Kronos and Maynard Team to Maximize Retail Workforce Performance.

NEW YORK -- Integrating Optimized Scheduling Solution with Engineered Labor Standards Aligns Store Operations with Corporate Objectives

In an effort to continue helping retailers excel in workforce management and performance, Kronos(R) Incorporated (Nasdaq: KRON) and H. B. Maynard and Company, Inc.(R) have formed a business relationship. The relationship provides an enhanced workforce scheduling solution based on the integration of the Kronos for Retail solution and Maynard's industry-leading software used to generate engineered labor standards. This solution allows retailers to more effectively and efficiently deploy their workforce, leading to increased employee and customer satisfaction as well as improved productivity. Kronos and Maynard made this announcement from the National Retail Federation (NRF) Retail Big Show being held Jan. 16-19 in New York.

By integrating the scheduling solution available in Kronos for Retail with StandardsPro(R), Maynard's engineered standards, retailers are able to better manage the planning, budgeting, and performance of their workforce across all stores and business units. This integration results in more accurate and actionable workforce information. It also promotes and supports a standardized approach to identifying and reacting to business issues or opportunities.

"With our Kronos for Retail offering, we give retailers the ability to completely automate and optimize all of their workforce management needs," said John Anderson, director of retail industry marketing at Kronos. "By teaming up with Maynard and integrating our solution with their widely sought-after industrial engineering expertise and approach to developing labor standards, we are able to increase the benefits that our offering brings to retailers."

Bringing together two leaders in the retail market

With its Kronos for Retail offering, Kronos helps organizations accurately forecast business, calculate labor needs, and create optimized schedules to meet customer demand. These schedules can be based on various employee attributes such as skill set, availability, seniority, and work rules. Budget constraints and employee work/life preferences including availability, job assignment, and hours worked also are taken into consideration. By creating a schedule that not only meets the needs of customers, but employees as well, organizations improve employee satisfaction leading to increased productivity and reduced turnover.

Maynard's StandardsPro product has been used throughout various industries to help companies create and maintain engineered labor standards. In retail, StandardsPro combines Maynard's standard data approach and Maynard Operation Sequence Technique (MOST(R)) work measurement system, with an attributes database to produce store-specific labor standards. These standards can then be used to estimate labor needs, by department and/or job class, based on volume drivers and other key variables. The data, development approach, and software work in concert to minimize the time operations personnel spend on system maintenance.

"We heard from leading retailers that in order to reach optimal workforce performance, they need an end-to-end solution that integrates labor standards and a scheduling solution. Aligning ourselves with the leader in providing workforce management solutions demonstrates our continued focus and commitment to our customers' needs," said Ed Gill, executive vice president at Maynard. "Our mission is to provide tools, training, and guidance to help organizations improve workforce performance and eliminate waste. By partnering with Kronos, we are strengthening our ability to fulfill this mission and provide greater value to our clients."

About H. B. Maynard and Company, Inc.

H. B. Maynard and Company, Inc. ("Maynard") helps leading retailers to improve workforce performance by providing tools, training, and expertise in labor management, best methods, workplace organization, labor standards, and staffing. Results focus on reducing labor costs while meeting customer service objectives. Maynard, headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA, has been helping companies improve their productivity, quality, and culture for over 70 years. The company has developed The Maynard Workforce Performance Model(TM), a multi-disciplined strategy, to assist companies in improving the productivity, quality, and culture of their organizations. The model includes disciplines such as: 5-S; Work Flow Design; Setup Reduction; Best Methods; Engineered Standards; and Performance Management. A complete array of published materials, training courses, and software products support each discipline.

About Kronos Incorporated

Kronos Incorporated is the most trusted name in workforce management. Kronos helps organizations staff, develop, deploy, track, and reward their workforce, resulting in reduced costs, increased productivity, better decision-making, improved employee satisfaction, and alignment with organizational objectives. More than 20 million people use a Kronos solution every day. Learn more about Kronos' high-impact enterprise solutions at www.kronos.com.

(C) 2005 Kronos Incorporated. Kronos and the Kronos logo are registered trademarks of Kronos Incorporated or a related company. All other product and company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.