The State of Indiana is home to a population of nearly seven million residents and employs a complex workforce of more than 30,000 people across 75 agencies statewide.
Challenges
Prior to UKG, the state struggled with a lack of insight into the day-to-day activities of its workforce, specifically departments where operations run round the clock and employees don’t work traditional desk jobs.
“Our priority was to implement an intelligent solution for these agencies that would accurately capture employee hours worked, including overtime, and further enhance a culture of transparency and accountability,” said Elise Nieshalla, Indiana State Comptroller.
Solutions
Given its complex workforce and need for real-time visibility into the activities of its exempt and non-exempt employees, the State of Indiana selected the AI-powered UKG Pro Workforce Management™ suite to transform workforce operations through improved compliance and data-driven decision making.
“In departments where we have implemented UKG, we now have greater accountability at both the manager and employee levels. Employees are responsible for their own time with easy access to their computers, time clocks situated throughout state facilities, or the UKG Pro mobile app. Managers can approve requests with new visibility to their entire team, which is extremely beneficial when managing a large workforce with unique and often untraditional work hours.”
Deputy Comptroller for the Indiana State Comptroller’s Office
Results
The UKG Pro Workforce Management suite is first being implemented in state hospitals as well as in correctional facilities — each with different requirements which must meet specific labor-related compliance regulations mandated by the federal government.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and included in the UKG 2024 Industry Insights Report: Public Sector Edition — which highlights ways public sector agencies and institutions can better attract and retain top talent — the ratio of vacancies to hires in state and local government is at least twice that of the private sector. Having faced its own staffing challenges, the state says giving employees access to their own data in real-time not only provides a level of visibility and transparency that its workforce deserves but helps encourage better habits in the employee experience.
“In departments where we have implemented UKG, we now have greater accountability at both the manager and employee levels,” said Brent Plunkett, deputy comptroller for the Indiana State Comptroller’s Office. “Employees are responsible for their own time with easy access to their computers, time clocks situated throughout state facilities, or the UKG Pro mobile app. Managers can approve requests with new visibility to their entire team, which is extremely beneficial when managing a large workforce with unique and often untraditional work hours.”
Access to the UKG Pro mobile app has been a differentiator for the state, specifically in locations like hospitals where operations run around the clock and staff is needed 24 hours a day.
“We have certain employee populations, such as hospital staff who are focused on providing bedside care to patients, or correctional officers who are focused on maintaining safety at all times. They need alternative ways to capture their time and submit requests that don’t require sitting at a computer,” said Plunkett. “The UKG Pro mobile app has provided these employees with flexibility to easily clock in and out of shifts from anywhere. From a payroll perspective, having accurate punches ensures us that we are paying people correctly and reporting accurate data.”
