Ultimate Software: Bringing Anonymous Crowd Sourcing to the HR Game

As discussed in our recent research, design thinking as well as automation and analytics are core ideals in the As-a-Service Economy. Service providers need to effectively integrate these ideals into new offerings and platforms to stay relevant in today’s market.

US-based SaaS company Ultimate Software addressed these ideals as it developed its full suite of HCM systems that span talent acquisition, onboarding, employee engagement, payroll and benefits—essentially a hire-to-retire system. The company also brings a new age mindset to its management structure, turning the age-old practice of pandering to shareholders—through cost cutting measures—on its head. Ultimate has taken on a focused “employee first” mentality. Coming from an HCM SaaS provider, this can’t be a bad thing.

Ultimately (excuse the pun), it has worked. Ultimate reported operating margins of 20% in 2015 (while reinvesting 20% of its top line figures back into R&D) and has achieved a CAGR of 29% from 2002, all very impressive numbers from a SaaS provider in this day and age. The company employees around 2,800 staff and supports 3,000, mainly US multinational, clients in 160 countries.

What really differentiates Ultimate and facilitates this level of growth and profitability? Looking after employees is fine, but in the end a company still needs an effective product to sell.

The company’s design thinking philosophy is plain to see as it has aimed to make its HCM systems as user friendly as possible. It has made extensive use of iconographers and usability engineers to enhance the user experience. Moving beyond a sea of sticky notes and focus groups, to a more formalized and systematic feedback loop that delivers on what clients are seeking: a simple, effective and mobile user experience.

Automation and analytics are also effectively integrated into the system. At the lower end of the scale, Ultimate uses data gathered from a candidate, such as work experience, industry experience, etc., to identify the best job fit.

At the higher end of spectrum, the company uses predictive and prescriptive analytics. The employee engagement system identifies predefined parameters to identify not only top- and bottom-rated employees but also those that have the highest risk of leaving. The system then goes one step beyond in its use of prescriptive analytics. Data sets from HR managers across the Ultimate client portfolio are gathered and aggregated to put together a best practice list for each specific scenario of an employee’s lifecycle. The system can then automatically prepopulate action lists for HR managers to undertake.

Is this the start of the rise of the machine in its quest to remove the role of the HR manager? No, at least not yet! The important message here is not that this is a way to share best practices, which it is. It is a way to determine what best practice is because these actions have been validated and shown to be effective.

This is a tool—an effective way for true best practice of HR managerial functions to be shared anonymously. Which, in theory, should lead not only to a better-equipped HR manager but also a more engaged workforce. And as Ultimate has shown, the business benefits of this are significant.