Do you need to find the top HR software for your small business to help your HR team consolidate new employees’ information, create data reports, and optimize HR goals? No matter your need for HR software, we have collected the top HR software solutions and provide you additional information to review in the process of choosing the right HR software for your small business.
Along with the information about the most recognized HR software, the expert advice in this guide gives you the tools to better understand the advantages, risks, features, pricing, and the best methods to use the HR software to the fullest. We anticipate this knowledge will help your small business find the ideal HR software and find success in using a new HR software.
Top HR software
We researched a multitude of HR solutions; this list captures the best HR software for small businesses
A HR software providing small businesses a dedicated remote HR manager assisting them compliant policies, employee onboarding &terminations, and other HR operational issues. Bambee performs a full internal HR Audit of a company, finds serious stakes, and drafts an HR plan for the business. It’s a small monthly fee to get a certified HR manager for a small business.
BambooHR is a cloud-based HR system for small and growing business providing features for applicant tracking system, payroll, benefits management, time tracking, and much more. In addition to the main tools, this system provides hiring and performance measures covering across the employee’s lifecycle.
From startups to medium size companies, this software supplies the HR tools to help with employee management. Effortless HR is a web-based system allowing employers to manage their employees work hours, PTO, new hires, benefits, and more.
Used by over 60,000 companies, Factorial HR offers small to medium sized business time effective tools for employee management like onboarding, time tracking, payroll, time off, and documentations. A Great HR solution to help businesses dedicate more time to their business.
GoCo is another cloud-based human resource software designed for small business to give solutions for payroll and employee benefits. This software has a high rating for ease-of-use and gives users the ability to perform the hiring process from start to finish at a one stop portal.
Gusto is a platform helping all small businesses handle any of their HR functions. With over 100,000 employers using this HR software, find the system to be compliant and lessens their time dealing payroll management for all employees.
Namely is a web-based service solution for midsize and growing businesses concentrating HR structure and management. The platform is ideal for businesses wanting a software to minimize their HR workload through automations and integrations providing a promising ROI for strained HR teams.
Minimize the standard, paper-based procedures related with expense reimbursement for employee’s with Paycom. This platform is a single application software allowing businesses to automate and simplify the processes of payroll and HR without compromising strict standards of data protection.
Yes of course, we had to mention our HR software. VIVAHR was created to help small businesses and provide HR solutions. Our software is a modernized applicate tracking system full of tools to help small business hiring like a Rockstar.
Zenefits software is specifically created for small to midsize businesses with a diverse range of solutions for new hires, benefits, payroll, performance, and termination deflecting the endless HR paper trail. This service offers the largest and most intuitive human resources experience on the market.
Zoho People is an optimized HR Software for various sized companies designed to meet a wide range of HR needs. With the ability to engage, maintain, and appreciate qualified individuals, Zoho People allows user to customize their HR programs easier from a central location.
Advantages of HR Software
Why? Most likely, your first thoughts of investing in a human resource management system (HRMS) or Human Resource Information System, or (HRIS). As you actively maintain your small business operations, you may have reached the point where you view an HRMS crucial to your company’s success. Overall, your growth has made it hard to manage employee-related protocols and data without professional relief. Luckily, over the past decade or so, we have seen the tools for HR software offer far more benefits in efficiently revolutionizing a company’s human recourse obstacles. Here is a breakdown of the advantages of opting for an HR software to give you support in your investment decision.
Improving Productivity– Obviously, the most valuable advantage of resorting to HR software is to improve your HR department or team’s productivity. The constant tracking down documents, managers for signatures, and sifting through files becomes a diminished headache for your HR administration. Using HR software, a large number of HR tasks can be automated, and you can quickly access information in seconds with searchable databases.
Saves Time – Along with being more productivity, saving time on HR tasks with implementing an HRIS goes hand in hand. With the ability to automate HR duties such as onboarding, payroll, benefits, and time management it can speeds up the repetitive HR processes. Your HR team will not need to devote a great deal of time everyday facilitating or reworking the system. As a result of spending less time managing HR tasks, you and your team can centralize your time on other profitable and rewarding requirements.
Boost Morale – A useful feature to a HRMS happens in the employee portal where your employees have fast access to their payroll stubs, request time off, review benefits, and policies without having to ask anyone for these items from the HR department. In this age of having information at the palm of our hands, having an efficient HR software provides your employees with easy access to get the employment information they need which will result in an increase employee satisfaction.
Decrease Errors – With the data entry placed into an HRIS, this feature can also dramatically improve the data reliability, particularly in performance reviews and inaccurate termination cases. An HRIS can decrease the likelihood of manual input errors for several automated tasks. Also, the data you receive assists you in making informed decisions on specific areas related to HR. Such as a position with high turnover, the information allows you to track the employee’s level of training and efficiency. This advantage will enable you to thoroughly examine data analytics relevant for identifying trends and noticing problems.
Improve Compliance – In following the advantages of decreasing errors, another point of investing in a top HRIS involves improving your business’s compliance with state and federal laws. It’s quite demanding managing your employees’ information. The assistance of efficient HR software offers simple ways to maintain every aspect of your business with compliance associated details. Furthermore, HR software keeps up with various changes to the industry and updates its software system on a routine basis to keep you informed of the regulations that affect your line of business.
Personnel Management – The top HRMS offers tools to help modernize HR departments with personnel management. Designed into many HR software, users will find ways for employee engagement with responsive onboarding, immediate access to payroll, benefits, policies, and time clocks. These types of advantages are all achieved through cloud-based services that also improve the new updates created over time.
Recruiting Capability – Hiring new talent is vital for business growth but, overall, a large part of an HR team’s responsibilities. Another feature found in the best HRIS will also operate as applicant tracking systems (ATS). With the applicant tracking systems features of an HRIS, you receive an integrated database to process job applications, search through applicants, identify the best candidates according to parameters set, and coordinate logistics. Many businesses use ATS to reduce the time spent on reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, and ensuring a well-organized method to hire.
Employee Overseeing – Along with the great amount of data you receive with an HRMS, you will have the ability to keep track of every aspect that’s required to plot your employee’s career development plan. You may collect data on your employee’s performance, including training course or surveys. Also, you have a centralized databased to keep records of all employee’s stages of development and administer reviews frequently.
Risks of HR Software
What is an acceptable guide without explaining the risks to be aware of when investing into an HR software? Having the knowledge of what not to do, what to look for, and other common mistakes grants you the ability to receive the best return on your investment. To ensure that you don’t go down the wrong path, the directions we give will aid you getting to your target decision on choosing the right HRIS for your small business.
Not Workable – For you, HR team, and employees to gain the best use out of an HRMS it has to be easy to use. Spending money and time with a system that is not user-friendly completely defeats the purpose of investing in an HR software. Many of the top HR softwares provide a demo that displays the system’s use and offers free training for using the system. Another piece of advice is to make sure the software user interface is appealing, and the user experience is accessible on various devices.
No employee involvement– A save time advantage to using an HR software; it permits employees to update or change their personal information, opt into company benefits, review schedules, request time off, and retrieve payment verification. If the system does not allow your employees to do these tasks, how will it save you and your HR team time?
Failure to Merge – To save time with an HRMS, you want to confirm that the system will integrate with your other business applications and systems, making it easy for all data information transfers seamlessly. If you don’t make sure of this system integration, you and your team will waste valuable time manually inputting data into every one of your systems.
Growth Limitations – As many small businesses strive with the ambition to increase the size of their operations and workforce, you need to verify that the HRIS is capable of growing with you. With an HR software designed for a business employing 100, and your company plans to increase way and above that amount, that particular system will cause internal struggles. Just validate that the HRMS has options to meet your demand for growing your business.
Data inaccuracies – The best HR software is as efficient as the data it holds. You know that any software full of wrong data will be pretty worthless. To ensure that you don’t encounter data inaccuracies, have your HR team and employees follow a precise procedure when entering information manually or through other HR programs.
Application– For any software to perform properly, it all starts at the beginning. You don’t want to rush through the set-up stage because the probability of entering inaccurate information is higher. Take detailed time and really be thorough of all the information you are entering. If you enter the slightest wrong information, you or your HR department will lose valuable time correcting the system and may even find yourself in a troubling situation. A good rule of thumb is to reach out to the HRIS support team or an advisor who has experience in transferring data to various systems
Faulty Data protection– A HRMS is a system holding a vast amount of crucial business and employee information. Having a high quality and superb data security protection is a must and should not be a light consideration in choosing an HR software. If ever hacked, your business may suffer an irreversible loss. Again, when setting up security measures in your device, it is indispensable to be cautious.
Poor Team Development – A considerable issue occurs when HR departments who haven’t developed the steps of introducing the HRMS find it difficult for the system to be successful. Avoiding this issue requires your HR department or team to produce a plan that outlines every step of action and ensures reliable communication across the entire process with all participants.
Primary Features of HR software
When searching for the right HR software for your small business, you want to know precisely the features that come preinstalled. However, you may need to take time to assess what features you need that best align with your business operations. Having a central idea of what HR goals or changes you plan to achieve will ultimately provide your business with the most out of your HRMS investment.
Employee Management – One of the major core features of an HRMS investment is managing staff members. This feature provides a database to keep employees information in a centralized location. The system reduces or eliminates the need for hard copies. Also, this feature simplifies the process of searching for employee’s details regarding wages, position, promotions, performance reviews, and all other work-related records.
Employee portal– Mentioning time saving features can not be highlighted enough when searching for HR software features. Having the feature ability that allows your employees to access the company’s HR system to upload documents, make benefit selections or changes, access pay verifications, will save your HR team time.
Hour Supervision– Along with allowing your employee’s having access to upload their information, pay subs, and other need company documentation, also gives them the ability to make request regarding their professional time. An HRSM with this feature where employees can request time off for illness, personal issues, or certain types of leaves improves your business overall time management.
Benefits Oversight – In addition to wanting payroll functions, finding features for benefits again adds improving your HR structure. The functions permit employees to review, select, and enroll into your company’s benefits at the time of your choosing. The advantage of benefits features modifies the complicated and demanding process of benefits enrollment and administration.
Hiring Capability– If you have plans to grow your company then you are going to need to hire additional employees to accommodate your future business expectations. You will want a HRIS that has the feature to hire new employees. Make sure the feature allows you to post your open positions and manage applied candidate’s information and progress them through your hiring pipeline.
Onboarding options – Along with wanting a feature for hiring, having an onboarding option will again save time for HR management for getting new employee documents signed. The onboarding process has a major influence on how quickly employees become beneficial and satisfied with your company, ultimately effecting the overall performance of your business.
Learning Board – This feature known as a learning management system (LMS) may be included in some HR software. Some (LMS) that come preloaded with educational tools or allows users to upload their personal customized resources to the software. LMS provides a simple way to distribute and monitor learning activities, support career development and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Training Management – Your type of business may require your employees to have specific licenses or certifications to operate within the industry. Having the ability to track your employee’s training is an essential feature to have in an HR software. This training feature in an HRIS will enable you to stay updated on all required re-licenses or re-certifications and view your employees’ progress in training courses.
Document Storage– On top of storing your employee’s information having the ability to also store your business information is a feature you will want as part of your HR software. A feature that allows you and your employee to have digital access to any type of documentation pertaining to your operations such as employee handbook, policies and producers, and a company directory. Again, this is a time saver and adds benefits to having a more organized and efficient business.
Payroll Control – A significant feature, and the main reason to invest in HR software, is having a hassle-free and straightforward method of handling payroll for your business. An HRIS assists in managing payroll requirements and reduces the risk of error. The system allows different functions related to payroll tasks, such as compensation adjustments, overtime pay, PTO, and compensation bonuses.
Report Handling – One way to improve your business with useful HR software, occurs by reporting features and the information distributed. The reporting features help you make business decisions, and it is essential to have a system capable of producing analytical reports to your custom requirements. An efficient reporting system can help you get useful insight into the manual method of writing reports.
Understanding HR software Pricing
As with any type of purchase for your business, you must know what you will be paying. You have seen all the excellent reasons to invest in an HR software for your small business, along with knowing the risk, now you need to understand how HR software is priced. There are several ways in which HR software solutions tend to price their product. Much of the pricing of an HR software usually relates to the number of employees for each month. Plus, of course, the price will depend on the type of features associated with the HR software. Review the prices ranges below, so you know what kinds of pricing structures to keep in mind in your HR software search.
Per employee – Based on the number of employees a user has employed in their business, this is how the price is given for some HR software. Overtime, the cost per employee usually decreases as the number of employees increases. As this HR software maybe your first, consider this pricing structure as you have the ability to opt out of software that doesn’t meet your business model without having invested too much.
Per Month – This price structure, exactly like a subscription, is set on a monthly period regardless of the number of employees. Top benefits from this price monthly option is the flexibility and it typically costs less in the beginning. With this option you can get your HR software and having it running with a lower up-front cost.
One Time / License – This option is the standard business software price structure and usually found with on-premises systems for HRMS. Many HR software solutions for this price option provides an additional yearly support price or the ability to buy other features separately. Averagely, the cost for one time/ license options, tend to be the most expensive.
Free – What? How? Free use of an HR software, you are probably thinking what is the catch? Well, not technically free more of “Freemium”, which offers basic feature of the software in a more limited plan with the ability to add more features for additional fees. The benefit for a first time user of an HR software is the Freemium allows you to try the system at a restricted access. If you’re wanting more features then, yes, you will have to pay.
Analyzing the HR Software Demo
Most HR software solutions offer users the option to review their system through a Demo. These demos are an excellent opportunity to see the software in action and provide users the ability to examine if the system offers the advantages they are searching to purchase. While engaging in the HRMS demo, it’s essential to draft some questions to consider during the review. Listed below are some questions for you to have when you start the HR software demo.
How easy does the system integrate with other systems?
What kind of ongoing tech support is available?
How secure is the software for employee data?
Does the system work with your company benefit provider?
Are employees allowed to have a self-portal?
What compliance solutions are available?
What sorts of training for your whole HR team is available for the software?
What reporting is available?
Does the system have mobile accessibility?
What kinds of communication features are available?
What occurs to your information during a software update?
Are there customization or configuration capabilities at an additional fee?
Best Methods to Leverage an HR Software
With all the information in this guide, you should feel confident in your research process and what kind of software will meet your small business HR demands. Here is more helpful information to get the most out of your HRMS choice.
Plan for HRIS intro – When selecting HR software, you will need to choose you who will introduce the system to your employee. This tasks maybe for you, an HR director, or an HR team. Someone will need to take control of assisting employees to get started and answer any questions. Whoever is placed in this position needs to be an expert with all levels of the business and responsible for the system introduction to the business.
Employee Embracing. Once you, the HR department, and employees have received a thorough system introduction, focus on how well your business has embraced the HR software features. Find out if the system is user-friendly if anyone has issues, and what their likes and dislikes occur when using the systems. You want to make sure you have invested in an HRIS that the entire business uses to get the most out of the software.
Modify Approach – If you find that your HR software has negative feedback from your HR team and employees, don’t get discouraged. You may need to modify your intro approach to effectively use your HR software.
Use the support – A question to make sure you have the answer to during your HR demo is the amount of tech support you will receive. You may require assistance, and it’s important to know what kind of support an HR software can provide. Don’t be reluctant to use the help, it is there for you.
Stay active – To get the most out of your HR software investment- stay active by devoting your time knowing all the ins and outs the system features. You will get the best advantages from your HRIS if you give it your full dedication. Once you select your software, start entering your info into the system immediately, and become familiar with your system.
Closing Points
We hope the information in this guide becomes useful for you to help find and select an HR software for your small business. Just remember to consider your business structure, HR goals, and how the design of each HRIS can make the most out of your investment. One last tip is to choose a few different HR software solutions that meet your price range, demand, and come with features you want to improve your HR department. Take time to discover which of your top choices can meet your expectations. Overall, an HR Software investment is a purchase that can improve employee performance and productivity and allow all departments of a business to build positive relationships.
