The time will come when your organization must upgrade your Kronos application. Beyond the regular considerations such as version, strategy, goals, and alignment, you must also consider who you will work with to complete your Kronos project. While some organizations have the internal staff, bandwidth, and knowledge required to complete a project in-house, most organizations require outside help. Working with a Kronos Services Partner can be a great way to ensure a successful project. When a consultant takes on a Kronos project, the ultimate goal is to make sure your Kronos application is giving your organization the highest ROI possible. Here are a few key facts to help your organization be prepared for bringing in a Kronos Services partner.
Be ready to give all of the details.
In the planning phase, it is crucial that your consultants understand every detail of how your organization uses your Kronos application. The team will not be able to give you an accurate picture of how long the project will take or how much it will cost unless you give them all of the necessary information. Leaving information out because it seems unnecessary or because it is embarrassing will only cause problems later on. Spending the time up front to adequately understand all the processes and requirements is the only way to achieve maximum ROI. Improvizations conducts a Gap Analysis to ensure that we gather all the information we will need to execute a project successfully.
Recognize that an implementation or upgrade will not solve all your problems.
Expecting an upgrade or implementation to solve all of the problems your organization is facing, without planning for the change, is unrealistic. Most organizations who implement new or upgrade old applications use less than 50% of its capabilities. Designing a comprehensive Change Management strategy and measuring your organization’s levels of user adoption is key. Employee engagement with the software can easily be ignored, inhibiting organizations from truly utilizing the full value of their applications. The technology does not make the changes, the people using the technology makes the changes. Make sure those people have the training and tools they need to use the application successfully!
Realize that an unpredictable work schedule makes for unpredictable ROI.
If an organization functions with flexible work hours, issues can arise when implementing a computerized scheduler. The more flexibility in your organization’s work schedule, the more work it will be to maintain your scheduler. Ideally, an organization using computerized scheduling should have at least 80% of their schedule be inflexible (hospitals being the exception). If your organization functions with a schedule that is extremely fluid, you may want to reconsider implementing a computerized scheduler. You might find your organization will spend more time maintaining the scheduler than you would spend not having a schedule at all, negating any ROI.
Understand that consultants are not a quick fix solution.
Consultants can revolutionize your Kronos application, but they are not super-heroes. Often organizations will hire a consultant, hoping to have all of their problems solved instantly. Hiring a consultant is a great step towards having a successful WFM project. However, the wrong consultant at the right time is still the wrong consultant. Vice versa, the right consultant at the wrong time is still the wrong consultant. It is crucial to match the consulting firm with your organization’s needs. Deciding whom to work with can be an arduous process, but it is necessary to ensure good chemistry between your organization and the consultant you choose. Secondly, if you choose to spend resources on a consultant make sure your organization is read to listen. Hiring a consultant only to ignore their advice or feedback is a waste of your organization’s time and money. Your consultant wants to do the best job possible, but if your organization is unwilling to listen and take action, you will not see the results you expect.
Your organization is investing substantial labor and financial resources to deploy your workforce management applications. Working with the right team can be the difference between a successful project and a complete disaster. Comprehensive strategic planning with an experienced consultant at the outset of the implementation can save time and money, while increasing the likelihood that the expected benefits will be delivered on time and on budget.
Discover more about how Improvizations’ Gap Analysis process in our download,
The Case for Gap Analysis.
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