As the accessibility of digital tools continues to increase, more small businesses are realising the benefits of HR software and looking to implement a solution. From simplifying HR compliance to improving efficiency in a wide range of essential processes, HR software empowers businesses to make informed decisions and optimise workforce management.
But do the benefits of using HR software outweigh the costs? In this article, we’re going to explore the key HR software benefits, explaining how they can support your business and its employees.
1. HR compliance
HR covers a wide range of different functions and requires expert knowledge in complex and ever-changing areas such as employment law, tax regulations, pension contributions, workers’ rights, diversity and more. Ensuring that your business remains compliant with all the different laws and regulations can be extremely challenging, and mistakes can have serious consequences, making this one of the most important responsibilities for HR professionals.
HR software includes built-in tools to support HR compliance, helping to minimise the administrative burden while still giving you the peace of mind that your business processes are in line with relevant legislation. These tools can also help to support any audit or legal proceedings, such as tracking your company’s tax contributions or documenting the steps taken as part of a disciplinary procedure.
2. Improved efficiency
By combining all of your essential processes into one place, HR software eliminates disorganised paper documents and makes it easier to find what you need, when you need it. It also offers useful self-serve functions, allowing both employees and remote workers to manage functions like making holiday requests and viewing payslips themselves, freeing up more time for your HR team.
As technology continues to evolve, it’s important to avoid getting stuck with outdated HR software that could cause more problems than it solves. Modern solutions include powerful automation tools to minimise manual tasks, saving time and reducing the risk of errors. It’s also a good idea to choose a cloud-based HR solution that’s able to scale and adapt to your changing business needs, offering greater longevity.
3. Decreased costs
One of the key benefits of HR software is that it streamlines HR processes, reducing the manual labour required to perform essential tasks. This helps you to save money on staffing costs. Having efficient HR software also helps businesses to identify potential savings, such as by highlighting tools that aren’t used productively by employees.
While there are costs associated with implementing HR software, the benefits to your business should outweigh this investment. However, it’s important to regularly audit your systems and processes to ensure that you’re getting the best value for money. Flexible HR software allows you to add and remove functionality as needed, so you’re only ever paying for what you need.
4. Data-driven decision making
Because it covers so many different workplace functions, the HR provides access to vast amounts of useful data that can help businesses to better achieve their goals. Specialist software makes it easier to track and report on essential HR data analytics to inform decision making, with information regarding staffing costs, employee engagement, skills gaps and more at their fingertips.
Rather than manually gathering this data, HR software benefits businesses by automatically collating HR metrics and generating bespoke reports. This makes it quicker and easier to deliver key information to stakeholders, speeding up the process of making essential changes to address areas of improvement.
5. Enhanced employee experience
A key responsibility for HR professionals is to optimise employee engagement. As well as boosting morale and staff retention, engagement increases efficiency and boosts the value of each hire. HR software offering performance management tools not only helps employers to track individual progress, but also enables employees to be more engaged with their career development by setting future goals and engaging with 360-degree feedback initiatives,
Another key benefit of HR software for enhancing the employee experience is self-serve options and mobile app access, empowering workers to manage leave requests, view payslips and access information about pensions and benefits. This speeds up request and approval processes, and allows employees to access essential information about their salary without waiting on a response from management or the HR department.
6. Reduced errors
Another key benefit of HR software is reduction of errors, helping to ensure that data relating to payroll, absence and recruitment processes is accurate. By gathering all essential information together in a single interface, HR software provides a single source of truth for employers, employees and external auditors, ensuring that all data is accurate and up to date.
The automation capabilities of HR tools also minimise human error by pulling data directly from connected data sources and actioning repeated tasks without manual intervention. Similarly, employee self service portals contribute to yet another benefit of HR software by allowing employees to enter essential information themselves. This eradicates the need for paper forms and reduces the risk of mis keyed data.
7. Overall business performance
Robust HR software benefits businesses by providing smoother, more efficient processes throughout the entire organisation. As well as the advantages we’ve looked at in this article, there are many more granular improvements that you’ll see over time, as each of the processes and systems in your organisation work and grow together. It’s important to regularly analyse HR data and act on your findings to improve areas of friction to better support your workforce and achieve your business goals.
Whether you’ve already implemented an HR system and are looking to upgrade, or you’d like to enjoy the benefits of HR software for the first time, check out our 14 day free trial to see our powerful solution in action and learn more about the benefits of HR Management Software.
