Workforce Planning

Workforce Planning connects people strategy to numbers — headcount plans, salary bands, and pay benchmarking — so hiring and compensation decisions are grounded in data and budget.

Headcount planning

1. Go to XO People → Workforce → Plan → New.
2. Set target headcount by department/role for the period.
3. Compare planned vs actual as hires land (linked to Recruitment).
4. Track the plan against the people budget (see Budgets).

📷 Screenshot: headcount plan vs actual by department.

Salary bands

1. Open Workforce → Salary bands.
2. Define bands per grade/role with min–mid–max ranges.
3. Flag employees below, within, or above band to guide raises and offers.

Compensation management

Model increments and adjustments across the org, see the cost impact, and push approved changes to payroll.

Benchmarking

Use salary benchmarking to compare your pay against market data by role and locate gaps before they cause attrition.

Best practices

• Keep bands current with the market — refresh against benchmarks at least yearly.
• Tie the headcount plan to the budget so hiring stays funded.
• Use band position to standardize offers and reduce ad-hoc pay decisions.

Troubleshooting

• Plan vs actual mismatch. Confirm new hires are linked to the right requisition/department.
• Band flags look off. Check the band’s min/mid/max and the employee’s mapped grade.

Related guides

• Recruitment
• Performance
• Budgets & Forecasting