Answering basic headcount questions requires pulling data from the HRMS, the payroll system, and a spreadsheet and reconciling them manually because none of the three sources agrees with the others?
Turnover analysis at the team or manager level takes a week to produce because the leaver data is in the HRMS but the team structure data is in a different system and reconciling them is a manual exercise?
Workforce Analytics Software Development
Most HR teams know they have a data problem. The headcount number in the HRMS doesn't match the payroll report. Turnover data requires a manual export and a pivot table. Pay equity analysis is a quarterly project rather than a live report. The data exists -- it's just in the wrong shape, in the wrong place, or too slow to produce when a decision needs to be made.
We build custom workforce analytics platforms that connect your HR data sources and produce the reporting your HR team and business leaders actually need -- live headcount, turnover by manager, pay equity by demographic, and workforce cost by cost centre, without a manual export process every time someone asks for a number.
Headcount reporting live from your connected HR data sources -- by department, location, employment type, and seniority
Turnover and retention analysis at the team, manager, and tenure-band level with exit reason data from the leaver process
Pay equity reporting by gender, ethnicity, and tenure to surface compensation gaps before they become a legal or reputational risk
Workforce planning models for headcount cost forecasting under different growth scenarios
RaftLabs builds custom workforce analytics software for HR teams and business leaders who need people data that their HRMS reporting can't produce -- headcount reporting across multiple systems, turnover analysis at the team and manager level, pay equity reporting for gender and ethnicity, and workforce planning models built on real headcount and cost data. We connect your HRMS, payroll system, and performance data into a single analytics layer with dashboards and reports built for each audience. Most workforce analytics projects deliver a production-ready system in 10 to 14 weeks at a fixed cost.
100+Software products shipped
·24+Industries served
·FixedCost delivery
·10-14Week delivery cycles
When HR data is in the right systems but the wrong shape
The fundamental workforce analytics problem is not a lack of data -- most organisations have the relevant data in their HRMS, their payroll system, and their performance management tool. The problem is that the data is in different systems with different data models, updated at different frequencies, and reported in formats that don't match the questions HR and business leaders are actually asking. Reconciling the systems manually to answer a headcount question or produce a turnover report is slow, error-prone, and requires a data-literate HR analyst who could be spending their time on more valuable work.
We build workforce analytics platforms that connect your existing HR data sources and transform them into the reports and dashboards each audience needs -- live headcount for the CEO, team-level turnover for the CHRO, budget versus actual headcount cost for finance, and team composition for the department heads who are making hiring decisions. The analytics layer sits on top of your existing systems without replacing them, and produces outputs that are current, consistent, and accessible without a manual extraction process.
What we build
Headcount reporting
Live headcount report pulling from your HRMS and payroll system with a reconciliation logic that explains and resolves the differences between the two sources -- the most common being leavers who are still in payroll for a final period, contractors who are in one system but not the other, and employees on extended leave whose status differs between systems. Headcount breakdown by department, team, location, employment type, seniority band, and manager -- configurable by the HR analyst without a developer engagement. Headcount movement reporting showing joiners, leavers, and internal transfers in each period with the movement expressed both as a count and as a percentage of the opening headcount. Headcount versus plan tracking for businesses that manage to a headcount budget, with the actual headcount and the open requisitions compared to the approved headcount plan at each reporting level.
Turnover and retention analysis
Turnover rate at the company, department, team, and manager level, calculated consistently from your HRMS leaver data and expressed as an annualised rate so it is comparable across periods of different length. Voluntary versus involuntary turnover breakdown where the exit reason data captured in your leaver process allows the distinction to be made. Regrettable turnover analysis for businesses that distinguish between leavers who were high performers they wanted to keep and leavers they would not have retained -- calculated from the performance data in the performance management system. Turnover by tenure band to identify whether the organisation has an early-tenure problem -- high turnover in the first 12 months -- or a late-tenure problem -- high turnover among long-service employees who are retiring or leaving for competitors. Exit reason analysis from the exit interview data captured in the leaver workflow, aggregated to show the most common reasons for leaving without exposing individual responses.
Pay equity reporting
Pay equity analysis comparing compensation across the demographic dimensions your organisation tracks -- gender, ethnicity, age band, and disability status -- at the role level, the job family level, and the seniority level. Median pay gap calculation in the format required for statutory reporting in your jurisdiction -- the UK gender pay gap report format, the US EEO-1 format, or an equivalent format for other jurisdictions. Like-for-like pay gap analysis comparing employees in the same or comparable roles to isolate the gap that exists within roles from the gap that is explained by occupational segregation -- a different and more actionable metric than the median pay gap. Bonus and variable pay equity analysis showing whether the gap in base pay is replicated or widened when variable pay is included. Trend analysis showing whether the pay gap at each level has narrowed, widened, or remained static over the last two to four reporting periods, so HR can assess whether their equity initiatives are having the intended effect.
Workforce cost analytics
Headcount cost reporting combining base salary, employer tax costs, pension costs, and benefit costs by department, location, and cost centre -- the fully-loaded people cost that finance needs for budget management but that payroll reports rarely produce in a usable format. Budget versus actual headcount cost tracking for the finance business partners who manage people cost as a line in the P&L, with the variance explained by headcount movement, salary changes, and benefit cost changes. Payroll cost trend analysis showing the month-on-month and year-on-year movement in people cost at each reporting level, with the driver of the movement -- headcount change, pay increase, or benefit cost change -- disaggregated for each period. Cost per hire calculation from the recruiting cost data combined with the headcount data, by department and role type, for businesses that track recruiting efficiency as a workforce cost metric.
Workforce planning models
Workforce planning tool allowing HR and finance to model headcount and cost under different business growth scenarios -- the headcount cost at three revenue growth rates, the cost of a planned expansion into a new market, or the cost impact of a restructuring that changes the mix of employment types. The planning model connected to the actual headcount and cost data so the starting position is always current rather than taken from a static snapshot. Attrition modelling incorporating the historical turnover rate at each tenure band and seniority level to produce a forecast of the leavers expected in the next 12 months, which the workforce plan needs to account for alongside the growth headcount. Open requisition tracking in the planning model so the cost of the approved but unfilled positions is reflected in the forward-looking cost projection. Scenario comparison allowing HR to present three headcount and cost scenarios to the CFO or CEO with the assumptions for each scenario clearly documented.
HR data integration and governance
Data integration layer connecting your HRMS, payroll system, performance management tool, and ATS into a unified people data model -- the foundation that all the analytics outputs are built on. Data quality monitoring that identifies discrepancies between sources, flags records that are inconsistent across systems, and surfaces the data quality issues that produce unreliable reports when they go undetected. Refresh frequency configured to the cadence your organisation works to -- daily refresh for operational headcount reporting, weekly refresh for turnover and retention metrics, monthly refresh for pay equity and compensation analytics. Data access controls so each user group sees the analytics they are authorised to see -- HR leadership sees all metrics at all levels, department heads see their own team's data, and the finance team sees the cost analytics without seeing individual salary data. Data lineage documentation so the HR analytics team can explain where each number in each report comes from and how it is calculated, which is important when business leaders challenge the numbers.
Frequently asked questions
We connect to the systems where your workforce data lives -- typically an HRMS for employee records and org structure, a payroll system for compensation and cost data, a performance management tool for performance ratings and review data, and an ATS for recruiting data. Where systems have APIs, we connect directly. Where systems provide only file exports, we build an ingestion pipeline that processes the files on a configured schedule. Where data lives in spreadsheets that have not yet been moved to a system, we can build a structured data entry interface as a transitional measure. The data model is designed during the architecture phase based on the sources in scope and the analytics outputs required.
Yes. The workforce analytics platform sits on top of your existing systems as a reporting and analytics layer -- it reads from your HRMS, payroll, and other sources without replacing them. The existing systems continue to be the authoritative sources for the operational HR data; the analytics platform transforms and combines that data to produce the reporting that the HRMS's own reports cannot. This approach means the analytics platform can be built and deployed without disrupting the operational HR systems or requiring HR to change how they record data.
Workforce analytics data is sensitive by nature -- compensation data, performance ratings, and demographic data used for pay equity analysis are all subject to data protection obligations. We design the access control architecture so each user group can see only the data their role authorises: HR leadership can see individual-level data across the organisation, department heads can see aggregated and individual data for their own teams, and the CEO dashboard shows aggregated metrics without individual-level detail. Pay equity reports are typically restricted to HR leadership and legal. All sensitive data is encrypted at rest and in transit, and access is logged for audit purposes. We advise on data retention periods for workforce analytics data based on the statutory requirements in your jurisdiction.
A workforce analytics platform connecting two to three data sources and producing headcount, turnover, and cost reporting typically runs $35,000 to $70,000 depending on the number of source systems, the complexity of the data model, and the number of dashboard views required. Adding pay equity reporting, workforce planning models, and a data governance layer for a more complex multi-source environment typically runs $65,000 to $130,000. We scope every project before pricing. Fixed cost only.
Talk to us about your workforce analytics project.
Tell us what HR questions you can't answer with your current reporting and where the data lives. We'll design an analytics layer that produces the answers you need.