Keolis North America meets the unique public transit needs of communities across the U.S. and Canada, getting millions of people where they need to be. But while the company is focused on safety, reliability and efficiency for their passengers, they also understood the importance of focusing on their people and increasing employee engagement. Keolis North America turned their attention to implementing a comprehensive UKG Pro human capital management (HCM) system and worked with the RSM US LLP (previously Wise Consulting) UKG implementation team for critical assistance along the way. “We had a vision and what we were looking for was [an HCM system] to deliver that vision,” says Carolyn Clougherty, human resources (HR) transformation operational leader at Keolis North America. “A primary driver of choosing UKG Pro was the self-service/payroll portal enabling us to meet goals of higher employee engagement. We wanted [an advisor] with the ability to tell us the best way to do this using the tools we have, and also from a business process perspective. We wanted to use the best-practice approach in workflows, not just in tools.”
"It’s been a very positive experience. Our whole [RSM] team really delivered for us. It was amazing that we met all deadlines, and any issues with data integrity were resolved quickly. It was a team effort with multiple consultants ... they taught us different ways to utilize and optimize the UKG Pro system. I would absolutely refer other companies to [RSM]."
Carolyn Clougherty, HR transformation operational leader, Keolis North America
Clougherty and her team began implementation at eight locations in North America, and added more as component companies were brought into the fold. “We got pretty good at it, and we had to bring one location online—hire, onboard, configure and get payroll out—within 17 days,” Clougherty says. “RSM has helped our team become well-versed and know what they need to do as well as how to get it done.”
Timing proved to be critical, as Keolis North America engaged RSM in the onboarding process, working alongside the larger internal team. “As our new employees came onboard, RSM was manning the help desk for calls that were coming through with benefits or HR questions,” said Clougherty.
Knowledge transfer was a priority for the Keolis North America team and Clougherty gives credit to their lead RSM consultant for consistently delivering on that point. “Nikki (Burns) is an absolute rock star; she is amazing. We literally would be lost without her.”
Following the successful implementation, Keolis North America has focused on further optimization of their UKG Pro software. To that end, the company has engaged RSM to perform a system utilization review, conduct business intelligence reporting, manage their transition to a new benefits processing provider, and more.
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