With a substantial proportion of the company’s operating costs directly linked to labour, ground and cargo handler Swissport International’s UK operation has contracted with Kronos Incorporated to reduce risk by driving down labour costs and improving efficiencies around the management of its workforce.
Swissport has selected Kronos’ Workforce Central suite to manage the time and attendance of approximately 3,000 employees at five major UK airports. The Kronos solution will standardise timekeeping procedures; introduce a cost effective and accurate payroll process; and provide staff with self-service access to holiday and overtime information. In addition, the biometric data collection terminals will increase the integrity of attendance data.
Commenting on the need for a more robust workforce management system, Frank Barr, financial director of Swissport said: “With 3,000 employees based at five major airports, working a variety of shift patterns with numerous pay rules to manage, an automated and efficient workforce management system is essential. We selected Kronos following a rigorous tendering process”.
Swissport expects to see numerous benefits once the system is fully operational including an integrated system for HR, timekeeping, and payroll; 100% accuracy in the payment of overtime; real-time visibility to labour costs across the business; a significant reduction in payroll admin time; and a reduction in employee union issues relating to the accuracy and timeliness of overtime payments. Each staff member will also have the added benefit of being able to check if overtime has been authorised or see which holiday dates are available. It will remove the ‘lost holiday request’ debate as each holiday request will be logged on the system.
Swissport’s UK operation handles 50 million passengers a year, providing airport check-in, baggage, and aircraft handling for some of the world’s major airlines. With many UK airports now operating 24/7 with numerous shift patterns, control of time and attendance data can be difficult to maintain.
Frank Barr commented: “From a company perspective, irregular shift patterns are challenging to manage. By using biometric data collection terminals at each of our airports, we are able to harness modern technology to ensure the validity of attendance registration. Team members can also use this latest Kronos technology to manage their availability for overtime and holiday requests. Therefore, Kronos is a real win-win for our company and our employees”.
Passenger satisfaction and security are both key areas for Swissport to manage. With employee shift patterns now held in the Kronos system, providing more visibility to the exact time an employee starts a shift, the system helps ensure that airport check-in desks are opened punctually.
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Using Kronos will also enable Swissport to remove the cost of a third-party company engaged to record and report on staff absence. Frank Barr explained: “The third-party agency worked well for us, but the recording and reporting functionality provided by this supplier are now covered by Kronos at no added cost. Employees will now contact their line manager directly when they have an absence. This, in turn, should help to improve our day-to-day operational efficiency. By using Workforce Central to monitor authorised and unauthorised absence, we expect to achieve 100% ROI over three years simply against the cost of using the third-party agency.”
Keith Statham, managing director, Kronos UK commented: “Eradicating complex manual processes to improve operational efficiency is essential for all organisations and more so when an organisation operates 24/7 across multiple locations. Swissport expects to quickly realise the benefits of an effective workforce management solution. We’re delighted to welcome them as a new customer.”
