Staff Cost Planning and More Efficient Processes With Westfalen Weser

Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH operates regional distribution networks for electricity, natural gas and water on behalf of a municipal alliance. With 4PLAN, the company has achieved more accurate staff cost planning while remaining flexible enough to meet the special requirements faced by a regulated network operator.

About Westfalen Weser Netz

Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH is a subsidiary of the municipally owned Westfalen Weser Energie GmbH & Co. KG and is responsible for operating regional distribution networks for electricity, natural gas and water. With around 1,100 employees, the company supplies 57 towns and municipalities as owners, along with a further 24 municipalities as concession holders. Westfalen Weser is also a key partner when it comes to grid connections and integrating renewable energy into the supply network.

"With 4PLAN, deviations in staff cost planning have essentially become the smallest of challenges. A detailed variance analysis is always possible, making it easy to understand the causes. In most cases, deviations are simply due to changed volume requirements"

- Thomas Gries, HR-Controller

Complex Workforce Planning Under Regulatory Pressure

As a regulated network operator, Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH faces particular challenges: network charges are state-regulated and subject to increasingly strict efficiency requirements. This creates ongoing pressure to optimise workforce planning.

Specifically, the following issues were identified:

• Misalignment between cost allocation and organisational structure.
• Need to factor in workforce reductions at the planning stage – without knowing which roles would be affected.
• Strong pressure to cut and streamline staff costs.
• Time-consuming, Excel-based staff cost calculations with low flexibility and limited ability to analyse variances between planned and actual figures.

Accurate Staff Cost Planning With 4PLAN

Westfalen Weser Netz chose 4PLAN to manage the complex requirements of staff cost planning more efficiently. One particularly valuable feature was the ability to plan with “negative NNs” – i.e. positions planned for removal, without yet knowing which employees would be affected.

Key features include:

• Flexible planning with “negative NNs” to account for planned workforce reductions.
• Dual allocation structure: ability to map both organisational structure and costs in parallel.
• Rapid data updates, enabling new plans to be drawn up quickly.
• Detailed reports on headcount and KPIs such as capacity values and full-time equivalents (FTEs).
• Transparent planning levels down to individual employee detail.

Reliable Outcomes with Significant Time Savings

By implementing 4PLAN, Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH has significantly improved and streamlined staff cost planning.

Key improvements:

• Major reduction in variances between planned and actual staff costs.
• Clear time and resource savings when preparing forecasts and medium-term plans.
• Increased planning security and management accuracy through more precise process mapping.
• Faster and more flexible adaptation to changing requirements.
• Greater transparency in changes thanks to detailed storage of planning data at employee level – forming the basis for more transparent variance analysis in controlling.

The Future for Westfalen Weser Netz GmbH

Looking ahead, the company plans to introduce additional HR KPIs and make use of 4PLAN’s dashboard technology. In the longer term, it also aims to implement workflows – for example, for recurring training programmes and automated reminders.