Whether you run a mom-and-pop business with a few employees or a growing regional enterprise, you no doubt use software for some business functions. You might track your inventory or handle invoicing with software. If you aren’t using HR management software yet, though, you’re missing out. Programs such as Zoho People boast many benefits at an affordable cost. Here are nine reasons we think every business should use software to help with HR tasks.
Boost Your Efficiency
Time is money. We all know it. That’s why efficiency is king when it comes to running a business. Increased efficiency is one of the primary reasons we believe in HR software. Every small business owner and HR professional has spent hours going over and organizing employee paperwork. If one of your team members has a change of address, you have to print out a form, update that employee’s address across your records and then put that form in the employee’s master file.
You go through the same process when employees have babies, need to make insurance changes and so much more. Zoho’s HR software offers employees self-service options so that they can make these changes themselves. You don’t have to worry about dealing with extra paperwork, and the employee’s records can be updated across your HR system. You can also send this data to Zoho Payroll to cut down on the burden of communicating employee changes across departments.
Improve Team Relationships
How well your team works together matters. There’s no point in having the best talent in your industry if your team members can’t work cooperatively. With HR software, you get team-building tools that do everything from making new employees feel welcome to enabling employees to give each other professional feedback.
It’s common sense that employees want to feel like they’re an important part of the company that they work for. Being able to send a quick note of praise to a team member without having to get out stationery and run it across the building can help you improve team relationships without wasting time. It also enables you to give constructive feedback to employees who want opportunities to grow with your organization.
Drive Collaboration
You want your employees to work together, but you know that it can be hard for your team to stay organized when everyone is responsible for a different part of a bigger task. Software makes team collaboration easier too. Many HR software programs, including Zoho, boast internal networking tools that allow your employees to chat, exchange ideas and share collaborative files.
Collaboration and feed tools in HR software suites can also change the way that you handle announcements to your team. Instead of sending out an email to your remote workers and hoping that it doesn’t get lost in the shuffle, you can post the update to your company’s feed. Employees can ask questions right on the thread if they need clarification. These platforms are intuitive and come as second nature to many of today’s employees, who are accustomed to using social media for a variety of communication needs.
Access Data with Ease
Keeping employee files safe and organized has given more than a few business owners a headache. Using HR management software offers an easier way of organizing and securing files. Instead of keeping a bank of keyed filing cabinets, you can retain your records in a digital form. Zoho People automatically organizes everything for you, so there’s no time wasted filing hard copies.
When you need to get to data, it’s easy to do. You can pull up individual files for employees and review the documents in them. You can also create lists to determine which employees have signed important documents and which employees need a reminder. High-quality, accessible data can increase the overall efficiency of both your HR department and your organization. It’s essential that you can pull the information you need up with the stroke of a button.
Investing in scalable HR management software ensures that you can keep up with those data demands no matter how much your organization grows in the coming years. Of course, it also helps you keep pace with an increasingly digital workplace. Secure, electronic document signing can be completed via your HR software so that there are truly no reasons to keep hard copies.
Offer Intuitive Employee Training
Offering your employees high-quality training keeps them engaged and ensures that they have the skills needed to drive business success. Some of the best HR software suites have tools that allow you to program and present training to your employees. You can send the same training module to your entire marketing team, or you can send specialized training modules to individual employees.
Putting training at your team’s fingertips can do a lot in terms of productivity and workplace morale. Maybe you have an employee who needs extra training in sales. Instead of singling out and embarrassing that employee by sending him to public training, you can offer training modules directly to employees via their private portals on your company’s training space. Employees get the training they need without having to admit weaknesses to their colleagues.
Streamline Timekeeping & Attendance
Every business that hires hourly workers needs a system to clock those workers in and out. The days of the punch clock hanging in the break room are largely over. While some service-oriented businesses have employees sign in on sales terminals, this isn’t practical for many enterprises. The traditional answer is paper-and-pen timecards, which have to be turned in to payroll or HR and then entered into the payroll system. With an HR suite, employees can clock in and out electronically. They can also enter requests for vacation, sick leave, and schedule modifications.
Monitor Compliance & Reduce Errors
Errors in HR don’t just cost you money in terms of wasted paperwork or increased turnover. HR errors can cause significant legal problems for your business too. Failing to secure employee files or to maintain the correct documentation in those files can result in fines, lawsuits, or even both. HR software helps reduce errors by allowing employees to correct problems with their addresses, dependents, and other personal information in a self-service portal.
You can also monitor compliance with government regulations by running reports and accessing data via your HR software suite. Maybe you need to double-check and ensure that you’ve completed I-9s on all of your employees. Instead of pulling I-9s from each individual file, you can quickly check compliance by scrolling through records on your HR suite.
Save on Costs
Implementing a new software program for your HR needs might seem expensive or intimidating. It shouldn’t. Many HR suites offer affordable pricing tiers and can actually help you save on overall costs. If your company is growing, you might find yourself paying HR staff overtime just to take care of the paperwork. There’s no need to do that when you use a software suite with self-service capabilities.
Using HR software allows you to look at metrics such as employee turnover and satisfaction too. Personnel issues cost businesses millions of dollars every year. Being able to see when you’re on the verge of a crisis and having access to the data that helps you avoid that crisis is essential.
Take the Stress Out of Recruiting
With a product such as the Zoho People Plus bundle, you also get recruitment tools that can help you manage hiring campaigns and onboarding. Keeping all the information about your recruitment drives in one place will help you make better decisions about how you’re spending money on job ads and other recruitment media. Of course, having an efficient hiring system helps ensure that you’re bringing on the right people for the job too.
