Workforce Management: How to Elevate Your Workforce Planning

Whether you’re an executive, a manager, or an individual contributor, you’ve probably gotten the sense that things in the workplace seem a little “off” these days. One headline details a massive wave of layoffs, another highlights the lack of qualified candidates necessary to fill critical roles, and many employers are contending with skills gaps, unwanted attrition, and an overall lack of engagement. Now add an economic climate that’s anything but stable, and you’ve got all the ingredients for confusion, stress, and all too often, “analysis paralysis”—a fear of making changes because no one knows what will happen next. In these times, it is essential to take a hard look at your current workforce management system and consider if you should elevate your product.

Smart companies understand that evolving their own business practices and adapting to support these new workforce models is a prerequisite for success. Leveraging a workforce management system that is as agile and accessible as your workforce is a great place to start. 

UKG and Covalence recently co-hosted a webinar detailing how you can elevate your workforce management platform. Here are four tips for a successful migration process.

Elevate your workforce management platform: Best practices for a smooth transition
 

1. Build a strong foundation.

A system migration, just like an implementation, starts with a requirements-gathering phase. This process should not be seen as a “lift and shift” of simply moving your old system to the new one but should include new features and capabilities that can streamline your processes. During this initial phase, it is crucial that you bring the right people to the table to get accurate feedback. Consider including frontline workers and supervisors for input. Once you’ve gathered your feedback and key points, see if you can automate key processes within your new system, such as attestation, approval of timesheets only for exceptions, and timesheet edit requests that are automatically sent to managers. 

2. Create a seamless environment.

If your system is integrated with other products , they should work together seamlessly. For example, when UKG Pro™ and UKG Dimensions™ are integrated, the data that lives in both continuously syncs back and forth to improve the product on both ends. Further, product improvements are consistently rolled out and updated quarterly. A successful migration involves leveraging these features and taking advantage of the seamless environment. Here are some of the key benefits of this seamless environment that you’ll want to keep in mind: 

• Auto-assign timekeeping profiles based on existing information in UKG Pro™. (You have the data, leverage it!)
• Sync data between both environments
• Create business structures
• Sync accruals between systems
• Create a unified inbox where you can approve UKG Dimensions™ notifications in UKG Pro™

3. Leverage efficiencies with solution development.

Solution development is a project phase that occurs after the system has been built but before it’s delivered. At Covalence, before we hand over your newly built system, we provide a full demonstration of the new environment. By running a demo, we limit the number of questions that come up during testing. By getting the high-level questions out of the way, we can save you time by focusing on important issues that need to be fixed during the testing phase. The demo also highlights underutilized areas of the system and identifies pain points before entering the testing phase. 

4. Get up to speed with training and user adoption.

In our experience, there are several training and user adoption best practices that drive successful system migrations.

• We recommend starting training as soon as possible to become familiar with your new product.
• We also recommend looking for workshops. At Covalence, we offer workshops throughout all project phases to build client confidence in the system rather than just waiting for the testing phase to address training you on your system.
• Also, “Train the Trainer” exercises with the correct audience can ensure you have the correct people in the room when training. The people training others in your organization should attend all workshops so the knowledge trickles down throughout the organization.

Without a doubt, the workforce in recent years has changed forever. This is why it is critical to have a workforce management platform that can keep pace with the changing landscape.

Are you ready to take your workforce management strategy to new heights? Migration will help you streamline processes, boost productivity, and drive results. 

Learn how Covalence and UKG can help you achieve these goals on the UKG Marketplace.