HR Software : Essential Features That Small Businesses Shouldn’t Miss

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) may have lower income and fewer employees as compared to large corporations, but they don’t have much difference when it comes to implementing HR practices.

No matter how big or small a company is, human resource management will always be a part of it. There will be a need to administer HR tasks; including hiring people, evaluating employees’ performance, onboarding, training, and so on.

Thankfully, there’s HR software that helps both small and big companies manage all their important human resource activities. This tool combines different human resource and administration processes in a centralised location.

However, only a few SMBs utilise HR technology to manage the full scope of the business unit. A 2019 BerniePortal HR Survey reported that while more than 64% of respondents use this system, 36% of them aren’t making good use of it.

Clearly, SMBs must adopt this program to simplify their laborious routines that take most of their time. Doing so will help them reinvent recruitment, automate responsibilities, and get organised, among others.

Here’s a list of essential functionalities that small and mid-sized firms should consider when shopping for an HR system.

Key Functionalities SMBs Must Look for an HR System 

Personnel Tracking

A great human resource system should have the ability to store all employee information in one place. It should be able to track personal data such as social security numbers (SSNs), contact details, time and attendance, employment background, and other important matters.

When Unit4 Singapore’s HR software comes with employee management functionality, business owners or managers can do a lot of things. This includes tracking work hours, matching tasks with employees’ skills, setting project timelines, and anticipating work delays.

Additionally, personnel tracking enables easy management of daily schedules as well as peak and off-peak employment. For example, a small-time manufacturing company will function better if it knows what each employee is up to. With this feature, one can analyse the project’s progress and identify the problematic areas throughout the project cycle.

Recruitment Assistance Just like established companies, SMBs need a pool of talents to survive the competitive market. These thriving businesses hire highly skilled people who can support the daily operations, and contribute to the success of the company.

With comprehensive human resource software, small- to mid-range businesses can do just like that. This HR solution stores candidate information in one place. It provides users with an option to automate time-consuming processes; including the job posting, interviewing, and onboarding.

SMBs must ensure that their chosen HR system comes with recruiting and applicant tracking functionality for seamless recruitment. This feature will assist them throughout the application process from monitoring candidates in evaluating applications, and assessing the candidate’s background.

Employee Evaluation

HR software doesn’t only offer a recruitment solution; it also offers an innovative approach in managing and evaluating personnel. However, this tool will not serve its evaluating purpose if it doesn’t come with a performance review feature.

An HR tool that’s designed with an employee evaluation function can do the following: offer transparent goal setting, conduct online assessment tests, track individual and team progress, and create data-driven development plans.

Through this feature, department heads and project managers alike can supervise the work of employees, measure their performance accurately, and—most importantly—come up with compensation performance decisions.

Benefits Administration

In order for SMBs to grow, they must value their most important resource: their employees. Without these people, their businesses will not run, generate steady revenue, and meet sales goals.

That’s why a majority of companies offer a benefits program to make the workforce feel that they’re being appreciated. Among these employee benefits are paid time off, medical, dental and life insurance policies, retirement benefits, and tuition reimbursement.

Fortunately, most human resource systems today are designed for managing benefits with great ease. Employees can digitise HR paperwork, apply for leave electronically, and manage other benefits on their own conveniently via a single online portal.

The Takeaway

Both small and mid-sized businesses should consider incorporating HR software with their corporate arsenal to digitise their processes, increase productivity levels, and prevent schedule delays.

However, jumping into this decision requires thorough research and evaluation. No matter which business category a company is in, they should ensure that the chosen human resource system can perform functions that are relevant to critical business processes.