atuar de modo a atingir seu ponto ótimo de produtividade. Essas informações são fundamentais para o melhor aproveitamento do quadro de pessoal na APF e subsidiam a tomada de decisão dos gestores públicos que buscam alocar sua força de trabalho com eficiência. Nesse sentido, este livro é composto por 4 capítulos. O primeiro capítulo, de autoria de André Luiz Marques Serrano, Lucas Oliveira Gomes Ferreira, Víthor Rosa Franco, Neleide Abila e Patrícia Guarnieri, aborda o DFT como ferramenta de gestão. No capítulo 2, de autoria de Nara Cristina Ferreira Mendes, Guilherme Dantas Bispo, André Luiz Marques Serrano, Cláudio Silva da Costa e Pedro Paulo Murce Meneses, o avanço no uso da tecnologia da informação para análise dos dados sobre dimensionamento é abordado, sendo apresentados conceitos e possibilidades de aplicação. No capítulo 3, os autores Patrícia Guarnieri, Luciana Graziani Barbosa de Araújo, André Luiz Marques Serrano, Nara Cristina Ferreira Mendes e Pedro Paulo Murce Meneses abordam em detalhes da análise multicritérios que sugerem forma de seleção das organizações a serem priorizadas. Por fim, no capítulo 4, os autores Lucas Soares Caldas, Aline Fernandes de Paula Freitas, Luciana Graziani Barbosa de Araújo, Pedro Paulo Murce Meneses e Júlia Cassia dos Santos Silvério apresentam um estudo de caso com a aplicação do dimensionamento da força de trabalho em uma instituição do Governo Federal.Volume 3Administração PúblicaGestão de PessoasISBN: 978-85-256-0122-