John Noble Home – Growing with Kronos
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Located in Brantford, Ontario, John Noble Home is a not-for-profit, municipally
owned and operated home for the aged long-term care facility. From registered nurses
and activity planners to occupational therapists and physiotherapists, each employee at
John Noble Home is committed to maximizing the independence of every resident
through a supportive environment.
Originally a 361-bed facility, a 2004 local restructuring directed by the Ministry
of Health’s Long Term Care Division resulted in the transfer of 205 patient beds to
St. Joseph Lifecare Centre, leaving John Noble Home with a total of 156 beds. Both
facilities continue to be managed under the direction of one administrator.
The facility currently employs 107 full-time and 146 part-time employees on-site,
but also continues to process payroll for the 117 full-time and 197 part-time employees
relocated to St Joseph Lifecare Centre. There are three union groups with separate
collective bargaining agreements and one non-union group.
Kronos for Health Care first implemented in 1997
John Noble Home originally implemented the Kronos Timekeeper™ module in 1997.
Until that time, employees used a manual punch clock system to record hours.
Processing the final payroll based on the timecards was costly and labour-intensive.
With the bi-weekly pay cycle ending on a Sunday and submission to the payroll provider
required on Monday, the processing was done in an extremely short timeframe by three
full-time employees, often a frustrating experience. This initial Kronos
implementation provided John Noble Home with immediate benefits. Automated time
clocks were installed, enabling employees to quickly scan swipe-cards upon starting
and completing a shift. All data was automatically collected and transferred directly
to a central database for immediate processing, reducing errors and virtually
eliminating employee grievances and manual cheque production. The solution also
integrated seamlessly with payroll provider ADP. “Implementing the Kronos solution
provided John Noble Home with immediate and significant improvements in processing
payroll,” said Eleanor Maslin, Administrator, John Noble Home.
“The time, money and resources previously spent on pay-related
issues are now being directed to improving the lives of our residents.”
Immediate efficiencies and cost-savings
The new efficiencies enabled John Noble Home to reduce the amount of payroll
staff from three to one. In addition, the Kronos solution helped John Noble Home to
accurately track and manage employee attendance records. With all attendance data
transmitted directly to the facility’s database, management noticed a reduction in
unscheduled absences, sick time and lateness.
Restructuring extends Kronos’ mandate
John Noble Home’s 2004 reorganization with St. Joseph Lifecare Centre
led to an evaluation of both organizations’ time and labour accounting
systems. After considering their options, and due to the effective
system in place at John Noble Homes, St. Joseph’s opted to contract the
payroll pro-cessing and accounting functions for these new transferred
employees back to John Noble Home. For John Noble Home, this provided an
extra challenge. The organization now had to process and account for more
than 557 employees from two companies and in two different locations;
both on- and off-site. “As a result of the employee transfer, we decided
to expand our Kronos system,” added Maslin. “The Workforce Central
5.0 solution included an Internet-based system, which enabled further
enhancements. In short, we were able to grow with Kronos.” The
implementation was completed ahead of schedule, and under-budget.
No additional staff was hired to complete the upgrade, meaning
substantial savings for the facility.
New Kronos system offers more visibility and reporting
Kronos’ Workforce Central 5.0 enabled John Noble Home additional
visibility into its workforce: the facility is now able to track and
manage pay and vacation issues and attendance patterns in real-time,
ensuring the right number of staff to provide superior patient service
at all times. “With Kronos, we can actively manage issues such as excess
vacation,” said Maslin. “As with many organizations, employees save their
time for the end of the year. We’re able to ensure our service levels are
maintained all year long, leading to higher productivity and improved
employee morale.” Employee data from both facilities is updated in real-
time, enabling management to quickly address employee concerns. Also,
employees are able to access vacation and sick leave information via
a self-service solution implemented at both facilities. In addition,
the upgraded Kronos solution provides comprehensive reporting functions,
which enables John Noble Home to analyze and review up-to-date employee
data. “Our first priority was to process our payroll in an effective
and efficient way,” said Maslin. “We achieved that, and so much more.
By actively managing our workforce, our people are paid quickly,
effectively and accurately, leaving them to con-centrate fully on
providing the best care for our residents.”
“Implementing the Kronos solution provided John Noble Home
with immediate and significant improvements in processing payroll.
The time, money and resources previously spent on pay-related issues
are now being directed to improving the lives of our residents.”
Eleanor Maslin
Administrator
John Noble Home