Case study · HR & workforce
Workforce questions answered in minutes
HR teams are asked about headcount, turnover and absence every week, and answer from spreadsheets each time. This is how we built Power BI workforce analytics from HR, payroll and recruitment systems, with sensitive personal data carefully protected.
Project overview
Workforce analytics on Power BI.
- Industry
- HR & workforce
- Client
- Confidential
- Solution
- Workforce analytics
- Platform
- Power BI + Azure SQL
- Timeline
- 8–12 weeks
- Team
- 3 people
- Sources
- HRIS, payroll, ATS
- Privacy
- Role-based, minimum group sizes
- Users
- HR, managers, leadership
Expected business outcomes
What the client set out to gain
Time saved on reporting, and earlier sight of turnover and absence trends.
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50–70%
Less time on HR reporting
Standard workforce questions answered from dashboards.
Target range; depends on how many reports move over
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Monthly
Turnover and absence trends
Trends by department and location, reviewed with managers.
From HRIS and payroll data
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Protected
Sensitive data
Small groups suppressed and access limited by role.
Designed with the data protection lead
Business challenges
How HR reporting worked before
Every question means a new spreadsheet.
Headcount
Different figures from HR and finance.
Turnover
Calculated differently each time it's asked.
Absence
Recorded in payroll, rarely analysed.
Recruitment
Hiring pipeline in the applicant system's own reports.
Privacy
Spreadsheets with personal data emailed around.
Proposed solution
What the Power BI build covers
One workforce model with strict privacy rules.
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Headcount and FTE
Headcount and FTE by department, location and grade, reconciled with finance.
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Turnover
Voluntary and involuntary turnover with consistent definitions.
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Absence
Absence rates, patterns and Bradford factors where used.
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Recruitment
Hiring pipeline, time to hire and offer acceptance.
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Diversity
Representation measures with minimum group sizes.
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Privacy controls
Row-level security and suppression of small groups.
Project requirements
What the client asked us for
The request was self-service answers. Definitions come first: headcount, FTE and turnover must match what finance and leadership use.
Privacy is non-negotiable, so dashboards suppress small groups and managers see only their teams.
What the project had to deliver
- 01Agreed definitions
- 02Self-service answers
- 03Manager views of their teams
- 04Privacy by design
Key challenges & considerations
What made it harder, and what we did
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HR and payroll systems that disagree
What we did
Headcount was reconciled between HR, payroll and finance until all three agreed.
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Reorganisations changing department structures
What we did
Department structures were held with effective dates, so reorganisations did not break the trends.
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Sensitive diversity data
What we did
Small-group suppression hid figures that could identify an individual.
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Managers' different reporting needs
What we did
Managers received one shared set of views, with training on how to read them.
What we watched for
- Reconcile headcount with finance
- Set small-group suppression rules
- Handle reorganisations in the model
- Train managers on interpretation
Development process
Definitions, privacy, dashboards
Privacy rules are agreed before any dashboard is shared.
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Definitions
Headcount, FTE, turnover and absence defined with HR and finance.
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Privacy design
Access rules and suppression thresholds agreed.
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Pipelines
HRIS, payroll and ATS data loaded and reconciled.
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Dashboards
HR and leadership dashboards built.
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Manager access
Manager views rolled out with guidance.
Technology stack
Power BI with privacy controls
Secure data store and strict access in Power BI.
Reporting
- Power BI
- Power BI mobile
- Paginated reports
Data platform
- Microsoft Fabric
- Azure SQL
- Dataflows
Governance
- Row-level security
- Deployment pipelines
- Measure documentation
Delivery
- Git integration
- Automated refresh monitoring
Quality assurance & deployment
Every figure reconciled before anyone relied on it
A dashboard is only useful if its numbers are believed. Each measure was reconciled to its source, and to finance where money was involved, before the report was released.
- Each measure reconciled to its source system
- Financial figures signed off by finance
- Data quality checks on every refresh: completeness and freshness
- Row-level security tested with real user accounts
- Report performance tested at full data volume
Deployment
- 01DashboardsHR and leadership dashboards built.
- 02Manager accessManager views rolled out with guidance.
- 03Deployment pipelinesReports moved from development to test to production through controlled pipelines.
- 04Adoption and warrantyTraining for report users and builders, usage reviewed, and six months of free bug fixing.
Final deliverables
HR with answers ready
HR answers workforce questions from dashboards in minutes, with definitions everyone agrees, and managers see trends for their own teams.
Sensitive data is protected by design, not by hoping spreadsheets aren't forwarded.
- Consistent workforce measures
- Turnover and absence trends
- Recruitment pipeline
- Privacy-safe access
Handed over to the client
- 01Data model and pipelinesDocumented and scheduled
- 02Reports and dashboardsPublished with security roles
- 03Measure definitionsEvery figure documented
- 04TrainingFor report users and report builders
- 05Six-month warrantyFree bug fixing after delivery
Success metrics
How success is measured
| Measure | Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|---|
| Less time on HR reporting | 50–70% | Target range; depends on how many reports move over |
| Turnover and absence trends | Monthly | From HRIS and payroll data |
| Sensitive data | Protected | Designed with the data protection lead |
Verified reviews
What clients say about our custom software work
Verified reviews from our clients on the same kind of work, published on Clutch.
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Custom Software Development
Web-Based Coupon App Development
The work produced by the team was of exceptional quality.
Jon Thies
CTO, Model Rocket Feb 2022 – Mar 2023
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Custom Software Development
Mobile & Web Platform Development & Design
Silver Scintilla was responsive, respectful, and enjoyable to work with, quickly addressing any questions or requests.
DeShawn Brown
CEO & Founder, Lithios Jun 2021 – Nov 2022
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Custom Software Development
Web-Based HRM System Development
Silver Scintilla provided the best solution with scalable functionality, personalized features, and robust security.
Suheb Khan
Director, Collaborative Insight Technologies Jul 2020 – Jun 2022
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