WESTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions in the cloud, announced today that it delivered a new capability focused on helping managers become stronger leaders and, in doing so, enhance overall organizational culture. Using a powerful combination of its award-winning predictive analytics and new prescriptive actions, UltiPro® guides managers with best-practice actions to better engage, develop, and retain key talent on their teams. The new “My Leadership Actions” feature is available to all customers that use UltiPro’s talent management products in the Winter 2016 Release of UltiPro. In addition to the My Leadership Actions feature, the UltiPro Winter 2016 Release also includes a new “at-a-glance” dashboard for monitoring compliance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (most commonly known as the ACA).
With 180 new features and enhancements, including more than 60 customer ideas, UltiPro’s Winter 2016 Release grows its predictive analytic suite to deliver leaders insight into how they guide, manage, and influence their talent so they will add more value and stay with their organizations.
Prescriptive Analytics and Leadership Actions
UltiPro’s Winter 2016 Release builds upon the solution’s current offerings in HCM analytics with the new prescriptive feature called “My Leadership Actions.” Triggered by key predictive analytic measures—the UltiPro Retention Predictor™ and UltiPro High Performer Predictor™—My Leadership Actions provide managers with actionable next steps to engage with their individual team members. In addition to helping managers become better leaders with machine learning-driven prescriptive actions focused on helping managers retain and grow key talent, the new feature can also be extended by HR leaders using user-defined actions to support other cultural and management initiatives for the organization.
UltiPro’s My Leadership Actions tool provides managers with an extensive library of best-practice suggested actions in 16 different engagement-driver categories, such as:
- Autonomy and Freedom
- Collaboration
- Difficult Conversations
- Growth Opportunities
- Life Change
- Meaningful Work
Managers can leverage the new prescriptive analytics to plan and track activities with their employees, aimed at proactively engaging and retaining them.
“Ultimate Software operates with a commitment to always put people first, which drives the strategy behind designing our products and services. We focus on and understand the impact that culture and leadership can have on talent. With My Leadership Actions, we’re taking predictive analytics and performance management to the next level and delivering concrete steps managers and leaders can take to help strengthen the organization and their people,” said Adam Rogers, Chief Technology Officer, Ultimate Software. “Timely and relevant manager actions—from career coaching to publicly acknowledging successes at the right time—can mean the difference between keeping a high-performing employee and losing valuable talent.”
“Analytics are of value only if you can use them to make a decision or take action,” said Lisa Rowan, Research Vice President, HR and Talent Management Services, IDC. “Managers traditionally have been promoted because they are good at their functional jobs. They need in-context coaching and support to develop effectively in their role as people managers. Ultimate’s Leadership Actions provide actionable insight—they go beyond highlighting the issues, and provide suggested actions managers can take to help them develop, retain, and motivate their teams.”
In addition to building and sustaining talent, many organizations are focused on how best to manage 2016 ACA requirements. UltiPro’s Winter 2016 Release delivers reporting and services to support Ultimate’s customers that want to automate or outsource ACA-related processes.
New Affordable Care Act Dashboard
Penalties for non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act go into effect in 2016. U.S. employers with at least 100 full-time employees in 2015, including full-time equivalents, are required to file Forms 1094-C and 1095-C with the IRS in order to avoid penalties.
UltiPro’s ACA Toolkit provides the capabilities employers need to complete all required reporting, forms, and filing for the 2016 deadline. The new ACA Dashboard delivers a graphical display of an employer’s status on key compliance requirements.
UltiPro’s ACA Dashboard displays:
- Employee eligibility
- Penalty risk, in dollars
- Number of employees offered coverage, to date
- Number of employees that have received Form 1095-C, to date
- Days remaining until upcoming deadlines
Additional ACA Toolkit features include automatic generation of Forms 1094-C and 1095-C, the ability to obtain employee electronic consent, and extensive reporting for ACA compliance. Customers who prefer further assistance can also leverage Ultimate’s ACA Employer Services to have experts from Ultimate, a certified and IRS-approved transmitter, manage their filing, distribution, and more.
“In terms of compliance with the Affordable Care Act, UltiPro has given us the tools to track and automatically analyze employee hours of service in order to determine eligibility status,” said Traci Allen, Corporate Human Resources Director, Mid-Atlantic Health Care. “This is especially important in the healthcare industry, where we have a large number of per diem employees working long hours. UltiPro helps us to proactively monitor eligibility and compliance in one central dashboard. As a result, UltiPro has provided our managers, HR teams, and executives with peace of mind that we are fully compliant with the new healthcare legislation.”
Partner News
Ultimate continues to grow its partner ecosystem to provide customers with more options for leveraging complementary products and services. In winter 2016, Ultimate extended the value of UltiPro with connectivity to:
- PlanSource, a technology company driven to create a better benefits and HR experience for employers and their employees. PlanSource offers flexible and intuitive software for benefits administration, insurance exchanges, and human capital management. Its cloud-based technology helps nearly 10,000 employers and 3.5 million consumers with benefits shopping, enrollment, billing, compliance, and administration. The partnership with PlanSource extends the options for Ultimate Software customers to use sophisticated benefits administration software that is seamlessly integrated with UltiPro and offers products from major health and wellness carriers.
- TalentWise is a leading cloud solutions provider in the HCM industry for employment and drug screening new hires—from offer letter to day one. The TalentWise Cloud is built on a foundation of compliance, embracing ever-changing federal, state, and local government regulations; industry standards; and corporate policies.
- Benefitfocus, a leading provider of cloud-based benefits software solutions for consumers, employers, insurance carriers, and brokers. Benefitfocus has served more than 25 million consumers on its platform that consists of an integrated portfolio of products and services enabling clients to more efficiently shop, enroll, manage, and exchange benefits information.
“Ultimate's Partner Network continues to grow with like-minded service providers that help us put people, not software, at the center of our solutions,” said Rogers. “We welcome our latest partners, and their diverse expertise and commitment to our culture of customer service.”
About Ultimate Software
Ultimate is a leading provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions, with more than 20 million people records in the cloud. Ultimate’s award-winning UltiPro delivers HR, payroll, talent, and time and labor management solutions that connect people with the information they need to work more effectively. Founded in 1990, the company is headquartered in Weston, Florida, and employs more than 2,700 professionals. In 2015, for the fourth consecutive year, Ultimate was ranked in the top 25 on FORTUNE’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For; recognized by FORTUNE as one of the 100 Fastest-Growing Companies; ranked #7 on Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 Most Innovative Growth Companies; named among the InformationWeek Elite 100, honoring innovation in business technology; and recognized as a “Leader” in Nucleus Research’s HCM Technology Value Matrix. Ultimate has more than 3,000 customers with employees in 160 countries, including Bloomin’ Brands, Culligan International, Feeding America, Major League Baseball, Pep Boys, SUBWAY, Texas Roadhouse, and Yamaha Corporation of America. More information on Ultimate’s products and services for people management can be found at http://www.ultimatesoftware.com.
UltiPro is a registered trademark of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.
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