Cornerstone OnDemand vs. UKG Pro

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cornerstone OnDemand
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Cornerstone OnDemand is a cloud-based application for talent management. Cornerstone offers suites for recruiting, training, performance monitoring and planning, learning, and HR data management. It is scaled for enterprises.N/A
UKG Pro
Score 8.0 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
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Considered Both Products
Cornerstone OnDemand
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
We actually needed Cornerstone OnDemand because our main HRIS could not handle performance reviews or disciplinary history the way our company needed it done. We originally purchased Cornerstone because it was a learning management system. It is surprising that it is more …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
CSOD has the easiest to use user interface. If employees do not like to use it it will not be as affective as a tool to manage talent. All modules of CSOD are developed to the same level, in all other platforms I found there was a lacking in one of the areas of the platform …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone has many features and configurations. Articular is only good to create [content], and every admin needs a license.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
CSOD offers more customizable features than Netlearning. The curricula administration and learning assignment features are more robust than Netlearning. I would say Netlearning's provided content is stronger than CSOD though (CSOD has course offerings but they are an …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
I wasn't involved in the original selection process, but I understand we evaluated several learning solutions. Our top 3 learning providers ended up being Cornerstone, Brainier & Infor. Ultimately we selected Cornerstone for the following reasons:
  • User friendly.
  • Would interact …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Workday's LMS isn't as robust as Cornerstone OnDemand. For training compliance you really need a robust solution like Cornerstone OnDemand.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Contact me and I can provide many more details than I can write today.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
I believe that Cornerstone and UltiPro are two of the best resources out there. The thing that distinctly stands out, however, is their level of customer support. Cornerstone's dial-in support had historically been bad. The wait times were long. Now that Cornerstone has …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
We purchased Ultimate Software after CSOD. Their module is much more simplistic and easier to use as an admin and an employee. For the size of our organization, it is an improvement.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Other products were either inferior or too expensive. The one product that was closest to what we needed was Halogen. In the end, our selection of Cornerstone was based on:

  • Breadth of services
UKG Pro
Chose UKG Pro
We currently use both Cornerstone OnDemand and UltiPro. UltiPro is a better overall product because its core HR is stronger. This means that the overall features of the basic HRIS are better. More specifically, import tools, back office, payroll administration, reporting, and …
Chose UKG Pro
UKG stacks up very well. The functionality covers just about all of the essential functions that are needed to operate a large organization that is constantly bringing in new talent and moving people around to other divisions or positions. The reporting is strong, and the …
Chose UKG Pro
Far more flexibility, better customer service.
Chose UKG Pro
We left ADP for UKG Pro due to poor customer service and inability to access the backend. Highflyer did not meet California regulatory requirements. Paycom's sales personnel were lacking and did not represent the company well (e.g. late for demos, did not meet the RFP deadline).
Chose UKG Pro
UKG Pro won hands-down. The flexibility, the family feel of the partnership, the customer support model, the reporting, the scalability, and the custom-programming needs of company-specific items were all much better than the competitors. The cost comparison also came in either …
Chose UKG Pro
UltiPro truly offers a one stop shop for a businesses HRIS needs. It's user friendly and they provide a great support structure that has been leaps and bounds better than other vendors I have worked with.
Chose UKG Pro
In terms of how robust the solutions are, UltiPro ranks ahead of the others. Where they may rank ahead of UltiPro is configurability and flexibility.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.2
132 Ratings
11% above category average
UKG Pro
8.6
557 Ratings
7% above category average
New hire portal8.369 Ratings8.6554 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.0114 Ratings8.7444 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting8.4125 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.3
114 Ratings
13% above category average
UKG Pro
7.9
377 Ratings
3% below category average
Corporate goal setting8.095 Ratings8.1293 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting8.398 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.8106 Ratings7.7359 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility8.194 Ratings7.9251 Ratings
Performance tracking8.1109 Ratings7.8333 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.8
119 Ratings
13% above category average
UKG Pro
8.1
465 Ratings
2% above category average
Performance plans8.193 Ratings7.8415 Ratings
Plan weighting7.480 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager note taking7.969 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.781 Ratings7.7326 Ratings
Review status tracking8.396 Ratings8.3436 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow7.664 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.293 Ratings8.3397 Ratings
Workflow restrictions7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.082 Ratings8.3337 Ratings
Reporting8.1113 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
9.1
58 Ratings
24% above category average
UKG Pro
8.5
187 Ratings
7% above category average
Create succession plans/pools8.449 Ratings8.5155 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.349 Ratings8.4164 Ratings
Candidate search9.352 Ratings8.5163 Ratings
Candidate development9.249 Ratings8.5152 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.6
66 Ratings
16% above category average
UKG Pro
8.5
456 Ratings
9% above category average
Job Requisition Management8.745 Ratings8.8434 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.841 Ratings9.1422 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.738 Ratings8.7333 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting8.638 Ratings8.8390 Ratings
Customized Application Form8.740 Ratings00 Ratings
Resume Management8.743 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention8.840 Ratings7.1323 Ratings
Candidate Search8.641 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.841 Ratings8.6421 Ratings
Collaboration8.836 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation8.638 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Templates8.359 Ratings00 Ratings
User Permissions8.360 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.355 Ratings8.4388 Ratings
Reporting8.363 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.5
187 Ratings
6% above category average
UKG Pro
-
Ratings
Course authoring5.6138 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library8.4185 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal7.8172 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.9135 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.4168 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.8181 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.5162 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.5184 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.7183 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.9116 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.4
803 Ratings
7% above category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings8.8731 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings8.7762 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings8.7733 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings8.3721 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings7.8643 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings8.2656 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings8.1517 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.6
746 Ratings
7% above category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings9.0709 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings8.2336 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment00 Ratings8.8231 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings8.1643 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings9.3702 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management00 Ratings8.8573 Ratings
Reimbursement management00 Ratings8.057 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.4
563 Ratings
4% above category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.8504 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings8.4529 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings8.1434 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
798 Ratings
5% above category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings8.8769 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings8.9776 Ratings
View company policy documentation00 Ratings8.5564 Ratings
Employee recognition00 Ratings7.4287 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings8.9759 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
8.5
189 Ratings
9% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets00 Ratings8.5189 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
UKG Pro
7.7
734 Ratings
1% above category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.7714 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings7.9724 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings7.6495 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Small Businesses
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.3 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Darwinbox
Darwinbox
Score 7.9 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.4 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(257 ratings)
8.3
(928 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(37 ratings)
8.8
(194 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(37 ratings)
8.5
(188 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(5 ratings)
10.0
(74 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
9.5
(331 ratings)
Support Rating
6.6
(36 ratings)
6.4
(492 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.6
(4 ratings)
9.6
(87 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(10 ratings)
9.1
(202 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(10 ratings)
9.9
(86 ratings)
Configurability
7.3
(115 ratings)
9.9
(76 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.5
(3 ratings)
9.9
(65 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.5
(4 ratings)
9.4
(93 ratings)
Professional Services
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.0
(3 ratings)
7.9
(55 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.9
(3 ratings)
9.9
(48 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cornerstone OnDemandUKG Pro
Likelihood to Recommend
Cornerstone OnDemand
I feel Cornerstone OnDemand is a great solution for companies that have a large amount of compliance training that needs to be assigned and closely tracked. The features of dynamic groups (based on specific user criteria) allows you to target very specific audiences. The assignment functionality gives you great flexibility on when the assignment runs and how often, and also provides many options for due dates (static date or dynamic date - x days from hire date, date assigned, etc.). This has allowed us to have a clear and consistent user experience for both our newly hired employees and our seasoned employees.
Read full review
UKG
UKG did well when we had issues with employees working for both agencies. We called the Rapid Response Team, and they fixed those issues on their back end. Another example is with the Amended W-2 form; they gave us instructions to do it ourselves, but it was not working, and need to make phone calls to get help.
Read full review
Pros
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Automatic recurring assignments are easy to get that refresher training out without needing to assign it fresh each time.
  • Reporting 2.0 makes it easy to write and share your reports with just selected filters. Making it easy for people receiving it to just change what they need to see.
  • Learning Admin Console makes it easy to peek at what is going on in your portal and open up connected reporting when needed.
  • Success Center is a great resource for getting peer answers to questions and learning about the releases and suggesting changes that should be added to the roadmap.
Read full review
UKG
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sometimes finding the right answer to your support question can be a bit more difficult than it should be.
  • I would like to see more OSHA related courses.
  • At times, the administrative interface seems to need to be updated, but the tradeoff honestly might be the absolute rock-solid stability of the platform.
Read full review
UKG
  • As UKG is aware, the support for customers needs some improvement. As the recent changes to the staffing/support hierarchy take effect, I hope to see some relief to the current frustrations.
  • As the UKG Pro products evolve, they need to become more integrated and less segmented. Having to purchase multiple products that then need to coordinate for processing leads to issues.
  • As users, we have a lot of options for self-service and customization, but some simple fixes still require assistance from UKG support. Give us the power to help ourselves whenever possible.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
Cornerstone OnDemand
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.
Read full review
UKG
We are overall happy with UltiPro and it works well for our organization and we have plans to expand our usage of it even more so we will definitely be continuing with the product. We are thinking of adding the functionality for training and recruiting as well, which is an add-on product
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Usability
Cornerstone OnDemand
Easy to use, easy to learn, lots of support during the learning process. There are a few parts of the system we don't use and I'm hesitant to begin using because other clients have said they're difficult and cumbersome (certifications) or outdated (libraries)
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UKG
Mobile App: Really easy to use and its nice to have an HR software that actually has an mobile application to be able to enter time and to take care of everything with. Web App: The system is relatively easy to use with maybe a little training at the beginning if you have used another system. But the site is really easy to use and a lot better having everything under one roof
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Reliability and Availability
Cornerstone OnDemand
I haven't really had any major availability problems. The service is practically impeccable but it is true that at times, due to server and latency problems, the application has been slower. But these have been specific issues that have resolved themselves.
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UKG
I've found Ultipro to be completely reliable. Outages are typically planned to occur on weekends and only once did I have connections issues connecting Citrix to the server where our environment was housed, but within the hour connection was restored. I think that's a pretty good track record, considering I've used the suite daily for over three years. Especially when processing payroll--say the internet goes down in the middle of you performing a task... Ultipro is able to recognize that a connection error occurred and quickly restores the process that was running, avoiding lost productivity.
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Performance
Cornerstone OnDemand
Pages do not load quickly. Often times any action or selection of a box, drop down, check, pretty much ANY Javascript interaction causes the whole entire page to load/reload/start doing something in the background. This makes a nightmare for having to mass edit courses or upload ILT sessions. It's the one of the archaic web designs they use that really bugs me as an admin and makes working in the portal at times intolerable and insufferable
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UKG
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
Its always important to have support when you are facing problems and when you are the main admin of the organization. Cornerstone Support is very supporting when you have not found the answer in the help guide. its very useful to have a team support to guide you.
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UKG
Support is quick to respond and helpful when you don't understand how to use or implement their response. They are great at following up and checking in as well as escalating cases when they are more urgent and need more attention.
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In-Person Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
we use also to admin all our training in person events and sessions. Its easy to admin this kind of trainings and automatize some processes we have. Also de user experience and the integration with other systems helps to the employees to use more. All modules integrated oriented to develop people is the principal reason to have CSOD. The training administration is very complete and allows to automate many processes.
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UKG
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
The online modules are pretty good. You can access them at any time, which we have done. You learn a lot in the beginning, but having the ability to retake short lessons when you are working on those items was very helpful.
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UKG
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
Cornerstone OnDemand
The implementation was pretty difficult. We felt they (Cornerstone) didn’t properly allocate the resources to complete our implementation in the timetable we wanted.

For example, we worked on Workday and SSO integrations - work that we had specifically contracted for in advance. When we were ready to work on that project, they didn’t have the people ready to help us, so it took a lot longer than necessary. That was my biggest pain point.

The implementation approach we went with was a self-led implementation. We would speak to the implementation manager once per week, and self-trained. We met with implementation manager to discuss issues, review things that we’d learned for 1 hour. We found that wasn’t enough. Other things would come up outside that one hour window that we couldn’t get answers to. We didn’t have anyone to ask about those things and we had to wait to ask during our weekly meeting.

The advantage of the self-led implementation approach was that it was really inexpensive – significantly less than the implementation cost for the other systems that we looked at. I also liked that we could pace ourselves. There were however big roadblocks. We would have to make sure the right resources were available. We had an implementation/project manager with a lot of experience and felt that the person was knowledgeable but missed on a few things.

In hindsight, I would still go with the self-led implementation, but knowing what I know now, I would ask for the integration person to be available more. I would work that into the contract. With single sign-on, we needed deep linking to build direct links through a Single Sign-On tool, e.g. when someone gets an email, it directs them to training. But it has to go through SSO to get them to the correct link. Deep linking wasn’t turned on in our system and they had to activate it. We encountered little things like that – sequencing pre-requisites which were problematic. We tried to troubleshoot ourselves.

I recommend you consider contracting for some extra implementation hours and determine when they are going to be available. Work it into the contract that you have the ability to call tech support during implementation. In addition to weekly implementation meetings, they have technical webexes – 4 every week, but 2 didn’t apply to us – one as we were using SSO. The challenge is they were not always relevant – we had specific questions that didn’t fall into those categories
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UKG
Make sure you have all of your tax account information with all the states you are registered in available and that you are knowledgeable about the filing status, frequency, etc. We had some unique challenges with our state unemployment tax set up that I was not aware of and needed to be addressed prior to going live. Working with the state unemployment office can be a challenge.
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Alternatives Considered
Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected
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UKG
My experience with HRIS systems is limited to UKG Pro. It is the only HRIS I have worked with. I have worked with other systems that perform the tasks of some of its models and have found that when used with the various modules the overall experience with UKG is great. The ability to have all of the modules on the same platform makes the integration between UKG Pro and the modules great!
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cornerstone OnDemand
It is important to be familiar with the terms and annual increases in licenses and other aspects of the contract. I recommend analyzing this from the beginning and the permanence is relevant because Cornerstone updates its modules and brings out new features that may allow you to leave a module to acquire another
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UKG
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Cornerstone OnDemand
It's a great product with some pieces that are set but many things that can be customized as needed for individual needs
Read full review
UKG
Read full review
Professional Services
Cornerstone OnDemand
As I have said before, I have no doubt that the services of the Cornerstone sales people were very good. In particular, our salesperson spent a lot of time in contact with us to make the process go smoothly. Perhaps being a large company in some cases the times were slowed down but it is something normal to take into account.
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UKG
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • We are in the process of trying to increase employee engagement through content expansion. We are in the early stages of this.
  • The Edge Import Tool, in conjunction with Reporting 2.0, has done a great job of helping to automate/semi-automate tasks for huge time savings.
  • Maintaining compliance. Achieved through dynamic/automated groups, assignments, communication, and reporting.
Read full review
UKG
  • We have increased our HR activities to 85% through UKG. OSHA and Leave need to be pulled in
  • Reduced from a 1000 pieces of pay statements to @ 10 per pay roll through Direct deposit and cash pay cards.
  • Onboarding signoffs have improved audit records for signed job descriptions, i-9 forms, hand book sign off and policy sign off
Read full review
ScreenShots

Cornerstone OnDemand Screenshots

Screenshot of A personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee dataScreenshot of With Cornerstone Learning, go beyond compliance and training - truly develop an engaged and collaborative workforce.Screenshot of Cornerstone Recruiting takes care of all talent acquisition needs and provides candidates with an amazing experience.Screenshot of With Cornerstone Performance, benchmark your people's performance, align them with your strategy, and provide feedback that matters.Screenshot of Cornerstone HR offers a personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee data.Screenshot of With Content Anytime, quickly deliver hundreds of eLearning courses covering key soft-skills such as communication, time management, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.

UKG Pro Screenshots

Screenshot of UKG Pro People CenterScreenshot of UKG Pro PayrollScreenshot of UKG Pro Mobile AppScreenshot of UKG Pro RecruitingScreenshot of UKG Pro Employee Voice