Criterion HCM vs. UKG Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Criterion HCM
Score 6.8 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
Criterion provides human capital management (HCM) software for midmarket organizations in construction, financial services, nonprofits and higher education, empowering them to streamline their critical HR, payroll, talent engagement, and workforce management processes.N/A
UKG Pro
Score 7.4 out of 10
N/A
UKG delivers cloud-based HCM solutions including UKG Pro that help businesses simplify payroll computations, accelerate talent acquisition, manage time and attendance, and support proactive, strategic talent management on a global level.N/A
Pricing
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Features
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
5.3
Ratings
39% below category average
UKG Pro
8.2
Ratings
4% above category average
Employee demographic data5.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Employment history5.00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.6.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
5.0
Ratings
46% below category average
UKG Pro
8.9
Ratings
11% above category average
Pay calculation5.00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment5.00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Benefit plan administration5.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Direct deposit files5.00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management5.00 Ratings8.60 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
4.0
Ratings
67% below category average
UKG Pro
7.3
Ratings
9% below category average
Approval workflow4.00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Balance details4.00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings7.00 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
4.0
Ratings
67% below category average
UKG Pro
9.0
Ratings
11% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information4.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Update personal information4.00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
1.0
Ratings
155% below category average
UKG Pro
8.7
Ratings
10% above category average
New hire portal1.00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Manager tracking tools00 Ratings9.00 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.2
Ratings
2% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
7.8
Ratings
4% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings8.00 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.80 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.60 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
Ratings
7% above category average
Corporate goal setting00 Ratings8.90 Ratings
Individual goal setting00 Ratings8.70 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility00 Ratings8.80 Ratings
Performance tracking00 Ratings7.50 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.1
Ratings
3% above category average
Performance plans00 Ratings8.50 Ratings
Performance improvement plans00 Ratings8.40 Ratings
Review status tracking00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Review reminders00 Ratings6.20 Ratings
Multiple review frequency00 Ratings9.10 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
9.3
Ratings
17% above category average
Create succession plans/pools00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Candidate ranking00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Candidate search00 Ratings9.20 Ratings
Candidate development00 Ratings9.40 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Criterion HCM
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
7.5
Ratings
3% below category average
Job Requisition Management00 Ratings7.70 Ratings
Company Website Posting00 Ratings8.30 Ratings
Publish to Social Media00 Ratings7.10 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting00 Ratings8.20 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention00 Ratings6.40 Ratings
Applicant Tracking00 Ratings7.40 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts00 Ratings7.30 Ratings
User Ratings
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
1.0
(0 ratings)
7.7
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
1.0
(0 ratings)
8.5
(0 ratings)
Usability
1.0
(0 ratings)
8.7
(0 ratings)
Availability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Performance
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
1.0
(0 ratings)
5.7
(0 ratings)
In-Person Training
-
(0 ratings)
9.9
(0 ratings)
Online Training
-
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
1.0
(0 ratings)
9.5
(0 ratings)
Configurability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Criterion HCMUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
We have not been happy with the functionality or reporting reports with this software. Numerous issues with employees not being able to clock in and out of the system. Employees' time sheets disappearing. Quarterly reports not matching to totals on batch payroll reports. Does not have the capability to electronically submit w-2's to state reporting agencies.
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I would say, well, I don't want to focus on less appropriate. I want to be well suited. I really feel like if the transparency with our count rep and then just diving in onto how to problem solve and how to troubleshoot, I think that's most important with that.
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Pros
  • changes in pay rates
  • rehiring employees
  • payroll calculations
  • assisting with PTO accruals
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  • UKG has an amazing support team to reach out to if assistance is needed
  • All add-ons of UKG Pro integrate seamlessly making it a powerful software program
  • UKG Pro is very configurable to meet the specific needs of companies
  • It is easy to use and navigate
  • The mobile app is loved by all employees and provides on-demand access
  • The Ultimate Community is amazing!! On-demand information on all products and how they are used. Connect with other companies that use UKG Pro and learn from each other.
  • The Learning Centre is also amazing!! Learning right at your fingertips anytime, anywhere.
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Cons
  • payroll reports
  • state filing of W-2s
  • support
  • implementation
  • employees access to W-2
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  • Offer a fully integrated reporting solution that pulls from all modules versus a separate analytics tool in each module.
  • Ability to use the ideas UKG Pro presents without being forced into specific modules. Ex Provide a Learning space where ANY learning platform the customer chooses plugs in, a Recruiting/Onboarding Space where ANY platform will plug in, EE Engagement, Performance, ... then the data connects to the data points within the architecture. With this model, anyone would be able to use the Career Designer versus limited to only those who have the perfect combination of products. This is just an example. Many times the products are created by UKG Pro that are amazing, then comes the "You must have A, B, C, D modules to use it" which excludes many customers and limits UKG Pro's selling potential.
  • At my last organization, we had what was formerly referred to as a "Global" account rep. This person had very limited amount of clients, we met on every case. They delegated our cases immediately in products outside of core to the same team member from that product. Our response time was usually less than one day. It was the best customer service I have had in 10 years as a client. Why is this model not looked at for everyone versus 3 different reps. This one person handled everything except sales. IT was beautiful. We met weekly. We never had cases go beyond a few days unless a JIRA was in play. Customer Service matters so much where many companies sell similar technology.
  • Org Chart - Executives would like the ability to stage movement and budget to see what the org would look like in a reorg planning. There is no ability to move, rearrange, export to different applications like PowerPoint.
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Likelihood to Renew
We are changing to another payroll/HR vendor.
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The only reason that I give a 9 rather than a 10 is because, while I am an influencer in the decision making process, the final decision to renew vendor relationships is by committee. If the final decision is up to me, Independent Bank would be a partner with Ultimate Software for the rest of my career.
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Usability
too many instances of errors, unable to access program/time sheets
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It gets the job done, but not with a few deep sighs. Once you know where stuff lives, it's manageable, but the first learning curve is steep, some menus feel buried. However, it's consistent, reliable and doesn't crash on me, which counts for a lot. With a little UI glow up it could push into a 9 zone.
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Reliability and Availability
No answers on this topic
Our up time has been 100% in the 2 and half years as I recall. We have had between 5 to 10 situations where Ultimate proactively advised us that there were global system issues and provide us with updates status until the issue has been resolved. I do not recall any internal incidents from our employees about an inability to access the system of UltiPro
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Performance
No answers on this topic
Normally UKG Pro loads quickly. We had been having major issues with reports running in a timely manner but recently they broke out our virtual server to another instance where is wasn't sharing resources and that seems to have helped reporting run more efficiently.
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Support Rating
Support is very slow to correct issues. I have actually reported an issue then 2-3 hours later received screen shots where they were able to do what we could not as though we were doing something different that usual. They are quick to say it is user error. Took too long to correct payroll reports and reports still do not reconcile. Very difficult to complete quarterly and annual reporting.
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The quality of UKG Support is related directly to the UKG rep. who handles the issue. In some cases you get someone who really is good at supporting the product and others may not have as much experience and it shows
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In-Person Training
No answers on this topic
I've been to a few in-person (hands on) training sessions and it is very similar to the online classes. You have the same reference material to look back on after the training. So regardless of in person training or online you really get the same thing.
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Online Training
No answers on this topic
Most of the online training was very generic (to be expected) but we had specific requirements for configuration that could have been better addressed with more individual sessions earlier on from our project team. However, we did finally begin booking training sessions with our implementation team which were recorded, and so provided additional information for how to correctly configure and test the system.
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Implementation Rating
Had to continually repeat our information. Kept getting us confused with another client.
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UltiPro made it very easy to implement. I implemented UltiPro on my own (as we were short-handed), in addition to my other duties, and was able to stay on track with our original implementation timeline. The process is laid out in a very detailed method. This was by far the most thorough and easiest implementation that I have been through
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Alternatives Considered
When reviewing the various software before selecting Criterion HCM, it appeared to be the best choice and value. During implementation (which took nine months with us having to do most of the work) we realized we were not given accurate information regarding the software
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We used ADP WFN prior to switching to UKG. We interviewed three different payroll companies to see what our options were. UKG stood out and aligned with our company values. The sales team was very helpful and asked questions about what we were currently doing and how they could assist with simplifying things. I personally had a side meeting with them to see if there were options for a process that we manually process and if UKG could actually eliminate the process. We came to the conclusion that we weren't able to get it 100%, but we could pull 80% of what we needed from UKG, and then we would only need to manipulate 20% of the information. It was also determined from that meeting that we wouldn't need to pay extra to have a special report built. The customer service is what we were sold on. The other companies that we looked at didn't give us the confidence that their customer service would be any better than what we previously had.
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Scalability
No answers on this topic
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Return on Investment
  • does not impact our ROI
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  • My company acquired another company, and with a UKG partner, we were able to bring them online in UKG within two months of the acquisition date.
  • When COVID sent us remote, we could configure custom fields to track vaccination status.
  • The C-suite can get custom reports done in minutes, or ours, where our previous HRIS would have taken days to accomplish, as data would have had to have been exported to Excel and then manipulated inside Excel.
  • UKG has allowed to go virtual paper free as both a candidate and employee.
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ScreenShots

UKG Pro Screenshots

Screenshot of included workforce analytics.Screenshot of the payroll gateway.