2011 Game Changer: Jennifer Cozier

Jennifer Cozier is in the business of creating solutions—not just by grabbing timeworn ideas and stirring them up into something that looks new, but by responding to clients’ immediate needs and creating ideas that are useful and brand new. And the great thing is they work.

For example, Cozier’s contributions to ADP Workforce Now, a suite of business software that brings human capital management and talent management outlets to midsize companies, resulted in one of the company’s most successful launches in its 66-year history. Cozier, 38, developed the HR and Benefits module for the package, which is now being used by about 10,000 clients.

She’s the product manager on a team that develops talent applications and designs account management software.

Jennifer Cambern, ADP’s vice president for product management, nominated Cozier for the Game Changers award. “She’s very interested in the science of people, how people interact, how they’re motivated and how to get the best out of the team,” Cambern says. “And I think that makes her not just exceptional at moving forward the talent application that we developed here at ADP, but also it helps her come across as a very genuine individual who cares about talent.”

Cozier says the key to her success has been staying attuned to what customers want. “We’re listening to clients at user groups, we do focus groups, client interviews, and we go on sales calls. The other part is being actively involved in the industry.”

She serves on the Society for Human Resource Management’s Measures and Metrics Task Force, which sets standards for the global HR industry, and on the American Payroll Association Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force’s Emerging Technologies Committee. Cozier is also vice president of Georgia’s chapter of the International Society of Certified Employee Benefits Specialists.

She says what excites her most about her work is being an innovator in developing new ways to help clients. “At the end of the day,” Cozier says, “it’s helping our clients focus on what matters.”