What is HR software? What does HR software do? And does your small business need one?
At its core, people are your company's most important intangible asset. Because businesses realize their people's value, they designate many resources for employee development. However, HR professionals can be overwhelmed with repetitive tasks of administrative work, payroll, and management information, to name a few.
The easy solution to this challenge is automating some (or all) of your human resources processes with an HR software solution. HR software allows the team to seamlessly manage human resources tasks and processes while allowing them to focus on talent acquisition and development.
Let's break this down even further.
What Is HR Management Software?
Human Resources management software is any tech created with human resources in mind and supports many HR functions and activities. HR professionals also call this type of program human capital management software or human resources information systems (HRIS).
This type of HR technology provides functions that automate any (or all) of the following HR processes:
Administrative
Organizing employee data
Recruiting and onboarding employees
Talent management
Facilitating real-time communication and feedback
Onboarding employees
Why Do Companies Need HR Software?
The way we work has changed, and how your company manages your workforce must evolve with it. To stay competitive in the modern workplace, your company needs to attract the best talent and learn how to manage remote teams. To achieve this, your company should invest in technology that improves your employee experience and increases your profit.
There are many ways your company can benefit from HR software, but it all boils down to increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of your HR department. Automating your HR processes can free up your team to focus on more high-level processes that can increase employee satisfaction.
What Could Happen If You Don't Use an HR Solution?
You might be able to manage without an HR management solution if you run a small business. However, when something unexpected happens, like the COVID-19 pandemic, which drove people to work from home, your business might not be able to cope without an online HR solution.
Another likely scenario is when your business grows and needs more employees. Hiring and onboarding new talents create more responsibilities for your HR staff. This additional workload can leave your staff overwhelmed and prone to make more mistakes. Errors like federal or personnel compliance can result in lawsuits and fines.
An HR solution can remedy all of these challenges.
Are There Different Types of Human Resources Software?
The good news is that there are many types of HR management system software to choose from. The market for HR software is so wide that it's predicted to reach 10 billion this year.
Some HR software is an all-in-one solution, while others are more HR process specific. Below are some general types of HR software you can find in the market.
Payroll Systems
This type of HR software helps in managing payroll. Payroll management can include handling direct deposits, checks, W-2 form printing, and tax compliance.
Applicant Tracking Software (ATS)
ATS software helps you manage resumes that come when you post a job. This software can also help you create job descriptions, check it for Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion (DEI) language, post it on job boards, and track the candidate's application journey. This software can be convenient if your company is expanding and needs to hire more employees.
Human Resources Information System (HRIS)
This type of HR software focuses on the management of the day-to-day tasks of the HR department. It includes the following:
Employee tracking
Employee scheduling
Workforce management
Applicant tracking system
The HRIS is also sometimes known as human resource management systems (HRMS).
Human Capital Management Software (HCM)
This type of HR software is usually geared towards large enterprises. It combines all the types of HR software discussed above. You can think of it as an all-in-one software that can include recruiting, training, benefits, onboarding, and performance management (even with remote teams), to name a few.
What Is the Best HR Software?
The truth is there is no one-size-fits-all HR management system software. What can work for one company may not work for yours. However, the best HR software for your company is something that:
Puts information at your fingertips. The best HR software for your company is something that puts everything you want to know in one place. It's easily accessible whether you are on-site or working remotely. It also gives you real-time analytics so you can make real-time decisions. Maybe you want to know why a specific role has a high turnover rate. The best HR software will tell you if the employees get the training, feedback, and coaching they need.
Keeps your essential data secure. The best HRIS systems are the ones that are secure in keeping sensitive employee data. They have cloud-based storage that ensures your data is kept safe in case of a catastrophe. They are also ISO 27001 certified for added security.
Saves your company time. An excellent HR software automates administrative tasks like creating job descriptions or scheduling interview appointments for candidates. It can compute payroll, saving your HR team time to dedicate to nurturing your employees.
What Is the Best HR Software for a Small Business?
Having an HR department is not a legal requirement. Because of this, small business owners tend to neglect HR and focus more on revenue growth through their sales and marketing department.
However, no matter the industry, even small businesses with few employees have some HR duties. These HR duties can eat up a lot of time if you don't perform them efficiently.
An HR management software can automate these tasks, so you spend less time on HR administrative work and focus more on your company's bottom line.
In choosing the best HR software for your small business, you might want to consider the following:
1. Value for money. The HR software should be affordable (or free) but still offer a good selection of features. The trick is to pick the ones your company needs. Then, find the software that provides that feature. Some of these are:
Attendance tracking
Payroll automation
Onboarding or offboarding
Hiring management
2. Ease of Use. The best human resource management system for your small business should have an intuitive interface. Ideally, it should have a mobile and desktop version as well.
3. Integration. It should be easy to integrate with the current systems you already have.
4. Robustness. The best HR management system is the one that grows with your business. It is scalable in terms of functionality.
How Can HR Software Help Your Business Grow?
For your business to succeed and grow, you must invest in your main, most important product: your employees. Good HR software automates your HR processes. These processes include onboarding, employee attendance, benefits, and motivation.
Here's how HR software can help grow your business:
It helps you attract the right talent. Many industries are experiencing labor shortages. Recruitment software can help get your job ads to the right job boards so you can attract talents faster than your competitor.
Performance management and employee development. Human Resources software gives you the correct data to track the performance of your employees. With this data, you can easily see if there's a performance gap and remedy the situation.
Agile no matter the situation. HR management software enables your business to continue its HR operations no matter the situation. It allows HR teams to manage their workflow and operations on-site or remotely.
How to Get Started
People are a company's greatest asset. Google, Yahoo, and Apple are just some of the big companies that invest a lot of time and money to make sure their employees are happy and treated well. After all, happy employees are more productive. And while there are many ways to treat your employees correctly, one of the best ways is to invest in HR software.
All companies, no matter the size, can benefit from HR software. The best software makes it easier for your HR team to find the best diverse talent for your company, makes sure your employees are compensated well, and your company stays compliant, to name a few advantages.
Are you ready to take your Human Resources to the next level with HR software? Our people at Teamworks are prepared to help answer any of your questions. Contact us today.