Kronos Incorporated

As a general rule, employees not always enjoy filling in their timesheets. Getting employees to track time and productivity is the biggest challenge that managers face when adopting a time tracking system. Why? Because lost time costs. But, most of Kronos Incorporated’s—an employee management solution provider— customers have been able to streamline their employee management seamlessly. Kronos started as a simple idea to record employee time transactions. With a team of engineers and a hunger for success, this idea came to life with the first patented microprocessor-based time clock which automatically recorded, totaled, and reported employee timings. The innovation eventually transformed an industry that had not seen innovation in many years. Today, under the leadership of Aron J. Ain, Chief Executive Officer, the firm has HCM software and technology solutions for mid-sized and large enterprise firms. Kronos’ workforce management technology has become the current star in its growing collection of solutions.

Over the years, with a dedicated focus on continuous innovation, Kronos facilitated a revolution in how organizations manage their workforce. That focus not only empowers employees, but also powers Kronos’ success and has driven the company to be a key player in the industry. Around the late 80’s, the company completed the first of many dealer acquisitions and expanded internationally to form today’s Kronos. Catering to every unique customer requirements, Kronos realigned its operations in a go-to-market strategy shift, developing even deeper industry-specific expertise and product functionality.

The Future of Employee Engagement

Around the late 80’s, the company completed the first of many dealer acquisitions and expanded internationally to form today’s Kronos. The company’s human capital management and workforce management solutions enable managers to create and manage an engaged workforce better. With Kronos, businesses can seamlessly track, and manage employee time and attendance with an advanced automated solution streamlined to optimize the workforce.

Kronos recently introduced a new employee management platform D5 which they hope to dramatically expand its market footprint. Moreover, as more partners and customers start using the D5 platform, there’s also hope that more, deeper industry vertical extensions will be created. Those extensions would make the products increasingly relevant for more prospective Kronos customers.

The Workforce Dimensions product suite assists in meeting every business challenge by bringing industry-first, intelligent technologies to managing every businesses’ workforce. Powered by the D5 platform, Workforce Dimensions offers an unmatched employee experience with unprecedented levels of operational insight into managing the workers.

Since its inception, Kronos has evolved into one of the leading provider of human capital and workforce management cloud solutions

Another new big feature in Workforce Dimensions is same day pay which enables the workers to get paid for the hours they worked on the same day itself, if the employer supports this option. Productivity was also a focus point for Workforce Dimensions. This tool is tailored to monitor a worker’s productivity over the last six pay periods.

The solution’s embedded analytics and personalized visualization capabilities facilitate real-time visibility into compliance issues or employee well-being for actionable insights when it matters most. Furthermore, its artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning functionality analyses data and provides best-fit recommendations for improved forecasting accuracy, shift recommendations, and employee self-service. As a result, employees can work in the modern cloud with a powerful technology infrastructure, seamlessly integrated with foundational applications, and extensible with open APIs — to easily adapt as the business evolve.

When it comes to the Kronos Central Suite, it can be configured to help businesses control labor costs, and increase productivity, while better engaging employees for stronger business outcomes. As a result, businesses can seamlessly manage their workforce without limits regardless of industry, or the location. Workforce Central is one of Kronos’ oldest software solutions and is the most mature from an industry vertical perspective. It is available as an on-premises solution or in the cloud running on Kronos’ cloud servers. Workforce Central has traditionally been targeted for mid-to-large enterprises. As of this year, Workforce Dimensions possesses about 95 percent of the same functionality as Workforce Central.

Innovative Workforce Management

Kronos’ approach to workforce management also includes the use of AI/ML. A ‘smarter’ workforce management solution can do a better job of matching an employee to work shifts that the worker desires, thereby creating a more positive work environment and increased retention. Being a smarter tool, it can also support firms utilize freelancers, alumni, temps, and other potential workers more effectively. The AI functionality also helps employees receive recommendations for shift swaps, time off and other requests.

Workforce Ready is aimed at the mid-market market. It’s a full suite of products offered at a competitive price point targeting the 500 to 5,000 employee segments. Interestingly, Kronos has dozens of companies with more than 10,000 employees using the application.

Tailor-Made Workforce Management Applications

Since its inception, Kronos has evolved into one of the leading provider of human capital and workforce management cloud solutions. Its highly industry-centric workforce applications are custom-built for businesses, educational institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies.

Thousands of organizations including Fortune 1000 companies and over 40 million people across 100 countries use Kronos every day.

An instance that portrays Kronos’ value proposition is when the company assisted Shop Direct— UK’s fourth largest online retailer—in enhancing their employee management operations. Its fulfillment operation has a workforce of up to 4,000 employees, spread across three warehousing and return centers. The client was reliant on time consuming and error prone self-recording of worked hours and manual data input for calculating the payroll and productivity bonuses. Shop Direct needed a solution that could accurately record hours worked, automate time and attendance to eliminate payroll errors and reduce time spent on payroll administration and improve scheduling of staff based on forecasted throughputs to align and meet strict internal SLAs for providing market-leading delivery options to customers. The Kronos time and attendance solution was implemented across the entire fulfillment operation at Shop Direct to automate optimize and simplify the management of employees.

With its Kronos time and attendance solution, Shop Direct now has visibility of employee resources, enabling closer control of labor costs. By eliminating repetitive manual processes, the administrative burden placed on managers has been reduced. Analysis of workforce data enables better resource planning to address peaks and troughs in throughput, ensuring the workforce isn’t overstretched and orders aren’t delayed. The Kronos solution also identifies candidates for Shop Direct’s bonus scheme, and helps to maintain an engaged, productive and highly motivated workforce.

Delivering Long-Term Customer Experience

The automation of critical workforce processes such as scheduling, timekeeping, and leave management are the core components of an effective workforce management offering. But to be future-ready, the employee management solution needs to leverage the latest smart technologies. This is where Kronos is creating an impact. As a leading player in this industry, Kronos has several innovative programs and impactful benefits for employees, including being one of only few companies that offer student loan repayment assistance and its groundbreaking Manager Effectiveness Index leadership development program.

With a vision to expand its offerings, Kronos recently announced its expanded commitment and long-term support of YMCA. As many of the associations continue to invest in Kronos workforce management and human capital management (HCM) solutions to attract, retain, and empower the best employees while controlling costs and improving productivity – allowing YMCAs to focus on their mission of serving communities and delivering a positive change.

"The solution’s embedded analytics and personalized visualization capabilities facilitate real-time visibility into compliance issues or employee well-being for actionable insights when it matters most"

Kronos is also making a big push in customer engagement with Workforce Dimensions. They are continuing to invest in additional programs, community support tools, and new intellectual property to help ensure customers have a great initial and long-term customer experience. Kronos provides full service payroll and tax-filing in the US, meanwhile native payrolls are also being added for Canada and Australia.