5 Steps to Digitization | Public Sector | Workforce Management Software

Better manage skills shortages with smart workforce management software

The public sector is under considerable pressure: the shortage of skilled workers continues to grow, while at the same time expectations for digital, efficient, and citizen-oriented services are increasing. Administrations, security agencies, schools, and social institutions are required to do more with fewer staff while ensuring service quality, accessibility, and transparency. This presents managers and employees alike with new and sometimes complex challenges in staff planning and day-to-day operations.

The shortage of skilled workers is no longer a future scenario. According to the German Civil Service Association (DBB) the state currently has a shortage of over 500,000 employees. An analysis by PwC also shows that the shortage of personnel not only limits the performance of the public sector, but also significantly slows down digitalization.

Workforce management software (WFM) cannot solve the shortage of skilled workers, but it can make a significant contribution to using existing resources more efficiently and in a more targeted manner. Digital support allows planning processes to be automated, rules and regulations to be applied reliably, and decisions to be documented in a traceable manner. Digitalization thus becomes an important lever for ensuring stable processes and reliable services despite limited staffing levels.

Content:

↓ Why Workforce Management Is A Key Component Of Digitalization?
↓ 5 Steps To Digitalizing Staff Planning In The Public Sector
↓ How Does Workforce Management Software Impact Everyday Work?
↓ What Added Value Do Workforce Management Solutions Bring To Public Sector Organizations?

Why Workforce Management Is A Key Component Of Digitalization?

Modern workforce management creates the organizational conditions necessary to plan reliably and respond quickly to changes, even with limited staff. Digital solutions bundle relevant data such as qualifications, availability, vacation, working hours, and collective bargaining agreements in one central location. They support managers in shift scheduling, and staff planning by automating routine tasks, systematically taking complex conditions into account, and providing a basis for decision-making.

The key functions of WFM software are:

• Digital shift scheduling: Takes qualifications, availability, and individual preferences into account. This results in shifts that are a good fit professionally while also distributing the workload evenly among employees.
• Shift planning in compliance with legal requirements: Systems automatically check working time laws and collective bargaining agreements, thus preventing unauthorized overtime or incorrect billing.
• Staff planning even in the event of short-term changes: In the event of absences or increased demand, replacement or additional staff can be quickly identified and scheduled.
• Central documentation: All planning decisions, changes, and approvals are stored in a traceable manner. This is important for legal certainty, evidence management, and subsequent evaluations.

This combination of automation, transparency, and documentation makes planning processes more stable and less prone to errors overall.

5 Steps To Digitalizing Staff Planning In The Public Sector

How Does Workforce Management Software Impact Everyday Work?

Workforce management software (WFM) in the public sector significantly changes everyday working life. About collective bargaining agreements, hierarchies, and complex legal norms, special requirements arise which, in practice, can bring considerable efficiency and transparency benefits.

In the operational area, WFM ensures that shift schedules are created quickly, considering opening hours, availability, absences, and on-call shifts. Since long-term planning perspectives and rest periods often apply to various groups in the public sector (e.g., administration, police, fire department, schools), forecasting functions help to minimize overlaps and identify personnel bottlenecks in good time. Digital time recording – via time clocks, apps (myplano), or terminals – reduces manual entries and enables traceable billing of working hours, on-call, and standby shifts.

It is particularly important to take collective agreements and legal requirements into account. In the public sector, TVöD/TV-L and civil service regulations apply, which specify working hours, breaks, shift and bonus regulations, and special case requirements. WFM software must automatically enforce these rules, minimize absences, and ensure transparent billing. At the same time, the central database facilitates compliance monitoring and audits, which are often standardized in government agencies and public institutions.

In terms of stakeholder relevance, there is a clearly structured added value: Employees are given self-service functions for vacation and shift requests, access to schedules and calendars, while managers can keep track of planning, deviations, and staffing requirements with clear dashboards. The HR department or payroll team benefits from consistent master data and automated payroll processes in accordance with TVöD/TV-L, but there is an increasing need for secure data integration, data protection, and appropriate documentation.

Challenges specific to the public sector include lengthy approval processes, committee participation, and staff representation. Changes in work processes often require extensive change management measures, transparency towards civil servants, salaried employees, and managers, as well as training on new software. In addition, legacy systems (SAP/HRIS, municipal administration software) and interface-heavy systems often dominate, which is why integrations must be carefully planned to ensure smooth data flows.

Typical functions that influence everyday work in the public sector include time recording, shift planning including on-call and standby shifts, absence and vacation management, consideration of flexitime models, surcharges and shift calculation, self-service portals, mobile apps, and integrations with payroll/HRIS systems. Security and data protection requirements (e.g., access controls, logging, audit trails) are a particular focus here.

For successful implementation, we therefore recommend: clear goals in terms of cost efficiency and personnel deployment, early involvement of staff representatives and managers, step-by-step implementation including training, ensuring data quality (master data, availability, working time rules), and robust integration into existing IT landscapes. In addition, key figures such as plan deviations, utilization, and absence rates should be checked regularly to make optimizations in a timely manner.

plano – Workforce Management for the public sector

The plano WFM software was developed specifically for the requirements and legal framework of the public sector. It addresses key tasks such as digital shift scheduling, staff planning, and personnel deployment planning and is designed to reflect legal requirements and collective bargaining agreements. plano does not claim to resolve structural personnel shortages on its own. Rather, the solution helps to make optimal use of existing resources, stabilize planning processes, and make the organization more resilient.

What Added Value Do Workforce Management Solutions Bring To Public Sector Organizations?

The introduction of a suitable WFM solution offers several concrete advantages:

• Reduced planning workload: Automation significantly reduces the amount of manual coordination required.
• Legal certainty: Automatic consideration of legal and collective agreement requirements minimizes errors and risks.
• Transparency: Consistent and traceable planning increases acceptance and transparency among employees and managers.
• Flexibility: Structured responses to short-term changes become possible without chaotic, improvised solutions.
• Stability: Even when personnel resources are scarce, processes remain reliable and predictable.

Would you like to learn more about workforce management with plano?

Further information about our workforce management software and its areas of application can be found here:

→ Workforce Management from plano