CHD Meridian Healthcare Streamlines HR and Talent Management with UltiPro

Ultimate Software (Nasdaq:ULTI), a leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, announced today that CHD Meridian Healthcare, an I-trax, Inc. company and the leading provider of workplace healthcare, has achieved significant efficiencies and strategic benefits since rolling out core UltiPro, UltiPro Performance Management, and UltiPro Salary Budget Administration delivered through Ultimate Software’s software-as-a-service model, Intersourcing and has purchased UltiPro Recruitment. With approximately 2,500 employees and 28 Federal Identification Numbers, CHD Meridian Healthcare chose Ultimate Software for its comprehensive employee management Web-based feature-set to streamline processes, hold down costs, improve service to employees, and ultimately allow human resources the time and tools to efficiently acquire and retain the best talent possible. UltiPro’s functionality is helping the healthcare organization: improve talent management, expedite compensation management, empower leadership with customizable business intelligence reporting, and automate hundreds of paper-based transactions. For employees in its corporate headquarters, CHD Meridian Healthcare started managing performance appraisals, self-appraisals, goal setting, and competency scoring with UltiPro Performance Management in February 2007. Today, employees regularly interact with the system to keep track of milestones and log their performance progress. "When we first rolled out UltiPro Performance Management, our employees and managers were tentative,” said Ava DeFonzo, CHD Meridian Healthcare’s payroll and HRIS manager. "But as soon as they realized its capabilities and figured out how easy and efficient the solution is, their sentiment changed. We are in the process of rolling it out to all 230 locations in 34 states and elevating our talent management to a new level by identifying and rewarding performers consistently companywide. We want to be clear about the objectives that employees know they need to achieve in order to be successful.” UltiPro Performance Management functionality allows organizations to proactively manage employee performance as part of an overall talent management strategy. With online performance review capabilities, including 360-degree feedback and goal-setting tools, UltiPro Performance Management can help businesses better understand employee competencies, identify and reduce competency gaps, and plan for future workforce needs. After performance data was completed this spring, CHD Meridian Healthcare’s managers submitted merit increases and market adjustments online. Before using UltiPro Salary Budget Administration, management handled salary adjustments with paper forms that had to be completed and mailed to HR, where data was manually entered. Because UltiPro Performance Management and UltiPro Salary Budget Administration are integrated with UltiPro, information is reportable from core UltiPro on its own or combined with other workforce metrics and can be easily shared without redundant data entry. "We had little, if any, human capital reporting available before UltiPro, and nothing was real-time,” said DeFonzo. "Earlier this year, using UltiPro, I developed the first in-depth turnover analysis, which managers and executives found very helpful. I have also used UltiPro to report on important HR topics such as benefits and compensation forecasting.” CHD Meridian Healthcare will begin using UltiPro Recruitment by the end of the year and plans to roll out Web self-service for managers and benefits enrollment soon after. By automating and integrating all of its talent management activities with UltiPro, DeFonzo and her team have established a holistic approach to human resource management. "Until UltiPro, we were a rapidly growing company that was functioning like a small company from a human resource perspective because we were bogged down managing paper transactions,” said DeFonzo. "Not only is the team already able to spend more time on strategic projects like talent management and become HR business partners, but with UltiPro, we are also anticipating a rapid payback.” "UltiPro can help to transform the contributions that HR teams make to impact overall business performance business, as it has for CHD Meridian Healthcare,” said Greg Swick, senior vice president of sales for Ultimate Software. "We are happy to see that Ava DeFonzo and her team are taking advantage of the broad scope of functionality that UltiPro delivers to manage the employee life cycle efficiently, cost effectively, and strategically.” About CHD Meridian Healthcare CHD Meridian Healthcare, an I-trax company, is the leading provider of integrated workplace health and productivity management solutions. Serving more than 100 clients in 34 states, CHD Meridian Healthcare offers on-site health centers, which deliver primary care, acute care, corporate health, occupational health and pharmacy care management services, as well as integrated disease management, wellness, and lifestyle management programs. CHD Meridian Healthcare provides a comprehensive solution utilizing telephonic and e-health tools to enhance the trusted relationship established by its clinicians at the worksite. CHD Meridian Healthcare is focused on helping companies achieve employer-of-choice status, making the workplace safe, improving the quality of care and the productivity of the workforce while mitigating healthcare costs. Managing employer-sponsored health centers for over 40 years, some of CHD Meridian Healthcare’s clients include: BMW, Blue Ridge Paper, Coors Brewing Company, Coushatta Casino Resort, Deutsche Bank, Eastman Chemical, Fieldale Farms, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Lowe’s, Toyota, UnumProvident and US Steel. For more information, visit www.chdmeridian.com. About Ultimate Software A leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, Ultimate Software markets its award-winning UltiPro products as on-demand services through its software-as-a-service offering, Intersourcing, and as licensed software. Based in Weston, FL, Ultimate Software employs more than 700 professionals who are focused on developing the highest quality products and services. Ultimate Software’s IT team won a first-place award for its management of Intersourcing, from the American Business Awards in 2007, and its customer service team won two first-place awards for service excellence in 2006, one from the Service & Support Professionals Association and another from the American Business Awards. Ultimate Software was named a "Leader” in Forrester Research Inc.’s 2006 U.S. Midmarket HR solutions Wave ranking and ranked #3 on the 2006 and 2007 lists of the Best Medium-Sized Companies to Work For in America by the Great Place to Work Institute. Ultimate Software customers represent diverse industries and include such organizations as The Container Store, Elizabeth Arden, The Florida Marlins Baseball Team, The New York Yankees Baseball Team, Nintendo of America, Ruth’s Chris Steak House, and SkyWest Airlines. More information on Ultimate Software’s products and services can be found at www.ultimatesoftware.com. UltiPro and Intersourcing are registered trademarks of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.