Strategies for

Successful Global

Workforce Management

Standardization

1. Maxim Integrated needed a global workforce

management solution.

A worldwide leader in analog and mixed-signal technologies,

Maxim Integrated was looking to transform its workforce

management practices on a global scale.

The company, headquartered in San Jose, California, sought a best-in-breed global workforce management solution for use by both hourly and salaried employees — and one that could accommodate a wide variety of work rules, pay rules, and languages.

Maxim evaluated workforce management solutions and selected the Kronos Workforce Central® suite (now the UKG Workforce Central™ suite) to implement at its locations in 26 countries around the world and for use by its 8,000 employees. This white paper provides insight from Maxim’s UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) project management team on best practices and lessons learned during the global standardization effort.

Maxim’s goal was to have all employees globally on a single workforce management solution.

This would streamline configurations, simplify support, make training easier, and improve employee adoption of the solution. In addition, Maxim wanted to be sure the solution enabled:

Compliance with local labor laws

Access to real-time information

Enhanced, accurate reporting

Improved system response time and support

Elimination of manual processes, including attendance policy administration and workforce scheduling

Considerations before starting a global workforce

management initiative

The multiphased plan to standardize workforce management for both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing sites presented some challenges. First, the global workforce includes 169 schedule groups, including compressed work weeks, 12-hour/six-day shifts, and rotating day/night shifts. In addition, the workforce has 49 different employee types, including salaried and hourly employees.

To add to the complexities, the standardization process would replace multiple systems, including homegrown and paper-based systems. The process also required a change in timekeeping practices at sites where some employee types or the site’s entire workforce had not been recording employee time. Numerous nonstandard shifts presented additional challenges. In Thailand, Japan, Turkey, and France, the Kronos solution also needed to be in the country’s local language.

To successfully manage this global workforce management initiative, Maxim considered all aspects of the project and developed a detailed plan of action.

Austria

Canada

China

Finland

France

Germany

India

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Netherlands

Philippines

Poland

Russia

Serbia

Singapore

South Korea

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Taiwan

Thailand

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Maxim serves customers from sites in 26 countries:

We went to the Kronos Manufacturing Executive Summit with a list of questions so we

could talk with Kronos customers who had been through global implementations before.

Marcia Blandford

Senior Manager, Architect and Business Lead for Kronos Project, Maxim Integrated

2. Implementing Kronos globally with

a step-by-step plan.

Step 1: Create focused project teams

The project teams — from the C-suite to local staff — were instrumental in the success of the project. Here is a summary of the project team members and their roles and responsibilities:

Executive Team: CFO, CIO, CHRO, site leader (phase dependent)

Tasks: Project governance, roadblock clearance, and approval of scope changes and additional spend.

Core Team: PMO, business, IT, support: This seven-member team was selected based on critical function areas needed to make the project successful. The Kronos project team worked with each function required, to determine who should be part of the cross-functional core team.

Tasks: Strategy and design, interface with implementation partner, project management, communication plan, change management plan, training documents, train-the-trainer sessions, standardization and interface, automation, and reporting.

Local Team: Site leader, payroll representative, HR representative, trainers, Kronos ambassadors

Tasks: Business requirements, feedback on acceptance and issues, first line of support, and training.

When we rolled out the Kronos solution, we wanted no surprises and everything to be

completely transparent. We made a point to get the right leadership team members

involved so they could push adoption down.

De Ann Doonan

Executive Director, Global Payroll Services and Co-Project Manager, Maxim Integrated

Step 2: Generate a realistic project timeline

To effectively implement the Kronos solution across all sites in multiple countries, while balancing resource constraints, Maxim created a project timeline that included a phased approach. This staggered approach provided enough time to fully investigate local requirements to ensure a successful rollout at each location.

Step 3: Strike a balance between local and

global requirements

Because global pay rules don’t exist, considering local requirements is important to the successful implementation of a global workforce management solution. But you don’t need to start from scratch with every rollout. Some items can be standardized across all locations — person import, naming conventions, rule assignments, automation, and file delivery — while others should be controlled locally — shifts, work rules, and pay policies. Conversations at the local level are key to discovering which local requirements must be configured into the solution.

One thing we realized was that you must question everything. It’s important to sit down with a

country’s HR and business leads to gather all their requirements and ask a lot of questions. You

need to know if a requirement is statutory and needs to be incorporated or if it’s just a local

practice. It’s important to engage the legal teams as well to ensure compliance.

De Ann Doonan

Executive Director, Global Payroll Services and Co-Project Manager, Maxim Integrated

Project timeline

Q2FY16 Q3FY16 Q4FY16 Q1FY17 Q2FY17

Oct

Approval

Meeting

Nov-Jan

Legal

Review/

Contract

Signing

Kickoff: April 2016 Go-Live: Oct 2016Philippines

Kickoff: May 2016 Go-Live: March 2017Thailand

Q3FY17 Q4FY17 Q1FY18 Q2FY18 Q3FY18

Kickoff: April 2017 Go-Live: July 2017U.S.Kickoff: Sept 2017

Go-Live: Nov & Dec 2017

Asia Non-MFN

Kickoff: Oct 2017

Go-Live: March & April 2018

Europe Non-MFN

Prepare, prepare, prepare

On-site meetings

To ensure few or no surprises occurred during the project, Maxim was proactive in understanding site needs and anticipating user questions:

• During the pilot phase and at go-live, members of the core team met on site with night shift/compressed-workweek employees because they are typically more difficult to contact and their shifts are more complex.

• The Kronos project team went on site at the most complex sites, including the Philippines, Thailand, India, Ireland, and Italy. Because some locations have many business requirements, coupled with the added complexity of local language requirements, gathering this information on site over a couple of days was more productive than performing this by phone. Asia sites tend to be less direct in communication, so determining the level of project complexity was easier to do in person.

• Thailand and the Philippines have large manufacturing facilities with many shifts and employee types, so on-site visits were necessary to gather requirements, meet face-to-face with leadership, view clock locations, etc.

Local work and pay rule variations

Overtime is an area that illustrates how work and pay rules differ from country to country:

• In the Philippines, if an employee is eligible for overtime, the overtime premium amount depends on the type of day the employee is working. If it is a rest day or special holiday, overtime is calculated at one rate, but if it is a special holiday and the employee’s rest day, overtime is calculated at a higher rate. If the workday is a legal or regular holiday, a third rate is used.

• As the labor laws have changed drastically in Europe and Asia over the past several years, it was important for the project team to engage their HR and legal departments to review overtime guidelines.

Clock placement variations

Clock placement needs can vary by country or location:

• In the Philippines, most hourly employees take a Maxim shuttle to work. Employees disembark the shuttle, walk through the main entrance, and immediately clock in before they start working. Employees are paid based on their schedule and request approval in advance to work overtime.

• In Thailand, as part of the Kronos implementation, the location of the clocks was changed so employees can clock in when they start working, not when they arrive at the site.

• In manufacturing locations, clocks are located outside the gowning room so employees can clock in prior to donning and clock out after doffing.

Working within Maxim’s technology ecosystem

The Kronos solution integrates seamlessly with other solutions in Maxim’s technology ecosystem, including ADP for global payroll and Workday for HR. At larger sites using ADP, a payroll file is generated from the Kronos solution and loaded into ADP. At smaller sites, a payroll output file is pulled and loaded into ADP via a spreadsheet loader. With Workday, a twice-daily feed pushes changes and information on new hires into the Kronos solution.

Step 4: It’s all about change —

Change management

Change management initiatives are critical for preparing and aligning a global organization for successful strategy execution. In planning initiatives for a smooth change management process, Maxim made sure to:

• Engage leadership and project ambassadors

• Create a communication plan

• Make adjustments as needed

• Provide training

• Celebrate milestones and contributions

How Kronos (now UKG) helps

Kronos enables Maxim to have one global solution that provides a single source of truth across all locations and countries. Built on a solid foundation of standardized rules, the solution can be modified for each country or region’s specific pay and work rules.

Kronos delivers the right balance between global standardization and localization by providing visibility across all Maxim locations and a foundation for expansion while enabling adherence to country-specific regulations and pay rules, as well as use in any number of local languages.

Engage project ambassadors

This group included those who were most vocal about what needed to be accomplished or needed work. The number of ambassadors at a site depended on the number of employees and whether employees are hourly or salaried. Soliciting constant feedback, particularly during user acceptance training and rollout, was important to the success of the project.

Selecting ambassadors

• In the U.S., administrative assistants were chosen to be ambassadors because they could be close to employees, all site employees know them, and they provide a direct level of support.

• In the Philippines, several types of employees were selected as ambassadors including HR, payroll, and site trainers, because many employees needed to be communicated with and trained at different times of day and night, depending on shift schedules.

Training ambassadors

The initial focus was on training all the trainers and ambassadors. Managers were trained not only as managers, but also as employees so they could help employees who experienced issues.

• This methodology was important in the U.S. so Kronos project team members weren’t the only staff who knew how to use the solution.

• After go-live in India, the five trainers continued to have twice-a-week calls with the Kronos project team for two to three weeks to get answers to their questions and employees’ questions. It was important for the trainers to be seen as the knowledge base in India. Employees then communicated directly to their local trainer instead of going to the Kronos project team.

Recognizing ambassadors

Maxim recognized ambassadors in a number of ways for their support in rolling out the Kronos solution.

• Kronos Ambassador polo shirts served to identify them as ambassadors to fellow employees and recognize them for their role in the project.

• Kronos Ambassador photos were posted on LED monitor screens across each site to distinguish the ambassadors as leaders and key contributors to the project.

• Kronos Ambassadors were thanked for their efforts with site celebrations, dinner awards, and more.

Create a communication plan

A detailed communication plan was created and shared with a variety of project business partners. In each country, a project phase kickoff featured all leaders, including a member of the executive team, indicating the importance of the project. Kickoff included a discussion of the project scope so participants knew what was within the scope of the project and what was not.

The communication plan outlined activities and messaging for each step of the project:

Core testing

• Tiered communication sent to managers, ambassadors, and employees

• Test phases shared: User acceptance training, core testing, and pilots at selected sites

Go-live preparation

• Tiered communication sent to managers, ambassadors, and employees

• Training requirements announced

• Training documents published

Go-live

• Tiered communication sent to managers, ambassadors, and employees

• On-site support provided

• Project success celebrated

Ask the Expert

At go-live, at the pay period close, and a few weeks post-go-live, Maxim hosted Ask the Expert sessions to answer questions or lead employees through processes to enhance their understanding.

Participants in these sessions included HR staff, managers, and shift employees.

Deliver a variety of training options

To enhance user adoption and reduce the learning curve, Maxim provided a range of training opportunities and materials targeted to different learning styles and employee groups.

Internal Kronos webpage

This easy-to-access webpage included the go-live schedule and continues to provide training materials, snippet videos for each region, and contact numbers for assistance.

Quick reference guides

These one- or two-page documents (three pages was determined to be too many) created for each employee class (managers, hourly, and salaried) include screenshots and detailed step-by-step instructions on how to request time off, see time-off balances, and request a missed punch. Some sites have laminated the guides and posted them next to timeclocks.

Classroom and web-based training

Train-the-trainer sessions were held for trainers and ambassadors, and training was targeted to each employee type. Classes were small, attendance was tracked, and selected sessions were recorded for future viewing.

Ask the Expert and On the Spot sessions

These open-call sessions had no agenda, and participants could come and go as they pleased. When sessions were held on site, they were hosted in the café so employees could stop by, ask a question, and enjoy a cookie, making the experience more welcoming and approachable. During the close of the first two payroll periods, managers and supervisors were invited to call in with questions or ask for assistance.

MaximU

Recorded trainings reside on MaximU, the company’s internal training system that houses all training materials. All new employees are directed to this site to view the Kronos training module, and all employees can access the site to find the training they need. Recordings are arranged by topic, including how to record time worked (by employee type), request time off, and approve time off, as well as manager training.

Snippet videos

These attention-grabbing short videos of less than two minutes were created with the OBS Studio app and were targeted to production workers, who enjoy the videos. In Thailand, a group of employees watched the video on a monitor and hummed to the video tune. U.S. employees also watched the Thailand video and even with the language differences could understand the message.

3. Outcomes of global Kronos implementations

and what Maxim learned.

Following Maxim’s global standardization of its workforce management processes, its Kronos project team developed guidelines to assist other organizations interested in undertaking a similar effort. The team recommends that organizations:

• Collect business requirements for larger sites on premises, meeting with small groups (HR, payroll, day shift, night shift, etc.) to collect this information; host a post-session Q&A for questions that weren’t addressed

• Go deep when gathering business requirements, soliciting input from line supervisors and team leads

• Require all team members to attend kickoff, even if they are remote

• Ensure buy-in from site leaders and key business partners

• Require signoff prior to beginning implementation

• Ensure implementation partners are on site during blueprinting and go-live

• Clearly communicate tolerance for changes in scope or change requests, requiring that all changes go to the executive team for approval

• Maintain tight control over decisions, with the core team and executive team controlling decision making

• Engage ambassadors early in the process

• Create a detailed communication plan and execute it precisely, as communication is key to project success

• Consider the impact of time zone differences and plan how to overcome this challenge

• Accommodate all local and global holidays when creating project timelines

• Build automated solutions whenever possible (late shuttles, etc.)

Employee reactions to moving to the Kronos solution differed by country. In Thailand and

the Philippines, they were excited about moving to an automated solution because they

used paper-based systems or antiquated homegrown solutions before. In the U.S., they

questioned moving to a new solution but ultimately looked forward to having everything

standardized and what they need all in one tool.

De Ann Doonan

Executive Director, Global Payroll Services and Co-Project Manager, Maxim Integrated

Employee and manager perspectives

Implementing the Kronos solution has improved employee engagement because employees are now empowered to access their information whenever they wish. They also feel confident they are being paid appropriately, especially with complex overtime policies automatically applied correctly.

Global managers are pleased with the real-time visibility the solution provides. Previously, they couldn’t see their employees’ time-worked and time-off records in each country and had to rely on in-country delegates to approve timecards. With the move to standardized workforce management, they now have real-time visibility into all workforce information.

Outcomes of a global workforce management standardization

Maxim has seen wide-ranging benefits from standardizing global workforce management with its Kronos solution.

Enhanced employee engagement

Prior to Kronos, when employees in the Philippines wanted to request time off they went to a kiosk, logged into a homegrown solution, filled out their request, and waited for an email chain of approvals. If the approval came after the period closed, they often had to print the request and take a form to the payroll department or open a help desk ticket. Now, they file a request in the Kronos solution at a timeclock, and managers can see it and respond immediately.

Time and space savings

In Thailand, information from 2,000 to 3,000 paper forms had to be entered into the local timekeeping tool every pay period after the forms were reviewed and signed by local managers. Forms were then filed, catalogued, and archived to meet the requirements of a long retention policy. Moving to the automated Kronos solution has saved significant staff time and storage space.

UKG helps drive global workforce management success

Whether you are deploying a global workforce management solution for the first time, expanding to multiple geographies, embarking on a standardization program, or simply looking to extend the value of your investment, UKG will partner with you to lay the foundation for success.

With deep, industry-specific expertise and years of experience working with leading global companies, we are uniquely qualified to assess the current and future state of your workforce management program and provide a solution framework that supports your strategic vision moving forward.

Working in close partnership with your organization, the UKG team applies best practices to drive standardization across your global workforce management environment. Leveraging a shared design, reliable infrastructure, and proven methodologies to manage change — as well as simplifying upgrades and providing scale that accommodates your future growth — UKG supports your global workforce management success.

The results? Reduced total cost of ownership, improved visibility into the global workforce, empowered employees who deliver better business outcomes, and a higher return on your global workforce management investment.

Whether it’s time-off requests or overtime approvals, the Kronos solution is easy for employees

to use, and real-time information is a huge benefit for managers.

Marcia Blandford

Senior Manager, Architect and Business Lead for Kronos Project, Maxim Integrated

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on your global workforce management initiative,

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