The aims of people management software vary depending on your needs. Some organisations need a solution that makes their processes more efficient and secure. Others want a full-service platform that can also measure employee engagement.
Often, companies consider buying management software when their current HR systems are no longer meeting their needs. Or, they want to improve employee experience. For instance, maybe you want to get an idea of the perks and benefits their employees use most?
HR tools and people management software can also feed into your wider HR strategy and influence many employee touchpoints, such as 360 reviews, attendance tracking, and benefits.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of people management software and our top 11 recommendations.
People management software traditionally focuses on supporting human resources (HR) processes, such as onboarding, survey response collection, and attendance tracking. However, lots of programs also offer engagement, workflow and project management features. With so many options to choose from, it’s important to understand what features you’ll use most.
It’s not an exaggeration to say employee management software has transformed the way organisations work. This is especially the case for large enterprises with thousands of employees.
If you’ve used people management software for a while, it’s fair to assume you understand the value it adds to your business. But if you’re a start-up, you may not be aware of the full extent of its benefits. Here are a few of them.
Logging information manually in spreadsheets isn't the best way to store data due to the risk of file corruption and information loss. It’s also a very slow process. Using a digital employee management system not only reduces error, but also gives you instant access to employee information, as everything is stored in one database. There’s also the opportunity for automation, which you don’t have with spreadsheets.
People management software is great for personal and professional growth. Most programs have intuitive dashboards, where you can view scores from 360 reviews as pie charts, percentiles and a whole lot more! This not only makes it clear where your teams excel but also where they need coaching.
Data protection laws have come a long way over the past few years, so having employees fill in things like holiday requests on a shared department spreadsheet isn’t great in terms of privacy and security. With people management software, these types of requests are only seen by the manager and the employee.
Lately, a growing number of organisations are using software to improve the employee experience. To meet this demand, lots of people management programs include features that focus on key employee experience touchpoints, such as recognition and wellbeing.
To give you an idea of the best employee management systems for your business, we’ve put together a list of our top eleven.
Perkbox is a global benefits and rewards platform that helps customers deliver the best employee experience possible. The platform is incredibly easy to set up within your environment as the software seamlessly integrates with many Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS), including Workday, Bamboo HR, and Lattice. Employees can easily log in to Perkbox using Single Sign-On and can access features using a global app. Perkbox also helps simplify your onboarding process and offers comprehensive usage reporting.
Best for: Organisations who want enhanced tracking and visibility of perks, recognition, and wellbeing benefits.
Key Features:
Lattice simplifies performance reviews to better support employee development. The analytics tools monitor goal progress and track how this links to individual and company performance. The pre-set question templates have a range of 180 and 360-reviews — with additional options to create your own. You can also set up review cycles and choose which employees you want to include in them. During a review cycle, employees get automated alerts for upcoming check-ins with their managers.
Best for: Continuous feedback and employee reviews.
Key Features:
Bamboo HR is a comprehensive solution that helps managers keep track of headcount and employee development. It does this by highlighting potential skill gaps and opportunities for employee training. HR can also use it to track job adverts and application rates, in addition to short-listing their favourite candidates. Bamboo HR also integrates with calendars — automatically alerting colleagues to upcoming birthdays and social work events
Best for: Small to medium-sized businesses who need a full-service solution.
Key Features:
Workday helps organisations visualise headcount, recruit talent, and offer support for managing notice periods and probation. This type of people management software is good for medium to large enterprises who want to bolster their HR teams with extra support, particularly with employee data tracking and trend analysis. Workday is generally an intuitive program and many of its customers say it has a smart user interface.
Best for: Medium to large-sized businesses who need additional support for financial tracking.
Key Features:
Most people think of Monday as a project management tool, but it does so much more. It’s an incredibly versatile tool, which can simplify many HR touchpoints. Some examples include recruitment, onboarding, and even training. Lots of customers report that Monday’s dashboards are intuitive and easy to use. Monday also integrates well with other applications including Slack, Trello, Jira, and GitHub.
Best for: Companies who want to streamline their HR processes.
Key Features:
If you want to overhaul your payroll, benefits, and HR systems, Rippling may be a good solution for you. It’s great for both small and large businesses as it’s easily scalable. But what really makes Rippling an effective tool is its integration with your IT systems. Because it can pull in data from a variety of sources, you can add your employees’ payroll information, apps and more, all in one go. Not to mention the whole process is paperless and you can do most of your onboarding with the click of a button.
Best for: Businesses who want to reduce onboarding time and coordinate their HR data.
Key Features:
If you have a global workforce and need to quickly generate snapshots of everyone on your payroll, then this software could be a good option. Papaya excels at gathering data from multiple sources and also includes an intuitive employee portal, which connects you to your teams no matter where they’re based. It also seamlessly integrates with your environment and existing HRIS, and has excellent reporting functionality.
Best for: Businesses with global offices who want smooth onboarding and robust BI reporting.
Key features:
PeopleSoft is owned by Oracle, so naturally it excels at data management. It can collect and organise your HR data so that it’s easily accessible. PeopleSoft can also take care of pension administration, recruiting, time-tracking, and payroll management. Advanced features include risk and cost management. Because most of PeopleSoft’s features work in real-time, it has the potential to enhance the daily running of your business operations and processes.
Best for: Optimising your workforce so you have the right people in the right roles.
Key features:
Lanteria aims to streamline your HR processes, by supporting recruitment, performance management, attendance and employee development. One key benefit of Lanteria is that it can generate organisational charts in an instant, so you get an accurate view of headcount whenever you need it. It does this using information from employment contracts you store within its database. Other features include workflow trackers and custom forms for reviews.
Best for: HR teams in medium to large companies who need to frequently access employee data.
Key features:
Zoho People have created an intuitive HR platform, which aims to close communication gaps and improve productivity levels. Features include tools that gather 360 feedback and easy-to-use timesheets. There is also the option of using chat groups, so teams can better share what they’re working on. Customers say the program helps them plan goals and tracks their team’s progress without a complicated set up — Zoho People is generally a very simple and effective tool.
Best for: Organisations who want to optimise HR processes and enhance employee engagement.
Key features:
Paycor is an intelligent payroll system that keeps all of your payroll details in one place, removing the need to send individual spreadsheets to accounts. All your teams have to do is log in, enter their hours, and off they go! Paycor is available on an app, so it’s easily accessible. Other features include onboarding, recruiting and learning. Customers also rate Paycor’s customer service team highly.
Best for: Organisations looking for an affordable HR solution, with the option for additional features.
Key features:
HR technology is a billion-dollar industry that’s constantly evolving and offering new solutions.1 So, during your research phase, it’s important you understand exactly what features you need.
Before investing in new people management software, you should consider:
Triple-check that your new people management software can work with your existing HRIS integrations and third-party apps. Your account manager should always be aware of your current environment, so they can screen for any compatibility issues before the setup.
When looking at different solutions, providers often list what their software is compatible with. Take Perkbox for example. It can integrate with many HRIS providers. Plus, it’s secure and works with leading SSO providers, such as Okta, Google Workspace, and Microsoft Azure.
This will vary between providers, but you need to consider the number of employees who need logins and how many can access the system at the same time. More powerful people management programs will be able to cope with higher levels of demand but they do cost more money.
If you’re a small start-up with big plans, you need a solution that can grow with you. After all, your headcount could look very different in a couple of years. So, to future-proof yourself, we recommend choosing people management software that can provide all the tools you need to expand.2
Reporting varies between businesses and is influenced by size and industry, among other factors. For this reason, a lot of people management programs are better suited to some organisations over others. During your research, we recommend creating a shortlist of software providers who work with similar companies to your own. See if they offer you a reporting solution that allows you to compare and benchmark with others in your industry — this can be a valuable addition to your data toolkit.
We can’t emphasise enough the importance of watching demo videos. Demo videos are great for understanding how compatible a product will be with your teams and systems. If you have a small team, share demo videos with them and ask what they think. They may suggest features you didn’t consider.
There are many types of people management software, so it’s important you choose the right one for your business. We recommend looking at companies who work with similar businesses to your own, to get an idea of the features they’re using.
At Perkbox, we offer an all-in-one global solution that takes care of your employees, mental, physical and financial wellbeing. We also offer functionality that can streamline several of your HR processes.
Take our reporting function. You can use it to gain an insight into the benefits your employees value most — this saves you money and delivers a better employee experience. How? Because you only invest in benefits your teams will use, resulting in a healthier ROI and happier employees.
It also gives you the ability to compare your engagement levels with others in your industry — this can make all the difference in what is generally a candidate-led talent market.
People management is an approach to managing employees by providing what they need to develop and be productive. It’s different to human capital management, which focuses on increasing an employee’s economic value to a business. The core aims of people management usually include objectives that optimise different HR processes to improve the employee experience. For example, an organisation may want to simplify how they access employee records, so they can better review employee benefits.
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