Overall great product!

I really like Kronos Workforce Ready product overall. I think it would be nice to have a one on one quarterly meeting with someone so I can make a list of the not so important items to go over. I believe there are things this system can do that I have no idea about. I understand the videos and training materials but I do better talking to someone and showing them what I am talking about rather than trying to explain everything in an email. Just my opinion.

Pros

I believe most of the program is very user friendly. I like that everything is tied into the system, payroll, HR, TLM and applicant tracking. There is a lot more that we can utilize that we are not using yet. I like the audit trail feature so I can tell what the employee is doing so I can help teach them the correct way. I like the Favorites option that I just found out how to use that about a month or so ago.

Cons

At the time of our purchase, the fire department purchased Telestaff scheduling product that we were told could talk to our payroll system and send information over to Kronos and land on the firefighters timesheet. We have been in implementation for this particular item for almost 2 years now. I do not particularly like the benefit selection process. I think it is very difficult to read the confirmation page, it does not show the dependents without having to reopen it. It is very confusing when selecting dependents and spouses for a plan. I feel it used to be so much easier to maneuver and read your decisions but now it has added another 10 minutes to the process because you are constantly going back to see if your dependents are selected. I am NOT looking forward to open enrollment this year at all.

new user

overall Kronos has been a mixed bag. there are features we greatly enjoy that allows for flexibility, modifications, and different ways of doing this. there are features that seem that should be in the system that are not causing us to add manual work to that was previously automated. the system looks very beautiful, but can require a lot of clicks to get to one spot. there is room for much growth to make it an amazing system

Pros

the system allows a bit more flexibility in terms of security for different types of users, alerts to employees. we like the calendar option where you can just simply select the date under employee information We are not charged for setting up alerts Recruitment - We like the ability to add, delete, and modify questionnaires once they are active. I like the do to bell list being a one stop shop for employees. We like that the system is just one system as a whole rather than multiple "compatible" systems.

Cons

it would be helpful if the system had shortcuts such as control S, O to open up things. it would be helpful if you do not have to input slashes on dates. if you can just input it. It would be good if there was an option to create email alert for inventory section sometimes the automatic email reports do not work the way they should there are several sections that are dual entry. it can get repetitive. the job change history is useful, however, the effective date is according to the date we changed it in the system, not the ACTUAL effective date. making direct deposit accounts inactive is frustrating where a new full/remaining account cannot be added if there is a previous one currently in existence even if it is inactive. cannot delete direct deposit accounts is frustrating too. Recruitment -it would be good if items such as applicants, resumes, and questionnaires can be accessed instead of multiple different locations Needs stronger ACA assistance for employers. everything is eastern time. need to take into consideration that some clients are western or central and are open later than 5 EST and trainings are too early at 7 EST.

Promised everything would work with our setups, but only about half was delivered. We've learned to live with it by implementing manual work arounds that put the responsibility employee & the payroll analyst.

Pros

Most of the reporting functions are great. The general look and feel of the website is great. Time clocks were easy to update when we got new badges and we never have issues with missed punches. The Manage Payroll function works well. It's easy to make changes to most features to get it working how we want it.

Cons

It's difficult to use with shift differential on time off requests. It requires multiple requests off from the employee just to get paid their shift diff correctly. The accruals function is terrible. It doesn't forecast into the future, which is a HUGE issue for employees & management. This doesn't let employees request for time off using future accrued time off. And, it doesn't give them any way to plan for future vacations. The fact that everything hinges on the anniversary date causes a lot of employee confusion. The Current Balance is supposed to account for Scheduled time off, but when the Scheduled time off is after the employee's anniversary date, it doesn't deduct from the Current Balance, so it causes a ton of confusion. Also, the Current Accrued column makes no sense to employees or even me, and I'm technically the 'Kronos expert' at my company. It would be great if you could get rid of Current Accrued & Taken columns since they cause more confusion and questions than anything else. When an employee using a Bulk Hours schedule requests time off in the current pay period, once the manager approves it, it populates their time card with the time off rows, but it doesn't delete the working hours, so suddenly they have 8 hours of work and 8 hours of vacation on the same day. While the support desk personnel are helpful, it can be very inconvenient to wait 1-3 days to get help with an issue or question. It's also hard to stop everything I'm doing when Kronos is ready to help me. I feel like my only choice is to drop everything I'm doing, because this is my chance, and I don't want to put it off another day. I feel like this puts all the convenience on Kronos support and none of the convenience on the customer. It would be nice to be able to talk to someone when I have the problem and I'm working on it. The Kronos update webinars to hear about new features & updates are painful to sit through. The presenter sounds like she's reading a prepared essay for a 7th grade class. I tried attending three webinars, and it was always the same. I feel like I learn nothing with this presentation style because I'm so distracted by the robotic presentation.

Workforce Ready

This is a good program for our purposes, and it is used by accounting and HR. I can't comment for accounting, but HR is making good use of the program.

Pros

After training (and retraining,) I am able to maneuver through the program easily. It's good to be able to adjust the company settings so that some fields are auto filled, such as our benefits guidelines. Reports are easy to customize, although I need more practice because I only run them infrequently. It's good to be able to save reports for ease of running them the next time. Easy to download to excel for further customizing the reports. I have admin access, so I am able to get whatever information I need quickly, without being blocked. I am in the program many times throughout the day. It's easy to manage my own time and requests for time off as well, both for myself and on behalf of others (when they forget!) The benefits feature and ability to get copies of W-2's and other forms both for myself and employees is a good one. The amount of information on each employee is very thorough. There are times we have layoffs, and then recalls, so it is easy to REHIRE the employees, with their previous information already loaded.

Cons

I find it somewhat cumbersome when hiring a new employee, but again, the company settings make it easier. When running reports, I sometimes struggle with finding the right fields to add, especially when it has to do with the accounting features, but I have an excellent "go-to" person in accounting that assists! Again, that is usually due to the infrequency of running those types of reports. When rehiring employees, we found that some of the information was not prefilling, but with some adjustments in the company settings, (after trial by fire) it seems to be working correctly.

Big Company Technology - Small Family Feel

As a new user of Kronos - I have been impressed with the value placed on customer service and community support. Workforce Ready is a newer platform and as with all changes, there are a few glitches; however, the tech support and responsiveness makes you feel as though the system issues are minor and worth it. Every single time we call for assistance, the experience is helpful rather than stressful. Product wise - I love the cloud technology and the community features. One of my favorite features is the export option. When first using the product I kept looking for where to "Run Reports" for basic info - when I realized I could manipulate the columns and then just export the data I was looking at I was thrilled. It isn't complicated, doesn't require that I run a bunch of numbers - I just pick what I want to know at that moment & export the file. Then I can easily sort/filter the excel data as needed. I also appreciate the ability to search by multiple details - other platforms require the last name only, but WFR let's me search by multiple features - including the exact name or "starts with". I still have a lot to learn about the system and am anxious for the upgrades and suggestions to be implemented (like the ability to click back/forth between pages as you move through a file without having to go back to the home page); however, I'm pleased with the product and love the relationship - so as long as the focus stays on technological advances, combined with stellar customer service - Kronos will get my vote at the executive table.

Pros

PEOPLE! Software is available and mostly similar - we have a lot of choices in HRIS/Payroll systems, so how you treat your customers is the most important factor in being better. Kronos has this in spades!!

Cons

Benefit plan set up isn't ideal - I need to be able to put in an effective date AND an enrollment date, as they are not the same thing. If my employees don't elect their benefits before the "waiting period" the "New Enrollment" radio button disappears. An employee's waiting period and eligibility dates do not match their election period. I'd like the opportunity to select the different options.