Coldwater Creek Adds 1,000 Employees and Improves Efficiencies Simultaneously With UltiPro
Weston, FL, August 20, 2003 — Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, announced today that Coldwater Creek, a women’s clothing and accessories retailer, credits UltiPro with enabling the retailer to efficiently expand its workforce 50% over the past 18 months, growing an employee base from approximately 2,000 to 3,000.
Coldwater Creek specializes in casual clothing, accessories and gifts offered through catalogs, an e-commerce Web site and retail stores. As the company planned for expansion several years ago, it became clear that the retailer had outgrown its payroll system, which was incapable of handling additional employees in more states or delivering the functionality to accommodate human resources’ expanded needs.
Before expanding, Coldwater Creek needed a scalable Web-based payroll and workforce management solution that would efficiently handle more employees while reducing employee-related expenditures. Since Coldwater Creek went live with UltiPro in November 2001, the company has been able to open 50 stores in 20 more states, increasing its workforce by one half from 2,000 employees to nearly 3,000 – while reducing payroll headcount by one third.
“Even with our growth, we’ve been able to reduce our payroll headcount since we started using UltiPro,” said Linda Check, Coldwater Creek’s payroll supervisor. “And we don’t anticipate the need for additional staff until we more than double in size, adding another 100 to 150 stores,” said Ms. Check.
Once Coldwater Creek was live on UltiPro, adding new employees and stores became a fairly simple process, according to Ms. Check. For instance, with UltiPro, Ms. Check adds new stores by entering the store number in the system and selecting the state and locality. UltiPro displays the appropriate taxing information for her to choose from. From that point, individual employees can be added as they are hired.
“UltiPro makes it simple and efficient to manage the expansion of our workforce, and that has made the administration of our growth very smooth,” said Ms. Check.
Coldwater Creek is also able to manage employee payroll deductions more easily, further streamlining employee-related tasks. Because the company allows its employees to use payroll deductions for certain company-related expenses, such as for its cafeteria and fitness center, Coldwater Creek’s payroll staff spent hours each pay period calculating the deductions. With UltiPro, Coldwater Creek’s payroll staff merely imports the deductions, and the system completes the process without duplicate data entry or calculators.
Ms. Check said she is pleased with the efficiencies and savings that have resulted from using UltiPro, and expects an even larger savings with the implementation of the UltiPro portal that includes self-service access for employees and managers. Within the next year, Coldwater Creek’s workforce will be able to view information such as paycheck stubs or staff rosters online. Ms. Check also hopes to use the portal as a foundation for a paperless payroll. Pay stubs, employee-related forms, company documents and announcements will be available on the UltiPro portal, with links to relevant Web sites such as those for 401(k) providers and health care providers – helping to minimize the resources needed for printing and distribution.
“UltiPro is providing us with more than a way to process our payroll efficiently – it is elevating all our employee-related processes to a new level of efficiency and service,” said Ms. Check.
About Ultimate Software
Ultimate Software, a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, markets award-winning UltiPro as licensed software, as a hosted application through Intersourcing, and as a co-branded offering to Business Service Providers (BSPs) under the “Powered by UltiPro” brand. The Company employs 415 professionals who are united in their commitment to developing trend-setting solutions and delivering quality service. Ultimate Software customers represent diverse industries and include such organizations as The Arizona Diamondbacks/Phoenix Suns, Benihana Restaurants, The Container Store, Elizabeth Arden, Omni Hotels, 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 is a registered trademark of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.
Contact:
The Ultimate Software Group, Inc.,
2000 Ultimate Way
Weston, Florida 33326
Phone: (800) 432-1729
Web Site: www.ultimatesoftware.com
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