5 Reasons You Need a Better Org Chart for Workforce Planning

Given all of the uncertainty in the world today, effective workforce planning has never been more important. After all, as is commonly said, your employees are your greatest asset and resource. Knowing how to effectively budget for, hire, manage, and retain great employees is a critical factor in any company’s success. Using an interactive org chart can greatly help you in this important strategic activity.

1. Real time team collaboration on accurate data.

When using static org chart diagrams (such as those created in a drawing tool like Visio or Lucidchart) there’s always a lag between when the employee data is provided to the person making the chart and when the chart is actually completed. Then, there’s usually another gap of time from when the chart is created to the time when the workforce planning meeting actually happens.

During those gaps of time, new employees are hired, other employees are terminated, promotions happen, compensation is adjusted, and other staff changes are made. The end result is that the meeting participants are looking at an org chart that is now out of date.

An org chart product like Built can update itself automatically by connecting to your HRIS or ERP system. Your chart is always accurate and up-to-date.

2. Powerful visualization of your people and org data.

A static org chart diagram can only show you what was included when the chart was drawn. An interactive org chart like Built gives you the ability to decide on-the-fly what you want to view. In addition to viewing the hierarchy of your organization, Built lets you filter your view to focus on a certain section of your chart. Or, you can color code each box on the chart based on any data element such as employee type, status, location, performance level, flight risk, and more.

Additionally, as you use the org chart for planning, Built can display real-time stats such as headcount, span of control, total compensation, and more. Using these statistics you can more easily design org changes that accomplish specific goals.

As you combine the many powerful analysis and reporting tools included in an interactive org chart tool like Built, you’re better able to plan for growth, change, and optimization of your organization.

3. Ability to quickly create and update what-if scenarios and future state charts.

When planning for growth and change, org charts often become the go-to tool. Unfortunately most companies spend dozens of hours drawing org charts in Powerpoint in order to visualize what a particular scenario may look like.

During a planning meeting, it’s much more effective to allow the business leaders to directly make and visualize changes using an interactive org chart like Built. Users can simply make a copy of the official org chart (or a portion of it) and then drag-and-drop to move people around or click to add open positions to represent growth.

4. Succession planning directly on the org chart.

Succession plans are often documented in a spreadsheet. The problem with this approach is that the plans have no visual context. Business leaders who are viewing the succession plans may not be able to call to mind important details about each name they see on the plan.

Using an advanced org chart solution that also has succession planning capabilities solves this problem. Users can view a succession plan in the context of the org chart hierarchy. If more information is needed about a person’s skills, experience, or responsibilities, a simple click can pull up that person’s complete profile.

5. Recruiting ties directly to open positions on your chart.

Recruiting is typically quite separate from the rest of HR. In most organizations this means open positions are not represented on the org chart. Being able to visualize where open positions sit in the organization is a game changer for recruiters and planners.

Additionally, an advanced org chart solution can create future-state org charts and even show recruiting updates directly on the chart.

Interested in learning more? If you’re interested in learning more about how to leverage a modern, interactive org chart in your workforce planning and strategy, we’d love to show you how Built works!