Staff Scheduling Project

Capital Health, IWK Health Centre and Cumberland Health Authority will implement Kronos workforce management software to help reduce the administrative tasks of scheduling staff, ensure that union agreements are followed and allow clinicians to have more time for patient care and staff coaching.

More Focus and Funding on Patient Care

  • We face a three per cent decrease in the 2012-13 budget compared to 2011-12. Labour costs equate to approximately 70 per cent of the total budgets for DHAs and the IWK. We have to manage these resources more efficiently. Implementing software that helps to schedule working hours accurately and ensures consistent implementation across units is the responsible thing to do.
  • Improved staff scheduling flexibility and control ensures that individuals with the right skills are in the right place to meet critical needs.
  • A computer operated scheduling process reduces the administrative tasks, ensures that we honour our union agreement and allows more time for patient care.

Staff Scheduling Software Enhances the Work of Staffing Coordinators and Managers

  • The system will ensure that there is a clear and consistent view of the workforce across the organizations, allowing each organization to better use available resources.

Kronos Gives Employees Flexibility to Manage their Schedules

  • Employees will be able to access their work schedules from home.
  • This will help control labour costs, ensure that collective bargaining agreements are followed and make it easier to locate appropriate employees to backfill when necessary.
  • Presently there are no expected job losses as part of the implementation of this project.

Help With Planning and Forecasting Staffing Needs

  • The hospitals will be able to identify staffing trends and opportunities across a service or site as well as manage labour costs.
  • The system could eventually provide reports to manage overtime, absenteeism, third-party services and other staffing needs.
  • Reports on trend analysis and real-time reports allow us to respond quickly to human resource and labour situations and even help avoid them through advance human resource planning.

For more information about this project, contact Sarah Teal, Project Manager, sarah.teal@cdha.nshealth.ca