HR software: What you need to know and choosing the right one

Do you feel that your HR software provides actionable insights, or is it just a fancy way to store employee data?

It is vital to acknowledge a concerning statistic: In 2023, a significant 45% of our employees reported experiencing burnout amidst organizational changes. This data reveals the urgency for our HR software to do more than just manage data but also provide actionable insights to address all kinds of HR operational challenges effectively. 

Our HR system should offer predictive analytics capabilities to anticipate and mitigate issues like burnout before they escalate. Assessing whether our current HR software fulfills this crucial role is paramount. It's not merely about data storage; it's about leveraging insights to prioritize employee well-being and ensure organizational resilience.

What is HR Software?

As an HR leader, you understand how important it is to strike a balance between maintaining employee morale and productivity. Seeing your best employees caught up in time-consuming, repetitive tasks hampering their potential for growth is certainly not your idea of company success. With the right HR software, you can set clear goals, map out fulfilling career trajectories and enhance workplace productivity at the same time. 

Why do businesses need HR Software? 

The beauty of HR software lies in its ability to bring efficiency and consistency to various HR processes. For instance, the tasks that require tons of paperwork, manual entry, and extensive time can now be automated and managed with just a few clicks. With automated assistance in maintaining accurate records and data, ensure compliance with regulations and offer insights through analytics that can aid in strategic decision-making.

In this blog, we will help you navigate the complexities of the HR landscape with ease – from understanding the features of the HR software to laying out a step-by-step guide for choosing the right solution. We will also give you a better understanding of what factors to consider when choosing an HR software that fits right with your tailored needs. Make sure you grab a cup of coffee, and sit back and take notes as you read on. 

Let’s begin, shall we?

What are the features an HR software is expected to have

Working shoulder-to-shoulder to achieve your HR goals is what an ideal HR software is expected to do.

Some of these features make the HR tasks as smooth as butter.  

Hire

What if you had an autopilot mode for your recruitment process that drove you with ease? Today, the Hiring process looks for automation, ease of access on various devices, travel friendly mode and also insights on the go. The right hiring module will help accelerate the right foot forward, giving you the desired pace towards achieving your hiring goals. 

Recruitment funnel

This feature allows you to manage your candidate’s recruitment process. 

Isn’t it always nice to have collaboration and guidance at your fingertips at each stage of the recruitment? A recruitment funnel must consist of a well-cut out brand strategy to hire the talents that will suit the organization best. Use the inputs of your teams for channeling the recruitment in the right direction.

Automated onboarding

Automated onboarding is all about smooth inductions for the HR and employee

Have you ever wondered, that your employee too looks for a first good impression from your side, and it’s not always the other way round? 

Plan your first day inductions with ease and let the HR software help you. Here you will allow the employee to upload their records, details and documents into the system and forget about them getting lost in the transaction. 

Collaborative hiring

Share and evaluate candidates based on team insights.

This feature makes it possible for teams to actively participate in the process of screening, hiring and onboarding top talent. This feature reduces the rate of overlooking significant steps that could fizzle out between transactions. Your teams can actively pitch in their thoughts on the candidate’s right fit. Now, with rich insights at your disposal, you can pave the way toward excellent informed hiring decisions. 

Hire with AI & analytics

Strategic decisions help the hiring of talent for a better rate of success.

AI helps impact tactful and smart decisions that will boost your hiring ability. It decreases the chances of irrelevant profiles that don’t fit your requirements or align with your company’s goals. Our AI Analytics also helps you reduce the hassles in the screening stage. This saves your time by automatically screening those resumes for you so that you can make use of your day in other productive ways. 

Mobile ATS

Hire on-the-go without losing momentum of your company's requirements.

Make the tracking of your hirings simply seamless with our Mobile Application Tracking Systems. This helps you engage with prompt responses without losing a beat. Our Mobile ATS gives you the advantage of glitch-free processing so that your hiring can keep pace with your organization’s growing needs. 

Engage

The catalyst for building relationships, igniting creativity and ensuring that every member of the team feels a part of something bigger.

It is a toolbox designed to not just connect your team but to foster a culture of collaboration.

Every voice matters and contributes to a vibrant workplace. Make announcements, celebrate the small and big wins, give suggestions and make meaningful conversations along with crowdsourcing ideas from your employees itself, promote the unified experience of your ecosystem with ease and convenience.

Announcements

Think of productive workplaces that help you make a note of every event without missing a beat! 

Announcements serve as a dynamic platform for HR to communicate effectively across the entire organization. Your team can also engage with these announcements, fostering a sense of involvement and community. The interactive aspect can spark discussions, foster collaboration, and create a shared sense of belonging. Whether it's sharing company-wide news, promoting events, or even celebrating team successes, this feature allows you to broadcast these messages efficiently.

Recognition

Foster a positive workforce by appreciating and acknowledging each other's good work.

Imagine being able to shine a spotlight on your team's achievements, big or small, and celebrate them in a way that's visible and meaningful. This feature is the ultimate 'high-five' in a digital space, allowing you to commend and appreciate outstanding efforts.

The power of Recognition lies in its ability to foster a positive work environment. It's more than just a pat on the back; it's about amplifying the intrinsic motivation of your team. When colleagues can publicly acknowledge each other's hard work or accomplishments, it cultivates a sense of camaraderie and appreciation. Thus creating a culture where everyone feels valued and that boosts overall job satisfaction.

Employee voice

Employee voice acts as a crucial tool for gauging the pulse of your organization. 

By gathering real-time feedback and insights, you're not just collecting data, you're gaining valuable information to shape your strategies. This information can help in making data-driven decisions, understanding employee sentiment, and identifying areas for improvement. 

Manage

Switch to a secure, centralized HR management system and put organized employee data at your fingertips whenever you need it.

The beauty lies in the convenience of having everything centralized in a cloud-based HRIS.  support system that streamlines your operations and makes your team’s interaction more efficient.

Org charts

This feature creates a master blueprint of your workforce that showcases who's who, their roles and their relationships within the organization.

Org Chart gives you a visual road map of all your reporting lines or department structures. This feature lays out transparency and clarity in understanding the intricate connections that you need to have making the functioning of your organization transparent and effective.

‍Attendance management

Optimize your workforce by doing a lot more than just tracking attendance patterns.

With Attendance Tracking, gather insights that can help in planning and optimizing workforce schedules, and foreseeing staffing needs to identify areas for improvement for enhancing the overall operational efficiency. Similarly, leveraging 3PL automation enhances logistics precision, ensuring seamless supply chain operations and optimized inventory management. With the ability to customize your attendance module, you can tailor the system to fit your organization's unique attendance policies and requirements ensuring a smooth and seamless attendance tracking experience. At its core, Attendance Management is a tool for creating a workplace where time is valued and utilized effectively.

Leave management

Simplify leave management effortlessly and know who is in and out for the day, week and month right at your fingertips.

Handle leave requests swiftly and conveniently from your mobile device.

Gain a comprehensive view of your team's availability instantly—whether they're in or out for the day, week, or month. With this system, you're not just managing leaves, you're enhancing the overall workflow. Picture the convenience of swiftly handling leave requests, take a snapshot of your team's availability and effortlessly planning ahead. Empower a work environment where managing leaves becomes an intuitive and convenient part of your everyday operations.

Shift management

Handle diverse shift patterns, simplify the process of crafting employee schedules and accurately monitor worked hours efficiently.

Create a conducive work environment by ensuring that the right people are scheduled for the right shifts, minimizing conflicts and thus keeping everything organized. By tracking worked hours accurately, you're not just managing time but also ensuring fairness and compliance with labor regulations, creating a culture of trust and transparency within the workplace.

Document management

Effortlessly handle employee information without the hassle of spreadsheets. Transition to a secure, all-in-one HR management system and access organized employee data whenever it's needed.

Imagine having employee records at your fingertips whenever you need them. Apart from convenience, it gives you the versatility of streamlining HR operations and ensuring that the right information is available at the right time. Whether it's checking someone's contact details or reviewing their performance history, having this data readily available can significantly improve decision-making and response time.

Offboarding

Create a memorable farewell experience for the employee at the time of off boarding.

The offboarding process shouldn’t be a chaotic rush to tie up loose ends. Instead, treat it as an opportunity to ensure that departing employees leave on good terms. Ensure that they feel appreciated for their contributions. 

By utilizing automated workflows and checklists, ensure that no important steps are missed out and that the process is carried out smoothly and respectfully. Aim on making goodbyes less daunting and more supportive. 

Perform

Embrace a Human-Centric Approach to Performance Evaluation 

Transition to a performance management software centered on people, emphasizing resilience and adaptability that resonate with employees.

Goals

Empower your team by monitoring their daily goals, measuring what truly counts, setting clear objectives and deriving key results. 

This is the key to fostering happy, aligned and productive teams. Moreover, when individuals see their progress and contributions tied to the bigger goals, it breeds satisfaction and happiness within the team. Knowing that their work is significant and that they are making a difference amplifies their sense of purpose, making them more dedicated and productive.

Feedback templates

Foster open communication and growth through continuous feedback.

Provide employees with accessible and easy-to-use templates for feedback. Empower them to express their thoughts and experiences. These customizable templates can be used to suit the specific needs of your organization or individual roles ensuring that the feedback is tailored and relevant.

When employees have the opportunity to provide feedback using these templates, it encourages honest and constructive dialogue. This can foster trust, collaboration and a sense of being heard, thus, contributing to a more engaged and motivated team.

Review cycles

Enhance your review process. 

Experience the freedom to customize and establish review cycles according to your preferences. Whether it's through balanced scorecard methods, innovative peer feedback scores, or a blend of both, the choice is yours!

One on one discussions

Address any concerns, acknowledging achievements and setting future objectives.

The art of having the right conversations at the right time is essential for nurturing a positive work environment. It's not just about having meetings; it's about ensuring that these discussions happen seamlessly after employee performance appraisals, ensuring timely follow-ups and discussions on key points.

Having these one-on-one conversations post-performance appraisals is crucial in maintaining a supportive and growth-oriented environment. Use this platform to ensure that these discussions are documented and actions are followed through.

AI & Analytics

Let intuitive AI take over your HR processes with accuracy and collaborative insights.

Data-Driven decision making

Remove the guesswork out of the equation and gain valuable insights on the trends of your workforce.

Gain valuable insights into your workforce trends and leverage powerful AI-driven analytics to steer your decisions based on data and not guesswork. By utilizing these analytics, you're making decisions that are based on real knowledge and not just assumptions. This fosters a culture where employees feel valued and supported as decisions are made considering their best interests and the success of the company as a whole.

Align engagement with strategy

Understand the pulse of your organization and dive into insights head first for a clear and planned strategic approach. 

Uncover employee insights and explore engagement factors throughout your organization. Correlate engagement with retention and performance insights, refining your approach to employee engagement.

What are the Top 9 HR software? 

Here are a few HR software that are used worldwide:

1. peopleHum: 

PeopleHum is an HR software that offers an ultimate management platform that revolves around experiences at its core. Designed to celebrate achievements, encourage active participation and serve as a catalyst for a vibrant workplace culture, the platform is simple, sophisticated and user friendly. 

2. HashMicro:

HashMicro stands as a leading HRIS provider, offering a comprehensive suite of solutions including Accounting, Inventory Management, CRM, and various other tools. With extensive experience serving businesses in Wholesale, Manufacturing, F&B, Travel, Education, Service, and Retail sectors, they prioritize enhancing operational efficiency through their diverse software solutions.

3. Carbonate HR:

Carbonate is a cloud-based HR software, focuses on aiding small and medium-sized businesses by minimizing paperwork and costs. Their emphasis lies in integrating online attendance, roster tracking, attendance management and payroll, offering a seamless workflow through their web application.

4. HR2eazy:

HR2eazy is a full-featured Payroll Software catering to both Enterprises and Startups. This cloud-based HR management system covers a spectrum of solutions including KPI Management, Leave, Claim, Payroll, and Timesheet Management, ensuring accessibility across various devices for streamlined operation.

5. BrioHR:

BrioHR is a company specializing in HRMS solutions, providing an intuitive, modular, and affordable HR management system. Their user-friendly platform supports digitalization and automation of various HR processes, from recruitment and onboarding to payroll and employee file management, with expert assistance for customization and configuration.

6. Seamless HR:

Seamless HR, a Lagos-based startup, is dedicated to streamlining HR processes for medium to large-sized companies across Nigeria and Ghana. Their offerings span Core HR, Performance Management, Payroll, and Recruitment Management, catering to notable clients in the region.

7. Systemspecs:

SystemSpecs, established in Nigeria, boasts a nearly three-decade legacy in the African software industry. Their offerings encompass Payroll, Leave, Performance Management, and Employee Self-Service solutions, catering to organizations of varied sizes in Nigeria and across Africa.

9. HONO:

HONO offers a diverse array of HR-Tech Solutions and Services, aiming to enhance productivity and employee happiness through innovative HR solutions. Their platform, HONO H2RS, facilitates seamless Hire to Retire processes with a range of features including Employee Management, Performance Management, and Talent Management.

10. Clinch HR:

Clinch specializes in recruitment marketing and CRM, emphasizing a more personalized candidate experience. Their features like Candidate Relationship Management, Chatbots, and Behavioral Data Analysis aim to foster a genuine and effective interaction between employers and potential candidates.

Six things to consider when choosing HR software 

Let's dive deeper into the key considerations and strategic steps to make a well-informed decision when acquiring HR software.

1. Evaluating your current state:

Before navigating the array of available HR software, it's crucial to perform a comprehensive self-assessment. Recognizing the specific needs and challenges of your current HR system is fundamental. This evaluation involves pinpointing areas requiring enhancement, identifying lacking functionalities in the existing system, and acknowledging the distinct requirements of your organization.

2. Prioritizing features and customization:

Not all HR software solutions are a one-size-fits-all. Each system may offer different features, and you should choose what aligns best with your organization's objectives. Prioritizing essential features and customization options is vital. Distinguishing between must-have versus desirable features is a 

ensures the chosen software effectively addresses current needs while having the flexibility to scale for future requirements.

3. Understanding the technology requirements:

Each HR software platform operates with its unique technical specifications and needs. Understanding how the software aligns with your organization's technical structure is crucial. Compatibility with existing systems, security measures and adaptability to further technological advancements are essential aspects to consider.

4. Exploring user training opportunities:

The successful integration of new HR software heavily relies on how well your team adapts to the system. Knowing the kind of user training provided by the software vendor is pivotal. Whether it's support of comprehensive onboarding or resources of ongoing training, ensuring the software provider offers inclusive training is critical for successful implementation and user adoption.

5. Thorough assessment of implementation plans:

Carefully examining the implementation plans offered by the HR software provider is essential. This involves understanding the deployment process, timelines, potential challenges, and the support available during and post-implementation. A clear roadmap and robust support system are essential for a seamless transition to the new system. 

6. On-demand vs on-premise solutions:

Differentiating between on-demand (cloud-based) and on-premise solutions holds significance. On-demand software offers remote accessibility and typically involves lower initial costs, while on-premise software provides greater control over data and may suit organizations with specific security or compliance needs. Understanding the advantages and limitations of both options is crucial for an informed decision-making process.

Conclusion

Selecting the right HR software demands a deliberate and informed approach. Consider these strategic steps and essential factors and ensure that the chosen software aligns with the organization's objectives, enhances efficiency and fosters a positive impact on the overall HR functions.