Aron Ain

Last updated
Aron Ain
Alma mater Hamilton College
Occupation(s)Software technology executive, author

Aron Ain is an American software technology executive [1] [2] and author. He became the CEO of UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) in 2020, a role he held until being named UKG Executive Chair, effective July 1, 2022. UKG was created from the merger of Ultimate Software and Kronos Incorporated, and provides global HCM[ clarification needed ] and workforce management solutions.[ clarification needed ] Previously, Ain had been the chief executive officer [3] of Kronos Incorporated since 2005.

Contents

Career

Ain joined Kronos in 1979 and has played a role in nearly every functional department at the organization. In October 2005, he was named chief executive officer and a member of the Kronos Board of Directors. [2]

In 2007, Ain led the effort to take the company private, [4] [5] after going public in 1992. [6]

Under his leadership, the company completed a major, multi-year business transformation, changing from a licensed-software model to a cloud, software-as-a-service (SaaS) model. [7] [8]

In 2016, Ain introduced new benefits [9] to employees such as open vacation time [10] and student loan repayment. [11] A new manager performance rating was also created, called the Manager Effectiveness Index (MEI), which captures employee judgments about managers' performance. [12]

In 2017, Kronos relocated its headquarters [13] [14] to the Crosspoint Towers in Lowell, Massachusetts.

In 2018, Ain’s book, WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work (McGraw Hill Education) was published. The book chronicles how he and the company’s leadership team used employee engagement as a business strategy to impart leadership lessons onto senior leaders, HR professionals, and people managers. [15] [16]

In 2020, Kronos completed a merger with Ultimate Software to create UKG, [17] and Ain became the chairman and chief executive officer of the combined company. UKG has more than 15,000 employees worldwide, and an enterprise value of $35 billion.

On June 1, 2022, UKG announced Ain would transition to UKG Executive Chair, effective July 1, 2022. Chris Todd, former President at UKG, replaced Ain as CEO. [18]

In December 2022, Ain became Operating Partner at Hellman & Friedman, in an effort to help H&F portfolio companies (like UKG) enhance exceptional leadership practices and inspired cultures. [19] [20]

Affiliations

Ain serves on the board of trustees of his alma mater, Hamilton College. [21] He is on the board of trustees of Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. [22] He is on the board of directors of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP). [23]

Honors

On multiple occasions, Glassdoor has named Ain to its list of Top 100 CEOs in the U.S. [24] In 2019, he ranked 30th out of the 100 highest-rated CEOs throughout North America and parts of Europe across all industries. [25] [ third-party source needed ]

In addition, he has been awarded the Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year award, [26] the Massachusetts High Technology Council's Ray Stata Leadership and Innovation Award, [27] and the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council's CEO of the Year Award. [28] [29] [30] [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Siebel</span> American businessman

Thomas M. Siebel is an American billionaire businessman, technologist, and author. He was the founder of enterprise software company Siebel Systems and is the founder, chairman, and CEO of C3.ai, an artificial intelligence software platform and applications company.

Analysis Group, Inc. (AG), founded in 1981 by economists Bruce E. Stangle and Michael F. Koehn, is an economic consulting firm based in North America. It provides economic, financial, and strategic analysis and expert testimony to law firms, corporations, and government agencies.

Kronos Incorporated was an American multinational workforce management and human capital management cloud provider headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States, which employed more than 6,000 people worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hellman & Friedman</span> American private equity firm

Hellman & Friedman LLC (H&F) is an American private equity firm, founded in 1984 by Warren Hellman and Tully Friedman, that makes investments primarily through leveraged buyouts as well as growth capital investments. H&F has focused its efforts on several core target industries including media, financial services, professional services and information services. The firm tends to avoid asset intensive or other industrial businesses. H&F is based in San Francisco, with offices in New York and London.

Athenahealth is a private American company that provides network-enabled services for healthcare and point-of-care mobile apps in the United States.

HubSpot is an American developer and marketer of software products for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service. HubSpot was founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill McDermott</span> American businessman (born 1961)

William R. McDermott is an American businessman and is currently CEO of ServiceNow. Before ServiceNow, he was the CEO of the technology company SAP SE. During his tenure as co-CEO and CEO, SAP's market value increased from $39 billion to $156 billion. McDermott, along with Joanne Gordon, wrote a memoir, Winners Dream: A Journey from Corner Store to Corner Office, and was awarded a gold medal for business memoir of the year by the Axiom Business Book Awards. McDermott began his role as CEO of ServiceNow in November, 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubert Joly</span>

Hubert Joly is a businessman and Harvard Business School faculty member who formerly served as chairman and CEO of Best Buy. He is also the former president, CEO and director of Carlson, a global hospitality and travel conglomerate based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ultimate Software</span> Former American multinational technology company

Ultimate Software was an American multinational technology company that developed and sold UltiPro, a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) software system for businesses. Headquartered in Weston, Florida, the company was founded in 1990 by Scott Scherr, and released its first version of software in 1993. As of the fourth quarter in 2017, Ultimate Software reported total revenues of over $940.7 million. As of 2017, the company employs more than 5,000 people and services 4,100 customers in 160 countries. Ultimate has offices around the USA, Canada, UK, and Singapore. On February 4, 2019, Hellman & Friedman Capital Partners announced it would purchase Ultimate Software Group for $11 billion; the purchase closed on May 3, 2019.

Guaranteed Rate Companies is a U.S. residential mortgage company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 2000 by Victor Ciardelli, the company had $73 billion in funded volume in 2020. As of 2021, the company has more than 10,000 employees and more than 850 offices nationwide and is located in 50 states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Weiner</span> American businessman (born 1970)

Jeffrey Weiner is an American businessman. He was the chief executive officer (CEO) of LinkedIn, a business-related social networking website. He started with LinkedIn on December 15, 2008, as Interim President. Weiner played an instrumental role in LinkedIn's acquisition by Microsoft for $26 billion in June 2016. Currently, he is the Executive chairman of Linkedin as in 2022. He is also the founding Partner of Next play venture capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">UKG</span> American software company

UKG is an American multinational technology company with dual headquarters in Lowell, Massachusetts, and Weston, Florida. It provides workforce management and human resource management services.

Glassdoor is an American website where current and former employees anonymously review companies. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, it has additional offices in Chicago, Dublin, London, and São Paulo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Lesser</span> American businessman (born 1962)

Richard "Rich" Lesser is an American businessman who has served as the Global Chair of American global management consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG) since 2021. He previously served as CEO from 2013 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sharen Jester Turney</span>

Sharen Jester Turney is a global business leader, and former president and CEO of Victoria's Secret, a $7.7 billion company of which she led for a decade doubling the profit and increasing sales by 70%, Victoria's Secret is the largest retailer of intimate apparel, and the largest subsidiary of L Brands Inc. In 2013, Bloomberg named Jester Turney the fourth highest compensated female executive in the United States. In February 2016, she stepped down as CEO of Victoria's Secret after serving for a decade in that role and the previous six years as President and CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct.

Paycom Software, Inc., known simply as Paycom, is an American online payroll and human resource technology provider based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma with offices throughout the United States. It is attributed with being one of the first fully online payroll providers. It has been recognized by Fortune and Forbes as one of the fastest-growing publicly traded companies in the world, and as one of the World's Most Innovative Enterprise Companies by Fast Company in 2022. Founded in 1998, it reported annual revenue of $1.375 billion for 2022, up from $1.06 billion for 2021.

Chad Richison is an American entrepreneur who has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Paycom since its founding. A native Oklahoman, Richison began his career in sales with ADP, a global payroll provider, before moving to Colorado to work for a smaller, regional payroll provider. In 1998, Richison returned his family to Oklahoma and founded Paycom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NetCentrics</span> US federal government contractor

NetCentrics Corporation, based in Herndon, Virginia, is a contractor to the US federal government, Department of Homeland Security and Federal Civilian Agencies. NetCentrics provides enterprise IT, cloud and cybersecurity services to government and private industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Slager</span>

Donald W. “Don” Slager is the former Chief Executive Officer of Republic Services, Inc., in the recycling and waste services business. The Company generates $10 billion of annual revenue, has a market cap exceeding $23+ billion and operates the 7th largest vocational fleet in the nation. Don has more than 35 years of experience in the industry, starting his career as a teenager and subsequently working at all levels within the organization. He had served Republic for over 30 years. Slager retired and Jon Vander Ark was appointed the position of CEO on June 26, 2021 following a well executed succession plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Hoskins</span> American business executive and architect

Diane Hoskins is an American businessperson and architect who currently serves as a Co-CEO of Gensler, the world's largest revenue-generating architecture firm, alongside Co-CEO Andy Cohen. She is also on the board of directors for Boston Properties. Hoskins has been covered by The Washington Post Magazine, Fortune, Business Insider and other news sources as one of the most influential and powerful women in business.

References

  1. Bryant, Adam (2016-09-09). "Aron Ain of Kronos: The Incalculable Value of a Good Boss". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  2. 1 2 "Aron J Ain, Kronos Inc: Profile and Biography - Bloomberg Markets". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  3. "Aron Ain of Kronos Named CEO of the Year". JMI Equity. 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  4. Lipton, Joshua. "Kronos Goes Private". Forbes. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  5. "Today In Business | Buyout Deal For Kronos" . Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  6. "Want to build a billion dollar business? Go overseas" . Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  7. "New Kronos headquarters design mirrors reinvention play". SearchHRSoftware. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  8. "Kronos Transitions to SaaS". www.bcg.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  9. "Kronos Incorporated". reviews.greatplacetowork.com. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  10. "The CEO of Kronos on Launching an Unlimited Vacation Policy". Harvard Business Review. 2017-11-01. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  11. "Paying Down Employees' Student Loans Is the Hot New Perk". Fortune. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  12. Fuhrmans, Vanessa (2018-01-03). "This Company Lets Employees Rate Their Bosses Twice a Year". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  13. "One of the state's biggest and best tech employers is moving to Lowell". Boston.com. 2016-02-29. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  14. "At Lowell's Cross Point, a Towering Coronation for Kronos' New Headquarters" . Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  15. "WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work [Book]". Oreilly.com.
  16. "WorkInspired: How to Build an Organization Where Everyone Loves to Work". Porchlight Books.
  17. "Next steps in the Kronos, Ultimate Software merger | HRExecutive.com". hrexecutive.com. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-09-15.
  18. Brown, Jo-Lynn (30 November 2022). "Transamerica names Tampa executive president of World Financial Group and head of Transamerica Financial Advisors". TBBW.
  19. "Aron Ain, Former UKG CEO, to Join Hellman & Friedman as Operating Partner". TecHR. 9 December 2022.
  20. "Aron Ain". Hellman & Friedman.
  21. "Hamilton College". Hamilton College. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  22. "Beth Israel Deaconess board appoints Newton residents". Newton TAB. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  23. "Our Leadership". Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston (CJP). Retrieved 2020-09-08.
  24. "Top CEOs". Glassdoor. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  25. "Glassdoor's Top CEOs 2019". www.glassdoor.com. 2019-06-19. Archived from the original on 2018-06-15. Retrieved 2019-12-13.
  26. Reidy, Chris (July 3, 2012). "Kronos CEO Aron Ain wins an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in tech category". Boston Globe.
  27. "Kronos CEO Aron Ain Honored with Inaugural Ray Stata Leadership and Innovation Award by Massachusetts High Technology Council". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  28. "MassTLC Leadership Award Winners 2016 | MassTLC". MassTLC. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  29. "The 1 Thing You Need to Realize Before You Can Be a Great Leader". Inc.com. 2019-01-17. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  30. "It's Tough to Earn Employees' Trust-That's Why You Should Try This Unconventional Approach". Inc.com. 2018-12-05. Retrieved 2019-02-06.
  31. Duncan, Rodger Dean. "Want Your People To Work Inspired? Be An Un-Leader". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-02-06.