Overview
We continue our coverage of The HRExaminer 2020 Watchlist today with the second of twelve organizational profiles. The entire list of organizations appearing on this year’s Watchlist can be seen on our introductory Watchlist post located here. Each of the twelve companies we’ve selected this year represent a different value proposition and core functionality across the entire spectrum of the industry.
These outfits are pushing the boundaries out. Individually, they each have a specific value proposition that was not conceivable even three years ago.
Primary Business & Award Category
Primary Business: Comprehensive Human Capital Management Toolset
Award Category: Most Effective Broad Deployment of ‘AI’ Tools
Profile
Company: Ultimate Software
Size: 5,400+ Employees
Age: 29 years
Location: Fort Lauderdale, FL
Web Address: ultimatesoftware.com
Phone: 800-432-1729
Email address: info@ultimatesoftware.com
Company Description
Founded by Scott Scherr in 1990, Ultimate Software is a privately held provider of enterprise software for a range of HR processes. From Payroll to Recruiting worth all of the stops between, Ultimate is a $1B+ business built in the SMB market. Today the firm is an increasingly important presence in the large enterprise segment.
At the heart of the company’s growth and history is an unusually deep commitment to the reciprocal relationship between the organization and its employees. Ultimate ‘peeps’ are a singularly loyal bunch who believe that their emphasis on the employee as the heart of the enterprise is a repeatable model.
The company is the center of an equally robust ecosystem of vendors who provide supplemental solutions. Reciprocity is at the heart of the various relationships in this aspect of the business.
The company is an industry leader in effort to understand and manage culture. Their work is particularly interesting in the areas of diversity, belonging, and the multi-generational workforce. With the largest deployment of intelligent tools in the industry (over 600 accounts using their Perception tool alone), Ultimate pioneered the idea of making ‘AI’ the heart of the service.
Why This Matters
Someone has to go first. Ultimate is demonstrating a method for deploying intelligent tools that are built on core values of respect for the individual and broader understanding of the workforce.
The 2018 acquisition of PeopleDoc (an HR Services Delivery solution) shows that Ultimate’s view of the market is not limited to moving technology forward. Instead, the company deploys ‘AI’ as a part of a larger drive to make their clients effective. Rapidly growing deployment scale makes it possible for the company to begin seeing the meaning of employee sentiment across corporate cultures.
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Tools in HR Technology: The Birth
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