Kronos Workforce - Scheduling the Workforce T-E-A-M

Let's talk about something that is near and dear to some I am sure (or at least a big part of your day!). Scheduling employees with Workforce Timekeeper. How and why are schedules used with Workforce Timekeeper? The first decision when implementing Workforce Scheduler is based on your company's needs. A hospital that I am working with needs a detailed and feature-rich application. Basic scheduling in Workforce Timekeeper will not work for them. For one thing, they need to have access to the Schedule Planner Genie in order to schedule employees by job. Scheduling by an Organizational Map job is only available with the Advanced Scheduler. There are also additional products that can be used to auto-generate schedules for Workforce Timekeeper employees like Workload Generator. The rest of this entry will be written towards Workforce Managers interested in getting started with basic scheduling. Even with basic scheduling, schedules can be viewed on a report or the 4500 terminal. This ensures the employee has visibility to the assigned schedule for the week.

So why do we use scheduling? Schedules can be entered into Kronos just to determine how much coverage I have for the day; or to verify how many hours I have available to  complete a job/project. Managers can also plan for employee leave, extended hours, or holidays. I like to think of it this way: When you are playing a team with a throw-first mentality, you had better make sure you have everyone available in your defensive backfield!

What should we know about scheduling? First, there are shifts.  A schedule is nothing more than a group of assigned shifts over a period of days, weeks, or even years. They are primarily identified by start and end times; times the schedule employee is supposed to work; but there is more.  Did you know you could schedule a shift with a vacation day, for Jury duty, or a doctor’s appointment?  Depending on the type of time off schedule, it could also be excused or unexcused. You can even set up a schedule to pay an employee for things like a bonus, or a uniform credit. Shifts are powerful tools in Kronos. By creating these different types of shifts in Workforce Timekeeper, managers begin to see the flexibility of the basic scheduler. Now instead of just tracking hours, we have the ability to do so much more!

Things like:

• Forecast hours (budgeting)

• Review coverage (maintain staffing needs)

• Track exceptions and absences (attendance)

• Monitor unscheduled time (coverage)

• Pay from Schedule (payroll)

With minimal setup, I have ability to run reports against schedules (for instance an Actual vs. Scheduled report). As a manager I can see that I do not have enough coverage and call someone else. I can also forecast hours by job (or a full what Kronos refers to as a "labor account").

What can we do with an absent employee list from the schedule in Kronos? Ensure the business can be operational that day for one thing! Imagine having one scheduled shift assigned to a group of employees. From an organization's perspective, it lets me monitor that group's exceptions (with some configuration) on a daily basis. In real life, there are many jobs (the quarterback for one) and more of the Workforce to choose from if something should happen to that absent quarterback.

Basic scheduling is not going to be a fit for everyone, but the conversation is well worth having. If you have any comments or questions pertaining to scheduling I would love to see them as well as others! You may find a great deal of value in a Kronos feature that you have already paid for (basic scheduling)!