HR Tool Tips: Building a comprehensive HR software ecosystem

Human Resources are a versatile department that focuses on a variety of tasks. The need for software assistance is always there, but available solutions target specific areas of focus.

In order to meet these needs, companies adopt different solutions in order to turn their traditional methods into software-assisted approaches, one for every aspect of their operations.

This can often be confusing. HR professionals run the risk of a messy system that may hinder the process rather than assist it, and waste valuable time as the team struggles to maintain a semblance of order.

Many solutions, HRIS chief among them, aim to cover all HR needs under one umbrella. But here, HR departments have a choice: Either opt for one of these solutions which provide average performance in every single aspect, or adopt multiple process-specific solutions concurrently and build a comprehensive HR software ecosystem.

If done right, an organized ecosystem of HR software can be created in such a way that all adopted solutions work concurrently. The trick is in assessing what your company needs against available solutions.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the different software solutions that cater to HR departments and outline which select few would work best for your HR software ecosystem.

Human resources information systems (HRIS)

HRIS refers to different types of solutions for various needs, but the consistency among them lies in the basic features they provide, namely payroll management, employee data, scheduling, team portals and so on.

HRIS are solutions designed to act as the chief assistant and main database for HR managers.

Many companies that adopt such solutions succeed in reducing the amount of time that the HR department spends handling manual tasks. However, these solutions come with the issue of manual adjustment and editing.

Despite the fact that they do indeed streamline a fair share of tasks, they are unable to fully eradicate the need for human verification. Adjustment, proper organization, and data management are just a few of these unrelenting hurdles.

They remain a credit to the department regardless, as HRIS solutions succeed at automating the core HR management tasks such as employee scheduling and attendance, payroll, and benefits/remuneration management. Beyond that, these solutions are growing alongside the industry they cater to, opting to design their products in order to reduce manual tasks, data entry, and adjustment.

Despite the significant growth and change that these solutions seem to experience, they will almost always streamline and attempt to automate the following:

• Payroll Management
• Attendance and Time tracking
• Employee scheduling
• Benefits / Remunerations.
• Employee data & Resources

Here’s my recommendation for HRIS solutions for 2022:

SINC Workforce: The Mobile Workforce Management Platform

Applicant tracking systems and recruiting software

Recruitment is a giant of a sphere, and the tasks that it generates for HR professionals can be overwhelming without software assistance. Regardless of the company’s size, wave after wave of applicants can be a difficult concept to handle, especially if each resume is given proper human attention.

We’ve seen significant growth in popularity when it comes to ATS solutions in the past few years. The more time passes, the more innovative these products become. The growth can be seen in the functions and features that the more modern recruiting software is adding to the list. While legacy software has left its mark on the niche in terms of brand name and pioneering efforts, there’s less focus on innovation than modern solutions as well as a significantly large gap in terms of pricing. ATS growth seems to be headed in the right direction, with more innovative target-specific functions entering the market at a lower price.

Applicant tracking systems proved their mettle in automating almost all of the traditional recruitment methods for data-entry and applicant management. Depending on the ATS provider you choose, it’s feasible to ensure that the majority of any recruitment campaign is solely handled by the software, freeing the HR department to focus on more urgent or daunting tasks.

They are the answer to bulky large volume recruitment efforts and the lengths to which some providers go to differentiate themselves from the competition yield a fundamental change in the nature of Applicant tracking systems. Now, ATS platforms come with complete AI-powered recommendation systems, parsing capabilities, employee lifecycle management, performance and engagement tracking, as well as a string of features that cover hiring processes from A to Z.

Recruiting Software and ATS are the lifeblood of modern recruitment, changing the status quo in unexpected ways. And though the core issues that they solve mainly revolve around automation, they reduce the pressure of overwhelming campaigns and simplify the entire process to let you reach candidates faster and better. Companies looking to adopt an ATS should consider solutions that cater to:

• Talent sourcing
• Resume parsing
• Candidate Profiles & Holistic Overview
• Candidate Scorecards
• AI Recommendations & candidate to job matching
• Social Media Enrichment
• Job board integration (Publishing jobs & receiving applications)
• Candidate journey / Job pipeline
• Interview Scheduling
• Onboarding features.

Here’s my top pick of ATS / Recruiting software solutions for 2022:

Manatal: All-in-one ATS & recruiting software

Learning management systems

LMS, learning management systems or e-learning systems focus on tracking employee qualification and academic journey. They focus on details such as education, certifications, qualifications, and skills. These solutions are able to recommend and connect employees with resources and course material to cultivate particular skills and capabilities that are most relevant to their role.

Standalone LMS solutions are more or less obsolete at this point in time, as a lot of up and coming ATS providers include LMS functions in their solutions already. Considering such a software adoption should only be done if the company in question has no need for an ATS. This might be the case for extremely small teams whose focus is on employee development rather than talent acquisition. With that being said, there’s a range of Standalone LMS solutions to choose from.

Companies looking to adopt an LMS should consider solutions that cater to:

• Training tracking and management
• Employee development budgeting
• Scheduling and calendar integration
• Performance and appraisal metrics

Here’s my top pick of LMS solutions for 2022:

Tovuti LMS: The Zenfully easy way to engage learners

Performance management software

Performance is the single most important metric for companies in every industry. Tracking such a metric can pave the way for a stronger and more capable workforce. Leveraging a performance management software, the HR department is able to assess employee skills, set individual and group performance goals as well as track growth and improvement over time.

These solutions are valuable for every level within the company’s hierarchy. Its main purpose is to see employees across all departments raise the bar in terms of performance by organizing and tracking performance appraisals through recurring updates. This provides a bigger picture view of each employee’s journey towards growth in their role and the company as a whole.

Performance management systems resemble LMS solutions and are often associated or integrated with one another. Their purposes are similar but the difference lies in the available features provided.

• Individual and team goal tracking
• Employee development
• Resources & recommended course material
• Role-specific Performance metrics

Here’s my top pick of performance management systems for 2022:

ASSESS Team: Everything you need to assess, analyze & improve team performance.

Employee engagement tools

Performance and engagement affect one another. While performance management systems strive to create an internal system to monitor professional growth, efficacy, and performance metrics, employee engagement software focuses more on the relationship between the workforce and the company itself.

These solutions are designed to improve employee sentiment and loyalty. It has become evident over the years that the stronger the bond between the employee and the brand they represent, the better their performance. It’s a tool that aims to cement individual and team engagement, motivation and effort in regards to work activities.

The purpose of employee engagement tools is to measure current engagement levels and seeks to provide solid feedback to improve the employee’s level of involvement in company tasks.

Employee engagement software can be adopted as standalone solutions, but are very commonly found integrated within a large HRIS solution. Many companies opt for the former as umbrella solutions do not always place emphasis on this aspect, creating a tool that often underperforms in the shadow of other features.

Companies looking to adopt such a tool should consider solutions that provide:

• Survey tools
• Follow up processes
• Analytics.
• Workforce communication (Prompts for feedback, opinions)
• Progress reports/trackers
• Employee satisfaction (With the role and the company)

Here’s my top pick of employee engagement software solutions for 2022:

Nectar: Simplifying your workload while building a better culture.

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Many solutions, HRIS chief among them, aim to cover all HR needs under one umbrella. But the attempt to group all of these different HR functions mentioned above under one platform often leads to underperformance in some of these areas.

HR departments have a choice:

Either opt for one of these solutions which provide average performance in every single aspect, or adopt multiple process-specific solutions concurrently by building a comprehensive HR software ecosystem.

The suggested products listed above were picked using Sourceforge’s highest-rated listing for each category.