UKG Workforce Central (formerly Kronos Workforce Central) was a suite of HR Management offerings targeted mainly at enterprise customers with larger-scale and more complex HR and workforce management issues. The product is discontinued.
SAP HR can be well suited for global companies with operations in multiple countries. The Payroll module needs to be limited to one instance per country, otherwise trying to maintain multiple countries on the same instance is too complicated. I would not recommend using SAP HR and Payroll for smaller companies because the total cost of ownership and the lack of flexibility will make it unfeasible. There are many cloud-based options now a days available that would fit better for this type of scenario.
This product was marketed to us as a school and several schools in our area use the program. However, the implementation team we were set-up with had limited school experience and we are still working on the best way to do some of the timekeeping issues where I know that could have been handled better. That being said from a payroll and reporting side it has been great to capture so much data (at times almost too much) and have the system do automatic allocations of salaries and general ledger reports. The reporting takes some getting used to, but overall I've been able to run reports to see and track just about anything I want. Our employees also love the self service compared to our previous products where they can make W4, direct deposit and other updates on their own without having to get HR involved.
I personally feel like timekeeping is very well thought out and has some powerful tools built in. There is a bit of a learning curve but with strategically placed SMEs we were able to get the use and functionality we needed out of the system.
Workforce planning has been crucial in planning operational support in our retail and customer service centers. It is also editable and modifiable as needed.
Now that the system is installed and operational, the "pain is gone"...therefore we see no reason to change to a different application. There is no functionality that is missing from the system that would drive us to consider another solution at this time. Maintenance support from Kronos is sufficient and updates occur regularly.
Having no experience with Kronos prior to using it in March 2016, their customer service team taught me how to use it the right way after my initial training at work. I am well-versed in data analysis using Excel and Access primarily, so once I discovered that Kronos had a reporting feature built in, I've used the feature quite a few times to help our properties evaluate their production costs and make good labor decisions. I give Kronos a 10 because once a person takes the time to learn how to use the software, they'll realize that Kronos is far more effective than most, and gives users more ways to access their information where and when they want to.
Kronos and Dayforce are the two timekeeping systems I’ve worked with in recent years. Kronos feels a little more comprehensive and is my primary timekeeping tool both for myself as well as my staff. Kronos is a great tool for a wide range of shifts, working locations, and pay codes. In this context, I would pick Kronos over Dayforce. On the opposite side, Dayforce is extremely user-friendly and has a “cleaner” user interface if that is a contributing factor for anyone. Also, for managers who oversee large teams (30-50 team members) then Dayforce is a bit more simple to approve time cards, hours, and leave. Kronos is a bit clunky with all the clicks, and managing large teams of hourly employees would be a huge time suck to go in to review/approve all.
SAP HR is suited for large companies with a sufficient budget. Small budgets will not be able to cover the expensive licensing, technical personnel and consultants required of an SAP installation.
In regards to the total cost of ownership, my ROI experience has been that by replacing SAP HR modules with cloud solutions we have been able to reduce the cost up to 60% while modernizing our systems and improving the employee experience.
I would encourage decision makers to look for cloud-based alternatives with a robust system integration, before believing that supporting every area of HR with a single SAP installation is a good long-term strategy. Having SAP HR as the core integrated to best-in-class cloud-based systems is a very valid and effective system strategy.
Kronos is much more expensive than the previous systems we were using, so at this point the ROI is negative. The idea is that it will allow us to scale and grow the company more easily so time will tell if that is the case.
