Returning to work, safely with Dassault Systèmes DELMIA Quintiq Workforce Planner

The current crisis has completely changed the dynamics of corporate workforce management. As employees start to return slowly to the office and establish new work routines, new challenges are emerging for companies, due to office reopening guidelines, safe distancing measures, border controls and travel advisories.

At Dassault Systèmes, workplace safety is paramount, be it for our people, partners or customers. We used a solution from our own portfolio – Back to Office Workforce Planner – to organize the return back to the office. Taking into consideration the current climate, government restrictions, business requirements, and personal preferences, who should be the ones going back to the office? It is a true puzzle!

There are five critical factors that were considered in planning employees’ return –

1.     Government Restrictions: Different governments have different restrictions and social distancing rules also apply in the office workspace.

2.     Business Requirements: While many businesses allow the opportunity to work from home, there are essential employees that are required to work in the office.

3.     Business and Role Priorities: Depending on the employees' roles in their respective departments, there are employees who should be prioritized to work in the office.

4.     Personal Circumstances: People are the core of business. Each employee may have their own circumstance – from taking care of young children or elderly parents to not having the facility to work from home – that must be taken into consideration.

5.     Personal Preferences: Some people may have preferences on if they want to work from home or from the office. These preferences should be taken into account as well.

The Planner creates a plan based on the desired office occupancy. For example, at Dassault Systèmes, we are taking a phased approach, starting with 25% office occupancy and gradually moving to 50% before all employees return to office a few months from today. Office "shifts" are generated, and assigned to the employees.

Doing this manually while taking into account all the data above, for tens or hundreds of employees is very tedious, time consuming and prone to error. Automating this task means that senior management can focus on what is critical – guiding the business through this unprecedented time, communicating with the employees and caring for them, and strategizing and positioning the business for the future.

The Back to Office Workforce Planner is now live in Dassault Systemes offices in Australia, Malaysia, and Singapore, and very soon in Japan, and India. More will soon follow suit to get their people back to the office.

The Back to Office Workforce Planner is an adapted version of our DELMIA Quintiq Workforce Scheduling, which includes a suite of tools to plan and optimize workforce in governments, public services, airports, corporations, factories.