Preparing staff for the new workforce-management system – Part 7

Helping employees make the transition is the final step in upgrading to an automated workforce-management system.

You’ve done it – you’ve put together a plan to upgrade your company to an automated workforce solution and received the go-ahead to put it into action. But what about the other employees? How will they respond to the major changes that the workplace is about to undergo? In the seventh and final chapter of Kronos Canada’s online guide to making workforce management more efficient with technology, the company offers its expert advice on preparing workers for these changes.

Kronos’ online resource, the Kronos Workforce Management Toolkit, is a seven-step guide to making the full transition from an outdated employee-management system to the next generation of workforce-management technology.

Avoiding resistance and complications

A new automated workforce solution might sound like a frightening and challenging transition for workers who are not accustomed to big changes. So it is important to prepare employees for potential restructuring of workforce practices before the new plan is even implemented.

The best way to streamline this implementation in a way that employees will accept it is to create a clearly defined change-management plan well in advance. This will reduce the chances of having to deal with employee resistance, unexpected outcomes, and unforeseen complications that may arise without advance preparation.

Kronos’ guide offers a checklist, titled “Do You Need Formal Change Management?”, to help companies approach employee preparation. Another helpful Kronos resource is “User Adoption: Five Tips for a Stress-Free Workforce Management Implementation”. Other things that would be very wise to do:

• Identify warning signs that indicate a need for a change-management process, like previous resistance, low morale, and current manual processes;
• Make plans for comprehensive training on the new system;
• Put together a formalized communication plan and strategy for employee engagement;
• Identify the unique challenges of the company;
• Determine processes for effective change management; and
• Build a business case for a change-management process.

Finally, Kronos offers Change-Management Consulting Services to help you prepare employees for a new automated workforce solution that will make the company more efficient.

Download Preparing for Change or contact Kronos Canada if you have any questions.

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