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What a DecisionIQ brief looks like.
This brief is generated live by the same engine subscribers use, for a fictional company. Every number below is calculated from the assumptions listed at the end.
NWTS DecisionIQ™ · Executive decision brief
Example Co. — regional logistics, 240 people (fictional)
Prepared for the CEO and CFO · October 12, 2026 · 24-month horizon
Business objective
Grow revenue 18% next year without missing service levels, while the dispatch and planning team is already 9 people short of the work.
Recommendation
Automate selected tasks. Over 24 months it comes out $1,030,540 ahead of holding steady, breaks even in month 9, and needs peak cash of $210,000 before it pays back.
31Workforce readiness (Foundational)
76Hires implied in 12 months
$4,230,310Cost of the capacity gap if nothing changes
$1,030,540Net result of the leading option
Options compared
| Option | Added spend | Net vs. holding steady | Break-even | Peak exposure | Average unmet need |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Automate selected tasks | $280,000 | $1,030,540 | Month 9 | $210,000 | 11.1 FTE |
| Redesign the organization | $85,000 | $613,280 | Month 7 | $130,540 | 13.4 FTE |
| Reskill existing employees | $63,000 | $375,900 | Month 8 | $109,200 | 14.4 FTE |
| Hire additional employees | $1,966,410 | $112,590 | Month 17 | $194,310 | 8.1 FTE |
| Maintain current workforce | $0 | Baseline | — | $0 | 16.0 FTE |
| Outsource the function | $2,216,168 | −$38,168 | Not within horizon | $38,168 | 7.8 FTE |
Workforce findings
- Labor cost as share of revenue: 41%. $21,300,000 labor cost ÷ $52,000,000 revenue.
- Fully loaded cost per employee: $88,750. $21,300,000 ÷ 240 employees.
- Revenue per employee: $216,667. $52,000,000 ÷ 240 employees.
- Hires implied over the next 12 months: 76. Growth: 240 × (1 + 18% growth) ÷ (1 + 3% productivity gain) − 240 = 35.0. Replacement: 240 × 17% attrition = 40.8. Assumes revenue per employee changes only by the productivity gain you entered.
- Revenue at risk while growth roles are open: $1,156,958. 35.0 growth hires × 55 days to fill = 64.1 vacant months × $18,056 monthly revenue per employee. An upper bound: it assumes each open role would produce average revenue.
Risks
- Labor cost is above your target share of revenue (medium). 41% against your 40% target: $500,000 a year above target. Rule: Labor cost above your own target share of revenue is exposure you have chosen to measure against.
- The hiring plan does not fund the growth target (high). 30 planned hires against about 76 implied: 60% short. Rule: A hiring plan more than 20% below the hires your growth target implies leaves capacity unfunded.
- Attrition is consuming recruiting capacity (medium). 17% annual attrition means about 41 replacement hires before any growth hiring. Rule: Annual attrition at or above 15% means replacement hiring consumes a large share of recruiting capacity.
- Several critical capability gaps at once (high). Rated high: Operations and supply chain, AI and data skills. Rule: Two or more critical capability gaps compete for the same hiring and development budget.
- The workforce plan is not yet steering decisions (medium). Planning maturity 38/100; weakest discipline: Navigate. Rule: A planning maturity score below 40 means the plan records decisions rather than leading them.
- AI ambition is ahead of the foundation (medium). Objective rated significant or transformational while adoption is at exploring or piloting. Rule: An ambitious AI objective on an early-stage foundation is the most common cause of stalled AI programs.
Recommended priorities
- Close the gap between the hiring plan and the growth target. Model hire, outsource and automate options for the shortfall in the scenario engine, then fund the one with the earliest break-even. Because: The hiring plan does not fund the growth target.
- Sequence capability building. Pick the one gap that blocks the most revenue; model reskill against hire for it before funding the rest. Because: Several critical capability gaps at once.
- Bring labor cost back toward your target ratio. Model redesign and automation scenarios against the excess; check which functions carry the most cost per unit of output. Because: Labor cost is above your target share of revenue.
- Reduce replacement hiring. Find where attrition concentrates by team and tenure; replacement hires you avoid free capacity for growth hires. Because: Attrition is consuming recruiting capacity.
- Build the AI foundation before scaling. Run the AI Transformation Readiness assessment and fix data, governance and skills gaps first. Because: AI ambition is ahead of the foundation.
- Make the plan lead decisions. Tie each planned role to a revenue milestone and review it quarterly with finance. Because: The workforce plan is not yet steering decisions.
Implementation roadmap
- Next 30 days: confirm the assumptions below with finance; agree the decision owner and budget.
- Days 30–90: run the AI readiness assessment, fix governance and data gaps, then pilot in one function.
- Quarterly: rerun this brief with actual results and compare against the plan (NWTS Method: Sustain).
Success measures
- Unmet capacity falls from 16.0 FTE toward 11.1 FTE on average.
- Spend stays within $280,000 over 24 months, with break-even by month 9.
- Planned hires track the 76 the growth target implies.
Assumptions
| People on the team | 46 | Capacity required today | 55 FTE |
| Growth in required capacity | 12% a year | Average salary | $78,000 |
| Benefits load | 43% of salary | Cost of an unfilled FTE-month | $11,000 |
| Hire additional employees: Hires: 9 · Salary: $78,000 · Recruiting cost per hire: $14,000 · Months to fill: 2 · Months to ramp up: 3 | |||
| Reskill existing employees: People: 14 · Training per person: $4,500 · Training months: 3 · Productivity gain: 15% · Time away in training: 10% | |||
| Outsource the function: FTE outsourced: 9 · Vendor cost per FTE-month: $10,200 · Transition cost: $35,000 · Transition months: 2 · Oversight cost: 8% | |||
| Automate selected tasks: Build cost: $210,000 · Run cost per month: $3,500 · Capacity freed: 14% · Implementation months: 4 · Adoption months: 4 | |||
| Redesign the organization: One-time cost: $85,000 · Efficiency gain: 7% · Implementation months: 3 · Disruption during change: 3% | |||
How the leading result was calculated
- Status quo: 46 people at $9,295/month loaded cost each, against capacity needs starting at 55 FTE and growing 12% a year. Each unfilled FTE-month is costed at $11,000.
- Automate selected tasks adds $280,000 of spend over 24 months and leaves an average of 11.1 FTE of need unmet.
- Net: $1,030,540 better than doing nothing over the horizon.
- Breaks even in month 9.
- Peak cash exposure before recovery: $210,000.
Prepared with NWTS DecisionIQ™ by Northwest Talent Solutions LLC. Results are calculations on the assumptions above, not a forecast or guarantee. This brief covers teams and plans; it makes no recommendation about any individual employee.