Statistics show that most companies use less than 50 percent of their Kronos software’s functionality, costing them not only financially, (just imagine how much money your business spends on software it’s not using), but also in terms of efficiency. What could your organization accomplish if it were 50 percent more effective?
Of course, it’s easy to say, “Makes sense to me. Let’s go ahead and optimize our Kronos platform.” But where do you begin? While every organization’s optimization needs will vary (including yours), analyzing a few key areas of your system will help you determine where to start.
Why Optimize at All?
Pardon the pun, but when you get right down to it, optimizing your Kronos solution simply comes down to dollars and sense. According to a recent four-year study study, U.S. organizations wasted $30 billion (yes, that’s with a “B”) on unused software. Thinking about it metaphorically, that means there are a bunch of companies out there that are going out for a nice dinner, ordering a $60 meal, and throwing half of it in the garbage. If wasting half of your food is clearly a waste, why would you treat your technology (which you’ve already spent a lot of money and time implementing) the same way?
The answer is that you wouldn’t, so if you’d like to get your money’s worth from your Kronos platform (not to mention improve processes, increase productivity, and uncover cost savings), it’s time to optimize your solution. Of course, you don’t want to change something as important as your Kronos platform without understanding how it’s currently functioning, which is why we recommend kicking things off with a thorough assessment.
How to Assess Your Kronos System
In order to maximize the effectiveness of your Kronos system, you need to start by assessing your current situation. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- What is the current state of our architecture?
- How is our system configured?
- Are employees taking advantage of all available systems features and capabilities?
- How much is being done manually VS using automation capabilities?
- How are the security roles currently set up?
- Is our system in sync with other business-critical apps?
- Are processes standardized across our organization?
These questions will help you figure out what your pain points are, as well as possible solutions to those issues (such as retraining opportunities, tweaks that need to be made to the system, better enforcement of existing policies, and so forth). Unfortunately, human nature means that those closest to a problem are sometimes those least able to see and/or fix that problem. That’s why it can be helpful to get an unbiased, third-party perspective.
What’s Involved in a Third-party Kronos Assessment?
In addition to years of expertise and a proven methodology for developing your optimization strategy, strategic consultants have worked with a wide variety of clients and systems, making them uniquely qualified to come up with out-of-the-box solutions and advice for avoiding common mistakes. An experienced consultant can assess how effectively you’ve been using Kronos and then identify ways to find even greater value.
Typically lasting several days, the average assessment process involves an on-site series of interviews with key stakeholders and end users to discuss Kronos inefficiencies, pain points, and areas of opportunities for improvements. After the assessment, the consultant creates a final report that includes details of the review and recommendations around the following topics of interest:
- Architecture review
- Configuration (including organizational structures)
- Genies and notifications
- Manual workarounds
- Security roles
- Workforce interfaces
The written analysis will consist of best practices your organization should be implementing, as well as noting which features of Kronos your company’s not currently (but should be) to improve your administration and user experience.
If you think your current Kronos system could do more, but you haven’t had the time to devote to analyzing the system, developing a strategy, and implementing it, maybe it’s time to bring in a third-party advocate. Our senior-level Kronos consultants can help you unlock hidden functionality, improve internal processes, boost employee and system performance, and find cost savings. Contact us to get started on your optimization strategy today.
