Our last post described some key benefits of UKG Pro Workforce Management (formerly known as Dimensions), explained why strategic planning for your migration from Workforce Central (WFC) to Pro Workforce Management is paramount, and provided several recommendations on how to plan for a successful transition.
This post examines the foundation of Pro Workforce Management (Pro WFM) — the Business Structure. HealthNET Consulting has years of experience migrating clients to Pro WFM, and we’ll draw upon our expertise to offer some practical advice.
How Does the pro workforce management Business Structure Differ from Workforce Central?
WFC has two separate organizational structures — Labor Levels for timekeeping, and the Organizational Map (Org Map) for advanced scheduling. Pro WFM (sort of) combines those two structures into one — called the Business Structure — which connects all employees to the organization and supports every module in the Pro WFM system. Like any foundation, you want it to be robust, but we also recommend keeping it as simple as possible (more on that in our recommendations section below).
Consolidating the two WFC structures into one simplifies many activities, but UKG seems to have used the Org Map concept as the basis for its Business Structure. So, it will feel more familiar to users with a WFC advanced scheduling background, while WFC basic scheduling and timekeeping users may have a steeper learning curve. The Pro WFM Business Structure provides a path to every employee’s job.
It’s important to note that the Business Structure does not include HR job codes designating each employee’s role and level. For example, a hospital may have different levels of registered nurses signified by multiple job codes in your HR/payroll system (RN1, RN2, etc.) but only one generic role in the Business Structure called RN — and this is appropriate. To keep track of employee-specific details previously found in WFC Labor Levels, Pro WFM provides a solution called Labor Categories that is separate from the Business Structure. Labor Categories can contain HR job codes and other employee-specific information such as Reports To, Position Value, Grant Code (for tracking time against grants), etc.
Recommendations for Building Your Business Structure
- Align It with Your Physical Organization: When designing your Business Structure, think of it as a visual representation of your organization’s physical structure. At the top may be the healthcare enterprise, followed by facilities, service lines, then individual departments or floors, and generic jobs at the bottom. (Pro tip: when defining your hierarchy, leave space for adding sub-categories later.)
- Keep it simple: Group employees into generic jobs whenever possible, providing only the level of granularity that you absolutely need (e.g., a generic category of RN, a generic category of Admin Assistant, etc.). By keeping it simple, you’ll make it easier for employees and managers to navigate the system. All the details about different job categories and job levels can be handled by Labor Categories.
- Get it right before you go live: Once your Business Structure goes live, rearranging the top-down levels can be very difficult. Adding more categories (e.g. new facilities or departments) across an existing level or adding sub-categories below a level is straightforward and standard business practice as an organization grows and evolves. But be very careful with vertical levels as you build out your design! UKG is also required to review and sign off on your organization’s Business Structure and will check for overly complex structures that might impede system processing times.
- Think about integrations: Keep in mind the building of integrations when creating the Business Structure. For instance, you should try to determine as early as possible if you have to do any mapping or customizing in your HR or payroll system. Take service lines, which are groupings of departments into categories such as “Surgical Services.” If you decide to build service lines into your Business Structure, there may be no corresponding service lines in your HR/payroll system. So, you could either create a cross-reference table to map your service lines to the appropriate departments in your HR/payroll system, or house the service line in your HR/payroll system using a new custom field. That’s just one example of integrations you need to keep in mind as you build your Business Structure.
The Business Structure’s Impact on Key Operations
REPORTING
The Business Structure simplifies reporting and allows reports to combine scheduling information with Labor Category information (job codes, etc.). The full organizational path that you build into your Business Structure will be available — company, division, service line, department, etc. This can be useful, for example, if you’re a vice president or director who oversees multiple areas and you want to see reports on an entire division or service line.
SCHEDULING
Pro WFM’s Business Structure results in a single, consistent approach to scheduling. It’s similar to WFC’s advanced scheduling, so WFC’s advanced scheduling users will have an easier time moving to Pro WFM than those who only used basic scheduling in WFC. That said, there are benefits — you’ll be able to train everybody consistently, staff will have the ability to do sophisticated scheduling, management will receive consistent reporting data, etc.
TRANSFERS AND TIMECARDS
The Business Structure simplifies transfers for advanced scheduling users. For example, in WFC a manager might have to perform an Org Map transfer plus a Labor Level transfer to enable a nurse to move from L&D to the NICU. In Pro WFM, it’s a single Business Structure transfer. On the other hand, there may be more steps for employees when transferring at the time clock. For instance, in WFC an RN transferring from L&D to the NICU would simply enter the 4-digit number for that department. In Pro WFM, the RN will have to click down the Business Structure to locate the job.
ACCESS
In Pro WFM, the Business Structure is used to create manager access for both timekeeping and advanced scheduling — whereas in WFC, Labor Levels were used for Timekeeping access and the Org Map for Advanced Scheduling access. WFC Employee Groups cannot be migrated, and will need to be rebuilt in Pro WFM. We recommend an evaluation of your current state to verify who should have access (and who shouldn’t), so you go live with the cleanest setup possible. The use of manager delegation, home hyperfinds, and dual roles (not available in WFC) can target access to the right employees for the right purposes.
FOR MORE HELP
As you start to create your Business Structure, think of it as a work in progress — be prepared for a few iterations before it meets your design goals — this is totally normal. If you’d like more information and/or would like to speak with one of our UKG experts, contact us. Let’s talk about how we can help make your Pro WFM migration a success.
Blog Post Authors:
Nicole Erdlen, UKG Consultant
HealthNET Consulting
