It’s time to dive into the third (and final) part of our series on Kronos Workforce Dimensions mistakes to avoid. Let’s start by recapping what we’ve covered so far. Our first article covered what you need to consider before getting started with implementation, such as building the right project team and the importance of developing a detailed business structure. Part 2 went further into the implementation process and covered data gathering, configurations, and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
Now, we’re going to round it out with mistakes to avoid when you start rolling out and using Workforce Dimensions. Here are the things you need to know at each phase of go-live.
Prepare for Go-live Early
Your implementation team needs to develop a robust strategy for how you’re going to roll out Workforce Dimensions across the company. A few questions to ask yourself when developing this plan include:
- Who’s going to conduct the training, and how will it happen across the company?
- Have you assigned personas to the correct employee groups?
- Will you roll out the software all at once, or go with a phased approach?
- How will you actually go-live?
Training is a critical part of the prep phase, but far too often, we see organizations going with a “train the trainer” or “cookie-cutter” training model. While these types of strategies can work in some situations, when you’re rolling out a complicated software solution to hundreds of employees, (if not thousands globally), a tailored training plan will ensure initial and long-term success. Read this article to learn more about how our consultants developed a custom training program to solve this problem for one of our clients in the manufacturing industry.
Another thing to consider with training is timing. Host it too early and you run the risk of employees forgetting everything they learned. As they say, “Use it or lose it,” so don’t let all your hard work go to waste. Obviously, you’ll need to train key personnel before go-live, but it’s most beneficial to get the rest of your team up to speed once the system is up and running.
Assign the Right Staff to Support the Go-live
Go-live itself is usually a stressful time for most projects. And even with the best-laid plans, there’s sure to be anxiety when new software actually launches in the production environment. A mistake we find that clients frequently make during this phase is not having enough staff to support the launch.
It’s critical that you have enough people able to assist in all locations that are going live, or else you run the risk of people waiting for hours to get their questions answered or problems fixed if they run into an issue or something unexpected happens.
On that note, manage expectations for go-live before the day actually arrives. Inform people ahead of time that issues are going to happen, but that’s to be expected. You don’t want people panicking when something unexpected happens and conclude that the go-live is a complete failure. It’s almost guaranteed that something will go wrong when you’re dealing with any kind of large project. But if your team can work through those tough times, they can be a catalyst that drives the project to success.
Post-go-live is Where the Real Work Begins
After months of planning and hard work, your Workforce Dimensions solution is up and running. Congrats! But remember that making the most of your new software doesn’t just happen on its own. (Sorry to ruin the party.) What you do after go-live is just as essential to your success as everything leading up to this point.
To make sure you don’t trip right as you get to the metaphorical finish line, you’re first going to need to assign a system admin/program owner. We find clients tend to think that this role can be something someone can do in their spare time or in addition to their normal job, but this is a full-time commitment. In fact, if you’re a larger company with multiple locations, you might want to have multiple people fulfilling this role. And in both cases, make sure that you have a backup person as well.
Next, make sure you have a communication and response plan in place so that everyone at the company knows who they’re supposed to contact and how to get in touch with them if there’s an issue. Nobody wants things to take a turn for the worse, but if they do and your system goes down, who will you turn to?
Partner with Experts
Our final advice to wrap up this series on implementing Workforce Dimensions is to have an internal advocate. The senior-level Kronos consulting team at Surety Systems is ready to fight for you at every stage of your Workforce Dimensions implementation.
Our primary goal is ensuring you have a smooth implementation, which is why we focus so strongly on getting your employees the knowledge they need to keep things going once we leave. We’re here to make sure your investment brings value to the company for the long haul.
Contact us today to learn more and get started on your project.
