Overview
A healthcare organization in the southwest US implemented Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service (ESS) to streamline their workforce management processes while also providing staff the freedom to create their own schedules. However, once implemented, they continued to experience day-to-day staffing issues of meeting their scheduling needs. Additionally, the employee’s response to the enhanced Kronos functionality was not as positive as they had hoped.
Challenge
Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service implementations were not properly configured and training was lacking on the new functionalities, leaving users unwilling to adopt the new processes.
Solution
Surety’s consultant determined the need to add additional configurable items, made changes to the organizational map, developed SMEs, and provided training on Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service.
Result
Changes to the systems significantly enhanced the organization’s service capabilities, leading to the successful posting of schedules by managers. In turn, this increased employee engagement with Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service.
The Challenge
After meeting with the functional business unit owners, a Surety consultant determined that some managers were resistant to the implemented changes and did not fully embrace the system. The Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service implementation did not properly configure the system to optimize solutions for each department.
Additionally, training was lacking on the new functionality, which meant users were unwilling and unable to successfully adopt the new processes.
The Solution
After meeting with the management team, Surety Systems consultants found that the initial build did not include a full assessment of each department and their staffing needs. Whenever implementing Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service, each department needs a complete assessment to ensure a proper customized build in order to meet each department’s staffing needs. The approach of “one size fits all” does not ring true when implementing these products.
After conducting interviews with each department, Surety’s consultants determined the need to add additional configurable items such as additional shift templates, shift template profiles, job transfer sets, coverage counts, zone sets, and shifts sets. While making changes to the organizational map should be carefully considered, we found the need and upon our recommendation, updates were made.
Once the correct configurations were made, proper training was addressed. By working closely with management, we discussed the need to identify and train key employees to become Subject Matter Experts to make the company more self-sufficient when updates become needed. Additionally, this SME role would be a valuable asset in training new managers and others who may need additional assistance at times.
Kronos Advanced Scheduler training and Kronos Employee Self Service training classes were then conducted for the management team and the employees. Upon seeing what the system could do for them, resistance to the system was greatly diminished, and both managers and employees began to embrace the change. To help reinforce the training, site-specific training materials were created to be used during the training classes for both the managers and employees.
Four aspects of training were completed:
1. Subject Matter Experts – Working with designated employees one-on-one, teaching them specific setup functions to create new setup items when needed, and assisting the management team when needed.
2. Manager Training – Focusing on the correct order of necessary steps and processes for a manager to successfully utilize the system.
3. Staff Training – Utilizing interactive sessions where the employees were more engaged in training, which facilitated the process of using Kronos Self Service.
4. Documentation – Quick reference guides were created to assist with day-to-day processes, in addition to manuals and a PowerPoint for new managers to use.
The Result
Though the initial implementation of Kronos Advanced Scheduler and Employee Self Service provided some functionality to meet organizational needs, the Surety Systems consultant was able to determine a more custom approach to meet each department’s need. These changes to the systems significantly enhanced the organization’s service capabilities, leading to the successful posting of schedules by managers, which encouraged employees in using Self Service. Educating the staff through custom Kronos Advanced Scheduler training and Kronos Employee Self Service training assisted in acceptance of the system and allowed the users to fully utilize it as intended.
