I recently got back from KronosWorks 2014, the annual conference for Kronos users which Kronos defines as ‘the world’s largest management information exchange.’ And yes – I can attest having attended for two years now – there is a vast exchange of information.
This past weekend before I headed off to Vegas for the conference, I mentioned to some other HR/Recruiting friends that I was attending the event. The general consensus was “user conferences are just a way for the vendors to get more money from their existing customers.” I disagreed. Big time. And here’s why…every single attendee I speak to at user conferences says the same thing –“the biggest value in attending is learning from other users.”
And to reinforce the point I heard this sentiment expressed multiple times earlier this week. I sat at breakfast with a customer who was at the event with her colleagues from around the world; her team is responsible for running 70 weekly payrolls and they’ve been using Kronos for years. Obviously she’s surrounded, daily, by experienced Kronos users with whom she can confer. Yet she expressed her delight in attending the event each year to learn from other users. “We may do things a certain way and they work for us,” she pointed out, “but I always find that people from other industries and companies have different – and sometimes better – ways of accomplishing the same objectives we do. Every year I learn something new that leads me to make adjustments when I get back to the office.”
Touche.
One of the sessions I attended was “Modern Problems Require Mobile Solutions” in which we discussed the Kronos Workforce Mobile solutions. While a handful of attendees in the session indicated they are already using Workforce Mobile Solutions when the speaker asked who in the room was considering going mobile, the vast majority of hands in the room raised high. We discussed smartphones and tablets; we explored the interplay between BYOD or Mobile Device Management programs. And these weren’t just large enterprise customers; attendees using Kronos Workforce Ready (for small and midsize business) mobile solutions shared their stories and asked questions of their peers. Learning from each other means scaling up or scaling down….right?
Is this sexy HR? Maybe not. It is, however, necessary HR – controlling labor costs, minimizing compliance risk, and improving workforce productivity. All the stuff that we, as HR professionals need to get right the first time. Every time.
So thanks to the team at Kronos for bringing me to this event for a second year. While they provided compensation, the thoughts and opinions I’ve expressed either here on the blog or via other social channels are mine alone and they had no expectations other than I tell it like I see it.
And one thing I’ve seen the last two years is a willingness to listen to customers. Aron Ain (Kronos CEO) and the rest of his team are visible and accessible at every turn as they wander throughout the conference having conversations. I attended two separate events where Aron and his team were open, forthright and willing to answer any and all questions: this occurred both at Monday’s Executive Roundtable for Analysts, Bloggers & Press and at Tuesday’s Customer Spotlight Breakfast.
So if you, like my friends, consider user conferences to be merely a money grab I want to let you know that nothing is further from the truth.
These conferences are, indeed, a needed and valuable information exchange.
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Article source:Robin Schooling - Information Exchange – #KronosWorks»
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