Ultimate Software presentation

Research Bulletin | 2014
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September 23, 2014
The Latest in Enterprise Learning & Talent Management
About the Author
Katherine Jones, Ph.D.
Vice President
HCM Technology Research
Bersin by Deloitte
Deloitte Consulting LLP
Copyright © 2014 Deloitte Development LLC. All rights reserved.
This material is licensed to Ultimate Software for distribution only.
Imagine if people could choose their employers as they choose a book or a sweater online. Would your current employees “buy” your company? Would they recommend that others choose you as an employer? Would their comments reflect your employer brand, or would they suggest that working for your organization isn’t quite the same as what is pictured on the “package”?
With highly skilled talent in short supply, the idea of employees as consumers has become a reality. Some organizations are differentiating themselves as an “employer of choice” by becoming more employee- centric, treating their employees much the same the way they treat their customers. These organizations are using strategies similar to those used to attract and retain customers—personalization, technology that is in alignment with their people-focused efforts, and effective branding—to build employee loyalty and passion. This research bulletin describes how organizations such as Texas Roadhouse, Camden Property Trust, and Ultimate Software are using their employee-centric strategies to grow their businesses.
This research bulletin describes:
• The employee-centric strategies three organizations are using to improve engagement and reach their business goals
• The implications for HR in creating an employee-centric culture, including policies, processes, and technology
• Leading practices and recommendations for becoming an
employee-centric organization
Wooing the Workforce: Creating an Employee- Centric Organization

Wooing the Workforce: Creating an Employee-Centric Organization
Katherine Jones, Ph.D. | Page 2
Understanding Employee-Centricity
Marcy started at her company three years ago, right after leaving
college. She was excited about joining the company at first, but now
Marcy leaves frustrated at the end of the day. Her boss and coworkers
are nice enough, but things always seem to be harder than they need
to be and no one seems to really like being there. She often spends her
lunch scanning job boards, but she isn’t convinced that things would be
any different at another company.
Marcy’s experience is not uncommon. According to Gallup’s 2013
State of the American Workforce report, 70 percent of workers in the
United States are either not engaged or actively disengaged at work. In
addition to the costs of turnover, this lack of engagement leads to lost
productivity totaling between $450 and $550 billion dollars per year.1
Of course, many organizations attempt to increase employee
engagement through a variety of methods. But according to a Bersin
by Deloitte study, even though 71 percent of organizations include
an engagement metric on their scorecards, only 35 percent believe
that their engagement efforts led to positive business outcomes.2 This
may be in part because of a tendency to mistake perks and benefits
for true engagement initiatives.3 Instead of focusing on these efforts,
organizations that have been able to move the dial on employee
engagement tend to be “employee-centric.” These companies place the
employee experience at the heart of their business strategy and treat
their employees as if they were customers of both the management and
the processes of the organization.
1 Source: State of the American Workforce: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S.
Business Leaders, Gallup, 2013, www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.
aspx. Note: Studies suggest that turnover cost can range from 30 to 50 percent
of an entry-level worker’s salary to upward of 400 percent of a senior-level position’s salary
once retraining and lost productivity are taken into account.
2 For more information, Implementing Employee Engagement to Drive Business Results:
How Hellmann Worldwide Logistics Used Engagement as a Powerful Tool to Foster High-
Level Employee Performance, Bersin by Deloitte / David Mallon and Brenda Kowske, Ph.D.,
February 2014. Available to research members at www.bersin.com/library.
3 Source: “Don’t Pamper Employees—Engage Them,” Gallup Business Journal / Susan
Sorenson, July 2, 2013, http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/163316/don-pamper-employees-
engage.aspx.
Employee-centric
organizations treat
their employees
as if they were
customers of the
management and
processes of the
company.
KEY POINT

This type of strategy is based on a model in which companies
systematically invest in the employee experience to ensure that the
leading talent is hired, retained, and empowered. This can result in
exceptional customer service and, in turn, shareholder value. These
companies then reinvest in the employee experience to continue the
cycle (see Figure 1). In essence, an employee-centric model formalizes
the common mantra of “Our people are our best asset.”
Employee-centricity leads to “employee passion” (see Figure 2), which
drives employees to devote their time and energy to work, proactively
going above and beyond expectations to help their organization
achieve its business goals.4
4 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources –
The Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014. Available to
research members at www.bersin.com/library.
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.
Figure 1: Employee-Centricity Leads to Value for Customers
and Shareholders, Reinvestment in the Employee Experience
Employee
Value
Customer
Value
Shareholder
Value

Employee passion occurs when employees feel that they are valued as
individuals and can contribute to the success of the organization both
now and in the future; that they have a flexible and inclusive work
environment; and that they can trust their leadership.5
So how would Marcy’s story unfold differently if the company she
works for focused on building employee passion? This research bulletin
explores the strategies that employee-centric organizations use and the
key role of the HR function.
Characteristics of an Employee-Centric Organization
In the “age of the customer,”6 organizations are looking to understand
their customers’ needs and values and to collaborate with the customer
to develop products and services. This involves “meeting customers
5 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources – The
Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014.
6 Source: Smarter Process in the age of the customer: Reinventing business operations for
top line growth, IBM Software / Brian Safron and Vijay Pandiarajan, April 2013, ftp://public.
dhe.ibm.com/software/uk/pdf/Smarter_Process_in_the_age_of_the_customer_April_2013.pdf.
Source: Bersin by Deloitte, 2014.5
Figure 2: More than Perks—Drivers of “Employee Passion”
Great
Work That
Matters
Flexible,
Supportive
Working
Environment
Inclusive
Culture
Superior
Management
Recognition
&
Rewards
Autonomy &
Control
Career &
Learning
Opportunities
Trust,
Meaning &
Purpose
A Passionate,
Highly Engaged
Workplace
Trust in Leadership
Career and Personal Opportunity
Ability to Contribute
Flexible Work Environment

where they are,” in the ways that they prefer to interact, and at the
moment of need. Employee-centric organizations do the same when it
comes to their human capital. They strive to understand what makes
their employees successful and use that information to invest in the
tools, technologies, and resources to support them. As the following
Case in Point describing the Texas Roadhouse restaurant chain shows,
employee-centricity is more than a collection of engagement initiatives
and perks; it is an organizational philosophy that influences key
business decisions.
Case in Point: Texas Roadhouse—Serving Up
Employee Engagement
Texas Roadhouse, a full-service casual dining chain, exemplifies
the concept of employee-centricity. Founded in 1993 by Kent
Taylor, Texas Roadhouse has built its business strategy around the
concept that if its 48,000 employees—or “Roadies”—are happy and
love their jobs, then customers will have a great experience and
return again. This employee-centric philosophy is more than just a
collection of initiatives aimed at improving employee engagement.
This central tenant underscores the company’s key business
strategies, from its core values to its corporate structure.
Developed in partnership with field management, the core values
of Texas Roadhouse are “Passion, Partnership, Integrity and Fun: All
with Purpose.” These core values reflect an understanding of the
challenges of working in the restaurant industry, which has a high
proportion of part-time workers and, typically, high turnover. The
core value of “fun,” for example, is exemplified by the line dancing
employees perform at the restaurant sites. This helps create positive
energy in the restaurant, entertains the guests (customers), and
creates a fun and interactive environment that allows “Roadies” to
go beyond typical business interactions. Every store (business unit)
has a “fun budget” that pays for internal contests and activities to
make sure that employees are aligned with the core value of fun,
that they love coming to work, and that local management has the
ability to spend money as they choose.

Case in Point: Texas Roadhouse—Serving Up Employee Engagement (cont’d)
Similarly, the term “partner” is built into job titles to reinforce
the “partnership” value. For example, general managers of
Texas Roadhouse restaurants are called managing partners.
Managing partners are considered to be the key customers of
the company’s support departments, which are housed at the
company’s “Support Center.” The idea that the organization
supports its employees, rather than dictating to them, can be
seen in their “inverted pyramid” model of leadership
(see Figure 3). The CEO is at the bottom of the pyramid, and his
role is to ensure that everyone in the organization is leveraging
resources to support employee needs, especially those of the
managing partners. The philosophy behind the inverted pyramid
is instilled at each restaurant so that the managing partners
and their assistant managers are all individually responsible for
supporting the employment experience of the cooks and servers
at a given location, ensuring they are dedicated to fulfilling the
mission of providing “Legendary Food, Legendary Service.”
Source: Bersin by Deloitte and Texas Roadhouse, 2014.
Figure 3: Texas Roadhouse’s “Inverted Pyramid” Leadership Structure
Managing Partners
Market Partners
Regional Partners
“Support Center”
Leadership
Founder /
CEO

As noted in Figure 3, the company sees the managing partner
role as critical to the company’s growth. Texas Roadhouse
supports the local autonomy of each restaurant and allows
considerable latitude on hiring decisions, marketing / promotions,
and performance management. Because of this, Texas
Roadhouse makes significant investments in ensuring the long-term
success of the managing partners. Prior to opening up a
restaurant, new managing partners spend a year preparing.
They receive 17 weeks of on-the-job training designed to help
them understand the Texas Roadhouse operating philosophy,
processes, and policies. They spend the remaining eight months
learning best practices and attending the openings of new
restaurants. This hands-on experience helps them plan and
customize their own opening by exposing them to multiple
strategies for different markets.
While Texas Roadhouse supports the individuality of each restaurant,
it uses technology as a “culture catalyst” to sustain company values
across its 400+ locations. For example, Texas Roadhouse uses its
UltiPro HR employee portal to share pictures of activities at each
restaurant and communications that support the culture. The site
is available online to the company’s large, geographically dispersed
workforce so employees can access the portal from work or home
and share photos and planned activities with their families. Similarly,
the company’s integrated HR and compensation solution (UltiPro)
was specifically tailored to the needs of the contingent, part-time
employees that characterize the local restaurant workforce.
Dashboard reporting to the managing partners helps them manage
their respective businesses and provides a range of tools to reduce
day-to-day administrative burdens. Many of these tools are launched
through mobile applications, both to create convenience and to
reinforce a contemporary employer brand. Investment in these
kinds of technologies frees up the managing partners to focus on
developing their people and building the Texas Roadhouse culture.
The balance of corporate support and local autonomy,
complemented by a compensation system that mixes the stability

of a base salary with the incentive of profit sharing, results in low
turnover of the managing partner role and higher-than-average
unit sales. The integration of Texas Roadhouses’ employee-centric
philosophy into its structure and technology has helped it build
and maintain a flexible culture designed to fulfill its mission of
“Legendary Food, Legendary Service.” The effectiveness of this
strategy is evidenced by the fact that the restaurant is one of the
few food service companies on the GlassDoor “Top 50 Great Places
to Work” list and Forbes’ list of “America’s 100 Most Trustworthy
Companies.” Further, Texas Roadhouse has experienced
year-over-year growth at a time when most other restaurant chains
have frequently struggled.7 e
Fostering the employee experience is particularly important in today’s
talent marketplace, in which competition for skilled talent is increasing
and the changing demographics of the workforce are creating new
workplace dynamics.8 Further, innovations in consumer technology
have set high expectations for how work gets done. As consumers,
employees experience technology that is simple, available anywhere
at any time, and personalized / contextualized—and they bring those
same expectations to work (see Figure 4). Often, however, these same
technologies don’t exist on the job. For example, a recent survey of
service industries found that employees spend over 50 percent of their
time managing the complexities of work rather than working with
customers.9 Employees are easily frustrated by what they perceive to be
overly complicated tools and processes, especially because they know
that it doesn’t have to be that way.
7 Source: Texas Roadhouse Annual Report 2013, April 11, 2014, http://files.
shareholder.com/downloads/TXRH/3230433677x0x743042/CB6225AE-9495-454F-A625-
798D371C83F7/2013_Annual_Report_and_2014_Proxy_Statement.pdf.
8 For more information, 2014 Predictions: Talent, Learning and Human Resources – The
Year of the Employee, Bersin by Deloitte / Josh Bersin, February 2014.
9 Source: Smarter Process in the age of the customer: Reinventing business operations for
top line growth, IBM Software / Brain Safron and Vijay Pandiarajan, April 2013, ftp://public.
dhe.ibm.com/software/uk/pdf/Smarter_Process_in_the_age_of_the_customer_April_2013.pdf.

Employee-centric organizations are willing to invest in not only the tools
employees need to do their jobs, but in creating the kind of environment
that helps employees love their jobs. Recently, Gallup found that only
22 percent of respondents who voluntarily quit mentioned pay and benefits
as a factor; instead, most responded that features of the work environment—
including manager quality, career development, and role fit—were key
contributors in the decision to leave.10 As the Cases in Point in this research
brief demonstrate, senior leaders in employee-centric companies are deeply
committed to helping employees feel passionate about their work, and they
are willing to design their organizational structures to support that vision.
Further, they are willing to continually make investments in the employee
experience to move beyond traditional satisfaction and engagement
(see Figure 5). While these efforts take time, organizations that maintain a
highly skilled, highly engaged workforce have been shown to have higher
revenue, innovation, and customer satisfaction than those that don’t.11
10 Source: “Turning Around Employee Turnover,”Gallup Business Journal / Jennifer Robison,
May 8, 2008, http://businessjournal.gallup.com/content/106912/turning-around-your-turnover-
problem.aspx.
11 Source: State of the American Workforce: Employee Engagement Insights for U.S.
Business Leaders, Gallup, 2013, www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.
aspx.
Customer Expectations “Employee as Customer” Expectations
Mobile
• I can compare and shop for products and
services wherever I am and with whatever
device I am using.
• I can be productive in my role wherever I am
and with whatever device I am using.
Personal /
Contextual
• Products and services are offered to me
based on an understanding of my history
and preferences.
• The company cares about me as an individual.
• I have the information and tools I need, and
they are specific to my role and experience.
• My company cares about me as an individual.
Social
• The opinions and experiences of friends and
others like me inform my preferences.
• The knowledge and experience of my
coworkers and experts inform my
business decisions.
Accessible
• I can find the information I need when
I need it.
• I can access my own information and
act on it.
• I can find the information I need when
I need it.
• I can access my own information and
act on it.
Figure 4: The Effect of Today’s Technologies on Customer and Employee Expectations

The Implications for HR in Creating an Employee-
Centric Culture
As the “people” arm of an organization’s business strategy, HR’s
role in an employee-centric organization goes beyond managing
traditional people processes. It requires rethinking key processes
from the perspective of the employee experience and then adapting
the organization to those needs. This may call for new skills and
technologies, or even, as the Texas Roadhouse Case in Point shows,
a significant restructuring of the HR role itself.
HR is not historically known for speed or transformational change,
so HR organizations that are committed to developing an employee-centric
organization need to develop agility. HR departments need the
data analysis skills to both understand their current employee base and
the workforce they are developing. HR should also partner with areas
such as finance, strategic planning, and IT to identify ways to integrate
changes into the fiber of the organization through compensation,
Figure 5: Evolution of an Employee-Centric Organization
Employee Satisfaction
Company Actions: Perks
and benefits
Employee Philosophy:
“Happy employees provide
better customer service.”
Employee Goals:
Contentment
Measures: Formal or
informal measures of morale
Employee Engagement
Company Actions: Discrete
engagement initiatives
“People are our
greatest asset.”
Employee Goals:
Discretionary effort
Measures: Formal tracking of
company engagement levels
Employee-Centricity
Company Actions:
Integration of systems
and structures
“Our people are customers
of our management.”
Employee Goals: Passion
and loyalty
Measures: Business results

organizational structure, and technology.12 For example, as described in
the Case in Point below, Camden Property Trust supports its employee-centric
strategy by providing a more generous benefits package than
its competitors so employees feel they are taken care of. The benefits
package is selected through the company’s UltiPro solution so that
employees, many of whom do not have dedicated computers, can
quickly and easily find and enroll in the benefits that are right for
their families.
Importantly, HR leaders should foster conversations with senior
leadership about the organization’s people strategy to identify a
vision leaders will be willing to stand behind. What differentiates
an employee-centric company is the employee perception that the
company’s leadership cares about them as individuals and strives to
create a work environment that talented people will feel excited to be
part of. Creating an employee-centric organization involves developing
a culture that promotes the individual strengths of employees in a way
that supports the company’s goals.
Case in Point: Camden Property Trust—Welcoming
Employees Home
Camden Property Trust, one of the largest publicly traded companies
of its kind in the United States, is engaged in the ownership,
development, acquisition, management, and disposition of
multifamily residential apartment communities. Camden’s workforce
totals nearly 1,800 employees, and the company is headquartered
in Houston, Texas. As of July 31, 2014, Camden owned interests in
and operated 169 properties containing 59,641 apartment homes
across the United States. An S&P 400 company that is traded on the
New York Stock Exchange, Camden has received numerous awards
for workplace excellence. The company was recently named as one
of the “100 Best Companies to Work For” in America by FORTUNE
magazine for the seventh consecutive year (placing 11th on the list).
12 For more information, The High-Impact HR Organization: Top 10 Best Practices on the
Road to Excellence, Bersin and Associates / Stacey Harris, January 2011. Available to research
members at www.bersin.com/library.

Case in Point: Camden Property Trust—Welcoming Employees Home (cont’d)
When Ric Campo and Keith Oden founded what would
become Camden Property Trust in 1982, they wanted to create
a company where people would enjoy coming to work. They
recognized that employees spend a significant amount of
time at work and wanted to make sure that the company was
a place that people wanted to come to each day. Campo and
Oden believe that if their employees enjoy their work, it will
be evident to the residents and potential residents of their
apartment communities, thus driving customer loyalty and
growth, as well as shareholder value.
Both at the corporate offices and at the company’s property
locations across the United States, Camden employees are
encouraged to bring their unique talents to work, whether they
are work-related or not. This allows employees to show their
skills to their peers and creates an environment of both fun and
mutual respect. Where some organizations fear that too much
fun will undermine productivity, Camden includes “Have Fun”
as one of its core values, and considers fun to be one of the
defining characteristics of its employer brand. Camden balances
its fun environment by putting a premium on other values,
such as “Always Do the Right Thing” and “Act with Integrity,”
so that employees are focused on business results (see Figure
6). Further, Camden doesn’t equate having fun with expensive
perks or elaborate events; it encourages employees to take
accountability for creating a good work environment for each
other every day through small acts toward each other or within
their communities. On a larger scale, the annual Achieving
Camden Excellence (ACE) awards allow employees to recognize
their peers for living the company values. Further, Camden
culture is continually assessed through both the “Great Places
to Work” application process, which provides external feedback
on various dimensions of cultural health, and through its own
internal survey processes.

At Camden, supporting an employee-centric culture begins
during the recruitment process. Potential employees meet
multiple members of the team and see the culture they would
be joining firsthand. This is important for the assessment
of fit for both the hiring manager and the candidate. Once
employees are hired, they are sent an email welcoming them
to the company that includes a link to the traditional new-hire
paperwork, which can then be completed before an individual
starts work. This allows new employees to spend their first day
focused on socialization into Camden’s culture.
At Camden, new employees are celebrated. Depending on the
region, a Camden employee may be greeted by a “Welcome
Wagon” or a personalized basket of treats and Camden
“swag.” New employees take online training developed to help
share the Camden culture through videos that highlight the
stories of other employees. This online onboarding provides
a standardized introduction to the culture, which is then
personalized through one-on-one work with a mentor during
the first 30 days of employment. This multifaceted approach
Source: Camden Property Trust, 2014.
Figure 6: Camden Property Trust’s Company Values Balance Employee
Needs with Business Results

helps new employees feel they are valued and important, and
allows them to see that the culture they observed during their
interview is an ongoing aspect of working at Camden.
The goal of the Camden culture is to create a work environment
in which its employees understand that the company cares
about them and their families. In addition to the impact on
customer service, this type of culture helps build trust and
loyalty to the company. Camden feels that its employees
are open to changes in processes and strategy because the
company treats them with candor and respect. For example,
during the recent recession, the CEO‘s transparency about
upcoming strategy changes was perceived as a catalyst for
higher employee satisfaction because the organization was
encouraged to pull together as a team. The impact of the
company’s employee-centric strategies can also be seen in its
employee retention numbers. In an industry characterized by
young, early career employees, Camden’s 21 percent employee
turnover in frontline roles is considered low compared to the
industry average of 31 percent.13 Camden is committed to
further reducing its employee turnover by using tools such as
the UltiPro Retention Predictor, which helps managers take
proactive actions when top talent may be at risk of leaving.
By personalizing the work environment and encouraging
employees to create and maintain a fun workplace, Camden
has won a place on the “Great Places to Work” list for seven
consecutive years. It has also generated almost 6 percent
revenue growth from 2010 to 2013 (one of the highest in
the industry) and provided shareholder value that outpaced
companies in the S&P 500 (see Figure 7).14 e
13 Source: “Turnover Rates Are Inching Up - Good News for Job Seekers,” apartmentcareers.
com, October 8, 2012, http://blog.apartmentcareers.com/apartment-jobs-and-careers-blog/
bid/55869/Turnover-Rates-are-Inching-Up-Good-News-for-Job-Seekers.
14 Source: Camden Property Trust 2013 Annual Report, Camden Property Trust, 2013, http://
www.snl.com/Cache/1001185310.PDF?Y=&O=PDF&D=&FID=1001185310&T=&IID=103094.

Aligned Employee-Centric HR Systems
While developing an employee-centric organization requires a deep
commitment from senior leadership, HR departments can also take
steps to evaluate their own processes and structure. One starting point
is evaluating the tools and resources that HR provides to employees. HR
systems—including recruiting, onboarding, performance management,
benefits, and compensation—are typically resources that all employees
use, which makes them a fruitful starting point. The goal of employee-centric
HR technology and processes should be three-fold:
• To reinforce the values of the organization through alignment
and integration
• To provide access to information that allows managers and
employees to make strategic decisions
• To make tactical HR decisions easy and intuitive in order to free up
employee time and capacity
A key to achieving an employee-centric HR technology strategy is
shifting the focus from the HR analyst role as the primary user of
HR technology to viewing employees and managers as the primary
customers. The Case in Point below highlights how Ultimate Software
has shifted the focus of its HR technology in this manner to effectively
foster an employee-centric culture in a dispersed work environment
through better connection and collaboration.
Source: Camden Property Trust, 2014.
Figure 7: Camden Annualized Total Returns Outpaced the S&P 500
between 1997 and 2013
11.80% 11.81%
6.04%
S&P 500 FORTUNE's 100 Best
Companies to Work For
Camden Property Trust
0%
4%
8%
12%
16%

Case in Point: Ultimate Software—Instilling an Employee-
Centric Culture in a Dispersed Workforce
Ultimate Software, a Florida-based cloud provider of human
capital management (HCM) solutions, expresses its employee-centric
philosophy through its core value of “People First.”
However, with a dispersed workforce of over 2,000 employees
and rapid growth, maintaining a “people first” culture can be
challenging. Ultimate fosters a collaborative, family-like culture
beginning with the recruiting process and then continually
throughout the employee life cycle.
As the first step in employee engagement, Ultimate uses its
own UltiPro recruiting solution, which is designed around the
applicant experience, and focuses on helping candidates find
the jobs that best fit their specific potential. This helps the
company better assess talent and fit, as well as to personalize
the experience for applicants (see Figure 8). For new employees,
the onboarding process includes multiple touch points that
immediately help make them feel connected and productive.
For example, new employees are welcomed by a note from
their hiring managers reinforcing why they were hired. Current
employees are also encouraged to use the internal social
networking site to reach out to new hires, welcoming them to
the team. Even before the first day on the job, new employees
have the option of using their LinkedIn accounts to help identify
people from their networks who work at the company, and they
can also sign up to get a mentor.

Source: Ultimate Software, 2014.
Figure 8: The Ultimate Software “Welcome Aboard” Portal for New Employees

Case in Point: Ultimate Software—Instilling an Employee-Centric Culture (cont’d)
Ultimate also recognizes that the employee’s family is critical to
the successful integration of new hires into the culture. Benefits
packages are generous and inclusive (e.g., all employees get an
equity stake in the company) so that all employees and their
families feel that the company cares about their well-being and
the things that are important to them. The sense that the company
cares about them and their families helps build employee loyalty,
which is particularly important in hiring and maintaining top
engineering talent. However, top talent is not the only focus.
Founder and CEO Scott Scherr believes that all employees are
important to company success, frequently saying, “The true
measure of a company is how it treats its lowest-paid employee.”
By using its own UltiPro solution to support its “People First”
culture, Ultimate encourages person-centric design when
developing its solutions. Employees can provide better customer
service because they intrinsically understand not only what the
product does but also why it is important. While Ultimate benefits
from having its own technology available to connect employees,
the culture of engagement is primarily viewed as the direct result
of a senior leadership team that is passionately committed to the
employees as part of a “virtuous cycle”—one that encourages
employees to provide exceptional customer service, which then
translates to shareholder returns that can be reinvested in the
employees. This “virtuous cycle” has resulted in the company
being ranked among FORTUNE’s “100 Best Places to Work” every
year since 2012, as well as being listed in Forbes’s “Top 10 Most
Innovative Growth Companies” in 2014, with an 18.4 percent
average sales growth rate from 2008 to 201315 and year-over-year
revenue growth since 2002 (see Figure 9).16 e
15 Source: “Most Innovative Growth Companies,” Forbes.com, June 2014, www.forbes.com/
growth-companies/list/.
16 Source: “Ultimate Software Financial Highlights,” Ultimate Software, 2014,
www.ultimatesoftware.com/Investor-Relations-Annual-Report-Financial-Highlights.

Getting Started: Lessons from Employee-
Centric Companies
As the three Cases in Point in this bulletin highlight, having a leadership
team that will passionately champion an employee-centric culture
is critical to creating and maintaining such an organization. Texas
Roadhouse, Camden Property Trust, and Ultimate Software were all
founded by leaders who built an intense employee focus into the
fabric of their companies. However, for many other organizations, the
challenge will be to develop a leadership culture that supports moving
from employee engagement initiatives to an integrated employee-centric
strategy. HR can facilitate this transition by conducting internal
market research on employees focusing on:
• Identifying employee needs, motivations, and preferences. This
should be based on key factors such as age, job function, and time
with the company. What are the key “de-motivators” for your
employees? Is your work environment fun?
Source: Ultimate Software, 2013.
Figure 9: Employee-Centric Strategies Drive Year-over-Year Growth at Ultimate Software
$55.1 $60.4 $72.0
$88.6
$114.5
$150.1
$178.0
$196.3
$227.8
$269.2
$332.3
$410.4
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
$0
$50
$100
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
$450
Total Revenue (in Millions)

• The strength of your employer brand. Resources like GlassDoor
and exit interviews can provide insight into how your actual
employment brand compares to what you want it to be.
• Quantifying the cost of turnover. Make employee retention rates
and reasons for leaving a standard factor in workforce analyses.
• Calculating the cost of the complexities of work. Identify
opportunities in which investment in integrated systems and tools
could streamline effort and increase productivity.
• Identifying internal structures that restrict or block the flow of
information. How do structural and political factors, compensation,
and technology support or undermine an employee-centric culture?
By developing insights into the nature of the work environment at an
organization, HR leaders are in a unique position to foster
conversations and drive the changes needed to develop a more
employee-centric organization.
Conclusion
Let’s return once more to the story of our fictional employee, Marcy.
If Marcy worked for an employee-centric company, she still might have
days when she left frustrated. On most days, however, Marcy would feel
that she was valued as an individual and that the company cared about
her success. Marcy’s pride in her company would delight her customers,
and she would recommend the company to her friends as not only a
fun place to work, but as a place where she finds encouragement and is
respected as an individual.
Employee-centric organizations are different from other companies in
their approaches to employee engagement. Using the same strategies
that build customer loyalty and satisfaction (e.g., personalization,
self-service, and a strong employer brand), these companies use their
technologies and business processes to build employee passion, which
translates into higher retention rates, higher growth, and increased
shareholder value.

• Employee-centric organizations strive to build employee
passion in order to reduce turnover and increase the
quality of customer service.
• These organizations integrate fun into the company
culture; activities are generally designed at the local level.
• Building an employee-centric organization takes
time, concerted effort, active leadership support, and
supportive technology.
• HR can foster the integration of employee-centric
values into the employee life cycle.
• HR technology can support employee-centric efforts
by streamlining tasks, personalizing the experience for
employees, communicating the employer brand, and
fostering employee interaction and collaboration.
 KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Bersin WhatWorks® Membership
Program
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provided exclusively to organizational members of the Bersin Research
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For more information about our membership program, please visit us at
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About Us
Bersin by Deloitte delivers research-based people strategies designed
to help leaders and their organizations in their efforts to deliver
exceptional business performance. Our WhatWorks® membership gives
FORTUNE 1000 and Global 2000 HR professionals the information
and tools they need to design and implement leading practice
solutions, benchmark against others, develop their staff, and select
and implement systems. A piece of Bersin by Deloitte research is
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business day. More than 5,000 organizations worldwide use our research
and consulting to guide their HR, talent, and learning strategies.
As used in this document, “Deloitte” means Deloitte Consulting LLP,
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