6 features to look for in your next human resource software solution

Organizations are increasingly turning to human resources software to simplify their HR operations. The adoption of human resources software especially skyrocketed after the onset of the pandemic, as organizations look to manage their remote and hybrid employees seamlessly. According to a survey by SkyQuest, the HR tech market is expected to touch $35.68 billion by the year 2028. If you are looking to adopt human resources software and wondering how to select the platform that best suits your HR needs, here are six features that every human resources software solution should have:

• Onboarding

As the name of the software suggests, human resources should be the focal point of the solution you select, and any option that prioritizes your people will have a great onboarding module. Go for human resources software that comes with a comprehensive onboarding module that keeps you, your candidates, and new hires all on the same page. It should be able to automate the onboarding paperwork with e-sign and document repository capabilities. The onboarding module should also help you provide new hires with all the information they need regarding your organization, along with their job responsibilities and goals.

• Time and attendance

Since time, attendance, leave, and shift management are some of the core HR functions that your employees will have to manage on a day-to-day basis, the human resources software that you select should simplify and automate all of the related actions. When it comes to time management, human resources software should support timesheets so that employees can log the time they spend on different projects. In terms of attendance and leave, the software should enable employees to mark their attendance, apply for leave, and have their requests approved seamlessly, no matter where they work from. Similarly, if your organization has a global presence, your human resources software should help you create shifts, assign them to your employees, and keep everyone notified about shift changes. It should also consolidate all of this data in a single, centralized space so that your organization always remains audit-ready.

• Performance management

HR departments are often tasked with helping employees scale up their performance, so your human resources software should support employee performance. You and your managers should be able to use your software to easily run regular performance reviews for your employees, track goals and KRAs, exchange feedback, and identify skill gaps. Your human resources software should also come with a robust learning management system that supports multiple courses, different learning styles, learning plans, online tests, assignments, grades, and feedback exchange.

• Payroll integration

Having a payroll system as part of your human resources software can simplify payroll processing for all stakeholders involved. When payroll is integrated with the rest of your HR functions, all the data required for payroll processing is made readily available in a single space. This means you don't have to populate the same data in multiple places, and your employees won't have to log in and log out of multiple systems. As a result, you'll establish better coordination among your HR, finance, and payroll teams. Check out how integrating your HR and payroll system can benefit your organization.

• Employee self-service portal

With a self-service portal as part of your human resource system, you can simplify data processing for your HR team greatly while empowering your workforce to manage their HR operations on their own. The self-service portal enables your employees to apply for leave, mark their attendance, stay on top of their shifts, exchange documents, log time, add or edit their data, submit requests and approvals, have their questions answered, and access all the HR information they'll ever need. Since employees have the option to manage their information on their own, HR teams are freed from the burden of managing individual employee data. Check out this blog post to understand the benefits of an employee self-service portal. 

• Real-time reporting

As HR professionals, you'll be expected to stay on top of what's happening at your organization, especially among your employees. You should be able to gain clarity on why some employees are performing well, why some are not, why people choose to leave or stay, and how your training programs are progressing. Human resources software comes with real-time reporting capabilities that provide insights about every HR operation managed within the system. For instance, if you want to check in on project progress, related reports can give you a comprehensive list of assigned tasks, completed tasks, overdue tasks, employees with more open tasks, other essential information.

Selecting the best human resources software

Human resources software can truly help you prioritize your employees and make HR operations simple. It's important that you select software with the right features to get the most out of your investment. We hope this blog gave you an idea of what to look for in your next human resources software solution.

Zoho People, our human resources software, has just what you need to simplify your HR operations and place your employees at the center of your HR strategies. Whether it's onboarding your new hires seamlessly or managing core HR operations, Zoho People has what you need to make HR processing error-free. Learn more about Zoho People.

Also Read: When is the right time to invest in human resources software?