Dallas YMCA Unleashes Workforce Efficiency, Saves 600+ Hours a Year with AI-First UKG Suite

Business Wire

5 days ago

LOWELL, Mass. & WESTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- UKG, a leading provider of HR, payroll, workforce management solutions, today announced that the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, a UKG customer that continues to enhance its solution for more than a decade, has boosted efficiency and created a flexible and engaging experience for its multigenerational, seasonal workforce across 16 branches with the all-in-one UKG Ready ® HR and payroll suite.
For 140 years, the YMCA has been an important bedrock of the North Texas community, promoting healthy living, youth development, and social responsibility to more than 240,000 people each year. The nonprofit employs 2,400 people — 90% of whom are part-time workers — and that number climbs to more than 3,000 in the summer. With the UKG Ready suite, the Y can easily scale its workforce up and down with the seasons and hire, rehire, onboard, schedule, and manage its fluctuating workforce while providing the same, consistent support to its members.
'With UKG Ready, we don't just manage a company, we support a community,' said Susan Desilets, associate vice president of human resources at the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. 'On any given day, we may have lifeguards stationed across the metroplex, camp counselors interacting with children at our two summer camps, and employees working in our fitness centers and classrooms. UKG ensures we have the right people in the right place to serve our community at large, while giving our employees the tools to succeed in their roles.'
Those tools include the UKG Ready mobile app, which allows staff to clock in and out of shifts, request time off, see their pay, select benefits that work best for them, and access important announcements in the company hub, which acts as a one-stop shop for employee information. Additionally, one of the YMCA's greatest achievements and time-savers with the UKG Ready suite is the ability to fill roles and quickly onboard new employees and rehire boomerang workers, specifically ahead of the busy summer season when the Y hires hundreds of extra staffer members to support its additional programming.
'We know when there's going to be a hiring crunch, and UKG makes it easy for managers to build and post jobs online and track applicants in real time. The 'quick apply' option in UKG Ready is a great way to attract candidates because they can easily search and apply for any job,' said Desilets. 'Once hired, those new employees move seamlessly through our automated onboarding process, which saves us at least 30-minutes per employee — or about 300-hours total for the hundreds of people we hire each summer. We've also eliminated at least 300 hours each year on new-hire paperwork through efficiencies from UKG.'
As a nonprofit, the YMCA is funded by various sources, including grants and donors, so it's imperative to maximize every dollar. To guide its strategic planning and budgeting, the YMCA leverages real-time insights in reporting and analytics in UKG Ready to make better decisions in support of its workforce.
'I can't understate the pivotal role of UKG in ensuring we're making sound fiscal decisions in service of our people,' said Desilets. 'For example, we can analyze trends and financial models for our minimum hourly rates in UKG Ready, which gave us the confidence to raise our hourly minimum wage over the last several years from $9.00 to $14.00 to better compete for talent and reward our hard-working staff members. We would never have been able to do that without the insights from UKG.'
Another way the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas supports its workforce is by providing early access to earned wages, when and where their employees need it. Given the large number of part-time and seasonal workers whose hours and paychecks may fluctuate, the YMCA leverages UKG Wallet™, an earned wage access and financial wellness tool, which impacts employees' sense of security and economic well-being.
'We implemented UKG Wallet to give employees options when it comes to their pay. It's incredibly rewarding to provide for our workers' financial peace of mind, which correlates directly to the Y's core belief in fostering a spirit of belonging and support. UKG Wallet has also contributed to higher retention rates,' said Desilets. 'Taking that a step further, we've also streamlined payroll processing in UKG Ready, making it easier for us to pay hourly employees quicker — just one week in arrears as compared to the previous two-week-turnaround.'
'We take great pride in our long-standing commitment to supporting nonprofits by empowering them with technology that alleviates the daily stresses of today's workforce,' said Chris Kiklas, vice president of SMB product management at UKG. 'There is nothing more important than ensuring frontline workers feel supported, engaged, and inspired to make a positive impact on those around them. With efficiencies gained through UKG solutions, the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas is able to focus on its mission to serve and uplift its community.'
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At UKG, our purpose is people. We are on a mission to inspire every organization to become a great place to work through HCM technology built for all. More than 80,000 organizations across all sizes, industries, and geographies trust UKG HR, payroll, and workforce management cloud solutions to drive great workplace experiences and make better, more confident people and business decisions. With the world's largest collection of people data, work data, and employee sentiment data, combined with rich experience using artificial intelligence in the service of people, we connect employee and workforce insights with business outcomes to show what's possible when organizations invest in their people. To learn more, visit ukg.com.
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