Scheduling tool helps Indiana city weed out unnecessary overtime

Kronos Workforce TeleStaff is a public-safety scheduling tool used by fire, police and corrections departments. It helps them optimize scheduling, communications and deployment of personnel.

The Indianapolis Fire Department, which provides fire protection and emergency medical services to the 12th largest U.S. city, replaced its previous manual system with the Kronos offering. The system helps streamline important workforce processes. This ensures fair allocation of overtime. The system creates impartial schedules based on demand and employee preferences. It also helps reduce overstaffing.

“Since deploying Workforce TeleStaff, the department has standardized department-wide rules which are now followed, and subsequently employees are not overworked,” says Captain Dale Rolfson, I.T. Manager at the Indianapolis Fire Department and Department of Public Safety.

Rolfson says the technology has helped to minimize unnecessary overtime, and that shifts are filled with only those who have the appropriate skills and certifications. “Since implementing the solution, we’ve reduced the time required to fill overtime shifts with qualified individuals,” Rolfson adds. It now takes less than 30 minutes to fill overtime shifts. Previously, the task required as much as seven hours.

With the old manual setup, if Indianapolis Fire had an overtime situation but the employee was not really needed, the person was sent home but would get paid for the overtime.

With the technology, Indianapolis Fire now has access to timely reports on employees when they are in emergency situations. This helps the department’s leadership be aware of employees’ safety information at all times.

The new system, Rolfson says, helps the department run operations more efficiently, consistently manage staffing decisions and reduce expenses. “Managing the workforce effectively is critical for any public safety department. Our people are our greatest asset. Optimizing this resource helps us serve our community even better while ensuring that we use our budget wisely.”

Click here to learn more about Kronos.

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