6 Basic Tools for Your HR Department

6 Basic Tools for Your HR Department

Technology makes the tasks of recruitment, payroll and performance evaluation more manageable and allows HR staff members to better engage with the company's employees.

1. HRMS (Human Resource Management System)

Whether it's a software solution or software as a service, an HRMS can be an HR representative's best friend. It stores and organizes data, such as employee profiles, schedules, attendance records and more.

Human resource information systems (HRIS) are typically more data-driven solutions that allow you to craft in-depth reports for the purposes of audits.

Most HRMS offerings, such as Paychex and Workday, act as HR's central platform and often have modules or integrations that allow you to access payroll services, benefits management, and performance evaluations.

2. Performance solutions

Performance evaluations and tracking are not only an annual meeting between supervisor and employee, but the goals and objectives discussed in that meeting are tracked and revisited throughout the year by HR. To get the most out a performance review and better formulate goals for individual employees, HR can provide managers with the tools to track their staff member's performance throughout the year, saving notes and feedback to prepare both manager and employee for the evaluation. Many HRMS and payroll solutions, such as ADP, come with a customizable performance review module.

3. Recruiting software

As the name implies, recruiting software streamlines the hiring process. You can post job ads, sort and accept applications, manage candidates and more, saving you the hassle of manually tracking everything yourself.

Small businesses, in particular, should check the pricing and features for each solution being considered: Many recruiting programs are geared toward bigger companies with large volumes of applicants. Small businesses may be better served by a less-expensive product with fewer capabilities, depending on your hiring needs.

4. Payroll service

Payroll processing is an arduous task. Make it easy on yourself (and your bookkeeper) by investing in an online payroll service. This solution automatically calculates and tracks paychecks, deductions, paid time off, etc. Some even allow you to file and pay payroll taxes and report new hires to the IRS.

5. Benefits management platform

While some payroll services allow you to administer certain benefits, such as vacation time, a more robust solution can help you manage all employee benefits including paid time off, retirement plans, health insurance, workers' compensation and other perks.

A benefits management service, however, is not necessarily the same as a professional employer organization (PEO), which operates under a co-employment arrangement. The PEO acts as a legal employer of your workforce, issuing employees' paychecks and managing benefits and compliance for you.

6. Employee engagement tools

Employee engagement is a high priority for many companies. With today's tech tools, you can monitor your organization's culture, giving you better insights into what your employees want.

Ron Yekutiel, CEO and chairman of video platform Kaltura, noted that video tools may be of interest to HR departments looking to improve their hiring and training processes.

"Whether it's conducting more effective interviews through video, video conferencing to bring dispersed teams closer together, [or] onboarding and training of ... new and existing employees ... today's on-the-go workforce increasingly prefers video as a means for communication and collaboration," he said.

Visit us - hr and payroll software in chennai