Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
The world's largest free encyclopedia of HR, with 700+ HR articles and podcasts.
Created by Eddy and our HR Mavericks community.
HR Software
In the last decade, the number of HR software products has increased exponentially. Some of these products provide more solutions than others. We understand that with so many options, it can be hard to sort through the good and the bad. That’s why our team has put together a list of HR software with some tips to help you find the best solution for your company.
What Is Human Resources (HR) Software?
Today’s HR software market is flooded with so many different products that it can be difficult to define what HR software is. There are software products that digitize document signing, others that automate payroll, keep time, track recruiting, and many more. There is even software solely dedicated to making sure different HR software systems integrate with each other. So how do you define HR software? HR software is a broad category of software products designed to help HR professionals do their jobs more efficiently. They automate tasks and turn traditionally paper-based processes into electronic processes.
The Top 3 All-in-One HR Software of 2023
1. Eddy
Eddy HR is a full-service HR software management system that provides hiring, onboarding, people management, paid time off (PTO), payroll, time tracking and training tracking solutions for small to medium-sized companies. We’re focused on providing the best one-stop solution for HR with the best user experience. And, because we know our clients are on the go, we have a mobile app.Learn more about how Eddy helps improve HR processes.Pros:
- Powerful, user-friendly and intuitive
- Designed specifically with small business owners and HR professionals in mind
- Includes everything you need to track employee information and manage your people
- Self-guided onboarding allows employees to digitally sign important documents before their first day
- Improves recruiting effectiveness by letting you post for free to top job boards
- Full-service payroll
Pricing:
- Starts at $8 per employee, per month
- Price varies depending on your company’s unique needs
2. Rippling
Rippling is an HR management and IT software system that provides multiple HR management solutions, including payroll, benefits, time tracking, training tracking and recruitment. Rippling focuses on increasing information security.Pros:
- Addresses basic administrative HR needs
- Robust application management features
- Integrates with other team-related apps, like Zoom or Slack
- Almost any workflow can be automated
Pricing:
- Starts at $8 per user, per month
- Pricing varies based on your company’s needs
3. Paycom
Paycom provides HR management solutions for the most important administrative HR tasks, including recruiting, payroll, people management, time tracking and talent management.Pros:
- Provides employee training through its Paycom learning platform
- Employees can enter and manage their own HR data
- Allows employees to verify and approve their paychecks before receiving them
Pricing is available upon request.
The Benefits of Using HR Software
There’s an old saying that goes, “Winners repeat.” In a business, it’s never going to be good enough to make one sale or to make one customer happy. You need to create repeatable, scalable processes that will help you make multiple sales and delight multiple customers every single day.
This is also true with the internal processes you develop inside the company. You can’t just make one good hire or have one employee sign the correct paperwork. And unless you want a lot of unhappy employees, you can’t have inaccuracies when you run your payroll! Everything in your back-office needs to be repeatable, scalable, and consistent, and HR software helps with that. Here are some other important benefits of having HR software.
- Business-wide growth. If you want to scale your business, you need HR processes that can keep up with the rest of your company. You can avoid a lot of frustration, mistakes, and burnout among your HR team if you give them a tool to make things easier.
- Increased efficiency. Time is valuable. Heightened efficiency in the HR department has a massive effect on a business’s top and bottom line, and HR tech is key to achieving that efficiency. With HR management software, you’ll have more time to focus on company culture, retention, recruitment, and employee development.
- Fewer errors. The more you leave to software to calculate or adjust, the less you leave to human error. HR management software will be able to automatically keep time for hourly employees, make tax adjustments, or change benefit elections.
- Legal compliance. HR professionals should be well versed in state and federal employment laws. But what if you’re a startup without a dedicated HR pro? The odds of accidentally tripping some legal wires are pretty good unless you have some help navigating them. HR tech can help remove the risk of legal issues with intelligent reporting, analytics, and record-keeping features.
- Improved HR morale. Let’s face it, HR is overworked. This reality has made for some pretty funny memes, but there’s nothing fun about being stuck at the office on a Friday evening. Reducing your office’s workload will help reduce stress and increase morale.
Different Types of HR Software
The HR software market has grown exponentially in the last decade. In fact, according to Grand View Research, the HR software market value is now reaching $10 Billion USD. So, if you can think of an HR problem you typically face, there’s probably software that can help.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
ATS software electronically tracks the recruitment and hiring process, all the way from posting a new job to hiring. It creates a central hub for all recruitment record-keeping and communication. A good ATS will not only allow you to post a job and distribute it to the world’s most active job boards, but it will also help you organize your candidate pools, communicate with candidates, collaborate with your team on hiring decisions, and ultimately hire an outstanding candidate.
Benefits Administration Software
Benefits management software helps businesses organize and manage benefits for their employees. This can include 401K retirement plans, other retirement plans, paid time off and medical and dental insurance.
Electronic Signature Software
Electronic signature software, or e-signature software, enables companies to securely create and accept electronic signatures for important documents. When an employee signs a document, they do so electronically, and that document is automatically placed in a secure location where both you and the employee have access to it. Electronic signature software allows you to easily send out any of your documents for employee signatures at any time. For example, when you update the employee handbook, you don't have to distribute physical copies to each employee. Simply use your software to email it out, collect signatures, and store those signed copies.
Employee Directory Software
Any problems with employee recognition, communication, or information can be solved with a great employee directory. Employee directory software provides an electronic directory of all employee contact information, including their department, job title, location, email, and of course, their name. An employee directory also contains images so you can put faces with names.As a bonus, employee directories are searchable, so you don’t need to scroll endlessly trying to find the person you’re looking for.
Employee Document Management Software
If you’re storing documents in a filing cabinet then you risk them being stolen, lost, or damaged. If there’s a fire or flood in your office building, you can kiss those documents goodbye. Storing documents with HR software eliminates many of these risks.Employee document management software creates a secure electronic location for sensitive employee documents that would usually exist in a file cabinet.
Onboarding Software
With the help of onboarding software, you’ll be able to create consistent, replicable experiences for each of your new hires. Using templates, you’ll quickly be able to assign tasks, both to the new hire and to members of your internal team. Employees can upload their signed onboarding documents, complete their onboarding training, and track their onboarding progress, all from their computer.
Paid Time Off Management Software
Paid time off management software is just like benefits management software, except it only helps with paid time off (PTO) tracking and management. The thing about PTO is most companies have their own unique way of doing it. When equipped with the right software, you’ll be able to customize a plan for your company. You’ll have total control over the inputs and information that goes into your PTO policy. After a policy is created, you simply need to add employees to that policy and then the rules for the policy will automatically begin to be applied.
Payroll Software
Payroll software automates the payroll process. It takes all the inputs to an employee’s pay calculation (includes their W-4 information, their salary, taxes, and other deductions) and outputs the correct dollar amount that is then transferred to the employee’s bank account. Things like taxes, payroll deductions, and benefit costs are automatically deducted. All state and federal taxes are properly applied, and at the end of the year, all employees are sent a W-2 form to help them complete their individual tax filings.
Time Tracking Software
Time tracking software electronically tracks hours worked for hourly employees. It keeps track of all the time punches made by an employee and returns a detailed report at the end of each pay period. Many time tracking software products allow you to use geo-location or IP address filters to ensure that your employees can only clock in while in the office or at another designated location. Unique employee portals with password-protected information can protect against buddy-punching or other nefarious activity.
Training Tracking Software
Many jobs require employees to go through specific training, earn certifications, or get licensed. These may be simple enough to track for one or two people, but once your company grows and you’ve got dozens or even hundreds of expirations to track, it can be extremely overwhelming.Training tracking software helps HR departments track the progress and completion of employee training. It remind you when a training needs to be renewed or when a certification is about to expire. It also notifies employees of licenses they need to have in order to work. Perhaps most importantly, training tracking software can store all the documents, certificates, badges, and paperwork that accompanies these certifications so that you never lose track of the proof of completion.
Integration Software
Integration software’s sole purpose is to help all of your HR software tools communicate with each other and share data.
All-In-One Human Resources Software
All-in-one HR software is software that has many types of HR software applications to manage multiple aspects of human resources. Although capabilities vary, these software tools will cover, at minimum, the basic administrative aspects of human resources management.
What to Look for in an All-in-One Platform
When you see a software product labeled "All-in-One Platform," you want to make sure that the software in question actually delivers on that promise. Your goal in choosing a new all-in-one HR platform is to make life easier on everybody at your organization, from HR to management to ordinary employees. If you're not sure what you should be looking for, don't worry! We've made a list of the four qualities that make for the best all-in-one platform.
1. The Platform Should Cover All of Your Major Administrative Tasks
Any all-in-one software should include tools to manage all major administrative tasks:
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- People Management
- Payroll
- Timekeeping
- Paid Time Off
- Training Tracking
2. Look for a Focus on User Experience
You can purchase the most powerful all-in-one HR software with every capability imaginable. But if it’s too hard to use, you won’t be getting your money’s worth. Complicated software usually leads to more questions, employees not filing their paperwork correctly (or at all) and disgruntled co-workers. If you’re on the hunt for an HR software system, search for one that is easy to learn and use. This is often called the user experience (UX), and top HR software companies will have invested in their UX design.
3. All-in-one HR Software Should Emphasize Data Security
An all-in-one HR software should have solid security features to protect company information. Why? Because regardless of your role within HR, information security is always important. Although it’s nice to have all of your HR management information in one place, you’re also exposing more information to potential security risks.
4. Look for Custom Reporting Features
Great all-in-one HR management software will not only collect data for you, it will also give you the ability to answer important strategic HR questions and analyze any trends related to your workforce through its reporting capabilities. For example, you may want to see what your total compensation is per department, how many employees completed their yearly training in a particular quarter, or what your turnover rate is for entry-level positions. This kind of reporting should be easily accessible through your HR software system.
How to Pick the Software that’s Right for You
Choosing your new HR management software is an exciting process, but you want to make sure you choose the best software for your company. When you’re searching for new software, keep the following in mind:
1. Consider Your Company Size
If you’re running a small company or a family company, you won’t want to pay for software designed for large or global companies. For example, Workday is one of the biggest HR management software companies on the market. Although powerful, Workday is geared toward large companies. If your company has a small workforce, Workday probably isn’t the right software for you.
2. Go with an All-in-One HR Management Software
Given that Eddy HR is an all-in-one software, it’s no surprise that this is our advice. Here at Eddy, we created an all-in-one solution because we understand the frustrations HR offices have when they can’t get data to integrate, they need to train employees in multiple software applications, or when they realize they’re paying way more on multiple subscriptions. Our advice is to choose an all-in-one HR management software solution because it’s a better product. Plain and simple.
3. Take a Tour
Most software companies let you take a tour of their product either via a demo or temporary access. Before signing anything, make sure they let you see what their project can do. A demo won’t just help you confirm it has the capabilities you need, it will also give you an opportunity to evaluate the user experience. Take a tour of Eddy!
4. Choose Your Budget
As with any new expenses, you’ll have to determine how much you can invest. If you choose to go with multiple HR software systems, remember that every system you purchase will most likely be subscription-based. This means you’ll have multiple charges a month for each system. The pricing for most HR software systems is based on how many employees your company has.
Topics
Natasha Wiebusch
Natasha is a writer and former labor and employment attorney turned HR professional. Her experience as a litigator and HR trainer inspired her to begin writing about anti-discrimination laws in the workplace. As a writer at Eddy HR, she hopes to provide helpful information to both employees and HR professionals who need help navigating the vast world of human resources. When she's not writing, you might find her cheering on the Green Bay Packers or hiking in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
Eddy’s HR Mavericks Encyclopedia
HR Software
In the last decade, the number of HR software products has increased exponentially. Some of these products provide more solutions than others. We understand that with so many options, it can be hard to sort through the good and the bad. That’s why our team has put together a list of HR software with some tips to help you find the best solution for your company.
What Is Human Resources (HR) Software?
Today’s HR software market is flooded with so many different products that it can be difficult to define what HR software is. There are software products that digitize document signing, others that automate payroll, keep time, track recruiting, and many more. There is even software solely dedicated to making sure different HR software systems integrate with each other. So how do you define HR software? HR software is a broad category of software products designed to help HR professionals do their jobs more efficiently. They automate tasks and turn traditionally paper-based processes into electronic processes.
The Top 3 All-in-One HR Software of 2023
1. Eddy
Eddy HR is a full-service HR software management system that provides hiring, onboarding, people management, paid time off (PTO), payroll, time tracking and training tracking solutions for small to medium-sized companies. We’re focused on providing the best one-stop solution for HR with the best user experience. And, because we know our clients are on the go, we have a mobile app.Learn more about how Eddy helps improve HR processes.Pros:
- Powerful, user-friendly and intuitive
- Designed specifically with small business owners and HR professionals in mind
- Includes everything you need to track employee information and manage your people
- Self-guided onboarding allows employees to digitally sign important documents before their first day
- Improves recruiting effectiveness by letting you post for free to top job boards
- Full-service payroll
Pricing:
- Starts at $8 per employee, per month
- Price varies depending on your company’s unique needs
2. Rippling
Rippling is an HR management and IT software system that provides multiple HR management solutions, including payroll, benefits, time tracking, training tracking and recruitment. Rippling focuses on increasing information security.Pros:
- Addresses basic administrative HR needs
- Robust application management features
- Integrates with other team-related apps, like Zoom or Slack
- Almost any workflow can be automated
Pricing:
- Starts at $8 per user, per month
- Pricing varies based on your company’s needs
3. Paycom
Paycom provides HR management solutions for the most important administrative HR tasks, including recruiting, payroll, people management, time tracking and talent management.Pros:
- Provides employee training through its Paycom learning platform
- Employees can enter and manage their own HR data
- Allows employees to verify and approve their paychecks before receiving them
Pricing is available upon request.
The Benefits of Using HR Software
There’s an old saying that goes, “Winners repeat.” In a business, it’s never going to be good enough to make one sale or to make one customer happy. You need to create repeatable, scalable processes that will help you make multiple sales and delight multiple customers every single day.
This is also true with the internal processes you develop inside the company. You can’t just make one good hire or have one employee sign the correct paperwork. And unless you want a lot of unhappy employees, you can’t have inaccuracies when you run your payroll! Everything in your back-office needs to be repeatable, scalable, and consistent, and HR software helps with that. Here are some other important benefits of having HR software.
- Business-wide growth. If you want to scale your business, you need HR processes that can keep up with the rest of your company. You can avoid a lot of frustration, mistakes, and burnout among your HR team if you give them a tool to make things easier.
- Increased efficiency. Time is valuable. Heightened efficiency in the HR department has a massive effect on a business’s top and bottom line, and HR tech is key to achieving that efficiency. With HR management software, you’ll have more time to focus on company culture, retention, recruitment, and employee development.
- Fewer errors. The more you leave to software to calculate or adjust, the less you leave to human error. HR management software will be able to automatically keep time for hourly employees, make tax adjustments, or change benefit elections.
- Legal compliance. HR professionals should be well versed in state and federal employment laws. But what if you’re a startup without a dedicated HR pro? The odds of accidentally tripping some legal wires are pretty good unless you have some help navigating them. HR tech can help remove the risk of legal issues with intelligent reporting, analytics, and record-keeping features.
- Improved HR morale. Let’s face it, HR is overworked. This reality has made for some pretty funny memes, but there’s nothing fun about being stuck at the office on a Friday evening. Reducing your office’s workload will help reduce stress and increase morale.
Different Types of HR Software
The HR software market has grown exponentially in the last decade. In fact, according to Grand View Research, the HR software market value is now reaching $10 Billion USD. So, if you can think of an HR problem you typically face, there’s probably software that can help.
Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
ATS software electronically tracks the recruitment and hiring process, all the way from posting a new job to hiring. It creates a central hub for all recruitment record-keeping and communication. A good ATS will not only allow you to post a job and distribute it to the world’s most active job boards, but it will also help you organize your candidate pools, communicate with candidates, collaborate with your team on hiring decisions, and ultimately hire an outstanding candidate.
Benefits Administration Software
Benefits management software helps businesses organize and manage benefits for their employees. This can include 401K retirement plans, other retirement plans, paid time off and medical and dental insurance.
Electronic Signature Software
Electronic signature software, or e-signature software, enables companies to securely create and accept electronic signatures for important documents. When an employee signs a document, they do so electronically, and that document is automatically placed in a secure location where both you and the employee have access to it. Electronic signature software allows you to easily send out any of your documents for employee signatures at any time. For example, when you update the employee handbook, you don't have to distribute physical copies to each employee. Simply use your software to email it out, collect signatures, and store those signed copies.
Employee Directory Software
Any problems with employee recognition, communication, or information can be solved with a great employee directory. Employee directory software provides an electronic directory of all employee contact information, including their department, job title, location, email, and of course, their name. An employee directory also contains images so you can put faces with names.As a bonus, employee directories are searchable, so you don’t need to scroll endlessly trying to find the person you’re looking for.
Employee Document Management Software
If you’re storing documents in a filing cabinet then you risk them being stolen, lost, or damaged. If there’s a fire or flood in your office building, you can kiss those documents goodbye. Storing documents with HR software eliminates many of these risks.Employee document management software creates a secure electronic location for sensitive employee documents that would usually exist in a file cabinet.
Onboarding Software
With the help of onboarding software, you’ll be able to create consistent, replicable experiences for each of your new hires. Using templates, you’ll quickly be able to assign tasks, both to the new hire and to members of your internal team. Employees can upload their signed onboarding documents, complete their onboarding training, and track their onboarding progress, all from their computer.
Paid Time Off Management Software
Paid time off management software is just like benefits management software, except it only helps with paid time off (PTO) tracking and management. The thing about PTO is most companies have their own unique way of doing it. When equipped with the right software, you’ll be able to customize a plan for your company. You’ll have total control over the inputs and information that goes into your PTO policy. After a policy is created, you simply need to add employees to that policy and then the rules for the policy will automatically begin to be applied.
Payroll Software
Payroll software automates the payroll process. It takes all the inputs to an employee’s pay calculation (includes their W-4 information, their salary, taxes, and other deductions) and outputs the correct dollar amount that is then transferred to the employee’s bank account. Things like taxes, payroll deductions, and benefit costs are automatically deducted. All state and federal taxes are properly applied, and at the end of the year, all employees are sent a W-2 form to help them complete their individual tax filings.
Time Tracking Software
Time tracking software electronically tracks hours worked for hourly employees. It keeps track of all the time punches made by an employee and returns a detailed report at the end of each pay period. Many time tracking software products allow you to use geo-location or IP address filters to ensure that your employees can only clock in while in the office or at another designated location. Unique employee portals with password-protected information can protect against buddy-punching or other nefarious activity.
Training Tracking Software
Many jobs require employees to go through specific training, earn certifications, or get licensed. These may be simple enough to track for one or two people, but once your company grows and you’ve got dozens or even hundreds of expirations to track, it can be extremely overwhelming.Training tracking software helps HR departments track the progress and completion of employee training. It remind you when a training needs to be renewed or when a certification is about to expire. It also notifies employees of licenses they need to have in order to work. Perhaps most importantly, training tracking software can store all the documents, certificates, badges, and paperwork that accompanies these certifications so that you never lose track of the proof of completion.
Integration Software
Integration software’s sole purpose is to help all of your HR software tools communicate with each other and share data.
All-In-One Human Resources Software
All-in-one HR software is software that has many types of HR software applications to manage multiple aspects of human resources. Although capabilities vary, these software tools will cover, at minimum, the basic administrative aspects of human resources management.
What to Look for in an All-in-One Platform
When you see a software product labeled "All-in-One Platform," you want to make sure that the software in question actually delivers on that promise. Your goal in choosing a new all-in-one HR platform is to make life easier on everybody at your organization, from HR to management to ordinary employees. If you're not sure what you should be looking for, don't worry! We've made a list of the four qualities that make for the best all-in-one platform.
1. The Platform Should Cover All of Your Major Administrative Tasks
Any all-in-one software should include tools to manage all major administrative tasks:
- Hiring
- Onboarding
- People Management
- Payroll
- Timekeeping
- Paid Time Off
- Training Tracking
2. Look for a Focus on User Experience
You can purchase the most powerful all-in-one HR software with every capability imaginable. But if it’s too hard to use, you won’t be getting your money’s worth. Complicated software usually leads to more questions, employees not filing their paperwork correctly (or at all) and disgruntled co-workers. If you’re on the hunt for an HR software system, search for one that is easy to learn and use. This is often called the user experience (UX), and top HR software companies will have invested in their UX design.
3. All-in-one HR Software Should Emphasize Data Security
An all-in-one HR software should have solid security features to protect company information. Why? Because regardless of your role within HR, information security is always important. Although it’s nice to have all of your HR management information in one place, you’re also exposing more information to potential security risks.
4. Look for Custom Reporting Features
Great all-in-one HR management software will not only collect data for you, it will also give you the ability to answer important strategic HR questions and analyze any trends related to your workforce through its reporting capabilities. For example, you may want to see what your total compensation is per department, how many employees completed their yearly training in a particular quarter, or what your turnover rate is for entry-level positions. This kind of reporting should be easily accessible through your HR software system.
How to Pick the Software that’s Right for You
Choosing your new HR management software is an exciting process, but you want to make sure you choose the best software for your company. When you’re searching for new software, keep the following in mind:
1. Consider Your Company Size
If you’re running a small company or a family company, you won’t want to pay for software designed for large or global companies. For example, Workday is one of the biggest HR management software companies on the market. Although powerful, Workday is geared toward large companies. If your company has a small workforce, Workday probably isn’t the right software for you.
2. Go with an All-in-One HR Management Software
Given that Eddy HR is an all-in-one software, it’s no surprise that this is our advice. Here at Eddy, we created an all-in-one solution because we understand the frustrations HR offices have when they can’t get data to integrate, they need to train employees in multiple software applications, or when they realize they’re paying way more on multiple subscriptions. Our advice is to choose an all-in-one HR management software solution because it’s a better product. Plain and simple.
3. Take a Tour
Most software companies let you take a tour of their product either via a demo or temporary access. Before signing anything, make sure they let you see what their project can do. A demo won’t just help you confirm it has the capabilities you need, it will also give you an opportunity to evaluate the user experience. Take a tour of Eddy!
4. Choose Your Budget
As with any new expenses, you’ll have to determine how much you can invest. If you choose to go with multiple HR software systems, remember that every system you purchase will most likely be subscription-based. This means you’ll have multiple charges a month for each system. The pricing for most HR software systems is based on how many employees your company has.
Topics
Natasha Wiebusch
Natasha is a writer and former labor and employment attorney turned HR professional. Her experience as a litigator and HR trainer inspired her to begin writing about anti-discrimination laws in the workplace. As a writer at Eddy HR, she hopes to provide helpful information to both employees and HR professionals who need help navigating the vast world of human resources. When she's not writing, you might find her cheering on the Green Bay Packers or hiking in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
Frequently asked questions
Other Related Terms
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