Hospitality Net

DALLAS | UniFocus, a global pioneer in the hospitality industry for performance, workforce management and closed-loop feedback solutions, announced that Mohonk Mountain House has implemented the company’s Watson, R.M.™ Time & Attendance system throughout all of its pristine facilities.

Mohonk Mountain House is celebrating its 140th Anniversary; the grand 265-room Victorian castle and strikingly beautiful destination resort is set in the spectacular Shawangunk Mountains in upstate New York. It also includes a 30,000-square-foot Spa with more than 200 windows overlooking 2,200 acres of majestic surroundings.

“We have worked with UniFocus before and experienced much success with their GUESTScope and MEETINGScope feedback solutions,” said Joe Barton, Director of IT for Mohonk Mountain House. “After looking at their smart labor management technology, it was an easy choice to go with Watson, R.M. Time & Attendance, which provides us with consistent, real-time punch control. This capability gives us significant cost savings, seeing the number of missed punches dramatically reduced.”

The UniFocus Watson, R.M. Time & Attendance system includes a new time recording communication clock that enables punch control based on integrated schedules without the need for managers’ overrides. The result is a true paperless solution that incorporates punch corrections and measurement to standards.

“We are also very pleased with the new Time & Attendance touch screens from UniFocus,” remarked Barton. “Everyone is very comfortable with the interactive functionality of the staff kiosks and reliability of the biometric readers. There will always be some initial resistance to change; however, what is most impressive is that after only two weeks, UniFocus’ Time & Attendance smart clock technology fit right into place with the Historic Victorian setting here as much as anything else in our 140-year history.

“In fact, with UniFocus the entire process from inquiry to post install was well managed and impeccably professional,” continued Barton. “The technical expertise is unequaled with regards to the hospitality industry, especially relating to gratuity/tip calculations.”

Watson, R.M. Time & Attendance offers modular architectural framework that enables hospitality organizations to seamlessly integrate with smart labor management systems from UniFocus. In the past it was necessary to create interfaces for time & attendance with forecasting, planning, budgeting and scheduling. UniFocus not only brings these components together but provides the innate ability to produce real knowledge.

“We are pleased to announce our expanded partnership with Mohonk Mountain House as another example of how upscale resort destinations can fine-tune operations for success in today’s environment,” said Mark Heymann, UniFocus President and CEO. “Our Watson, R.M. Time & Attendance system is a flexible and expandable solution that includes the integrated labor scheduling module, which enables managers to easily create group or individual schedules and run reports for absenteeism, time off, and see who is late or early.

“Watson, R.M. Time & Attendance provides forecasting, automatic scheduling, flex budgeting and accurate management reports—all accessible from a single source,” continued Heymann. “We look forward to working with Mohonk Mountain House to help them optimize management of their most important asset, their employees.”

The Watson, R.M. Time and Attendance system integrates with biometric or badge-reader systems. It is also web-based, so companies using manual solutions can enjoy access to labor information—any time, any place. At the touch of a button, time may be allocated to tasks for future job costing and various work allocations.

UniFocus also provides its Watson, R.M. Labor Management System, which incorporates sophisticated industry-specific statistical analysis to project short-term business volumes; and then optimizes workforce schedules by identifying the critical relationships between key business volumes, such as number of guests to be served at any given point in time and the necessary staff to meet service standards.

Additionally, Watson, R.M. Budgeter enables flexible cost assessments in relation to actual business serviced and operating standards, thereby ensuring accurate evaluation of cost performance.

About Mohonk Mountain House | Mohonk Mountain House is a National Historic Landmark and Historic Hotel of America located in the Hudson Valley region of New York State, just 90 miles north of New York City. The resort is celebrating its 140th Anniversary in 2009, marking the milestone of having provided recreation and renewal of body, mind, and spirit in a beautiful natural setting since 1869. The award-winning 30,000-square-foot Spa wing at Mohonk Mountain House features 16 treatment rooms, a solarium, and outdoor heated mineral pool, along with an indoor heated swimming pool with an underwater sound system, comprehensive fitness center, and yoga/motion studio. The Spa is heated and cooled by a geo-thermal system and has a partial “green roof” and has been honored by Spa magazine as one of the best “Eco Spas” nationwide. It has also been acclaimed by Luxury Spafinder as one of the most affordable spas, and has been voted one of the “Top 25 Resort Spas in North America” by Conde Nast Traveler magazine. Mohonk’s spectacular Skating Pavilion is host to special activities including skating lessons and corporate teambuilding programs. For invigorating outdoor fun, guests can enjoy 85 miles of trails for seasonal hiking, mountain biking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. Overnight guests can enjoy rock climbing on one of the most acclaimed cliffs in the world. The grounds feature exquisite gardens, a challenging nine-hole golf course, red clay tennis courts, and stables with horseback riding and horse-drawn carriage rides. The half-mile-long, glacial-formed Lake Mohonk is ideal for boating, fishing, and swimming. Extensive composting, recycling, and nature interpretation programs are hallmarks of the ongoing stewardship efforts undertaken at Mohonk Mountain House. Over 40 theme programs are presented annually, including culinary classes, gardening workshops, music festivals, nature programs, and more. Overnight rates at Mohonk Mountain House include charming accommodations, breakfast, lunch, dinner, Afternoon Tea and Cookies, and most resort activities. For additional information, please call 800.772.6646 or visit www.mohonk.com.

About UniFocus | Based in Dallas, UniFocus serves hospitality, casino and resort operations in the U.S. and overseas. UniFocus offers full-service operational analysis, management and staff training, financial and labor management applications, as well as staff, meeting planner and guest satisfaction measurement programs, along with a unique mystery evaluation system that can link service standard attainment to guest and employee perceptions. The resulting database allows UniFocus to uniquely correlate and benchmark each client’s performance to their particular competitive markets. Enhanced reporting capabilities allow hospitality executives to have a “total picture” overview of their operations, set strategic actions and gain asset value.

UniFocus is a Preferred Partner of The Leading Hotels of the World®, a member of the American Resort Development Association (ARDA), a member of the Association of Collegiate Conference and Events Directors-International (ACCED-I), a Microsoft® Certified Partner, an affinity partner of the International Association of Conference Centers, a business partner of Destination Marketing Association International, and an allied member of the American Hotel & Lodging Association. For more information, visit www.unifocus.com or call 972-512-5100.