SumTotal vs Criterion HCM
Last Updated:Our analysts compared SumTotal vs Criterion HCM based on data from our 400+ point analysis of HR Management Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.
Product Basics
SumTotal is a cloud-based HR Management software catering to mid-sized to large organizations. It packs a comprehensive suite of features covering talent acquisition, learning & development, workforce management, and performance management. Users praise its robust reporting & analytics, rich learning library, and mobile-friendly accessibility. However, the extensive customization options and powerful tools come with a steeper learning curve for administrators. Additionally, SumTotal's potential for high integration costs and higher price point compared to basic solutions make it less suitable for smaller companies. While some users struggle with complex content creation tools and limited instructor-led options, SumTotal shines in its ability to scale and adapt to dynamic needs, making it a strong contender for organizations seeking a feature-rich, customizable HR management platform, especially those with substantial training requirements and a dispersed workforce.
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Criterion is a talent management and HCM solution that provides administration for medium-size businesses. It helps the entire executive team, managers and employees alike manage the entire employee lifecycle. With a digital infrastructure that includes HTML 5 and a REST API, it’s scalable and offers multiple automation options. It manages recruiting, acquisition, online learning, performance reviews, time and attendance, payroll and other HR matters across the company.
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Small
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Large
Windows
Mac
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Android
Chromebook
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Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
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Mobile
Product Assistance
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
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Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
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Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Product Insights
- Employee Retention: Provide tools for employee development, management and learning practices that encourage employee retention.
- Enhanced Productivity: Talent managers can continuously onboarding to speed up overall productivity.
- Organizational Stability: Learning-centered employee development builds an agile workforce that is adaptable to changing business environments.
- Learning Ecosystem: Invest in research and development on the latest learning trends, which managers can leverage to enhance employees' learning experience.
- Talent Engagement: Engage top talent while moving through the recruitment process, understand the workforce, identify the best talent and build a seamless experience for candidates as well as hiring teams.
- Enhanced Candidate Experience: Offer smartphone-optimized sites with intelligent and automated interview tools, candidate matching, and an easy-to-use mobile app interface. Keep applicants informed about upcoming interview details via a user dashboard.
- Accelerated Time-to-Performance: Seamless onboarding training helps new hires get up to speed quickly. Provide unique company policies and work culture for them to become familiar with the company.
- Smooth Role Switch: Access onboarding plans for new roles that include defined goals, new teams and KPI’s that ensure a more seamless transition to new responsibilities.
- Robust Manager and Admin Capabilities: Managers and administrators can easily view, schedule, filter, mark up and share reports from a mobile dashboard. Leverage reporting tools, advanced reports and dashboards at a single click.
- Informed Compensation Plans: Create smart, data-driven compensation plans according to preset or custom parameters. Real-time performance insights and budget modeling make compensation informed, fair and cost-effective.
- Reduces Errors: Increases the security, accuracy and speed of employee and staff data. These increased precisions make it easier to make smart decisions based on actionable insights.
- Saves Time and Money: Automates and streamlines HCM and talent management processes such as compensation, benefits, tracking applicants and performance management. This increased efficiency saves administrators time and sanity. By eliminating manual data entry, it improves the workflow, making it easier for employees to use the platform. Through the system, it’s possible to have more control over the cost of benefits. The platform is also scalable so users can accommodate sudden company growth.
- More Informed Management: Provides reporting, data manageable and other tools that allow leadership to make more informed decisions. From there, it’s easier to communicate with staff to ensure everyone is on the same page.
- Better Talent Lifecycle: Helps with the entire process including acquisitions, screening, setting up interviews, onboarding, performance management and succession management and more.
- Talent Development: Provides combined functionality of talent onboarding, talent management and learning management solutions to cater to talent development requirements.
- Talent Acquisition: Helps create a streamlined hiring cycle, hire the right talent, engage fresh recruits and drive productivity from day one.
- Learning Management:
- Helps provide a customized, personalized and engaging learning experience tailored to the skill and competency of individuals rather than the whole team.
- Ease of access on all devices, along with an offline mode, ensures seamless and consistent access to content and courses.
- Talent Management: Personalized and intuitive tools help employees pursue career growth and development. Capabilities include performance management, 360-degree feedback, succession planning and compensation management.
- Performance Management: Provides comprehensive feedback and tools that make feedback actionable, constructive and insightful. Measures workforce productivity, progress and priorities in real time.
- Succession Planning: Enables talent managers to identify and assess skill gaps, build agile talent pools, and align employee success with business goals and objectives.
- Compensation Management: Simplifies and streamline compensation plans, and helps build competitive packages to attract and retain top recruits. Workflow automation and compensation management tools aid compliance with complex global policies.
- Workforce Management: Bundled payroll, benefits and expense management minimize time, cost and efforts while maximizing accuracy. Features include automated scheduling, time and attendance, absence management, and compliance.
- Applicant Tracking System: Includes real-time alerts and notifications for offer approvals, a unique dashboard and reports widgets, customizable requisitions, and a consolidated requisition workspace.
- Mobility: Provides access to tools and reporting capabilities at all times and from any location. The dashboard can be operated using a tablet, desktop, mobile app or a phone browser.
- Growth Edition: Caters to the needs of fast-growing small and medium-sized businesses. Includes webinars, instructor-led training, approvals, and additional learning resources that users can access and configure anytime.
- Extended Enterprise: Helps build a brand image, accelerate growth and drive new sources of potential revenue. Facilitates an enriched and optimized learning experience for distributors, partners and customers.
- Gamified and Collaborative Learning: Helps:
- Assess and accelerate learning with gamification capabilities that include leaderboards, points, levels and badges.
- Enhance employee engagement by identifying and rewarding the right learning behaviors.
- Enrich the knowledge of new hires with collaborative learning, up-to-date content, feedback and social ratings.
- Talent Management: Manages talent acquisition, onboarding, employee record creation and sends messages through one central database. It targets different points in the employee life cycle to aid in tracking applications, onboarding, performance management, learning management, communication, increasing engagement and more.
- Recruiting: Helps identify candidates, sort applications, screen potential hires, track interview processes and manage references, facilitate job postings and background checks. It also provides an online career portal to increase the number and variety of candidates. Through this, recruiters cut down on time and effort.
- Learning Management: Provides courses for employees and sends notifications for pass or fail status. It also manages certifications allowing managers to track progress and ensure compliance.
- Performance Management: Users can create scales to rate performance, set time periods for review, assign competencies and use standard or customized templates that allow for feedback from various different employees.
- HR: Manages attendance, benefits, compliance, communications, enrollments, payroll, and other HR tasks with one complete database. It facilitates strategic planning, streamlining workflows and other important administrative tasks. All data and important information is centralized, organized and more easily accessible.
- Data Management: Administrators have data for contacting employees, compensation, complying with the Equal Employment Opportunity, employment status, performance reviews and more. It automatically sends essential documents and reports through fax, email or online.
- Open Enrollment: Allows all staff to select and sign up for benefits. Provides email benefit letters, tracking and automatically transmits deduction to payroll systems to reduce errors.
- Self-Service for Staff: Lets employees track time, manage their PTO, get information on their payroll and more. Managers can approve PTO, write up employees and do reviews for performance. All staff can post and share information to increase collaboration and engagement.
- Mobile Capabilities: Enables workers to enter and track their time on the go. With a secure login, it tracks worker details, enters start and finish times, manages vacation and can register employee location.
- Reporting: Pulls information on emergency contacts, worker birthdays, training costs, overages, compensation planning and EEO details. The report is printable and can be customized for other needs.
- Time and Attendance: Provides scheduling, labor tracking and other attendance features for on-site or remote staff. It has one-click integration with payroll systems and provides verification for staffing with badge, biometric and PIN options.
- Payroll: Processes payment and deals with filing taxes, calculates payroll and integrates with time clocks. Administrators can print checks, download ACH files, file taxes electronically, track expense and entry information en masse into the system. In terms of taxes, it calculates local, state and federal taxes and aids in returns.
Product Ranking
#23
among all
HR Management Software
#624
among all
HR Management Software
User Sentiment Summary
132 reviews
14 reviews
SumTotal has a 'fair' User Satisfaction Rating of 69% when considering 132 user reviews from 4 recognized software review sites.
Criterion HCM has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 89% when considering 14 user reviews from 3 recognized software review sites.
3.2 (39)
n/a
2.7 (7)
4.29 (7)
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4.8 (5)
4.0 (56)
n/a
2.9 (30)
4.3 (2)
Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews
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SumTotal users paint a mixed picture, praising its robust functionality and mobile accessibility while critiquing its clunky interface and steep learning curve. Many laud its comprehensive suite, encompassing everything from onboarding to performance management, finding it a one-stop shop for HR needs. One user gushes, "It's like having a whole HR department in the cloud!" However, ease of use seems to be a major sticking point. Comments like "The interface feels outdated and unintuitive" and "Learning curve is a mountain, not a hill" pop up frequently. This is often contrasted with praise for competitors like Workday, lauded for its sleek design and user-friendliness. One user sums it up: "SumTotal has the depth, Workday has the polish." Mobile accessibility shines as a bright spot, with users appreciating the ability to manage tasks on the go. This stands out compared to some competitors, making SumTotal a good fit for companies with a mobile workforce. Ultimately, SumTotal seems to be a powerful tool for organizations willing to invest the time and effort in mastering its complexities. As one user puts it, "It's not perfect, but it's incredibly versatile. If you can handle the initial climb, the view from the top is pretty good."
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