You may not be able to control a lot of external factors that hit your business but you can control your labor costs and the degree of efficiency within your four walls. If you are a Kronos Workforce Central (WFC) 8.0 user, the New Year is the perfect time to zero in on — and optimize — the power tools within your platform so you can see positive changes in your workflow this year.
Here’s what you’ve got. Is it optimized?
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Power features. Kronos 8.0 (now java-free) includes over 500 new features since 7.0. Do you know what these features are and have you fired them up?
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Timecard efficiency. The timecard is now configurable, allowing users to decide between 2 or 4-punch columns. Users also have the option to add on widgets that provide different modes of easy viewing of specific timecard details. Have you automated timecard wherever possible? Is additional staff/workforce training needed to fully maximize this feature?
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Mobile readiness. Version 8.0 empowers employees by boosting mobile capabilities. Employees can ask for time off, shift swap, open shifts, request to cover, and update availability, all from their own mobile devices. The new mobile advances can improve employee engagement, as well as retention. Are you fully optimized in your mobile capabilities?
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Workload Planner. Used in both scheduling and timekeeping, Workload Planner is the backbone of your schedule and allows users to compare budgets versus actual costs to make decisions on the correct dispersal of resources. Are you using your Workload Planner in a way that increases efficiency and cuts costs? Is additional training required?
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Improved Usability. Setup pages are now redesigned to be completely user-friendly. The list and edit screens are separated to different pages, allowing the user to make changes in a simple and intuitive way. Are you using this function in a way that improves your internal process?
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Rolling Request Periods. Challenged with manually creating periods for actions, such as time off requests and shift offs? Delaying employee’s ability to make schedule requests can affect employee engagement and productivity. WFC 8.0 features the ability to automate the opening and closing of bulk requests and schedule periods, significantly reducing managerial errors. Have you fully automated this functionality in your Kronos platform?
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Industry capabilities. The release of Workforce Central Version 0.11 brought multiple changes to the application’s industry capabilities, including forecasting, fatigue management, grant/project tracking, etc. Are you fully utilizing functionality such as SMS Quickfill, Limiting Job Lengths, Fatigue Management, Grant and Project Tracking, and current week re-forecasting?
Critical Q & A
Deciding to maximize your Kronos functionality is only half the equation. You then need to decide where the gaps are in getting you from where you are now to where you want to go. Do our managers need more training? Does our workforce require additional training and where? Is the under use of our software putting us at risk for compliance violations? Is there resistance to the last upgrade you need to address with a Change Management Strategy? Here are 7 Critical Questions you need to answer to help you help your figure out where to start optimizing your Kronos platform.
Optimizing your current WFM doesn’t have to be a huge initiative – what if you just need a tune-up? If you’ve used Kronos for some time, you may find you need some basic performance tuning and an infrastructure assessment.
Because of the many upgrades offered by Kronos, you may not be using all of the powerful new features introduced over the years. Fixing existing issues that your workforce has simply learned to live with will result in labor cost savings — and benefits you can’t even see from your current vantage point. In the case of Tree Top Inc., fully realizing the power of their platform allowed managers to reduce six weeks of manual HR processes down to only three hours.
Learn more by downloading our Kronos Optimization One Sheet.
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