Do I Need HR Software?

Human resources (HR) software offers businesses a solution to complex and time-consuming administrative tasks that need to be done on a regular basis within the HR department.

In addition to the automation of such tasks, HR software serves to unify various functions of HR departments, including payroll, recruitment, training, performance and more. It’s able to bring all these different aspects of the business together in such a way that it is centralised and can be analysed and used effectively.

HR software has the potential to significantly improve functionality within companies’ HR departments by not only improving the way in which existing tasks are performed but also by adding value in ways that haven’t before been possible.

But, although it’s clear that HR software can be incredibly useful, do all companies really need it? And if not, who does and who doesn’t?

 

Who Needs HR Software?

 

In a perfect world, everybody would have HR software, no matter how small or simple the business, because there are always ways that operations can be improved by means of automation – even if it’s one single aspect of the entire department like working out attendance records.

In the real world, however, HR software costs money and needs to be installed, set up and monitored. Thus, contemplating whether or not your business actually needs HR software is relevant.

Firstly, if you’re running a large company with a big staff, you’re almost certainly going to be able to benefit from HR software and your profit margins should be high enough to be able to cover costs and make it worth it.

But, what about smaller companies and businesses that don’t have massive staff? How do you decide whether or not you need HR software when things aren’t as cut and dry?

Here are some of the most important indicators that your business needs HR software:

 

• Employees spend a lot of time performing repetitive tasks day in and day out.
• Many different spreadsheets and paper documents are constantly being used.
• HR data isn’t centralised, it’s all stored independently.
• Employee progress is tracked manually or not at all.
• Executives don’t have a clear way to assess or determine the company’s organisational health.
• There’s not enough time to spend on HR strategy.
• Employees have to enter the same information multiple times in different places.
• Information is being manually transcribed and recorded.
• There is no employee portal platform where all employee information can be viewed.
• HR processes and protocols are generally time-consuming and tiring.
• You don’t use payroll software.
• Performance reviews are irregular or don’t really influence employee status.
• Workflows are negatively influenced by human error on a regular basis.
• Employee turnover rates aren’t tracked or your business has a high turnover rate.

 

If these are issues that your business deals with on a regular basis, it’s safe to say that you could really benefit from introducing specialised software to your company.

 

 

How Can HR Software Benefit Your Business?

 

Generally speaking, making use of HR software can help alleviate the difficulties caused by the long list of issues we mentioned above – things like spending oodles of time entering the same data into different systems or regularly having business disrupted to human errors that have crept in.

Here are some more ways that HR software can benefit your business:

 

• HR software allows for systems to be integrated which means that all information is accessible in the same place and organisation will be significantly improved.
• Employee records can be centralised, stored securely and accessed easily.
• Recruitment and onboarding can be automated.
• Employee performance can be evaluated and monitored.
• Improved visibility of employee titles and job vacancies.
• Employee records and transactions can be effectively managed.
• Automation will save significant amounts of time and company resources.
• Access to data is instantaneous.
• Easier management and planning of training and upskilling.
• Basic leave and sick days can be more easily monitored.

 

Overall, HR software has the potential to save your employees time and effort, which essentially saves your business money and resources, especially if you’re running a large operation.

Of course, it’s not necessarily essential for all businesses to invest in complex, high-tech HR software, especially if the company is small and funds are low.

However, if you and your business are experiencing any number of the issues we’ve spoken about above, it’s probably time to contemplate integrating HR software into your operations.