Why Kronos Miss the Mark:
A True Great Place to Work is:
At its core, this is about people. It is not about book signings, ping pong tables, surveys, tokens, lollipops, white bikes, constant corporate propaganda(used for recruiting new and then weeding out long loyalist). Kronos is really about the "yearly bottom line for all the investors". Challenges from industry-wide changes are not resolved only with strategic plans and board meetings. They require buy-in at every organizational level to be effective.
Supporting all employees in the "right ways" is essential whenever an organization reinvents the way it does business. Hence beware: Silent Lay Offs can occur every year! The overall HR value: lame duck - like most shops. They can appear to listen, no value add but they can turn on you indirectly. They also are protecting the bottom line. HR will also do nothing about poor/bad managers.
When true "great places to work" companies are much better(honest) at communication in times of change, employees are more productive and motivated.
Employees that are consistently informed about important issues and changes are four times more likely to:
Look forward to coming to work.
Not worried about being laid off.
They know they are working at a great place and don't need constant reminders.
Twice as likely to give extra work and the time as employees who are not kept in the loop.
Another key element is Krono's weak middle management in which Kronos upper management is blind(& detached) too. Usually, the consensus is: it is better to work for a great boss/manager in a crappy company than work for a horrible manager in an alleged good company.
Some on this info came from Paul Thallner - Fortune 500 Mag. article .