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Published December 09th, 2016 by

How to Select the Best Human Resources Software

How to Select the Best Human Resources Software

The first step that an employee must face is the Human Resources Department. It is where great employees start. Even though HR is the most underestimated department, they still play a very important role just like everybody else in the company. We can also say that the future of the company also depends on the hands of the HR department. Their job is to get the best employees whom they think will contribute to their company, and that is not an easy task. That is why they also need a tool to streamline their work and boost their productivity just like any other department. This is where the human resources software comes.

What Is Human Resources Software?

It is the combination of human resources and information technology. The job of a human resources department includes tracking of employees’ contact information, history, skills, accomplishments, etc. With the use of an HR system, the data or information gathering will not be the problem of the HR department anymore. Well, they still have to make their own documents and data gathering but with a lesser time and effort. They can allow the employees themselves to update their necessary information in the database. It will be easier to track every activity with the use of the human resources system. Here are the other functions of HR software:

  1. Performance evaluation
  2. Employee self-service
  3. Scheduling system
  4. Payroll management
  5. Keeping records
  6. Benefits administration
  7. Analysis and decision-making
  8. Storing, processing, and managing employee info
  9. Learning management
  10. Recruiting and onboarding

Why Do You Need an HR Software Solution?

When you are starting your company or when you have to change your current human resources software, finding the right system can be a daunting task. There is hundreds of software that offers a lot of different features. Every system is created to suit a specific need of a company. If you are going to ask what the best human resources software is, the answer will not be definite because it entirely depends on your assessment of the needs of your company. So, you must ask yourself, why do you need that kind of software? What are your needs? What are the important processes that you want your software to help you with?

It would be very helpful to ask these questions first before selecting human resources software. Of course, it is a decision that can affect your whole operations, big deal. Therefore, you conduct a careful research first on how to find the best HR system for your company. There is no exaggerating if we say that there are no companies that have exactly the same problems. If you are going to listen to some suggestions of other people, that wouldn’t be a great idea.

If you are going to get a system similar to the one that your friend told you about, there is a great chance that the other features of that software will be useless to your company. The consequences of that are a great deal of money you will be spending for the features you cannot even use. Therefore, it would be much safer if you are going to do your research by assessing your needs. When you do that, you can read some reviews about human resources software to gain insight about the leading providers today. It is also much better if you can involve the HR professionals or the whole organization in the selection process.

What Are the Features to Look for? 

It is important to know the features of an HR system that you should look for. You should include this in your selection process because again, you don’t want your company to be paying money for the features that you cannot use. Plus, learning the features of the HR software can give you some ideas about other functionalities that you didn’t think would be helpful in your company. So, here are they are:

  1. Performance Evaluation

A human resources management system can record the performance of each employee. It can also summarize or process that information and put it into one database. With this, the management can understand the strengths and weaknesses of their employees. Using this features, it is much easier to give them appropriate training and evaluate their performance. Other companies are using this system to make necessary merits or salary increase for the employees who excel in their respective jobs. This feature of HR system can boost the overall productivity of the organization by gearing up the planning process, encouraging the improvement of employees’ productivity, and measuring the performance of the company.

  1. Employee Self-service

Communication and approval process is one of the most daunting tasks of the HR department. With the use of the human resources software, these tasks will be much easier and faster. If the employees can access the database and give them a certain degree of control to update their information in it, they will feel more empowered or engaged in the operations of the company. Plus, it will lessen the probability of miscommunications and errors in the data-entry. Some systems can also integrate with the scheduling program and the employees could be allowed to update their own schedules. This can lead to a more accurate scheduling system because it will lessen the possibility of conflicts and other time issues.

  1. Payroll Management

The majority of the HR departments in most companies handle the payroll management of employees. A good quality HR system can make this job easier. It must be able to integrate with the payroll software so that it can process the salary of each employee faster and more accurate. It will be a simpler process because the HR system contains the tracking info of the employees such as the hours of work, scheduling, performance, etc.

  1. Bookkeeping and Reporting

Bookkeeping and making reports have never been easier. With the use of a single server, be it cloud-based or self-hosted, gathering information could be done using a single database. There is no need for bulky file cabinets to store documents or employee information. The software must be accessible to the employees and other staff in the organization so that the HR department can easily manage the necessary data when making a report.

  1. Benefits Administration

You should look for software that has a benefits administration feature. It may be a time consuming and confusing process when it’s time to process the benefits of the employees. However, with the use of a system that utilizes a benefits administration feature, the employees can easily learn the whole process. The system can teach the employees about the enrollment, the policies they need to know, and just every step in the process. It could also be very useful when the employees have to make necessary changes to the benefits when their life conditions change.

  1. Recruiting

Recruiting is one of the most vital parts of the HR department’s job. While this could be a daunting task for some HR professionals, using the HR system could make it much easier. There are HR systems that allow the user to post advertisements in the social media and other websites. It would also become easier for the employees to apply in your company because the software can integrate with your company website or other applications. You might also want to look for the one that can filter the employee applications depending on their qualifications, age, educational attainment, etc.

  1. Time Management

Scheduling is also one of the tasks of the human resources department. They need to make scheduling for the employees and staff and make a strategic shifts and attendance record. They need to ensure that everyone follows the right schedule. Therefore, you should look for a system that can make a strategic schedule for all the employees and staff. Not only that but it also must be able to notify or warn the employees if they are not following the right schedule. It also includes their location, time consumed in making projects, attendance in other activities, etc.

  1. Learning Management

Training and improving the skills of the employees are also included in the job of the HR department. Therefore, when choosing the right software for your organization, you should look for a feature that enables your employees to learn by using an eLearning system. Some software also offers integration to another system in providing your employees the necessary knowledge in their job.

  1. Maintenance and User Support

Don’t ever skip this one when you are considering your needs in an HR system. You must check if the system you are going to use will have an easy-to-use user interface. That is pretty basic of course. However, you should also check if the system’s service level agreements, turnaround times, customizable features, cost, and extra charges. For the maintenance, ask the provider if there will be a user support, monthly or yearly upgrades, and other maintenance services.

When you are looking for the best human resources software for your organizations, there are lots of resources that you can rely on. First, you can consider these features and consider the needs of your company. Second, you can read other articles or blogs about HR systems. Just be diligent enough to make your own research in order to get the best result from your efforts and time.

While all those tasks at hand can be very daunting, you will see that if you listen to the professional advice, the fruit of it all will soon show in the implementation of your software. For that, you can read the reviews and rankings of the top human resources software in CrowdReviews.com. Here, you can check out the honest reviews of the customers who have tried or currently using the leading HR systems in the market today.

Our rankings are completely independent, transparent, and community driven; they are based on user reviews and client sentiment. These human resource software companies had to earn their way up and didn't just pay their way up.

View Rankings of Best Human Resource Software Companies