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Time America, Inc Boost Rapid ROI on a Biometric Time & Attendance Software and Labor Management Solution

(PRWEB) July 2, 2008 -- Since 1979, Canyon Ranch (http://www.canyonranch.com) has set the standard for health spas all over the world, beginning with its first health resort in Tucson, Arizona, and ten years later, with the Canyon Ranch resort in Lenox, Massachusetts. The company operates SpaClub® wellness facilities in world-class hotels and cruise ships including The Venetian Resort in Las Vegas, Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, and Cunard's Queen Mary 2. Most recently, it launched Canyon Ranch Living? residences, communities designed around the central theme of healthy living in Miami, Florida and Tucson, Arizona.

With its diverse locations, spacious properties and large workforce, Canyon Ranch depends on complex and efficient staffing practices to cater to the needs of each guest and resident. However, the company's time and attendance system wasn't designed to support the intricacies of a sophisticated enterprise. Using a simple punch card system as the primary time tracking method, the company collected only the most basic information about its workforce (i.e. when people clocked in and out). These time cards did not provide security features or verify that employees' paychecks matched their schedules, and as a result, the company endured a variety of labor monitoring inaccuracies, including "buddy punching," where employees fraudulently clock-in and/or clock-out for other employees.

With payroll representing one of the company's largest costs, labor-related inaccuracies translated into an expensive issue. Once management realized the significance of their unnecessary payroll expenditures, they initiated a search for a comprehensive labor management system. Their critical priorities were finding a system that would deliver advanced employee time and attendance monitoring, and that would easily integrate with the company's payroll and HR solutions. Also, they wanted to give supervisors strong reporting and real-time insight into staff activity.

Achieving Rapid Return-on-Investment

Canyon Ranch chose to implement a labor management solution from Time America (http://www.timeamerica.com), a leading provider of web-based, client-server, and desktop time and workforce management solutions designed to help companies improve the tracking and utilization of labor resources for over 20 years.

Canyon Ranch selected the GENESIS PRO time & attendance software (http://www.timeamerica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=63&Itemid=181) application from Time America, which enabled the company to automate its timekeeping and scheduling, as well as integrate labor management data into its payroll and HR systems. Notably, with the help of Prime Time, Inc., an authorized Time America reseller for the southwest, Canyon Ranch implemented the fully integrated solution in half a business day.

In conjunction with the new software, the organization installed biometric time clock devices (http://www.timeamerica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=64&Itemid=182) that recognize the unique pattern of each employee's hand. Because staff members have to be physically present to clock in or out, the biometric time system eliminated "buddy punching." The system also ended problems regarding lost punch cards, which formerly caused managers to spend time replacing cards and manually updating data in the system.

Canyon Ranch estimates that it saves approximately $100,000 per 500 employees annually by eliminating "buddy punching" and other forms of inaccurate labor tracking, as well as reducing manual processes and human error. With more than 2,500 employees using the system, this translates into half a million dollars in yearly savings.

Canyon Ranch has also reduced overtime payments by nearly 50 percent since installing the system. Because the software bases paycheck amounts on employees' schedules, payroll accuracy is automatically verified. For example, if a staff member is scheduled to work until 5:00 pm, but doesn't clock out until 5:30 pm, that worker will not be paid for the extra half hour unless a manager had verified the change in the system.

The combination of time and dollar savings was so profound for Canyon Ranch that it recuperated the cost of the solution in approximately one month. John Watson, Information Systems Director for the Canyon Ranch Spa at the Venetian Hotel, attests: "After the first 30 days we made our money back."

Realizing Operational Benefits

Prior to installing the automated labor management system, scheduling managers and payroll staff had to perform a variety of manual tasks, such as submitting paper forms to make payroll corrections and manually entering documented changes into the payroll software across multiple locations. Now, the payroll process has been centralized. Employee schedules are maintained in the GENESIS PRO system, which enables corrections or updates to be made electronically, before data is exported into the payroll system.

"We now have a time management piece that helps our managers and directors handle scheduling, review overtime, and labor distribution," said Mr. Watson. "With the new labor management system, our managers have a better perspective on monitoring employee time and attendance and a more streamlined reporting process."

Managers especially appreciate the daily email updates they receive from the system. These daily reports, which are automatically generated, list the names of employees who came in late the day before, who stayed later than their scheduled shift, and who accrued overtime. Managers can view the daily email or directly access real-time employee information by logging into the system.

The reporting capabilities save managers additional time by producing yearly reviews that summarize employee performance, in regard to tardiness, overtime, sick days, etc. - a job which previously would have required hours of manual calculation.

With very little effort, Canyon Ranch can achieve ongoing financial and operational benefits from its automated labor management. The company will continue to add employees to the system, which (based on its per-employee savings calculations and reduced overtime payments) will result in even more profound ROI. Operationally, the benefits are just beginning to ripple throughout the organization. With expanding usage, the organization becomes increasingly efficient at managing workforce time, attendance, and productivity. Ultimately, these improvements trickle down to the guests and residents. The more sophisticated the company becomes in orchestrating its workforce, the better service it provides. In the hospitality industry, there's no more valuable asset than a well-run staff to keep customers coming back.

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