Last Reviewed: November 8th, 2024

Best HRIS Systems Of 2024

What are HRIS Systems ?

HRIS systems, or Human Resource Information Systems, streamline HR tasks by integrating core functions like payroll, benefits, recruitment, and employee data management. They address issues of data inconsistency and administrative inefficiency, providing a unified platform for personnel records and HR processes. The importance of HRIS lies in its ability to enhance accuracy, improve compliance, and reduce administrative workload. Key functionalities include time and attendance tracking, performance management, and self-service portals for employees. Emerging features such as AI-driven analytics and mobile accessibility are becoming commonplace. With primary users including HR professionals, managers, and employees, industries from healthcare to manufacturing benefit significantly from HRIS. However, notable limitations often include high implementation costs and the need for continuous updates. In essence, HRIS systems offer robust solutions for centralizing HR functions, bringing efficiency and accuracy to organizational operations—crucial for informed decision-making and maintaining workforce satisfaction.

What Are The Key Benefits of HRIS Systems ?

  • Centralized Data Management
  • Streamlined Payroll Processing
  • Automated Compliance Tracking
  • Enhanced Reporting Capabilities
  • Recruitment Process Optimization
  • Employee Self-Service Portals
  • Attendance and Leave Management
  • Performance Appraisal System
  • Training and Development Modules
  • Scalable for Business Growth
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Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 731 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best HRIS Systems overall:

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Why We Picked Workday HCM

Workday HCM is suitable for businesses of all sizes. It is a simple and easy-to-use product with multiple functions that contain all HR data in one place. Payroll and benefits are easy to view and verify. Some improvements are required in the mobile app and system speed. Otherwise, its payroll, timesheet tool, ease of use and unified structure can bring a lot of benefits.

Pros & Cons

  • Intuitive: 95% of users who mentioned ease of use observed that the software has an intuitive interface, making it easy to navigate and find information, even for novice users.
  • Multiple Functionality: 90% of users who mentioned functionality state that Workday HCM acts as a one-stop shop for many HR tasks.
  • Payroll and Benefits: All reviewers who mentioned payroll had a positive experience, with the ability to track hours, collect tax forms, log pay stubs and more.
  • Slow: Of reviewers who mention user interface, 5% noted some processes are slow, causing the system to show errors.
  • Requires Training: For first-time users, there’s a bit of a learning curve to get started, requiring training.
  • Clunky Mobile App: 85% of reviewers who mentioned the app noted that it has issues quite often and doesn’t include schedules, forcing users to use a separate app.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Workday HCM offers payroll capabilities for the U.S., U.K., France and Canada. All transactions compile in the payroll module. It includes a calculation engine, which enables running reports and calculations for groups and individuals at any time. A compliance dashboard shows information about upcoming changes as well as the areas of greatest impact within your organization. 
  • Benefits Administration: The software supports a variety of plans, such as health, flex, wellness and retirement. Tools such as the ACA dashboard ensure proper coverage as well as aid managing forms and regulatory changes. The system supports integration with hundreds of providers. 
  • Talent Management: This feature includes onboarding and career and development planning components. New hires can access messages, videos and more from a single dashboard, and there’s also support for international and internal transfers. Pulse surveys and a skills cloud provide insight into your workforce. Additionally, you can set goals, perform reviews, manage succession plans, aid employee career development and pinpoint retention risks. 
  • Learning Management System: Equipped with LMS capabilities, this module helps your organization deliver and track a variety of training materials. Elements include scoring, quizzes, learning campaigns, video, learning paths and more. You can also offer courses to external groups. For extended training, the Workday Content Cloud grants access to third-party content directly from Workday HCM. 
  • Compensation Management: With this feature, you can build customized compensation packages for global use by choosing from over a dozen compensation plan types. It supports international currencies and allowance plans based on local limits. The toolset includes a grid worksheet, events coordination for things like new hires and promotions, pay-range segments, tracking of pay equity, configurable statements, and unified data from other Workday HCM modules such as payroll and benefits. 
  • Workforce Planning: The Workday Adaptive Insights Business Planning Cloud provides tools to create models, compare what-if scenarios and build hiring strategies. It also facilitates collaboration along with evaluation of metrics like costs and workforce breakdown. The platform provides review and approval workflows and integrates data from other organizational systems. 
  • Global Compliance: The solution’s flexibility enables you to configure the pre-built frameworks based on your company’s needs. It contains support for 240 countries, 1,500+ reports, 170 absence plans, geographic controls such as privacy preferences and date formats, and over 3,000 localized data fields. You can automatically translate into over 30 languages, receive free legal support across 58 jurisdictions and control all aspects of the setup. 
  • Workday Marketplace: You can extend the capabilities of Workday HCM by connecting it with third-party integrations for case management, hiring, training and other processes. Partner solutions include LinkedIn Learning, Salesforce Worker and Salesforce Chatter, Saba, HireRight Background Check, and Humanity Employee Shift Scheduling. 

Pricing

License/Subscription Cost
  • Based on key metrics such as total company revenue and employee size, not just per user
  • Support, maintenance and automatic upgrades are included as part of the annual subscription cost
Maintenance Cost
  • Based on the service hours of support purchased
Installation/Implementation Cost
  • Implementation costs are typically 1.25 times the annual cloud subscription cost and involve project consulting costs, such as those for a Project Implementation Advisor, a Functional Implementation Advisor, a Technical Implementation Advisor, etc.
  • Other important factors are the service provider chosen for initial implementation, production support, modules selected and complexity of the implementation
Customization Cost
  • Will vary depending on the type of optional functionalities added-on
Data Migration Cost/Change Management/Upfront Switching Cost
  • Includes the cost to switch from the existing product to Workday. The enterprise will need to invest in change management
Training Cost
  • It varies depending on the training option selected and whether it’s classroom training, virtual training, onsite training or on-demand training
Recurring/Renewal Costs
  • Typical Costs:
    • Renewal Cost (Year 1): Base cost (1 + X% + CPI)
    • Renewal Cost (Year 2): Renewal Year 1 Subscription Fee (1 + X% + CPI)
  • These are the average renewal costs, but sometimes they also include recurring costs for integration tools or other add-on technologies not included in the base package
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Why We Picked UKG Pro

UKG Pro is a cloud-based platform that’s designed to streamline global human capital management across all industries. It brings together key functions like payroll, benefits, recruiting, onboarding and learning management in one place.

Some standout features include an advanced scheduling tool that helps balance staffing levels and control labor costs. AI is a big player here, enhancing HR tasks with things like schedule optimization, retention forecasting, sentiment analysis and candidate matching.

From what I've seen through the demo, the mobile app lays everything out in a simple, direct way with menu options like time off, pay, HR help, benefits, goals, notes and learning. Under learning, there's a variety of helpful courses, including security awareness, conflict management and mindfulness training.

Completing requests seems quick and straightforward. Click HR Help and find requests to ask for a shift change, PTO or travel expense.

Manage assignments by viewing "To-Dos," including what's waiting for completion and what's crossed off your list already. Plan effectively with a headcount under metrics, showing who is on leave or on the clock in real time.

On the subject of planning ahead, UKG Pro scores a perfect 100 under succession management, with talent matrix, talent pool and talent insight functionalities.

Document management is also a top feature, earning 100 for its capabilities. It includes access controls, document search, automatic tax document generation and the creation of employee handbooks and policies.

Managing performance can be challenging, especially with a large team. It's important to ensure that everyone feels valued, but time constraints can make this difficult. UKG Pro’s talent dashboard helps by highlighting top performers and potential flight risks, making it easier for you to address issues and make necessary adjustments.

One thing I really liked was that there's a page for work-life balance with improvement ideas, including resisting multitasking, expanding team goals and introducing flexible work schedules. This helps employees feel valued, which ultimately fosters more productivity and job retention.

Additionally, I thought it was admirable there’s a "Giving" option on the platform for creating employee giving programs and tracking donations. This is a great source for team building, increasing engagement and building a more positive work environment.

Using the live chat, I selected customer support and then UKG Pro, which led me to FAQs. After hitting thumbs down to request a representative, I asked for an in-depth demo. The chatbot offered alternative solutions or the option to end the chat. When starting a new chat, the previous conversation was visible, but there was no option to start a new chat from scratch.

Pricing starts at $100 per user per month with a per-user model, and you can request a free trial.

Pros & Cons

  • Employee Data Management: Users commend UKG Pro for its robust employee data management capabilities.
  • Payroll Processing: Reviewers consistently highlight UKG Pro's payroll processing feature for its efficiency, accuracy and intuitive interface.
  • User Interface: Some users found the UI slightly outdated based on confusing design elements, unclear wording choices and inefficient grouping that collectively hinder intuitive navigation within the system.
  • Reporting: Some users describe UKG Pro’s reporting feature as ineffective and lacking user-friendliness.

Key Features

  • Payroll: Incorporate a scalable, configurable engine for accurate, streamlined pay processing. This feature also includes:
    • Role-based access to ensure data security.
    • Prebuilt tax compliance, automatic tax updates every quarter and GIS-powered search to ensure accurate taxes based on employee location.
    • End-of-year reporting tools, including a task checklist.
    • Pay modeling calculator, enabling employees to calculate information on their own.
    • Integration support for global payroll providers and TurboTax.
    • Dashboards showing alerts and metrics.
  • Benefits: Provide help videos and documentation to assist employees. Key components include plan recommendations and side-by-side comparisons, process automation, search filters, compliance reporting, transaction records, admin tools and connectors to hundreds of carriers.
  • Workforce Scheduling: Ensure effective shift planning and workforce management with advanced scheduling capabilities previously found in UKG Dimensions.
  • Workforce Planning and Optimization: Make strategic planning and resource allocation a breeze. UKG Pro now packs the workforce planning and optimization tools from UKG Dimensions.
  • Time and Attendance: Optimize timekeeping and absence management with UKG Pro's enhanced time tracking and attendance features, which are now integrated from UKG Dimensions.
  • Learning: Aid employee learning and development by providing:
    • On-demand, mobile access to training materials in multiple languages.
    • Gamification, rewards and social tools foster engagement.
    • Blended learning, a drag-and-drop interface for content creation and a course marketplace with more than 3,000 courses.
    • Channels for employees to capture and share knowledge with coworkers.
  • Recruiting: Make talent sourcing and acquisition for recruiting teams and candidates easier and more efficient.
    • Recruiters: Dashboards show candidate and opportunity status and AI scoring reveals applicants that are the best match. Multi-language, multiple job board postings and screening questions also included.
    • Candidates: Applicants can submit their LinkedIn profile, receive open position suggestions based on basic information and provide an in-depth picture of themselves by sharing details like motivators and behaviors.
  • Onboarding: Access a dashboard that has a timeline for tasks they need to complete, job-related videos and training material, and required forms, which they can fill out electronically. They can also create goals and connect with teammates.
  • InTouch DX: Give managers and employees flexible, real-time access for time and attendance processes. This timeclock device is designed for an hourly, mobile workforce.
    • Features include configuration options, real-time data, a touchscreen, native intelligence capabilities and multiple integrated readers.
    • Managers can track employee information, confirm transactions and ensure schedules are followed.
    • Employees can request PTO, view time cards and schedules, punch in and out, receive push notifications, and receive suggested actions based on upcoming tasks.
  • BI Reporting: Display real-time data in a clear, user-friendly format, empowering managers and executives to monitor and analyze KPIs. They offer both prebuilt and customizable reports. It provides insights for:
    • Human resource metrics like headcount based on local and global demographics.
    • Benefit plan costs and employee participation.
    • Financial information like overtime cost, pay equity and payroll totals.
    • ACA filing data, including risks, deadlines and eligibility.
    • Recruiting costs and sourcing data.
    • Employee performance, retention estimators and 9-box assessment.
    • Pay factors ranging from expenses and revenue to total compensation at the global level.
    • Survey data, including participation, engagement details, historical trends and metric performance based on industry benchmarks.
  • Compensation Management: Reward employees based on achievements through salary planning, customizable compensation plans, merit rules and analytics. It supports targets based on units, flat amounts or a percentage of base pay.
  • Performance Management: Drive employee engagement and growth while giving managers insight into individual and team performance. Features include tracking dashboards, automated reviews, goals, achievement ratings and real-time feedback.
  • Surveys: Gather employee sentiment using AI, natural language processing and machine learning. They offer a question library, templates, mobile-friendly design, custom dashboards and curated improvement suggestions.
  • File Management: Organize and manage employee documents with a central repository along with role and type-based permissions. Templates automatically fill in employee details, and a compliance assist feature ensures global adherence.
  • Succession Management: Develop a talent pipeline, ensuring your employees are prepared to take on new roles. There are plans for any level in the company, alongside talent evaluation, predictive analytics, reporting and personal development tools.
  • Integration Hub: Support developers in enhancing the system through integrations by offering:
    • A collaborative community, a developer portal and APIs.
    • Sample code and instructional articles to speed up deployment.
    • A marketplace of product and service partners.
  • UKG Talk: Facilitate engagement and inclusivity within your organization by supporting various communication methods like:
    • Company-wide announcements.
    • Direct messaging.
    • Team group chats.
    • Employee feedback and participation through celebrations, idea collection and achievement recognition.
    • Provide actionable insights by measuring communication impact and engagement metrics.
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Why We Picked Zoho People

Zoho People is a good solution for growing companies as it supports businesses of all sizes and is easy to use. The ability to create and add custom modules, using tabs and forms, is a noteworthy functionality. The biggest drawback at this time is the absence of payroll and recruiting modules. It also suffers from bugs and has an under-featured mobile app. However, it’s time and performance management capabilities have a lot to offer. All in all, it’s a good value for the price with some great features and benefits, best for companies that don’t mind using third-party payroll and recruitment solutions.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy to Use: 64% of users who refer to the UI indicated that it’s user-friendly, which makes it easier for new users to adapt to the platform.
  • Customization: Great levels of customization, especially with forms, are available, according to 75% of reviews mentioning customization.
  • PTO and Timesheet: All reviewers who reference this element found that Zoho People is a good tool for managing PTO and timesheets for employees.
  • Performance Management: All reviewers who mention this feature stated that the tool allows managers to handle the performance of several employees individually, with specific reports for all critical metrics.
  • Inability to Edit: According to 100% of reviews referencing this feature, all editing is controlled by the administrator, preventing individuals from doing even basic edits such as for personal details.
  • System Bugs: 85% of users mentioning this aspect observed the presence of bugs, some of which affect essential features and cause the mobile app to crash.
  • Ineffective Mobile App: The mobile app doesn’t have all features of the web version, and it’s difficult to find details such as certificates and documents or upload new documents, according to 100% of reviews referring to the app.
  • Lacks Recruitment and Payroll: According to 80% of reviewers that mention this shortcoming, the lack of payroll and recruitment tools requires users to find another solution in addition to Zoho People, which can be cumbersome and unfeasible.

Key Features

  • Employee Database Management: Zoho People provides a central database for managing employee information. You can split people into groups, bulk add employees, and centralize records from different countries. It also includes an org tree and communication tools for group or department collaboration. Automatic syncing between the platform and other integrated systems ensures data accuracy and eliminates manual entry. 
  • Leave Management: The software allows you to customize leave management rules for simplified calculation of PTO, rollovers and more. It also supports a global workforce with configuration options for different regional holidays. Different views let employees quickly see their leave data and automatic scheduling tools allow you to convert absences into leaves for administrative purposes. 
  • Analytics: Reports and dashboards provide insights into every aspect of HR management. You can track metrics like turnover, hiring vs. attrition, growth rates, tasks, employee counts, time logs and more. 
  • Performance Management: The system supports feedback from multiple sources for more accurate assessments. It also facilitates review cycles where employees and managers can engage in 360-degree feedback. Tagging allows employees to show what skills they have, which you can then match with job requirements. Key Resulting Areas (KRAs), goal setting and tracking, and skills work together to reveal performance, and you can use competency ratings to evaluate employees. Finally, analysis and reporting tools reveal performance insights. 
  • Mobile App: Native apps for iOS and Android devices support all HR functions, giving users full capability anywhere. Many actions only require a single click to complete. 
  • Case Management: With this feature, your organization can handle all cases and requests created by employees. You can build categories and include documents such as FAQs and policies for easy access. Comment functionality within individual cases removes the need for email exchanges, and you can manage other case details directly from each case’s tab. 
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Why We Picked Oracle HCM Cloud

According to our data, Oracle HCM Cloud leads in succession management, reporting, applicant tracking, and recruiting and payroll management.

Oracle HCM Cloud is tailored to meet diverse human capital management needs across various industries for businesses of all sizes. Users commonly appreciate its seamless integration capabilities and user-friendly mobile access. The platform's robust management features ensure reliable maintenance and security for data privacy.

However, initial setup can be challenging, requiring a learning curve for new users. Feedback from users highlights areas such as referral tracking, interview feedback workflows and job offer processes that lack customization options.

Additionally, some users have noted limitations in the reporting functionality, suggesting room for improvement in data analysis capabilities.

Oracle HCM Cloud operates on a pricing model starting from $4 per employee per month, making it accessible for varying business sizes. It offers a free trial for prospective users to explore before committing.

Training resources include live online sessions, videos and webinars. It also has comprehensive support options such as email, phone, chat, FAQs, forums, a help desk, knowledge base and a ticketing system. 24/7 live support ensures assistance is available whenever needed.

Industries commonly leveraging Oracle HCM Cloud include technology, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail sectors, benefiting from its scalable solutions and tailored industry-specific functionalities.

Oracle HCM is well-regarded for its user-friendly interface, effective integration of HR functions, and strong customer support. It provides significant benefits in streamlining HR processes and enhancing data reliability.

In contrast, it struggles with customization, mobile application robustness and user communication. The quarterly release cycle can also be a hurdle for some organizations, though it typically becomes more manageable over time.

Organizations with robust in-house IT capabilities are particularly well-positioned to deploy and manage Oracle HCM Cloud effectively, maximizing its potential benefits for their HR management needs.

Pros & Cons

  • Usability: Oracle HCM is praised for its intuitive and visually appealing user interface, which makes it easy for beginners to learn and navigate. The system’s workflows streamline processes, enhancing productivity and minimizing non-value-added work.
  • Functionality and Integration: The tool excels in integrating various HR functions into a single platform, offering good connectivity and the ability to define and execute global templates. This integration supports enhanced analytics, real-time reporting and a unified HR experience across different countries.
  • Customer Support: The sales and technical teams are noted for their people-oriented approach and strong support. Oracle HCM has improved its customer engagement model and actively works to understand and respond to customer feedback.
  • Flexibility and Adaptability: The product's extensible configuration allows it to adapt to an organization’s specific needs, making it easier to tailor the application.
  • Customization Limits: While the system is generally flexible, it has limitations in areas such as user rights management and the ability to introduce new ideas to Oracle Development. There’s room for improvement in how user rights and areas of responsibility are managed.
  • Communication Inconsistency: There is a noted inconsistency in user communication within the app. For example, email notifications and other communication features vary in sophistication, affecting the overall customer experience.
  • Quarterly Releases: The frequency of updates (four times a year) is viewed as too frequent by some users, creating challenges in managing and implementing these updates effectively. While initially challenging, users generally adapt over time.

Key Features

  • Global Human Resources: The software streamlines global, local, and industry-specific needs, driving efficiency across cultures and countries. It offers work-life solutions, an HR help desk, a workforce directory, strategic planning, modeling, predictions, and payroll and benefits management.
  • Employee Information: Employees can manage their personal information, benefit enrollments, absences and leaves, as well as view reimbursement slips and total compensation.
  • Worker Lifecycle: This feature supports end-to-end employee management — hiring, management and termination — keeping applicable legislation and global practices in view.
  • Rule-Driven Processing: The suite helps manage unions, collective labor, worker agreements and policies while staying compliant.
  • Talent Management: The talent management cloud empowers talent lifecycle stages so employers can hire the right people, nurture growth and employee development, manage succession, and more.
  • AI Apps: Artificial intelligence and data-driven functionalities improve the candidate pool quality, increase employee engagement, decrease time to hire and optimize organizational processes.
  • Advanced HCM Controls: This function helps control exception workflows, automate analysis to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and prevent payroll errors.
  • Workforce Management: Workforce management solutions help talent managers build an agile workforce through effortless time and labor tracking, time calculation, cost control, and managed compliance risks.
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Why We Picked SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors provides full integration with all HR modules and can connect to other SAP solutions, such as finance to materials. With extensive customization, integration and analytics, it can be of great use for planning, developing and implementing HR strategies.

According to our analysts, SAP SuccessFactors scores a 79, leading in applicant tracking and recruiting, document management, and succession management.

It includes AI-assisted screening, LinkedIn applicant prospecting, automated tax documents, succession planning, offline course access and employee lifecycle tracking, helping HR cover core tasks today and plan for the future.

It’s gotten praise for its strong support team, which is responsive and customer-focused, although users sometimes experience delays in resolving issues. The platform excels as a comprehensive HR solution, integrating various functions into a single system that streamlines processes and reduces costs.

While there's a learning curve for most, the majority found it worth the work to centralize all things HR, especially with its AI capabilities. Recent updates have improved the UI design, though some users indicate growing pains with release-related glitches and complex integrations.

SAP SuccessFactors pricing starts at $10 per user per month with a free trial.

SuccessFactors makes recruitment easier with tools for job postings, tracking candidates, evaluating resumes and managing interviews. Its AI-assisted screening matches candidates to job requirements more efficiently.

The onboarding module speeds up the process for new hires by automating paperwork, setting up training and ensuring a smoother transition into the company. Overall, SuccessFactors helps identify and nurture internal talent for future leadership roles, creating a smooth succession plan and minimizing the impact of turnover.

Pros & Cons

  • Support Quality: The support team is highly regarded for its responsiveness and customer service. It’s praised for being helpful and treating customers well, although there can be occasional wait times for resolution.
  • One-Stop-Shop for HR: Most users appreciate the system's ability to integrate various HR functions into a single platform, which can streamline processes and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • Goal Setting Flexibility: The learning module is seen as robust and flexible, making it easy to set and manage goals. Users can select from a library of goals or add their own, which facilitates effective goal setting and tracking.
  • Recruitment Management: According to most users, the recruitment module eases the entire process, including job postings, candidate selection, resume evaluation, interview scheduling and offer management. The applicant tracking and AI-assisted screening features were noted for improving time to hire.
  • Getting Started: Many find SAP SuccessFactors complex, especially for new users. The system is described as intricate and sophisticated, leading to a steep initial learning curve.
  • Reporting Woes: Users find the reporting options pretty restricted, with not much room to customize dashboards and reports. This lack of flexibility makes it tough to tailor reports to fit specific needs.
  • User Experience and Interface: The user interface (UI) has received mixed feedback. Some users feel it's outdated and clunky, with hiccups like confusing time-off calculations and cumbersome goal-setting processes.
  • Updates: While the support team is effective at troubleshooting integration issues, some users have experienced release-related breakdowns. On the flip side, other users noted recent updates have improved the UI, making it easier to navigate with new icons and better drill-downs.

Key Features

  • Joule: Use a virtual assistant to guide employees through the feedback process with easy-to-follow steps and prompts. Joule lets employees update their info right away (like location and working hours) without bouncing around multiple screens. It also streamlines promotion requests by guiding managers through the process and setting effective dates.
  • Automatic Tax Document Generation: Generate essential tax documents automatically, reducing administrative workload and ensuring compliance with tax regulations.
  • Payroll: Simplify payroll with automated pay calculations while ensuring compliance with both local and international rules to function globally. Plus, the self-service option lets employees easily access their information.
  • Time and Attendance Management: Automate time-consuming tasks like calculating hours worked and managing absences to make scheduling more efficient.
  • Recruiting and Onboarding: Create profiles, apply for jobs and track applications through a career portal. Employees can share openings and earn rewards for referrals. Recruiters can manage interviews based on candidate availability and location and provide a personalized onboarding experience.
  • Learning and Development: Use the earning management system (LMS) for all your learning needs, from succession planning to career development. It handles assessments, offline courses, training schedules, and tracking employee progress and course completion.
  • Performance and Compensation: Track employee performance to find top talent while providing feedback to help your team set and achieve goals. Reward employees with compensation programs and keep your numbers in line with budget modeling.
  • Workforce Planning: Modeling and analysis features provide insight into financials and scenario-based outcomes. Allocate resources effectively with budget planning, anticipate staffing requirements with workforce forecasting and reduce schedule conflicts with alerts.
  • Personalized Recommendations: The benefits plan recommendation tool offers a personalized ranking of benefits plans, providing employees with tailored recommendations to better meet their specific needs.
  • HR Analytics: Understand your company's data with insights on performance, turnover, diversity and more. Benchmark against peers and analyze HR data in detail. Use dashboards and reports to identify issues and spot trends.
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Key Features

  • Mobile HR: Users can access full HR functions and communications securely on mobile devices. They can send alerts, receive information, book vacations, view payslips and connect with other workers on the go. The app supports individual configurations and localization for different languages. 
  • Global Cloud Service: Sage People is built and hosted on the Salesforce cloud platform. It works without lengthy installations, manual updates or IT support. Users have access to admin screens through centralized or distributed administration. They can configure page layouts, sections and workflows by drag-and-drop functionality instead of coding.  
  • Security and Privacy: Users can prevent data from being intercepted, with all connections protected with Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption (version 1.1 or higher). The system allows data replication in real time to a 100% full-scale replica disaster recovery data center. It also provides multi-factor authentication for identity verification to add another layer of protection. It complies with security standards like the GDPR, Privacy Shield and ISO 27001. 
  • Talent Management: This feature helps to align individual objectives with organizational goals. It provides a channel for peer-to-peer recognition, team building and resource planning. It manages attrition by capturing potential, risk and impact of leaving. Tools like the 9 box grid and skills matrices make it easy to evaluate talent pools. Users can conduct comprehensive skill searches across the global workforce to match job roles and bridge skills gaps.  
  • Succession Planning: The ability to view multiple successors and support development plans aids companies in preparing for the future. 
  • Workforce Management: Users can eliminate repetitive, manual processes with workforce information consolidated in a single global instance.They can set up and manage groups of people that don’t usually work together, such as cross-functional or project teams, and manage virtual teams and contingent workers such as freelancers. 
  • Performance Management: Managers can continuously communicate expectations, define duties and help employees accomplish strategic objectives.They can configure performance features to suit processes as well as define questions, participants and visibility based on business strategies. The system enables 360-degree feedback through internal team members as well as external assessors. Development plans and activities can be tied directly to competencies or set independently. 
  • Payroll: Sage People Payflow enables users to easily pass salary and benefits data to one or more payroll systems. Its secure services integrate with finance and accounting systems to automatically pass workforce-related costs to accounts. On-demand reports, dashboards and analytics facilitate tracking payroll, compensation and benefits data. Multilingual and multi-currency capabilities provide an option to conduct transactions in the local language. 
  • Compensation Management: This feature lets users design compensation processes that optimize budgets, improve compliance and reward high-performing employees. Performance metrics support planning and analyzing compensation packages. The system auto-generates compensation letters to local HR teams and managers for planning purposes. Managers can review, modify and approve their team’s compensation plans from one location. They can select from multiple formulas to determine salary rules, choose specific worksheet planners and have a clear view of worksheet progress.  
  • Benefits Administration: Sage People supports multiple third-party benefit providers. Users can manage eligibility rules in open enrollment for benefits, enhance calculations and rate tables to make changes to benefits ahead of changes actually being implemented. Pay and benefits updates are automated via predefined workflows, with corresponding notifications sent to employees to keep them informed. 
  • Attendance and Leave Management: Users can identify, manage and report on paid leave, absences and overtime for the entire global workforce. This feature monitors absence costs and critical trends such as working time lost by year or month, with drag-and-drop reporting functionality. Full visibility of all attendance and leave is available through integrated metrics, reporting and dashboards. 
  • Time Tracking: Users can track time and manage policies from a single, automated system of record and be prepared for audits to meet compliance requirements. 
  • Employee Portal:  This feature simplifies HR service by letting employees maintain personal data, schedule PTO and track absences. Automatic notifications let employees know when their requests are approved or not, and their remaining balances are updated in real-time. Documents such as sick certificates or medical assessments can be uploaded to team member records for auditing purposes.  
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Key Features

  • Workforce Management: Companies can save 95% of workforce time spent on rostering. The software removes complexity by auto-generating rosters, factoring in key business drivers such as staff availability, demand and skill sets. It does this while adhering to compliance and regulations such as the Working Time Act and break entitlements. 
  • Payroll: Users can manage and analyze all pay groups in a single dashboard view, reduce payroll data input, and control inbound and outbound payment requests. Audit control guarantees accuracy, and an automated system sends prompts about unresolved errors and potential issues. The Payroll Manager View provides real-time updates on payroll readiness. The solution manages all basic considerations, including legislative and internal compliance. 
  • Recruitment: Companies can achieve a cohesive, transparent and fast recruiting process. The applicant tracking system eliminates selection bias with anonymized shortlisting. Integrated social recruiting tools facilitate video interviews, online questionnaires, assessment frameworks, interview scheduling, applicant merges, results recording and real-time feedback. Users can report to senior stakeholders on the success of the recruitment process and drive future decisions by tracking the source of high performers and understanding the ROI of recruitment budgets. 
  • Talent Management: This feature streamlines monitoring with dashboard views and intuitive reports. It tells how the workforce is performing and its impact on current and future business outcomes. It also enables employees to proactively develop their own careers.  
  • Succession Planning: This feature helps HR and management to develop talent strategies for the future with a complete view of potential business leaders via succession organizational charts. Companies can identify skill gaps and systematically build their talent pipeline with intuitive tools such as a 9-box matrix that assess employee and manager performance. 
  • HR Analytics:  The system instantly combines multiple reports into one single data view to drive better business decisions and gain insight into the workforce. Users can align human capital decisions with business priorities for board-level reports. The solution also facilitates cross-analyzing HR and business metrics to show ROI between the investment in people and business outcomes. 
  • XD Hub: This feature provides a collaborative space for sharing best practice reports and processes across organizations. It enables users to learn, share and bring knowledge, thought leadership and new skills to the business. 
  • Learning Management:  This feature provides guided learning paths with full accreditation. Self-directed learning is enabled with self-service capabilities and role-based course allocation. Users can create learning groups, view training histories, track course progress and completion rates, and benefit from gamification and social learning. 
  • Mobile App:  Users gain real-time access to system records and all functionality. They can complete tasks quickly, like booking leave, swapping shifts, reviewing payslips, updating personal data and managing expenses. The app puts every employee in control of their data, reducing the administrative burden.  
  • Self-Service: Employee self-service reduces the demand on HR staff by 50% to 80% and enables them to focus on strategic priorities. Employees can access, review and update their records, complete role-related tasks, submit timesheets, access their schedules, set availability, manage leave, clock in or out and connect with co-workers through shift swaps. 
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Why We Picked Paycom

Paycom users in the past year have expressed both enthusiasm and concerns about the software. Many praise its user-friendly interface, mobile app convenience, and comprehensive feature set, which includes payroll, HR, benefits administration, and talent management. Compared to competitors, users find Paycom to be more intuitive and integrated, streamlining HR processes and saving time. Additionally, customer service is often lauded as responsive and helpful. However, some drawbacks are also mentioned. Implementation can be complex and require significant initial effort. Pricing concerns surface, with Paycom perceived as costlier than some competitors. While offering a wider range of features, this may not be necessary for all businesses, leading to potential overpaying for unused functionalities. Overall, Paycom seems to be a powerful and user-friendly option for companies seeking a one-stop HR and payroll solution. However, its complexity and cost warrant careful consideration, especially for smaller businesses or those with simpler needs. Comparing features and pricing with competitors is crucial to ensure Paycom aligns with your specific requirements and budget.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly: 85% of reviews mentioning the interface noted the platform has an intuitive layout, with all features organized and easy to locate.
  • Customer Service: Customer support is highly responsive, as asserted by 100% of reviews referencing it.
  • Employee Self-Services: All users referring to self-service observed that employees can easily upload documents, view information and track performance.
  • Performance Reviews: An open dialogue tool makes employee performance reviews more effective, as indicated by 70% of reviews mentioning this feature.
  • Use Anywhere: The mobile app is easy to use and has all desktop features available, as asserted by 100% reviews on this feature.
  • Customization: Customization for most features helps cater to a company’s unique requirements, as noted by all reviews on product customization.
  • Login Process: All reviews on the login process observed that employees need to log in every time they open the software, as there’s no password save feature.
  • Challenging Transition: Transitioning between the client and employee side is challenging and cumbersome, as users need to log in to both systems, according to all reviews on this aspect.
  • Learning Curve: All users reviewing learning noted that the platform has a steep learning curve, making adaptation difficult for new users.
  • Integration Capabilities: The system doesn't provide integration with major third-party platforms without using SFTP or API, as indicated by 100% of reviews on this feature.

Key Features

  • Applicant Tracking System (ATS): Build customizable databases to view relevant applicant information and track candidates as they move through the application process. Managers can search and sort applicants by information such as degree, specific skill sets, work history and more. 
  • Compensation Management: Define budgets, award bonuses and integrate with payroll to ensure that all employees receive fair compensation without overspending. 
  • Job Posting: Allows managers to post open positions to thousands of job boards. Managers can also rely on recruitment data to build reports to determine if their recruiting efforts are working. 
  • Payroll: Calculate taxes, process payroll, account for employee expenses and more, directly through the platform. Automate payroll processing, ensuring that employees are always paid the accurate amount at the correct time. 
  • Performance Management: Schedule and facilitate employee performance appraisals directly through the platform. 
  • Reporting: Leverage Paycom’s built-in analytics to generate reports on a variety of processes, including payroll, time and attendance, compensation and more. 
  • Scheduling: Create and edit employee schedules and approve requests for time off through the system’s calendar. Automate time tracking and integrate with payroll to streamline pay processing. 
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Why We Picked Dayforce

Dayforce, a popular AI-powered HCM solution, caters to businesses across various industries on a global scale. It’s perfect for large teams and companies needing a scalable and adaptable platform. Most of its features are user-friendly, making it relatively easy to learn and navigate.

Dayforce stands out with its mobile time-off requests, smart benefit enrollment recommendations, TeamRelate, Dayforce Wallet and automated payroll calculations. It also offers robust support for day-to-day operations, including reports and dashboards, org charts, shift trades, and compliance.

The mobile app and self-service platform give employees the freedom to handle tasks like accessing pay stubs, viewing schedules, and submitting time-off requests independently, which reduces the need for admin intervention.

Dayforce tackles common HR challenges like managing varied payroll and compliance needs, dealing with tricky reporting, and making employee self-service easier. While users appreciate its mobile features and schedule management, they’ve mentioned that reporting can be a bit complex and time-consuming, sometimes leading to long waits for customer support.

The demo reveals a comprehensive hub serving as a centralized dashboard, providing news updates, team objectives, pending tasks, and recommended applications like performance management and recruiting.

Personally, I thought the scheduling module looked a little cluttered/complicated for beginners, but you can use filters to narrow down results and make it look less busy/cleaner.

Payroll processing demands a hawk's eye when it comes to details. I thought Dayforce had a reasonably straightforward payroll design.

Engagement surveys offer compact insights into employee sentiment and effectiveness, while customizable dashboards and scorecards display key metrics on workforce dynamics, such as availability, recruitment metrics, and turnover rates.

Automated alerts and integration with job boards enhance recruiting, and self-service features support career development, HR and benefits enrollment.

The chatbot provided a brief welcome and directed me to the Help Center after I chose support. The chat ended there, and I encountered the issue of the conversation not clearing when the page was reopened.

Pricing is competitive, based on user numbers and selected modules (charged per month).

Overall, Dayforce is a comprehensive HCM software that effectively supports managing people, pay and compliance.

Pros & Cons

  • Easy PTO Tracking: Dayforce simplifies requesting and viewing PTO and tracking employee hours.
  • User-Friendly Interface and Features: Dayforce receives praise for being easy to set up and navigate.
  • Comprehensive: Dayforce is effective for managing payroll, benefits, and workforce management (WFM), providing real-time data and streamlined record-keeping. Custom reporting, time management and compensation planning are highlighted as strong features.
  • Consistency: The system integrates well across various functions such as HR, payroll, and time management, helping to consolidate processes and improve efficiency.
  • Reporting: Report creation can be cumbersome and not very user-friendly. The ability to convert fixed reports into customizable formats and access more diverse formats is limited.
  • Outdated Employee Self-Service: Some users found this feature outdated without improved auditing and traceability features for payroll elections.
  • Frequent Updates: Some updates lead to slow down and create a learning curve for some users.
  • Implementation Process: Users reported implementation can have high up-front costs, take longer than expected and cause frustration.
  • Customer Support: Users experienced long response times and additional fees.

Key Features

  • Core HR: Centralize employee info, manage performance, carry out recruiting, oversee payroll and get reports for data-driven decision-making.
  • Employee Self-Service (ESS): Let users enroll in benefits, view pay details, update personal information, access learning resources and stay current on announcements.
  • Payroll: Roll out a variety of payroll tasks, including tax management, employee verification and data entry for unique situations like retroactive payments. Dashboards provide insights and reporting tools support payroll reconciliation.
  • Benefits: Fast track enrollment by letting employees independently enroll for coverage. Admins can access enrollment totals, a library of qualification rules, on-demand calculations and streamlined COBRA management. It also integrates with hundreds of carriers and incorporates features to ensure ACA compliance.
  • Talent Management: Manage every phase of an employee lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding to succession planning. Track performance in a holistic view, plan budgets effectively and reskill current employees with AI talent tools.
  • Workforce Management: Process payroll, manage sick days or vacation time, and view reports on key trends like spending for proactive planning.
  • Compliance Support: Safeguard sensitive information with role-based access and ease multi-jurisdictional tax filings with tax services for federal, state and local jurisdictions.
  • Customer Support: Get help with questions and concerns through live chat or phone. Access additional resources on the website like the help center and webinars.
  • Dayforce Wallet: Provide employees access to their earned wages before payday. This flexibility improves financial wellness and reduces employee stress associated with waiting for a paycheck. It also provides functionalities such as budgeting tools and financial planning resources. Note: The amount available depends on completed shifts and standard transfer time is between 1-3 business days. Faster transfers require additional fees.
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Key Features

  • Single System of Record: PeopleStrategy is built as a unified platform. All data is stored in one central location, so it’s easily accessible and any changes made automatically reflect across the system. This reduces errors caused by needing to enter the same set of data more than once. It also provides a searchable directory of employees. 
  • Performance Evaluation: The performance module lets you trade paper reviews for digital tools. Employees can go through a self-review and rate their performance. Then managers can include their own rating and compare the two side by side. It also supports e-signature for completed reviews, configuration of performance criteria and automatic notifications for tasks. 
  • Communication Portal: You can share important company news and announcements with this feature. For example, posting educational materials and links to benefits plan information to help employees select the right coverage. 
  • Career Site: PeopleStrategy allows organizations to create configurable, branded career sites for external and internal use. You can view applicant documents, sort candidates, schedule interviews and more. The career sites come with single sign?on capability. 
  • Job Posts: With this feature, you can create job requisitions and descriptions, which can then be posted to hundreds of job sites in a single click using Job Target. 
  • Background Checks: Through a partnership with InquireHire, PeopleStrategy offers integrated background screening as part of the talent acquisition module. You can check criminal history, conduct drug tests, verify education and certifications, and screen candidates for tax credits among other things. 
  • Managed Services: PeopleStrategy offers access to experts who can help minimize risk of non-compliance. Their range of support covers benefits administration support and compliance services, including COBRA administration, EEO reporting and more. 
  • Security: PeopleStrategy exercises security in several ways. As a hosted application, it’s delivered from two different data centers that have strong security measures in place. It’s also SSAE-16 certified. 

COMPARE THE BEST HRIS Systems

Select up to 2 Products from the list below to compare

 
Product
Score
Start Price
Free Trial
Company Size
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Platform
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$42
Per Employee, Monthly
No
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$100
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No
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$4
Per Employee, Monthly
Yes
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$10
Per User, Monthly
Yes
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Still gathering data
No
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$25
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$6
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All HRIS Systems (731 found)

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Schedule360

by Schedule360
Schedule360
Schedule360 is a comprehensive software solution designed to streamline employee scheduling and task management. It is particularly well-suited for industries with complex staffing needs, such as healthcare, retail, and public safety, due to its ability to handle intricate scheduling requirements and ensure optimal shift coverage. The software offers significant benefits, including reduced administrative workload, improved shift coverage, and enhanced employee satisfaction through better schedule transparency and flexibility. Popular features of Schedule360 include automated shift assignments, real-time schedule updates, and robust reporting tools that provide insights into staffing patterns and labor costs. Users appreciate its intuitive interface and the ability to access schedules from any device, which enhances communication and coordination among team members. Compared to similar products, Schedule360 is often praised for its reliability and user-friendly design, making it a preferred choice for organizations seeking efficient scheduling solutions. Pricing for Schedule360 typically varies based on the number of users and specific features required, with options for monthly or annual payments. This flexible pricing structure allows organizations to scale the solution according to their needs and budget.
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Zuper

by Zuper
Zuper
Zuper is a comprehensive solution designed to streamline field service management (FSM) tasks. Most people working in this industry aren’t behind a desk from 9 to 5, with a variety of job sites, schedules and responsibilities, Zuper equips technicians with mobile capabilities.It’s especially useful for industries like HVAC, plumbing and electrical services, where managing a remote workforce is key.The software offers significant benefits, including enhanced productivity, improved customer satisfaction and optimized resource allocation.Popular features of Zuper include real-time job tracking, a customer portal, automated scheduling and custom geofencing tags. These features help businesses manage their field operations more effectively by providing clear visibility into job statuses and workforce performance.Users generally like Zuper’s customer support and implementation process. Customizable workflows make it easier to adapt. You can use the mobile app offline, so work doesn’t stop if you have an unexpected Wi-Fi outage. However, some users found reporting outdated, and the mobile app can have a learning curve.Personally, I like the focus on bettering the customer experience with flexible payment options, ETA alerts, invoices that can be sent directly in a text and an outlet for them to provide feedback.As for pricing, Zuper usually falls in the mid-range, depending on user numbers and required features. They offer flexible payment options, whether you prefer monthly or annual plans, so you can scale things up as your business grows.According to their main website, they’ve saved users up to three hours per day. Let’s see how they do it! We’ve accessed their in-depth demo and combed through user reviews; check out our findings below.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
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GoCo

by GoCo
GoCo
GoCo is a software platform designed to help businesses manage their HR tasks, offering features like payroll, benefits administration, and employee onboarding. It's a cloud-based solution that aims to simplify HR processes for small and medium-sized businesses. GoCo is known for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and comprehensive features, making it a popular choice among businesses looking to streamline their HR operations. GoCo's key benefits include its ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and the wide range of features it offers. The platform is also highly secure, ensuring the protection of sensitive employee data. Popular features include payroll processing, benefits administration tools, and employee onboarding functionalities. GoCo's payroll tools are designed to save businesses time and money, while its benefits administration features help manage employee benefits programs efficiently. The employee onboarding tools facilitate a smooth and quick onboarding process for new hires. Compared to other HR management software options, GoCo stands out for its user-friendly interface, affordability, and comprehensive features. It's important to note that pricing for HR management software can vary based on factors such as the number of employees and the specific features required. It's recommended to check with GoCo or other providers directly for the most up-to-date pricing information.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Buyer's Guide

HRIS Systems are Digital Filing Cabinets for Employee Information

Key Takeaway 1

Maintain a single source of truth for employee information, improving payroll accuracy and decision-making.

Key Takeaway 2

Essential features include benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, payroll management, employee self-service portals, organizational structure visualization, and reports and analytics.

Key Takeaway 3

HRIS focuses on core HR data management for businesses with straightforward needs.

Key Takeaway 4

An ideal HRIS platform reduces HR burden by automating workflows, adhering to compliance regulations and making data accessible.

Key Takeaway 5

HRIS focuses on core HR data management for businesses with straightforward needs. Understanding the differences between operational, tactical, and strategic systems helps identify the right tool.

Key Takeaway 6

When selecting HRIS software, consider company size, HR needs and budget. Asking questions about integration, scalability, support and other needs is vital.

What This Guide Covers:

Primary Benefits

HRIS Systems Benefits

Boost HR Admin Efficiency

Free up HR professionals for more strategic work by reducing time spent tracking down information. Automate payroll, timesheet approvals and other repetitive workflows. Help HR make data-driven decisions about the workforce, like talent development or staffing needs, with better data.

Improve Employee Experience

Let employees use a self-service portal to view payslips, update personal details or request time off. Everyone accessing the same information fosters a more transparent and engaged work environment. This data transparency empowers employees and reduces the burden on HR.

Make Compliance Easy

Follow labor laws and avoid costly fines by streamlining everything from onboarding to offboarding. Track deadlines and send alerts for benefits enrollment, training and more. A good HRIS has built-in security features to protect sensitive employee data and ensure it's only accessible to authorized personnel.

Centralize Data

Store everything in one place to eliminate data silos. No more hunting for information or wondering which version of an employee's record is the most up-to-date. HRIS software, serving as the single source of truth for employee information, improves payroll accuracy and supports data-based decisions

Key Features

Benefits Administration Platform

  • Set up health insurance, retirement plans and other perks.
  • Enroll employees in benefit programs, track their selections, manage changes and ensure compliance with required laws.
  • Administer and communicate benefits, saving time and reducing errors.

Time and Attendance Tools

  • Monitor employee work hours, breaks, leaves, overtime and attendance patterns for payroll processing.
  • Let employees clock in and out.
  • Automate timekeeping tasks to follow labor laws and regulations.

Payroll Management

  • Ensure accurate and timely employee payments.
  • Calculate salaries, wages, taxes, deductions and direct deposits.
  • Use payroll tools to ensure compliance with tax regulations and generate accurate payslips.

Employee Self-Service Dashboard

  • Let employees control and access their HR info with an employee portal.
  • Provide access to payslips, personal details, time off, benefits enrollment and company documents.

Organizational Structures

  • Visualize your company's reporting hierarchy. Map out teams, departments and reporting relationships. Clarify roles, tasks and communication flow.

Reporting and Analytics

  • Generate reports on employee demographics, time and attendance trends, turnover rates, and benefits utilization.
  • Support data-driven decisions with real-time insights.

Compliance Management

  • Stay up-to-date on employment regulations.
  • Manage compliance with labor laws, tax regulations and company policies.
  • Get alerts for upcoming deadlines and generate reports for audits.

HRIS vs. HRMS vs. HCM vs. HXM

 

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

Human Resource Management Systems(HRMS)

Human Capital Management(HCM)

Human Experience Management (HXM)

Focus

Core HR data

HR processes & data

Strategic HR & data

Workforce experience

Scope

Employee records, payroll & benefits

Recruitment, performance & training (adds to HRIS)

Talent analytics & workforce planning (adds to HRMS)

Employee well-being, communication & company culture (adds to HCM)

Data Management

Basic storage & retrieval

Advanced reporting & analytics

Strategic workforce insights

Focuses on employee sentiment & engagement data

When To Use

Ideal for businesses focusing on HR data management and administrative tasks.

Suitable for organizations with advanced HR functions beyond basic data management and workflows

Best for organizations looking to align HR practices with strategic business goals and employee value.

Suited for organizations prioritizing employee satisfaction & engagement.

Choosing the Right Tool: Consider Company Size, HR Needs and Budget

Ask the following questions to determine whether HCM, HRIS or HRMS is right for your business needs:

  • Are you a fledgling startup or a small business? HRIS might be enough. These tools are typically suitable for businesses with straightforward HR needs.
  • Is your company experiencing growing pains? HRMS steps up with a more expansive toolkit. It offers additional features like talent management, recruitment, performance evaluation and employee skill development to address expansion challenges.
  • Is there a disconnect between HR operations and business business goals? HCM offers strategic insights to develop HR strategies aligned with overarching business objectives.
  • Is improving culture and employee experience a top priority? HXM integrates feedback mechanisms, wellness initiatives and flexible work arrangements to boost satisfaction and foster deeper engagement.

How To Compare HRIS Systems

We connected with HR experts and managers of businesses of all shapes and sizes to share their experiences, tips and tricks to help HR newbies find the right tool:

HRIS Selection Process

1. Understand Organization Needs

Start with the basics. What problems are we trying to solve? Understanding pain points helps you pinpoint features essential for your organization.

Expert Tip: Jessica Bane, Director of Business Operations at GoPromotional, emphasizes the importance of a needs analysis. She suggests,

I would encourage you to first thoroughly understand the specific needs of your company. Consider the HR tasks that take up the most time and see how an HRIS can streamline those processes.”

2. Assemble Your Selection Team

The right software improves productivity and the bottom line. Get people from IT, HR and finance involved in the process. Include managers and employees who’ll use the system to assess the overall suitability of a new platform within your budget and goals.

Expert Tip: Roman Zrazhevskiy, Founder & CEO of MIRA Safety, mentioned experiencing challenges during the implementation phase.

The main challenge was ensuring compatibility with our existing IT infrastructure and training staff to use the new system effectively… For HR beginners starting to use HRIS systems, my advice is to focus on thorough training and change management.”

Avoiding these challenges requires involving all relevant departments early in the selection process to ensure smooth integration and user adoption.

3. Create a Requirements List

List essential features like core HR functions, payroll, benefits and reporting. Then, add features that would be desirable but not dealbreakers. If possible, quantify your needs. For example, how many new hires do you process annually? How many employees need performance management tools?

Expert Tip: According to Bert Hofhuis, Founder of Every Investor, HRIS implementation requires careful consideration.

I recommend conducting a needs analysis to understand what features are most necessary for your organization. Select a system that is scalable and user-friendly, with robust customer support. During implementation, invest in comprehensive training sessions to ensure that all users are comfortable and proficient with the new system.”

Keep the following factors in mind:

  • Scalability: Select a system that supports your company’s expansion and integration needs.
  • User Experience: Assess ease of navigation and accessibility across devices to ensure a positive user experience for admins and employees. Prioritize an intuitive platform to address basic HR needs efficiently, even for users who may not be tech-savvy.
  • Compliance Regulations: Choose a system that complies with relevant data protection laws, such as GDPR, CCPA and other industry-specific regulations.
  • Support and Training: Look for vendors offering comprehensive support and training resources to help you get the most out of the system.
  • Accessibility: Ensure the system supports mobile access. This remote access ensures that HR functions can be performed seamlessly regardless of location.

4. Research Extensively

  • Explore reviews, comparison websites and industry blogs.
  • Ask industry peers about their experiences with different HRIS systems.
  • Sign up for product demonstrations and webinars to see the systems in action.

Expert Tip: Tawny Lott Rodriguez, HR Director at Rowland Hall, suggests going beyond the sales pitch.

The disconnect between HRIS sales teams and implementation teams can be a major hurdle. Sales teams often paint a rosy picture, but implementation teams face the brunt of complex realities… Research not just features, but also implementation processes and most importantly, talk to present and past clients of those systems to understand the real raw truth. These conversations can be invaluable in uncovering hidden challenges and getting a realistic picture of the system's capabilities.”

Don’t forget to take advantage of free trials and product demos to get hands-on experience.

5. Make a Decision

Create a detailed report comparing the shortlisted systems based on your criteria. Consider both upfront costs and ongoing expenses. Convene your selection committee to review findings and make a final decision.

Expert Tip: Implementing complex systems can be intimidating for new users. According to John Pennypacker, VP of Sales & Marketing at Deep Cognition, the key to overcoming these fears is education and training. He says,

Organizations need to invest in comprehensive training sessions that not only cover the technical aspects of using HRIS platforms but also highlight their strategic benefits. Understanding how HRIS systems can enhance decision-making and overall HR effectiveness will empower newbies to champion these tools.”

Additional Advice: Tawny Lott Rodriguez chimes in with another vital suggestion before making the final choice:

Think Goldilocks – find the system that's ‘just right!’ Develop a plan for transferring employee data smoothly, no matter the system you choose.”

Selecting the right software can be daunting. But help is on the way! We have resources to help you at every step. Our free requirements template will pinpoint key features for you to consider.

Still, if you want to take matters into your own hands, refer to our lean selection framework to develop a comparison strategy from scratch.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

  • Pay-Per-User Subscriptions: Most platforms offer pay-per-user subscriptions, letting you manage costs by limiting access to essential team members. This way, you pay only for what you need.
  • Monthly and Annual Subscriptions: Vendors often provide monthly and annual subscription plans. Annual subscriptions typically offer a discount compared to paying month-to-month, which can result in significant savings over time.
  • Free Plans: Some vendors, like Zoho People, offer free versions, which can be cost-effective for small businesses or teams looking to test the system before committing to a paid plan.
  • Integrations: Consider the costs of integrating the HRIS with your existing systems. Integration fees vary based on the complexity and the number of systems you need to connect. Be sure to ask vendors about any additional costs for integration services.
  • Add-On Costs: Many platforms offer additional modules that come with extra costs. It's important to factor in these potential expenses when budgeting.

Questions To Ask During Your Search

Asking the right questions internally and to prospective vendors will help you uncover the benefits and shortcomings associated with their services:

HRIS Systems Key Questions

  • What are the top three pain points in your current HR processes?
  • How important is data-driven decision-making, and what HR metrics are tracked regularly?
  • Does the system integrate with existing payroll and benefits systems?
  • How does the vendor approach data security and compliance?
  • Does the system handle workforce models like remote work and the gig economy?
  • Are there any references from similar companies in your industry and size?
  • What is the process for system updates and feature enhancements?
  • How does the customer support structure work, and what is the average response time?
  • Are there any disaster recovery plans and data backup procedures?

FAQs

Q: What are the three types of HRIS?

  • Operational HRIS: Handles core HR tasks like employee recordkeeping, payroll and benefits administration.
  • Tactical HRIS: Supports functions like recruitment, onboarding, training and performance management.
  • Strategic HRIS: Analyzes workforce data to help with strategic decision-making, workforce planning and talent management.

Q: What does an HRIS do?

HRIS software is a central hub for all employee data. It streamlines administrative tasks like payroll and benefits, automates recruitment and onboarding, and analyzes data for workforce planning and strategic decision-making.

Q. Who are HRIS users?

Although everyone within the company is an HRIS user simply by being an employee, the power users of this system are HR personnel handling payroll, talent management and recruiting tasks.

Find the Right HRIS System

Free Comparison Report

Comparison report

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Technical Content Writer
Saniya was a Technical Content Writer at SelectHub. With an MBA in Marketing, she found her calling in the world of digital marketing and technical content writing. Her work spanned HR-centric systems like talent management, recruitment and performance management to robust software like ERP and manufacturing systems. When the day winds down, she enjoys taking long walks with her dog or indulging in her artistic side by swapping her keyboard for a pencil. She finds solace in watching the sunset over the beach and appreciates the little things in life.
Expert Review By Bert Hofhuis
Contributor & Advisor
Bert Hofhuis is the Founder of Every Investor, an organization specializing in making later-life personal finance accessible. He’s committed to enhancing financial literacy and independence among the UK's older population. His areas of expertise include project management, start-up leadership, finance and operations.
Expert Review By Jessica Bane
Contributor & Advisor
Jessica Bane is the Operations Director at GoPromotional. She has over a decade of experience in business administration and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company. Her areas of expertise include HR, sales, marketing and production. As a Director, she values data analysis, problem-solving, leadership and a positive mindset.
Expert Review By John Pennypacker
Contributor & Advisor
John Pennypacker is the VP of Sales & Marketing at Deep Cognition, a company that provides businesses with next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) platforms and solutions. He graduated from Baylor University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Fellows, Finance and Accounting.
Expert Review By Roman Zrazhevskiy
Contributor & Advisor
Roman Zrazhevskiy is the Founder & CEO of MIRA Safety, an online retailer specializing in preparedness and readiness equipment. Roman has over 17 years managing growing teams and overseeing various operations.
Expert Review By Tawny Lott Rodriguez
Contributor & Advisor
Tawny Lott Rodriguez is an award-winning HR Leader with over 13 years of experience in HR and HR Technology. She has been named the LinkedIn Top Human Resources (HR) Voice and featured in SHRM articles. Currently, Tawny is the Head of Human Resources at Utah's largest and top-ranked private school (k-12), Rowland Hall-St. Mark's School.
Edited By Hunter Lowe
Content Editor
Hunter Lowe is a Content Editor, Writer and Market Analyst at SelectHub. His team covers categories that range from ERP and business intelligence to transportation and supply chain management. Hunter is an avid reader and Dungeons and Dragons addict who studied English and Creative Writing through college. In his free time, you'll likely find him devising new dungeons for his players to explore, checking out the latest video games, writing his next horror story or running around with his daughter.