"We have a multicultural, diverse demographic of employees, so we need to meet them where they are with our HR technology, which we have with UltiPro"
WESTON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading cloud provider of people management solutions, announced today that Northgate Markets, the owner and operator of approximately 40 supermarkets with 5,000 employees, has improved people management processes and addressed HR business issues related to diversity, communications with a large dispersed workforce, and operational effectiveness since leveraging the UltiPro solution.
Headquartered in Anaheim, CA, and founded in 1980, Northgate Markets is a rapidly expanding retailer that caters to the Hispanic community. The independent supermarket chain has more than doubled in size within the last six years and needed sophisticated HCM technology that could accommodate employees with preferred languages, cultural backgrounds, age, education, and experience with technology. The company replaced the service bureaus and spreadsheets it had been using for payroll and HR with UltiPro in 2011.
"We have a multicultural, diverse demographic of employees, so we need to meet them where they are with our HR technology, which we have with UltiPro," said Teresa Anaya, senior talent manager at Northgate Markets. "We have a strong family culture at Northgate, which is extremely important to us. We have employees with 35 years of tenure and people who just started today, and we want them all to be happy and engaged. With UltiPro, our people can select the language of their choice, access information at their convenience, and manage many processes on their own-which says a lot about UltiPro's person-centric capabilities since some of our employees had minimal computer experience."
Even with the diversity of its workforce that uses UltiPro for job applications, onboarding, benefits enrollment, and access to their personal HR and payroll details, Northgate reports that adoption of UltiPro has been high and the project marked as a success. Anaya credits UltiPro's flexibility, ease of use, and direct access for employees for its high adoption rate.
"We are proud that our technology is attractive to the newer generation of workers, but yet not too complicated to deter our people who might have less exposure to technology. UltiPro can accommodate each person and his or her preferences, background, or experience," said Anaya. "Because we have one single solution for all of our HCM processes, the consistency of our operations has improved and communication across our many locations is better. Our employees know that they should go to UltiPro for all things related to people."
For Northgate, UltiPro is improving communications among its dispersed workforce; enabling instant, 24-7 access to employee pay, benefits, and HR details; eliminating many inquiries to HR and payroll; providing strategic HCM metrics to decision-makers; and delivering a positive user experience by allowing employees to select personal preferences and individual settings, such as language.
Before going live on UltiPro in 2011, Northgate had more difficulty communicating with employees and managing information. Northgate used a service bureau for payroll, and Anaya and her team had to rely on paper, emails, and spreadsheets for HR, which created extra manual effort and costs. Data was not consistent from location to location, and accurate, real-time reporting was difficult. Today, paper-laden processes like onboarding, benefits enrollment, and performance management are automated while employee data is consistent, reliable, and immediately available for analysis at any time.
"UltiPro has really helped us become more efficient in our HR roles. We're able to do our work better. For example, UltiPro Onboarding has been a huge win for our business because we can do so much in a fraction of the time with so little paper and with more accuracy-which adds key business value with the kind of expansion that we have experienced and that we have planned," said Anaya.
"Other improvements have been with benefits enrollment, which reduced several days of work from our previous methods; the speed of our payroll processing, which has decreased from hours to minutes; and increased strategic insight because of the workforce analytics that come with UltiPro Business Intelligence. With UltiPro Performance Management, aligning individual and team goals with company goals is easier, we're all in sync, and accountability has increased. With a plan to grow five stores and add hundreds of new employees per year, UltiPro has streamlined the path for our workforce to grow and develop."
"At Ultimate Software, designing and delivering person-centric technology is what has driven us to create the innovative products and services we offer today. As a result, rapidly expanding businesses with a diverse population of employees, like Northgate Markets, can better achieve their strategic goals," said Greg Swick, chief sales officer at Ultimate Software. "From recruitment through retirement, UltiPro transforms human capital management by centralizing information, making it all easily accessible and tailored to the user experience, and enabling HR leaders to focus on key business initiatives. We're very happy that UltiPro is connecting the people at Northgate Markets with the information and resources they need to work more effectively."
About Ultimate Software
Ultimate is a leading cloud provider of people management solutions, with more than 10 million people records in the cloud. Built on the belief that people are the most important ingredient of any business, Ultimate's award-winning UltiPro delivers HR, payroll, time, and talent management solutions that seamlessly connect people with the information and resources they need to work more effectively. Founded in 1990, the company is headquartered in Weston, Florida, and has more than 1,700 professionals focused on developing the highest quality solutions and services. In 2013, Ultimate was ranked #9 on FORTUNE'S list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For," and Minyanville Media Inc. named Ultimate among the top 10 most ethical businesses in the U.S. In its Cloud Buyer's Bill of Rights Certification, Constellation Research awarded Ultimate its highest level of certification. Ultimate has more than 2,500 customers with employees in 144 countries, including Adobe Systems Incorporated, Culligan International, Major League Baseball, Pep Boys, Texas Rangers Baseball, and Texas Roadhouse. More information on Ultimate's products and services for people management can be found at 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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