15 Best workforce planning tools for HR teams

As companies invest billions in digital efficiency and wide-ranging digital transformation projects, workforce planning tools are now viewed as mission-critical. 

They help businesses match the people they need with the pace of change, whether that’s automation, AI, or shifting market demands. According to McKinsey, organizations excelling at strategic workforce planning generate three times more revenue per employee than their peers. 

This gap reflects how effectively these organizations align talent, skills, and roles with long-term business goals. This article explores fifteen workforce planning tools that give leaders the vision and agility to steer their teams through disruption, rather than sprinting to keep up.

1. SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) 

• Review Rating: 4.1/5 (1,335 Reviews)
• Best For: Large companies seeking a centralized platform for all HR tasks.

Our first entry on the list is a powerhouse in enterprise talent management. SAP SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) is designed for large-scale, digitally mature organizations. It delivers an integrated suite for workforce planning, performance management processes, learning, and succession planning. 

The platform uses AI-driven insights to forecast talent needs, identify skills gaps, and match people to roles that drive business growth. Its deep analytics capabilities help leaders adapt staffing strategies, ensuring alignment with broader digital transformation roadmaps. With strong integration into SAP’s ecosystem, it’s particularly valuable for organizations seeking end-to-end visibility from recruitment through workforce optimization.

Key Features

• AI shows skill gaps and predicts staffing needs.
• Connects learning programs to career growth.
• Keeps HR compliant across countries.

2. Runn 

• Review Rating: 4.5/5 (100 Reviews)
• Best For: Teams that need to see who’s working on what in real-time.

Runn makes workforce planning simple and visual, helping teams quickly see the big picture. It allows managers to map out projects, assign the right people, and spot potential bottlenecks before they cause delays. 

Real-time capacity tracking reveals who’s available, overbooked, or underutilized, making workload balancing straightforward. With clear, visual dashboards, complex resource data becomes easy to understand, enabling faster, more confident decisions that keep staffing aligned with shifting project timelines and business priorities.

Key Features

• Real-time project scheduling.
• Visual dashboards show workload clearly.
• Test “what-if” scenarios for projects.

3. Paymo 

• Review Rating:  4.6/5 (594 Reviews)
• Best For: Small teams that want to track tasks, hours, and invoices together.

Paymo is built for lean teams that juggle projects and billable work. Plan tasks on a timeline, see each person’s load at a glance, and shift assignments before deadlines slip. Track time as you go with integrations for timesheets, budgets, and invoices. 

Compare planned vs. actual hours to spot scope creep, protect margins, and prevent burnout. Process improvement methodologies such as Gantt, Kanban, and calendar views keep work obvious, while workload and capacity views keep it fair. This tool is ideal for agencies and SMBs that need planning and profitability in one place.

Key Features

• Track time per task easily.
• Compare planned vs. actual hours.
• Integrates budgets and invoices.

4. Planday 

• Review Rating: 4.5/5 (88 Reviews)
• Best For: Businesses with shift workers who need easy scheduling.

Planday streamlines staff scheduling for businesses with complex shift patterns. Managers can build rosters that account for employee availability, skills, and labor laws, while workers swap shifts or request leave through the app. 

Data links schedules to payroll, ensuring accuracy down to the minute. Built-in communication tools keep teams aligned, and labor cost forecasting helps control budgets. Hospitality, retail, and healthcare industries will benefit most, as it turns scheduling from a manual chore into a strategic lever for efficiency.

Key Features

• Auto-generates staff schedules.
• Tracks labor costs for budgets.
• Mobile app for swaps and leave.

5. Workday Adaptive Planning 

• Review Rating: 4.3/5 (292 Reviews)
• Best For: Companies that want to plan staff and budgets together.

Workday Adaptive Planning approaches workforce planning from a broader financial and operational lens. Instead of treating headcount as an isolated metric, it blends staffing forecasts with budgets, performance data, and business goals in one model. 

Leaders can test hiring scenarios, assess talent shortages, and see the downstream impact on costs or productivity before committing to changes. Its strength lies in its agility to plan and update instantly as market conditions shift. This makes it a fit for organizations navigating digital reskilling, rapid growth, or industry volatility.

Key Features

• Plan staff and budgets in one place.
• Test hiring scenarios quickly.
• Update plans instantly as things change.

6. Planful 

• Review Rating: 4.3/5 (461 Reviews)
• Best For: Teams that need to link people planning with finances.

Planful brings workforce planning into the wider context of business performance management. It links talent needs with financial forecasts, allowing decision-makers to see how staffing affects budgets, timelines, and targets. 

Its collaborative platform enables HR, finance, and department leads to work from the same set, reducing data silos. Scenario modelling helps teams test different hiring or restructuring options before acting. This helps ensure resources align with both short-term priorities and long-term growth.

Key Features

• Connects HR to financial forecasts.
• Try different staffing scenarios.
• Keeps all planning data in one place.

7. Deel 

• Review Rating: 4.8/5 (9,923 Reviews)
• Best For: Businesses hiring people in other countries without legal problems.

Deel streamlines global workforce planning by removing the usual legal and administrative roadblocks of hiring abroad. It handles compliance, contracts, and payroll in over 100 countries, so teams can focus on where talent is needed rather than how to employ it. 

Workforce data is consolidated across regions, giving leaders a single, clear view of staffing distribution and costs. This makes scaling internationally faster, more predictable, and less risky. Businesses seeking more control over talent allocation and budget forecasting can utilize Deel’s analytics to plan expansion with precision.

Key Features

• Handles international compliance.
• Automates payroll in multiple currencies.
• Manages contracts and hiring paperwork.

8. Visier 

• Review Rating: 4.6/5 (219 Reviews)
• Best For: Companies seeking data to identify skills gaps and retention issues.

Visier transforms workforce planning into a data-driven decision engine. Instead of relying on static reports, it aggregates HR, payroll, and performance data to reveal trends, skill gaps, and retention risks. 

Leaders can model “what-if” scenarios, such as hiring surges or attrition spikes, and see the downstream impact on productivity, costs, and business outcomes. It makes workforce patterns clear, helping organizations spot problems, adjust staffing, and plan talent decisions that support current operations and future growth.

Key Features

• Predicts turnover and hiring needs.
• Finds skill gaps in your team.
• Visualizes HR trends clearly.

9. Vena 

• Review Rating: 4.5/5 (343 Reviews)
• Best For: Managers seeking to understand the impact of hiring on costs and budgets.

Vena brings workforce planning and financial management together in one easy-to-use platform. Executives can see how hiring decisions affect budgets, business goals, and finance transformation targets. This makes it easier to plan staffing, control costs, and keep people aligned with company priorities.

Teams can test different staffing scenarios, track labor costs, and work together in real-time. Its familiar spreadsheet-style interface makes planning simple, reduces mistakes, and ensures everyone stays aligned with both immediate needs and long-term objectives.

Key Features

• Spreadsheet-style easy interface.
• Links hiring to budget impact.
• Updates data in real time.

10. ChartHop 

• Review Rating: 4.3/5 (150 Reviews)
• Best For: Visualizing teams and roles to plan for growth.

ChartHop gives a clear picture of a company’s people, roles, and critical employee skills, turning complicated HR data into simple insights. Managers can see headcount, spot skill gaps, and plan future staffing. 

Easy-to-read visuals show team structures and workloads, helping leaders make confident decisions on hiring, promotions, or role changes. Linking workforce data to business goals enables businesses to use talent more efficiently, avoid delays, and support both day-to-day operations and long-term growth.

Key Features

• Interactive org charts.
• Maps roles to business goals.
• Tracks team skills.

11. Connecteam 

• Review Rating: 4.6/5 (2,880 Reviews)
• Best For: Frontline teams that need schedules, tasks, and messages in one app.

Connecteam brings unified communication solutions, scheduling, and task management together in one simple platform. Managers can assign tasks, track progress, and review updates. Employees can submit reports and get instructions directly in the app, keeping everyone on the same page. 

Its mobile-friendly design keeps teams informed on the go, while built-in analytics highlight digital workflows and show where processes can improve. Connecteam integrates task tracking and messaging to give teams a single place to organize work, act quickly, and maintain steady day-to-day operations..

Key Features

• Assign and track tasks.
• Built-in messaging for updates.
• Works on mobile for on-the-go teams.

12. MYOB 

• Review Rating: 3.6/5 (33 Reviews)
• Best For: Small businesses that need simple payroll and staff management.

MYOB simplifies workforce administration by combining payroll, scheduling, and employee records in one platform. Managers can see staffing levels, process pay, and track leave instantly, while employees access schedules and submit updates on mobile. 

Process automation reduces manual work and errors, letting teams focus on business priorities. With local compliance built in, MYOB ensures organizations meet regulatory requirements efficiently and maintain operational control. It also means employees can respond quickly to changing workforce needs, all from a single, connected platform.

Key Features

• Automates payroll.
• Employees view schedules and leave.
• Tracks hours for compliance.

13. Employment Hero 

• Review Rating: 4.4/5 (602 Reviews)
• Best For: Teams looking to automate HR tasks and maintain organizational efficiency.

Employment Hero combines HR, payroll, and workforce management into one straightforward platform. It lets managers handle hiring, employee onboarding, and leave requests all in one place. Employees can access payslips, submit time-off, and update personal info from their phones. 

Automation ensures payroll, leave, and performance data are processed accurately without manual intervention. Its compliance tools flag regulatory issues, while reporting dashboards give managers insight into staffing trends, overtime, and costs. This precision helps businesses make informed decisions and respond quickly to workforce changes.

Key Features

• Easy digital onboarding.
• Payroll and compliance are handled automatically.
• HR insights powered by data.

14. Timecloud 

• Review Rating: 4.7/5 (126 Reviews)
• Best For: Tracking hours, leave, and payroll clearly.

Our penultimate entry, Timecloud, takes workforce management beyond simple scheduling. It tracks hours, leave, and payroll, giving managers a clear picture of who’s working, when, and at what cost. 

Employees can log time, request leave, and submit updates easily via mobile. Built-in compliance checks ensure labor laws are followed, while dashboards reveal trends in attendance, overtime, and staffing needs. Connecting day-to-day operations with strategic planning, Timecloud helps teams work efficiently and reduces the guesswork that often slows workforce management.

Key Features

• Log hours in real time.
• Manage leave requests simply.
• Links directly to payroll.

15. Bizimply 

• Review Rating: 4.6/5 (143 Reviews)
• Best For: Businesses with multiple locations that need simple scheduling and attendance.

Our last entry is Bizimply, designed to make managing people and schedules simple, even across multiple locations. Managers can build rotas in minutes, track attendance live, and adjust labor spend on the fly. 

The platform centralizes HR data, stores contracts and training records, and ensures compliance. Employees see schedules, request time off, and receive updates instantly through the mobile app. Daily tasks, checklists, and shift communications are digitized, keeping operations functioning without paperwork. 

Key Features

• Centralized schedules for all locations.
• Real-time attendance tracking.
• Helps follow labor regulations.

What are the key frameworks associated with workforce planning? 

The top workforce planning tools help you align strategy, anticipate workforce needs, and make informed decisions that maximize business efficiency and support digital change goals.

Organizational strategy

Workforce planning starts with understanding where the company wants to go. Organizational strategy links hiring, roles, and skills to long-term goals. It ensures staffing supports growth, digital initiatives, and market shifts. Administrators can see where gaps may appear and make decisions that balance immediate needs with future ambitions.

The 9-box grid

The 9-box grid maps employees’ performance against potential. This visual tool helps managers identify who’s ready for promotion, who may need support, and where development is required. It informs succession planning and talent deployment, so workforce decisions are both fair and strategically aligned with the company’s objectives.

HR analytics and reporting

Data drives smarter staffing. HR analytics collects attendance, performance, and turnover metrics, turning them into clear insights. Reports highlight patterns, risks, and opportunities, allowing managers to plan headcount, training, and hiring efficiently. Decisions move from guesswork to evidence-based actions. This then helps align workforce resources with company priorities.

Compensation and benefits management

Understanding the full cost of employing staff, including salaries, bonuses, and perks, guides strategic workforce planning. Compensation management shows which roles are cost-effective, where incentives improve employee retention, and how benefits influence satisfaction. It also ensures investment in talent is balanced, competitive, and aligned with financial goals.

Contingency planning

Unexpected events can disrupt staffing. Contingency planning prepares for sudden absences, market shocks, or technology shifts by mapping backup roles, temporary hires, and flexible schedules. It keeps operations running, reduces stress on teams, and ensures the organization can respond quickly without compromising productivity or service quality.

How to choose the best workforce planning tools 

Now that you’ve read and digested our list of the fifteen best workforce planning tools and explored the key frameworks associated with each, you should be able to make an informed decision on which solutions align with your company’s goals and workplace strategy. 

Remember to match tools with organizational training plans and ensure teams are qualified to use them to get the most out of your investment. For those big changes that need careful planning and execution, you must consider long-term staffing impacts and build contingency plans to manage risk. 

Thoughtful alignment of technology, data, and processes ensures smoother transitions, stronger decision-making, and agile employees ready for future challenges.