Planning Training Budgets

This chapter provides an overview of the training budget planning process and discusses how to:

• Create department scenarios.

• Create global scenarios.

• Activate scenarios and view summaries.

• Track training plans.

• Freeze training budgets, move unapproved demands, and delete global scenarios.

Understanding the Training Budget Planning Process

This section lists common elements and discusses:

• Budget scenarios.

• The scenario process.

Common Elements Used in This Chapter

Budget Scenarios

Once you know how many employees need to take each training course, you can determine the total cost of those demands. Then you can compare the cost of the training demand to the proposed departmental training budget.

You can use the scenarios that are provided in PeopleSoft Human Resources to help plan budgets, approve demands, and track and freeze budgets. You can define multiple scenarios.

Using budget scenarios, you can:

• Set the level of employee demand that you can afford during a budget period.

• Perform what-if analyses to determine the best budget plan.

• Simulate the effect of one plan against another.

• Activate the plan that best meets training demands and budgets.

  This plan defines the training plan for the related period.

The Scenario Process

PeopleSoft Human Resources compiles corporate, departmental, and employee training demand to determine overall training needs. It uses this data to build an initial scenario the first time that you use the Adjust Department Demand component. This scenario is active, and the system loads the demands that are associated with it into a training plan.

You can adjust your organization’s training demands to create a demand profile for each scenario.

Department and Global Scenarios

You create new scenarios by starting from an active scenario at the department level or by combining all active department scenarios into a global scenario for your organization. This provides an overview of training demand, costs, and budget.

Using department-level scenarios works best for large organizations with separate budgets for each department. More centralized or smaller organizations may find that global scenarios are more efficient.

You can narrow the scope of the training demand that the system includes in the training plan, either at each department level or at the global level.

Freezing Scenarios

You can evaluate the training plan through successive iterations of simulation by business unit, creating and activating new scenarios to see how they affect the training plan. Once you decide on the right combination of demand and money, you can freeze the final budget scenario to end the evaluation process for the budget period and establish the training budget.

Training Element Costs

When you define an expense that is associated with a training element (such as a vendor, a facility, or an instructor), you specify the amount, the currency (which is controlled by associated business unit), and a cost unit type, such as per day or per hour. These costs are stored on the following tables:

• TRN_PROV_COST (Provider costs)

• TRN_FACIL_COST (Facility costs)

• TRN_EQUIP_COST (Equipment costs)

• TRN_INSTRC_COST (Instructor costs)

• TRN_EXPNS_COST (Expense costs)

• TRN_CST_ELEMENT (Cost Element Table)

The training element costs are then associated with a course or a catalog element that specifies the duration, in hours, days, or weeks, and so on, for a course. The catalog element also specifies the maximum number of students who can enroll in the course.

When you enter a course cost, the system calculates the cost by element for that course and stores the cost on the Cost Element table. These amounts are ready to use in the Adjust Department Demand component. The system also converts the cost to the base currency that is specified for the business unit in the Budget Period table.

Sessions and cost units affect the computed cost calculation through the session padding factor.

Session Padding Determines Session Demand

When you define course and catalog costs, you enter a cost unit for each per unit cost. The cost unit specifies how the cost is computed. Cost units can be categorized into four groups:

• Cost for one session, such as Flat Cost.

• Duration-dependent cost, such as Hours.

• Student-dependent cost, such as Student/Training.

• Duration- and student-dependent cost, such as Student/Hours.

While cost and duration aren’t student-dependent, the number of course sessions to accommodate the estimated training needs must be included in the cost formula. The system needs the number of students by course (or by category and subcategory) to calculate the cost.

However, budgeting costs by using the number of students that are specified by demand is not reliable, because this information is based on an estimated number of students.

For example, a maximum of ten students is allowed in a course session, and you plan to train five students.

1. You add five students to the budget plan.

   The training cost doesn’t change.

2. You add another student to the demand.

   The training cost doubles.

Based on current information, the computed training cost can differ dramatically due to a minor change in just one variable. However, because this information is an estimate, it isn't reliable.

The following graph shows the relationship of cost to the expected number of students that need to take a course:

Relationship of cost to the expected number of students that need to take a course

To avoid this problem, the system uses the following formula to calculate session padding and determine the cost of the training demand:

Number of students planned / Maximum number of students per course

This formula uses a progressive factor to determine the number of required sessions. The progressive factor is based on the number of students in the demand, which affects how the system determines the total session cost.

Adjusted session cost based on number of employees in a training demand

Note. The system applies the session padding factor to calculate course session costs that are not student-dependent (flat costs and duration-dependent costs).

Cost Units in Budget Cost Calculations

When the system has determined the course session demand using session padding, it calculates costs based on the cost unit.

Note. Cost elements are updated as soon as training element costs are entered. If you change the annuity factor during a budget period, costs already computed are not affected. The annuity factor should be set before entering any costs.

See Also

Setting Up Training Cost Currency

Creating Department Scenarios

Using the Adjust Department Demand component, you can:

• Create budget plan scenarios for a particular period.

  You work on training budget scenarios one department at a time. The first time that you adjust department demand, the system generates a scenario that is based on the demands that you set up. As you adjust the demand further, you create new scenarios.

• Calculate computed costs of training and compare them to the budgeted amount for a scenario.

• Determine how many employees the department can afford to train during a specified budget period.

The information that you enter on these pages is stored in the TRN_SIMULATION and TRN_SCENARIO tables.

This section discusses how to:

• Develop training plan scenarios.

• Enter country-specific department information.

• Review training component cost details.

See Also

Defining Global, Departmental, and Employee Training Demand

Pages Used to Create Department Scenarios

Developing Training Plan Scenarios

Adjust Department Demand - Demands page

Scenario	Indicates the scenario on which the simulation is being performed. The system creates an initial base scenario when you first open this page. Insert new scenarios for the department if necessary. The system makes the Scenario field unavailable if the budget period is frozen.
Active Scenario	If this scenario is the active scenario, this check box is selected by default. The training plan is the combination of all active scenarios from all concerned departments, so only one scenario at a time can be active for each budget period, business unit, and department, although you can have multiple scenarios in the system. Once you’ve created scenarios in this component, you can activate a scenario on the Choose Active Scenario page.
Demand Sort	To change the order in which demands are listed, select a sort order: Demand: Sorts by demand ID. Approved: Sorts according to the number that you enter in the Approved field. Priority: Sorts by the priority that you specified on the demand pages.

Inside Department

The system builds scenarios using all training demand that is associated with the selected business unit, budget period, and department. The system also displays associated employee demand.

Note. An employee or department can be included in different training demands, because category, subcategory, and course code generate demand.

All Departments

Total

This region shows a running total of approved demands and the total number of requested demands, by department, for all departments.

Budget/Costs

This region compares the budget amount value to the computed cost value, based on the selected demands, and displays the percentage of the budget amount that the computed cost represents.

Entering Country-Specific Department Information

Access the Country page.

(FRA) France

Define how the training demand divides by gender and professional category. The sums of the entries on this page must equal the total general demand that you specified on the Adjust Department Demand - Demands page.

Viewing Training Component Costs

Access the Adjust Department Demand - Costs Details page.

Scenarios

Budget/Costs

Compare the budget amount to the computed cost for each training element or to the total cost of all elements.

Note. The total budget amount that appears is the allocated budget amount from the Department Budget table for this department and budget period only.

Creating Global Scenarios

For smaller or more centralized organizations, you can define the training plan by using global scenarios. When you create global scenarios, you limit their scope by defining special criteria that tell the system what to include in each scenario. For example, you can limit the scope of a global scenario by excluding certain demands. You can increase the demands in a new scenario by multiplying the approved headcount in existing demands by a user-specified factor.

Options for creating global scenarios:

• Using selection criteria.

• Copying existing scenarios.

Note. Global scenarios are specific to budget periods and business units, but they include all departments within the business unit that you specify when you create the global scenario.

This section discusses how to:

• Include and exclude departments, job codes, and competencies.

• Write selection criteria.

• Create scenarios by copying an existing scenario.

See Also

PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Process Scheduler

Pages Used to Create Global Scenarios

Including and Excluding Departments, Job Codes, and Competencies

Access the Create Scenario by Criteria - Criteria 1 page.

Budget Period and Business Unit

Select a budget period and business unit to associate with the new global scenario.

Or

Enter a new criteria number to define additional profile criteria statements.

Include

Exclude

Criteria Statement Example

In the following example, the selection includes employees in department 10000 who are assigned to job code 140055, Payroll Analyst.

In the same selection criteria statement, you can exclude employees with a high rating (level 5) in competency 3006, Banking Procedures, as follows:

Note. You can decide not to enter a department, job code, or competency in a criteria statement. For example, if you don’t specify a job code in the Exclude criteria statement, the system excludes any employee in department 10000 with an expert rating in competency 4020.

See Also

Department Trees

Setting Up Competencies and Accomplishments

Writing Selection Criteria

Access the Create Scenario by Criteria - Criteria 2 page.

For each demand selection statement (criteria number) that you defined on the Create Scenario by Criteria - Criteria 1 page, enter the courses to include or exclude from the global scenario.

To calculate costs for the courses that are not in the catalog, the costs for the course (such as vendor, instructor, and facility costs) need to be stored in the Course Cost table.

For example, if you include the category Computers, the subcategory OPER SYS (operating systems), and the course code 4002, DOS/Windows Operating System, the global scenario includes all the demands that you have for that course.

See Also

PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Process Scheduler

Creating Scenarios by Copying An Existing Scenario

Access the Create Global Scenario page.

Budget Period and Business Unit

Select the budget period and business unit to be associated with the new scenario.

Scenario Type

Note. If the budget period that you specified is frozen, you cannot make the global scenario that you’re defining here the active scenario.

General Demand

Individual Demand

Specify employee demands to include in the new global scenario.

Note. You establish demand priority for employees by using the Employee Demand page and the Employee Demand by Course page.

See Also

PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Process Scheduler

Activating Scenarios and Viewing Summaries

This section discusses how to:

• Activate scenarios.

• View cost details.

• View demand details.

Pages Used to Activate Scenarios and View Summaries

Activating Scenarios

Access the Choose Active Scenario page.

Only one scenario can be active for a specified budget period and business unit, although you can work with different budget scenarios in the Budget Training business process. You cannot change the status of a scenario that is part of a frozen budget. Click the Refresh button to view computed amounts.

Viewing Cost Details

Access the Summarize Active Scenario - Total Costs page.

This page displays the cost detail for the active scenario sorted by department. For each department, the system displays the department ID and description, and the number of employees that you approved for the training on the Adjust Department Demand - Demands page.

The system populates the department budget amount from the Department Budget table and the current computed cost from the Adjust Department Demand - Cost Details page. The ratio shows the percentage of the department budget amount to the current computed cost for the approved demands. You can quickly determine whether one department is over or under budget.

The Budget/Costs region displays the total of the approved employee demands for all departments included in the active scenario. The system displays the total training budget for all departments and the current total computed cost. The ratio indicates whether the current computed costs are over or under budget.

Viewing Demand Details

Access the Summarize Active Scenario - Demands page.

Demand ID	Displays the demand ID and its description. The symbol next to the Demand ID field indicates the type of demand.
	An employee demand.
	A global demand.

Tracking Training Plans

A training plan can undergo constant cost reviews and updates until you freeze the plan. You create department views to help analyze the training plan. For example, you can create a department view that corresponds to a business unit and view the aggregate training plan for all departments in that unit. These groups of departments form snapshot views, which you can use to perform comparative cost analysis.

Pages Used to Track Training Plans

Defining Departmental Groups

Access the Departmental View page.

In the Department field, select the departments to include in your view. The Tree field provides options and information about the department.

See Also

Department Trees

Reviewing the Course List

Access the Course List page.

Training Plans

Access the Training Plan page.

View the distribution of training plans

Access the Training Plan: Distribution page.

Training Plan Category

Select a training plan category. The values are: Skill Development, Adaptation to Job Changement, Job Preservation, Not Specified.

Create the training plan cost details

Access the Training Plan Cost Details page.

Freezing Budgets, Moving Unapproved Demands, and Deleting Scenarios

When you finish creating, reviewing, and adjusting your training scenarios, you can freeze the company training budget for a specified budget period and business unit.

Once you freeze a budget:

• You cannot update or change any demands or scenarios that are associated with that budget period and business unit.

• You can move unapproved demands from the frozen budget period to the next budget period.

  You can set the system to include employees whose training requests weren’t approved in one budget period as part of the demand for the next budget period.

• You can delete scenarios that you no longer need.

• You can use this training plan to track budgeted costs verse actual costs.

This section discusses how to:

• Freeze budget periods.

• Move unapproved demands to the next period.

• Delete obsolete global scenarios.

Pages Used to Freeze Budgets, Move Unapproved Demands, and Delete Scenarios

Freezing Budget Periods

Access the Freeze Budget Period page.

This page displays all of the approved demands, the total budget (the sum of the department budgets included in the plan), the total computed cost for the departments in the training plan; and the budget-to-cost ratio for the entire training plan.

To freeze the plan, select the Frozen check box and save the page. This freezes the budget for the entire business unit.

Note. Freezing a training plan turns it into a live training budget for the specified business unit and budget period.

To unfreeze a training period, clear the Frozen check box and save the page.

Moving Unapproved Demands to the Next Period

Access the Move Non Approved Demands page.

A demand with an Approved field value of 0 is considered unapproved. Also, if you have a demand ID with a requested demand of 16, and you approved only 12, the system considers the unapproved demands for the demand ID to be 4, because you didn’t approve 4 of the requested headcount. The Move Non Approved Demands process carries forward the 4 unapproved demands for the demand ID.

Deleting Obsolete Scenarios

Access the Delete Inactive, Gbl Scenarios page.

When you run this process, the system deletes data from the TRN_SIMULATION and TRN_SCENARIO tables.

Scenario Details

See Also

PeopleTools PeopleBook: PeopleSoft Process Scheduler

Running Budget Training Reports

This section discusses how to generate budget training reports.

Pages Used to Run Budget Training Reports