Kronos Training Before You Train. What a Concept!

What do you mean, Java issues?

Kronos Workforce 7?  We aren't comfortable with 6.1 yet!

Our organizational Kronos guru just left... and no one knows how this thing works!  

Although the first and second "challenges" are ones you might be experiencing, the purpose of this brief entry is to talk about the third. It's a well known fact that any Kronos Workforce Central application can be intimidating to the vast majority of employees who don't use it.  Now this statistic is almost as important as it is made up; and it's 100% made up. Here is the deal. Sometimes an organization can put all their eggs in one basket. In this example, making one employee the Kronos guru, system admin or superuser - whatever you want to call it. 

If you only have one, you are walking a tightrope. When your Kronos support person leaves the organization, (and let's assume that at some point they will leave the organization) you are going to have to answer some pretty challenging questions:

1. What do I need to know to run Kronos on a day-to-day basis?

2. How do I know things are running smoothly in Workforce Central?

3. Who do I contact if we experience a problem with the system?

4. Where do I find the Kronos reports that should be running on a daily basis?

5. Where do I go to get the information I need NOW, not when the next Kronos class is offered?

6. Why didn't I update my resume before all this happened? 

If you're in this type of situation, it's definitely time to get some education. Now you might not be ready for the configuration or system administration classes, but you must jump into some form of refresher course, and you should do it right away.  

Now what do I mean by refresher course? Well, let me put it this way... How much would you get out of a painting class if you didn't know your colors? You could sit in class after class on pay rule configuration and it would be meaningless if you didn't know what those rules affected in Kronos Workforce Central.  A refresher course should include the basics, generally the time card and schedule (be they from the classic view or the navigator), so that you see what needs to be done by every employee and every supervisor on a regular basis. Understanding these processes, as well as the basic terminology of Workforce Central, is important so that you can build a frame of reference for your role as a system administrator. It's also an opportunity to really understand the challenges faced by employees and managers who use Workforce Central. Understanding these issues will make you a better Kronos guru, system admin or superuser. 

So now I know what my employees and managers know, now what? Now it's time to dig into your system.  If possible, bring in a Kronos consultant who can review the configuration of the system, report the findings and confirm that Kronos is doing what it is supposed to do. (I can't tell you how many times we have discovered that an organization's rounding rules were set up improperly, costing the organizations tens of thousands of dollars). So, while you have that consultant there . . .

Make sure everything is as it should be! Use that Kronos consulting time wisely. Take what you know, and apply it to the Kronos application. Review things like rounding rules. Make sure the accruals are set up properly and accrued time is being taken and accrued according to organization policy. Verify that employees see what they should see at the terminals, (if you have terminals). Make sure that the work rules and pay rules reflect your organizational policies and union contracts. Make absolutely sure that Kronos is set up in a way that reflects who you are, and what you do. 

Now, I realize this won't happen in a day or two, but it is time well spent. Heck, you may want to document this stuff so it doesn't happen again when you leave after winning the lottery, marrying that wealthy spouse, or inheriting your 100,000 shares of IBM stock.  I mean, it could happen...