Determining the best payroll software can be challenging considering the vast amount of options on the market. Businesses must balance cost with the payroll features most valuable to them — whether its streamlined processes to increase efficiency, simple user interface (UI), robust reporting tools, or global payroll options. 

Keep your business’s needs in mind while comparing our top payroll software solutions below. If none of these options seem like the right fit, explore other vendors in our Payroll Software Guide.

What is the best payroll software?

Our top five payroll software picks cover a range of features, from add-ons like employee time-tracking modules to accommodations for companies in niche industries.

Gusto: Best payroll software for SMBs

Gusto’s payroll features can help small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) balance efficiency with employee engagement. To accommodate this, Gusto offers three price tiers to choose from: Simple, Plus, and Premium. Gusto’s Simple plan starts at $40 a month plus $6 per employee.

Despite this, Gusto includes payroll features targeted explicitly at optimizing payroll processes for HR teams in each of its price tiers. For example, Gusto provides the following automations to improve payroll efficiency: 

• Federal, state, and local taxing filings
• Garnishment processing
• Automatic payroll runs
• Synced paid time off policies with payroll

Businesses with either one person or small HR departments will find such features particularly useful as they allow such teams to offload repetitive, manual payroll processes in favor of higher-priority matters. 

Likewise, employers concerned with attracting and retaining talent can leverage some of Gusto’s employee-focused payroll features — for example, lifetime access to employee profiles, including paystubs and W-2s. This allows employers to maintain compliance with recordkeeping laws in the event of external payroll audits. Similarly, its self-service capabilities mean employees don’t have to rely on past employers for critical financial information, while employers can focus their efforts on active employees.

Gusto accommodates growing SMBs by providing additional tools outside payroll for onboarding, employee benefits administration, and talent management. As a result, companies that choose Gusto can quickly scale their payroll software to create a consistent experience for their employees across the organization. 

Also read: How to Choose the Right Small Business Payroll Software

Gusto pros and cons

Key features

AutoPilot: With Gusto’s AutoPilot feature, HR teams can automate payroll with minimal manual effort. This set-it-and-forget-it module frees up time for HR teams that are pulled in multiple directions daily. Along with Gusto’s unlimited monthly payroll runs, AutoPilot guarantees employees are paid timely according to default settings without incurring additional fees to run off-cycle payrolls to fix mistakes.

Gusto debit cards: Unlike traditional pay cards, Gusto debit card users can access financial wellness tools, such as personalized budgeting categories and spending insights. In addition, small or medium businesses wishing to increase payroll efficiency and cost savings can utilize Gusto’s debit cards to move toward a 100% direct deposit payroll. Employees also benefit from quick access to their paychecks, sometimes up to two days faster.

Small-to-medium size businesses can benefit from the cost savings of Gusto’s employee debit cards as they transition to 100% electronic payrolls. Source: Gusto

ADP: Best payroll software for flexibility

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ADP started over 70 years ago and primarily focused on payroll business solutions. Despite its breadth of human capital management (HCM) solutions, ADP payroll remains one of the best on the market today. 

Because of its long history, ADP has developed payroll product solutions to meet the demands of various-sized companies, from small local businesses (ADP Run) to multinational corporations (ADP Enterprise HR). With multiple subscription tiers for each ADP product, employers only have to pay for the features they need. For example, small employers requiring only core payroll processing can start with ADP Run’s Essential Plan and increase subscription tiers for more advanced payroll and HR features as they scale.

In addition to payroll tools, ADP also offers managed payroll services or co-employment through a professional employer organization (PEO) relationship. ADP’s flexible options mean businesses don’t have to migrate to another platform as needs change; instead, ADP adapts with the company through add-ons, subscription tiers, and payroll services. 

ADP pros and cons

Key features

International payroll: Like ADP’s domestic software offerings, employers with an international presence have several software options and subscription tiers to choose from. Software packages depend on the organization’s employee count – organizations need employees in at least three countries with 50 employees in one international country to qualify for ADP’s starter global software. However, small organizations can take advantage of ADP’s HR outsourcing solutions, where local specialists assist in payroll processing.

With ADP’s software and services supported in over 140 countries worldwide, companies do not have to worry about switching payroll providers as they scale. Moreover, employees across the organization are guaranteed a consistent experience, reducing the time needed to train teams on varying systems around the globe. 

HRIS features: ADP is not limited to just payroll; it also includes modules for time-tracking, talent management, and benefits administration. Instead of integrating several disparate systems as business needs expand, employers can move up subscription tiers or pay for these add-ons without spending additional time in training and implementation. When small businesses move away from a payroll-focused HR department, ADP’s different HR modules allow employee data to remain centralized even as business priorities expand. 

ADP is not only one of our top payroll software solutions, but one of our top HRIS software solutions as well. Take a look at other vendors on our shortlist: The Best HRIS Systems

Patriot: Most affordable payroll software

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For businesses looking for payroll solutions without all the extra bells and whistles, Patriot payroll is one of the most affordable solutions on the market. Users can choose from two subscription tiers, with its Basic tier starting at $17 per month plus $4 per employee. Therefore, it is a cost-effective solution for startups or small businesses that don’t need advanced payroll functions such as garnishment processing or customizable payroll reports.

However, there is a tradeoff. Although Patriot payroll users save on cost, they lose out on valuable features offered by their competitors like ADP or Gusto, such as tax compliance safeguards, automations to improve efficiency, and the ability to add capabilities when future needs arise. For example, with Patriot’s Basic tier, employers must file and deposit federal, state, and local payroll taxes themselves when this service traditionally comes standard in most other payroll software vendors in their lowest subscription tier. Employers must subscribe to the Full Service payroll package if they want Patriot to file and deposit their taxes.

Yet, for small business owners with few employees to manage, spending a little more time on payroll each cycle might be worth the cost savings. For example, take a small company of 10 employees that only needs payroll and time-tracking features. With Patriot payroll, the business can add native time-tracking features for an additional $6 per month plus $2 per employee. The company’s cost every month would be $83 for Patriot’s Basic payroll subscription with the time-tracking add-on. 

In contrast, that same company would have to pay $150 monthly for Gusto’s Plus subscription tier to take advantage of both their payroll and time-tracking features. A startup can save $804 a year by choosing Patriot, which they could invest back into the money-making areas of their business.

Patriot pros and cons

Key features

Accounting: Patriot users can choose between native accounting solutions or integration with QuickBooks. Thus, small businesses already using QuickBooks as their accounting software can seamlessly sync their payroll data into their General Ledger without data loss. 

Even smaller companies can save money with Patriot’s native accounting software solution for an additional $20 per month. The same small business from the earlier example, for instance, would only be paying an additional $36 per year for payroll, accounting, and time-tracking solutions compared to Gusto’s lowest-priced tier, which does not include native accounting features. 

Employers can choose to integrate their QuickBooks accounting software with their payroll subscription or can take advantage of Patriot’s native accounting options. Source: Patriot

Unlimited payrolls: Small businesses new to payroll processing know accidents happen — payroll is finalized, but someone forgot to turn in their time card, a manager missed a contractor payment, or the payroll department did not account for a shift differential pay rate. Many payroll vendors require employers to pay an additional fee for an off-cycle payroll to correct mistakes. 

Moreover, certain states obligate employers to pay employees their last check immediately upon termination for cause (such as California) or risk incurring penalties. Patriot’s unlimited payrolls allow employers to save instead of spend more money correcting payroll errors while also remaining compliant.

QuickBooks: Best payroll software for on-the-go teams

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Employers utilizing QuickBooks for their accounting needs may already be familiar with its payroll features. Optimized for small businesses with 50–150 employees, QuickBooks Online Payroll software offers a standalone payroll solution with several tiers of subscription-based plans, including options to bundle with their accounting program. 

QuickBooks Payroll is tailored to teams not tied to a desk. For example, its time-tracking solution does not require a physical time-clock system installed at one location. Instead, employees use their phones to clock in and out for the day, which is especially useful in industries like construction, where employees must track their time but do not have a base of operations. 

QuickBooks Payroll’s on-the-go features can also help employers move to an increasingly hybrid working environment. By forgoing traditional time-clock solutions, QuickBooks maintains accurate payroll processes while supporting a dispersed workforce.

QuickBooks pros and cons

Key features

Time-tracking: Starting at QuickBooks Payroll Premium subscription tier, QuickBooks Time Mobile is included at no additional cost. Employees can use their mobile phones to clock in from anywhere – QuickBooks automatically logs their GPS location and keeps track of their hours worked. 

With QuickBooks Elite tier, employers can even set up a geofence that reminds employees to clock in and out whenever they enter or leave a job site, so that time data remains accurate when employers run payroll. 

Mobile application: QuickBooks offers a separate mobile application for employers to review and finalize payroll from anywhere. For smaller businesses without a dedicated HR or payroll department, this means they can get payroll done, even on the road, without significant interruptions to their busy schedules. 

OnPay: Best payroll software for niche industries

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Unlike other payroll platforms, OnPay boasts a one-price-fits-all model. In other words, all businesses pay the same price for the same set of features for $40 per month plus $6 per employee. In the price, employers have access to a full range of payroll management features, including basic human resources such as onboarding, personnel file storage, and PTO management. 

Because of its transparent, one-price model, OnPay is especially beneficial to employers in niche industries. This is because OnPay users do not need to pay extra for some of the HR and compliance benefits that are typically only available in higher-paying subscription tiers with other vendors. 

QuickBooks, for instance, requires subscribing to higher-paying tiers for experts to review their payroll setup or offer tax advice; Patriot, meanwhile, offers no such service. With these features standard on OnPay, employers don’t have to worry about sacrificing cost savings to comply with the tax laws in their industry. 

OnPay pros and cons

Key features

Industry-specific payrolls: OnPay offers industry-specific payroll support for farming and agricultural businesses, bars and restaurants, healthcare organizations, and nonprofits. For example, OnPay automatically excludes federal unemployment, Social Security, and Medicare taxes from their payroll calculations for churches and other religious organizations. Thus, companies can benefit from their industry’s unique tax advantages without resorting to outside vendors for support. 

Report designer: OnPay users can customize their payroll reports using filtering and drag-and-drop capabilities to manipulate data to their liking. This is particularly important to companies who need to access industry-specific data points, such as gross tips for restaurants or bars, without being limited to the pre-built payroll reports of other vendors like Patriot.

How to choose the best payroll software

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With a wide array of options available, the best payroll solution depends on what businesses prioritize most when running payrolls, such as accuracy, efficiency, customization, or flexibility. 

Gusto is best for small-to-medium-sized businesses that need to balance payroll efficiency with a good employee experience. Similarly, ADP provides several payroll plans with add-ons for HR and other solutions for companies requiring the flexibility to add additional functionality as they scale. 

Meanwhile, businesses needing the ability to work from anywhere and improve accuracy in their employees’ time tracking should consider the native time-tracking tools that integrate with payroll in Gusto or QuickBooks. QuickBooks, in particular, includes options like mileage tracking so employers can guarantee their on-the-go employees or contractors are correctly reimbursed for things like gas expenditure or drive time. 

OnPay and Patriot are great for businesses looking for value for their money. For companies with particularly tight budgets, Patriot offers basic payroll functionality with the ability to add features like native accounting and time-tracking at a much lower cost than vendors like Gusto. However, small businesses might find OnPay appealing for its one-price-fits-all model as it includes additional HR features to support industry-specific payroll processes without the need to invest in large-scale HRIS solutions. 

If none of these vendors meet your unique needs, visit our Payroll Software Guide to browse other solutions.

The post Top Payroll Software appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Many companies are guilty of treating corporate performance management as a yearly event where supervisors only give feedback at an annual performance review. Unfortunately, this is a surefire recipe for employee disengagement. According to a Gallup workplace survey, employees who receive daily feedback from their managers are three times more likely to be engaged than those who receive feedback once a year or less.

Given that few companies have a continuous performance management program in place, it’s easy to understand why the same survey reported 85% of employees worldwide are still not engaged or are actively disengaged at work, despite more effort from companies. Instituting a formal employee performance management structure — and supporting it with the right software — could be the key to combating employee burnout and improving your business performance as a whole.

What Are the Benefits of Performance Management?

A well-designed performance management program offers benefits for employees, managers, and the organization at large. In particular, performance management helps:

• Create opportunities for 360-degree feedback.
• Clarify each employee’s role.
• Identify employee needs and address potential problems.
• Promote employee engagement and employee productivity.
• Encourage employees to set goals and celebrate achievements.
• Support employee training and development.
• Increase employee retention and satisfaction.

The biggest benefits of regular, ongoing performance management will help you create buy-in for related HR software.

360-degree feedback

Effective performance management isn’t just about the manager telling the employee what they need to do differently. To really get the most out of organizational performance management, it should be at least a two-way conversation between a manager and a direct report, so the supervisor can also receive continuous feedback on how their management style is working or not working.

To get even more benefit out of performance management, turn it into a 360-degree process that incorporates performance feedback from the employee’s peers as well as a self-review. This holistic approach offers a more well-rounded view of the employee’s performance beyond what a two-way discussion can capture.

Role clarification

It’s not always clear what role each employee is supposed to play, especially in smaller organizations where the same people wear many different hats. Having regular performance management appraisals gives employees the chance to clarify expectations about their roles and ensure everyone is on the same page.

This will prove helpful as employees prepare to advance in the company. Managers can discuss areas for growth to work toward a promotion and identify ways to redistribute tasks among the team as roles change.

Proactive performance improvements

One of the goals of an effective performance management process is to address the earliest indications of an employee’s performance problems. Without regular performance discussions that foster transparency and accountability, though, this can be challenging. How can managers help employees who don’t feel comfortable admitting their weaknesses?

Continuous performance management gives managers the chance to talk with employees about their needs and keep that dialogue open on a regular basis. Regular communication helps establish trust, and employees don’t have to put a special meeting with their supervisor on the calendar if they’re facing roadblocks or other challenges.

Employee engagement and productivity

At some point in our careers, we’ve all had a coworker who checked out and coasted through the job without really being engaged. While you may attribute that to the employee, this kind of behavior can actually be traced back to supervisors who don’t give effective feedback or take employee performance management seriously.

In fact, that same Gallup workplace survey found that the manager or team leader alone accounts for 70% of the variance in employee engagement. This means that creating a culture of continuous performance management from the top down encourages every employee at every level of the organization to stay engaged and productive.

Goal-setting and recognition

Performance management check-ins are the perfect time to talk with employees about their career goals and set personal individual performance objectives. It’s also a good time to evaluate the feasibility of your employees’ various goals and help tweak them as necessary. Goals that are completely out of reach may need to be adjusted, especially if employees don’t yet have the skills to achieve their goals yet.

These check-ins are a great opportunity to celebrate employee achievements and praise them for meeting their goals. Instead of only focusing on what the next benchmark is, take some time to look back and reflect on how much your employees have grown since the last check-in.

Also read: Top 5 Digital Rewards & Recognitions for Remote Workers

Training and development

Individual employee performance appraisals were originally intended to identify gaps in employee skill sets, but it’s self-defeating to identify the gaps without offering any type of solution on how they can meet performance standards. If employees are setting ambitious goals, then that presents the perfect opportunity to talk with them about professional development options.

It’s common to hire for potential and not experience, so organizations need to provide the proper training and employee development programs that address employee performance and skill gaps. Plus, many companies like to promote from within rather than make outside hires, meaning they need to train candidates that show the most potential for leadership roles.

Employee satisfaction and retention

When done right, effective performance management can help increase employee satisfaction, reduce staffing turnover, and improve employee retention rates. Employees who feel supported and believe their manager is invested in their career progression are more likely to feel satisfied at work, and performance management programs provide a formal channel for that support.

Furthermore, employee engagement software can help uncover meaningful data about the impact performance management initiatives have on employee sentiment. If a company survey reveals that some employees feel they don’t have clear goals and direction, HR teams and company leaders should carefully examine the performance management measures in place.

How Can Software Help With Performance Management?

Performance management tools may be implemented as stand-alone software or integrated as part of a broader HR suite, and both approaches are beneficial for different kinds of business needs. In either case, performance management software features help businesses with goal-setting, coaching support, document management, feedback, automation, and competence management.

Goal-setting

Managers can use software to create employee professional development plans, while employees can use it to set their own goals and track their progress toward achieving them. HR software such as Engagedly makes it easy for employees and supervisors to set goals and track progress. Additionally, the reporting and analytics features make it possible to track individual goals and quantify performance.

Coaching support

Ideally, employee performance management systems should provide coaching resources and reminders for managers, so they have the support they need to succeed as supervisors and to help their employees improve. These documents and resources can be created by an HR manager, then uploaded to the performance management portal for all supervisors to access.

Document management

Good performance management software centralizes all of the professional development documentation for a single employee. If the employee gets a new manager, the software can provide access to all of the notes and analytics on the employee’s past performance. This is also helpful for reflecting on qualitative information that adds context to quantitative metrics.

Feedback

Many performance management tools, like Namely, allow for multi-rater functionality. This means people other than HR or the employee’s direct manager can leave constructive feedback about the employee’s performance. Well-rounded, ongoing feedback is usually collected through anonymous surveys to allow for transparency.

Automation

HR software can automate performance management tasks that are often handled manually, like tracking goal progress or scheduling check-in meetings. This allows employees and managers to focus on the more impactful tasks and discussions involved with performance management.

Competence management

Some HR software platforms include competence management capabilities. This means the software tracks certifications, skills tests, licenses, and other professional qualifications employees need to keep current to support.

Choosing the Right Performance Management Software

An effective performance management system that supports employee recruitment and development can be the competitive edge a company needs to win and retain top talent. The right solution will promote transparency in conversations with employees, provide actionable data, help employees meet organizational objectives, and lay a foundation for growth and success.

If you’re ready to find the right tools to support your performance management program, check out our Performance Management Software Guide to explore top solutions.

The post Why Employee Performance Management Is Important appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

There are many ADP alternatives that address all of these drawbacks and more. It’s important to keep your business’s unique needs top of mind to know whether any of these solutions could be a match. However, these are not the only options worth considering; if none of the vendors on this list seem like the right fit, check out our HR Software Guide to browse a complete list of solutions.

Top ADP Alternatives

ADP’s strengths as a payroll software solution are hard to top for midsize businesses. However, businesses that are very small, very large, or in need of a robust suite of comprehensive HR tools might be unsatisfied with what ADP offers. In these instances, an alternative like Paychex, Gusto, Paycor, Workday, TriNets Zenefits, or BambooHR might be worth considering.

Paychex: Best for small businesses

As the name suggests, Paychex specializes in payroll, but it also offers simple HR tools for smaller companies and growing businesses.

Payroll

Paychex’s payroll is specifically designed with small businesses in mind. It offers a 24/7 year-round service platform, so business owners can do payroll when it’s most convenient for them. It also automatically calculates taxes to make deductions simple and ensure your business remains compliant with federal, state, and local laws.

Time and attendance

Paychex also offers a native time-tracking app that fully integrates with the payroll software. This makes it easy to pay employees for the time they have worked and means HR teams don’t have to deal with the hassle and expense of integrating a separate time-tracking software.

Why choose Paychex over ADP?

ADP can be rather overwhelming for very small businesses and often presents a lot of excess features with a price tag to match. Paychex is a great solution for very small businesses looking for payroll and time-tracking support, as well as some basic HR tools.

While it’s not a comprehensive human resources information system (HRIS), it will get the job done for small business owners looking to get started with a highly-rated payroll software.

Workday: Best for large companies

Workday provides enterprise-level software for large companies, including human capital and financial management capabilities.

Financial management

Workday goes beyond payroll to offer enterprise-level financial management tools for large businesses, including always-on auditing and analytics powered by machine learning. For payroll needs specifically, customers can choose between Workday’s optional add-on or a third-party integration.

Human capital management

Workday’s human capital management features include talent management programs, augmented people analytics, compensation and benefits tools, workflow automations, and more. Workday also offers a feature called Peakon Employee Voice, which embeds employee engagement tools and data in the same platform as other HR information to create a more holistic view of the company’s workforce.

Why choose Workday over ADP?

Workday was designed to be an enterprise-level, cloud-based software solution focused on enterprise resource planning (ERP) and human capital management (HCM). This makes it a good choice for large businesses that have maxed out the capabilities of ADP and need a more comprehensive software solution that can match their growth and complexity.

Gusto: Best for scalability

Gusto is another payroll-focused platform that competes directly with ADP, but it also offers a more extensive range of HR tools than Paychex and other entry-level software.

Payroll

Gusto’s basic plans offer a lot of payroll features that are only available on more advanced plans or via an add-on with ADP. These capabilities include wage garnishments, benefits administration, and workers’ compensation. This often makes Gusto a more convenient and cost-effective choice for small businesses.

Hiring and onboarding tools

Besides payroll, Gusto also offers HR tools to help businesses hire and manage employees. With Gusto, HR teams can create job posts and offer letters, put together onboarding checklists, integrate with leading ATS, sign and store documents online, and more.

Why choose Gusto over ADP?

Gusto is a payroll-focused HR tool with a transparent pricing schedule that scales naturally as the business grows and adds more employees. This contrasts with ADP, which forces customers to switch from the ADP Run plan over to Workforce Now once they reach 50 employees. For businesses that have plans to grow their teams quickly, Gusto’s flexibility may be more appealing. 

Gusto also offers more HR features than Paychex and similar platforms, so it’s a good fit for slightly larger businesses that want a tool with more capabilities besides just payroll.

Keep reading: Gusto vs ADP

Paycor: Best for integrated recruiting features

Paycor is a direct competitor with ADP that offers a comprehensive suite of human capital management (HCM) tools in addition to payroll.

Recruiting

Growing businesses need to hire the right staff in order to keep succeeding, which is why Paycor has a whole range of recruiting tools. Paycor’s talent management modules let users set up a candidate dashboard, make custom hiring workflows, hire candidates virtually with remote integrations, create post-interview scorecards to standardize feedback, and more.

Benefits administration

Benefits administration can be tedious, but it’s necessary for maintaining compliance with laws like the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA). Paycor makes this effort easier by providing automated workflows to reduce rote tasks, EDI connections to transfer data to major insurance carriers, and process guides to optimize open enrollment periods.

Why choose Paycor over ADP?

Paycor is a more comprehensive HCM platform and thus offers more of a direct comparison with ADP. If ADP almost suits your business’s needs and you’re searching for a comparable alternative, Paycor is a great option. It’s ideal for midsize companies looking for a platform that combines robust payroll software with HR tools.

BambooHR: Best for integrated talent management

BambooHR is a highly rated HR software platform that also offers the option to add payroll functionality for U.S.-based employees only.

Applicant tracking system

BambooHR gets high marks for its applicant tracking system (ATS), which helps users identify promising candidates and fill open spots more quickly. The BambooHR ATS offers centralized candidate data, automatic alerts, in-system messaging, offer letter templates, and a mobile hiring app, so hiring teams can review and respond to candidates instantly.

Performance management

Once employees are hired, HR teams can continue to support their development using the performance management modules from BambooHR. The software supports self and manager assessments, customizable performance evaluations, check-in scheduling, and more.

Why choose BambooHR over ADP?

BambooHR has a great reputation for offering comprehensive yet easy-to-navigate HR tools for midsize companies, so it’s an excellent ADP alternative to explore if that’s what your company is looking for. 

However, it’s worth noting that the BambooHR payroll add-on is available for U.S. employees only, so businesses that are searching for payroll tools for international employees will need to look elsewhere or choose a third-party integration.

TriNet Zenefits: Best for HR administration

​TriNet Zenefits offers an extensive suite of HR tools with the option to include payroll as an add-on.

HR administration

Zenefits provides comprehensive HR tools that cover the entire employee lifecycle for streamlined workforce management. The software also includes business intelligence reports, so decision-makers can delve into the analytics and optimize processes based on that.

People Hub

The People Hub is what Zenefits calls its suite of communication tools, which allow HR to interact with employees directly from the Zenefits interface. The People Hub also makes it easy to send engagement surveys and solicit employee feedback, so HR and business leaders can understand employee sentiment more deeply.

Why choose Zenefits over ADP?

ADP is more of payroll software with some HR tools added, whereas Zenefits is HR software with payroll added. In fact, payroll is optional with Zenefits, whereas it is included in ADP plans by default. If you are looking for more of a full-service HR platform that includes payroll, then Zenefits is a good option to consider.

ADP Limitations

ADP is one of the leading payroll solutions, but it may not work for all needs. 

Its primary focus on payroll features means its HR capabilities often can’t match the sophistication of competitors that are HR-forward. If you are looking for a comprehensive HRIS solution, ADP might not offer the right tools to support your goals. 

ADP also targets the middle of the market, so if you are an enterprise-level company or a small business just starting out, then ADP might offer either too many capabilities or not enough.

Choosing the Right Alternative to ADP

If your business has outgrown ADP or found that it no longer meets your HR needs, there are many alternatives to consider. Small businesses may find success with Paychex, whereas large companies should look to Workday for more advanced functionalities.  TriNet Zenefits is a good option for businesses with broad HR administration needs.

Gusto is a strong contender for businesses needing a scalable HR platform that can grow alongside their teams. Similarly, businesses that are looking to expand quickly may benefit from Paycor’s integrated recruiting features, and BambooHR might work for businesses that need to juggle internal and external talent management.

Still not sure what ADP competitor is right for your company? Explore our HR Software Guide to learn more about your options.

Currently Trending HR Software

The post Top 6 ADP Vendor Competitors & Alternatives appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Sometimes the ATS that seemed perfect several years ago no longer works for the changing needs of your business, but it can be tough to determine if a new ATS is truly worth the investment. Start by evaluating the challenges your hiring team is facing because of your current ATS and identifying specific areas for improvement. If it’s clear that it’s time for an upgrade, start by exploring our ATS Software Guide.

5 Signs You Should Upgrade Your ATS

Upgrading your applicant tracking system is not to be taken lightly, and you don’t want to rush into it. Instead, you need to make a deliberate survey of your current ATS capabilities to figure out where it succeeds and where it falls short.

Your hiring metrics aren’t where they should be

The hiring team’s subjective experience is an important component of the review process, but when it comes to evaluating the performance of your current ATS software, the numbers don’t lie.

Some of the key ATS metrics you should be tracking include:

• Time to hire
• Number of candidates
• Quality of hire
• Cost per hire

If any or all of these metrics are significantly lagging behind your targets or have taken a nosedive recently, it’s time to reevaluate your ATS.

Your reporting is lacking

One of the greatest benefits of good ATS software is the data and analytics it provides, which help businesses optimize their hiring process and make data-driven decisions about talent acquisition. However, in some cases, the metrics make it difficult to accurately assess recruiting performance because the reporting is difficult to use or interpret.

If the reporting and analytics features of your applicant tracking system aren’t giving you the insight you need to make informed decisions quickly, it might be time to switch to a different ATS that can provide the depth of reporting you need.

You’re experiencing bottlenecks or redundancies

The goal of an ATS is to streamline the recruitment process, so if applicants and recruiters are experiencing bottlenecks or redundancies, that’s a major red flag your current platform isn’t working anymore.

Some common culprits to watch out for are applications getting lost or ignored, applicants having to answer the same questions or repeat the same steps multiple times, and delays in scheduling interviews. These issues can negatively impact the candidate experience as well as your employer brand in the long run.

You need more automation

One of the main advantages of a modern ATS is the time savings and added efficiency that come with automating rote tasks.

Examples of automated workflows include sending follow-up emails, scheduling phone screens, and recording interview notes. These advances have been made possible thanks to recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and machine learning, but not every ATS platform has implemented these advanced capabilities with the same success.

If your current ATS doesn’t allow users to automate repetitive, manual tasks, it’s time to consider switching to a different platform that will take some of this work off of the hiring team’s shoulders.

Key integrations are missing

An ATS that integrates with other business software means recruiting teams can streamline their processes and access information about job openings and candidates without having to work out of multiple tools. For example, an ATS that integrates with HRIS software allows the hiring manager to import information about the new hire directly into the employee database.

If a different system has recently been upgraded or new software gets added to your company’s tech stack, your ATS might run into compatibility issues. In turn, this can create roadblocks for teams that are used to working seamlessly between platforms, or it can limit the scalability of your team’s processes. The only real way to get around this is to look for a new ATS that will integrate with the other tools your team uses.

In these cases, it’s worth seeking an ATS solution that is already integrated with other human resources (HR) tools in a comprehensive suite.

What to Look for in a Replacement ATS

If you’ve determined that your ATS needs an upgrade, we recommend including these five key features on the checklist for your next platform.

Reporting

The right ATS software will offer all of the metrics you need to assess candidate data and determine whether your recruiting processes are working. An ATS dashboard should also be easy to read and customize as necessary, so you can easily access the information you need and make decisions quickly.

For example, PCRecruiter’s job board analytics feature connects the ATS data with Google Analytics to help recruiters track candidate sources, conversions, and falloff rates.

Application management

Proper application management is essential to finding the most qualified candidates and filling job openings efficiently.

Within the ATS platform, hiring teams should be able to sort applications in the ATS database according to specific criteria, like certain education requirements, work experience, or relevant keywords. They should also be able to search for applicants by name to locate the right information.

Some platforms like Pinpoint offer candidate profiles that help recruiters keep all of the information for a candidate in one place. This includes their application, résumé, pipeline stage, ratings, and conversation history.

Interview management

It’s not enough to be able to manage application materials smoothly: You also need to be able to move candidates through the job search and interview process quickly and efficiently.

A good ATS should make it easy to schedule interviews via phone, video, and in person. It should also automate interview reminders and scheduling, so you don’t have to.

Alternatively, some ATS platforms like Breezy HR allow candidates to schedule their own interviews from an outward-facing portal. The software synchronizes with the Google or Outlook calendars for everyone on the hiring team, so their interview availability is always up-to-date.

Automation

Automation is another must-have feature. Your next ATS should automate repetitive tasks to eliminate redundancies and allow your recruitment team to focus on more valuable tasks, like sourcing and evaluating candidates.

Some advanced automations can also help keep candidates moving through the hiring pipeline. For example, Zoho Recruit offers a drag-and-drop interface for creating custom workflows depending on specific conditions or actions. This helps ensure no candidate slips through the cracks because someone forgot to follow up.

Integrations

If your team relies on multiple platforms to maintain recruiting efficiency, then integrations can make or break your ATS. At a minimum, your new system should integrate with your current HR software stack; however, it might also be valuable to consider your team’s long-term goals and what integrations might be useful in the future.

Also, double-check to see if the integrations are built-in or if your recruiting team will need to create them using a third-party tool like Zapier. If it’s the latter case, be prepared for the extra time and resources it will take to manually configure and maintain these integrations.

A robust platform like Greenhouse offers hundreds of native integrations to support current and future needs without needing to leverage any additional tools.

Is It Time to Upgrade?

Once you’ve evaluated your current ATS and your business’s current challenges with recruitment, it may still be unclear whether those challenges outweigh the cost of upgrading your ATS.

In some cases, your current applicant tracking system isn’t quite adequate, but you can’t replace it wholesale due to budgetary or IT reasons. Fortunately, there are several steps you can take to make the most of your existing ATS without breaking the bank or overwhelming your IT team.

One option is to seek out training resources offered by your current ATS provider to make sure you fully understand the tool and are taking advantage of any recent updates or feature additions. Most cloud-based ATS vendors release updates regularly — sometimes monthly or even weekly — so you might have missed out on some helpful features that recently launched.

Configuring new integrations is also a fantastic way to supercharge the functionality of your current ATS without having to completely replace it. Some key integrations to consider are job boards, HR tools, social media platforms, email, and your content management system (CMS). Check out our roundup of must-have integrations for your ATS if you need some inspiration for how to boost your existing ATS.

However, if you’ve exhausted all other options and decided it’s time for a new ATS, consider using our ATS Software Guide or explore the trending products below to find a solution that might be a better fit.

Currently Trending Applicant Tracking Software

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Workday and PeopleSoft were both started by tech entrepreneur and multi-billionaire David Duffield. In 2022, they are still fighting for a larger piece of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) market, and both companies are making strides with machine learning and AI to make their offering work better and faster.

Both are strong choices with a loyal customer base, providing enterprises with solid, global, horizontal HR and ERP system solutions. And yet, they each contain unique features that differentiate them from one another.

Still unsure? Discover more HR software options with our HR Software Product Selection Tool. It only takes five minutes for an unbiased Technology Advisor to match you with a list of five HRIS solutions that fit your needs. Click the banner below to get started.

Why Should You Choose PeopleSoft?

Oracle PeopleSoft is backed by a global enterprise technology leader, and its focus on integrated systems has made it one of the most modern and comprehensive providers of business software in the world.

Because of the overwhelming popularity of cloud software solutions, PeopleSoft has pivoted to a cloud-based model in the last few years. While the software is available to run on any public or private cloud storage system, PeopleSoft recommends that administrators set the software up to run on Oracle Cloud, as users can integrate their current PeopleSoft system with Oracle cloud solutions.

This proprietary storage solution holds a lot of advantages for PeopleSoft users. Most importantly, it’s the only cloud storage solution that runs the PeopleSoft Cloud Manager tools, which manages updates and data connections for the tools.

The company is constantly rolling out new features for its software solutions as Oracle delivers new PeopleSoft releases every quarter. Oracle PeopleSoft even provides a Cumulative Feature Overview (CFO) tool that enables users to gain control of the features available to them, by developing a CFO report that lists features that have been introduced between PeopleSoft releases.

PeopleSoft’s Human Capital Management software is intended to help users streamline talent management and reduce operational costs by leveraging more automation capabilities. Still, Oracle makes it easy for customers to move from PeopleSoft to Oracle Cloud, as the Oracle HCM Cloud provides one complete solution for PeopleSoft customers.

Why Should You Choose Workday?

Workday is recognized as a leader in the HR software industry, and the Workday Human Capital Management (Workday HCM) software delivers cloud-based human resource management solutions for organizations and businesses.

The Workday HCM software contains features for managing talent, compensation, payrolls, shift scheduling, time tracking, and more. This enables HR professionals to stay on top of their workforce management actions all within one platform. 

Additionally, the software leverages augmented people analytics to reveal insights from datasets, and users can apply intelligent automation to eliminate manual tasks and support their staff’s productivity.

The HCM solution isn’t the only Workday software tool that comes with HR functions. Workday Adaptive Planning is a cloud enterprise performance management (EPM) software solution that provides operational, sales, workforce, and financial planning solutions to users. The Workday Financial Management solution also assists businesses in their core accounting processes.

For additional storage and computing power in their software solutions, Workday contracted IBM in order to use the computing giant’s cloud computing service SoftLayer for undisclosed internal processing.

Moreover, Workday’s customer-centric approach and cloud design make it ideal for businesses with smaller budgets that may need more support.

Comparing Workday and PeopleSoft

Anyone considering an enterprise software upgrade must weigh the costs and benefits. If the implementation of a new software solution would be particularly large and complex, you may find yourself at a fork in the road when contemplating your next upgrade.

But in the battle between Workday and PeopleSoft, how different are the two systems, really?

Though the feature names vary, both vendors provide a wide variety of similar suites and functionalities for large businesses to manage their HR and talent processes. Still, there are a few applications exclusive to PeopleSoft, as well as several internal differentiators that aren’t addressed on the surface.

Deployment and updates

One of the fundamental differences between PeopleSoft and Workday is their deployment options.

Workday is entirely engineered for cloud deployment, which means every user is always on the latest version since functionality upgrades are automatically released. There is also the potential for a lower total cost of ownership because Workday doesn’t require any on-premises hardware or infrastructure.

Another great perk here is Workday has invested in software partnerships to expand their native integration offerings, meaning you can quickly connect their services to Slack, Salesforce, and other necessary business tools without IT intervention.

PeopleSoft also provides cloud deployment but can be purchased as an on-premises and private cloud implementation as well. The tool recently pivoted to a Selective Adoption workflow for updates; PeopleSoft regularly offers updated versions of the tools that system administrators can download, choose the updates they prefer to run, and schedule their maintenance on their own time.

PeopleSoft Applications Portal also supports a variety of integration options, such as with Microsoft Exchange Server. When it comes to PeopleSoft updates, the Selective Adoption model gives administrators control over their own maintenance and update schedule but does require much more intervention than the constantly-updated Workday.

The vast difference in deployment options often leads the conversation to configuration and customization. Some companies believe that a pure SaaS solution can never be configured to fit their business needs and eliminate any solution that does not offer intense customization.

When looking at the deployment differences between Workday and PeopleSoft, your company needs to assess its availability of IT and specialized support staff. Those with the resources to put toward dedicated PeopleSoft help will find the customization of that product worth the expense, but those with more limited resources may appreciate the native integration flexibility and ongoing support of Workday’s consistent upgrades.

Customer relationship management (CRM)

Oracle offers PeopleSoft CRM, a set of customer service relationship management applications. Its CRM is tightly integrated with the rest of the PeopleSoft platform and can be tailored to fit sales, marketing, or service industries.

Business process management (BPM) solutions are also available within the CRM, and users can set up orders, create workflows, and automate processes with the tools.

Currently, Workday does not offer a native CRM application. Instead, the company has forged a partnership with cloud computing leader Salesforce. As such, there is a native integration between the two companies via the Salesforce Service Cloud.

Analytics and reporting

As business intelligence software becomes easier to use, more companies are including dashboard reporting and analytics in their products. While both PeopleSoft and Workday include analytics and reporting tools, the companies have approached the inclusion of these features differently.

PeopleSoft has worked to incorporate analytics into each of the tools, giving users access to analytic data where they’re working within PeopleSoft. The analytic power of these tools is limited to the data the company has stored in its PeopleSoft databases. For example, PeopleSoft financials provides analytics and reporting features based on the data collected from personal information logged within the users’ integrated PeopleSoft databases.

On the other hand, Workday’s Prism Analytics tools connect to outside data sources and build analytic reports within Workday. These same tools are found all across the software to bring insights right into the dashboards, but the addition of outside data elevates the feature to a business intelligence tool.

User interface

One area where Workday shines is its intuitive design. Workday was built on modern architecture and provides a consumer UI built for the web.

The company works hard to provide users with a single experience across mobile, tablet, and desktop views. The UI is designed to change with the latest designs and needs of the consumers without touching the core functionality of the product. That means UI updates don’t change how you work.

While Peoplesoft’s HR solutions provide more employee self-service features, Workday provides an intuitive user interface for higher education purposes. The Workday Student system is a student information software solution that is connected to the Workday finance and HR systems. PeopleSoft also offers its own PeopleSoft Campus Solutions, which is mainly used to store students’ personal information.

Workday vs. PeopleSoft: Which is Better?

Workday is an innovative platform built for the modern workforce, and its technology aligns with the current trends in IT. Workday’s beginning as an HCM software platform provides HR professionals with a system designed with the workforce and financials in mind, while its continuous updates and enterprise focus make Workday HCM a viable choice for a variety of companies.

PeopleSoft HCM, on the other hand, is “designed to address the most complex business requirements.” This certainly makes it the leader in terms of market presence and end-to-end functionality but can also make installations a very complex process.

While many businesses are moving to Workday, Oracle continues to move toward cloud functionality and flexibility. The move gives administrators greater control over their own update schedule and all users better access to their data from anywhere.

As these two options become more and more similar, what are you to do?

The first step is to define your business goals and strategy, then pinpoint the requirements necessary to achieve them. Which vendor satisfies your business needs and provides business value? Which vendor’s roadmap and strategy syncs with your ERP or HR strategy?

You want to pinpoint the specific configurations that are relevant to your business. Consider your goal, and choose the technology that helps you achieve it.

Remember, by using the HR Software Product Selection Tool, you can receive free recommendations on the best HR software for your organization. Additionally, visit our website to read other HR software comparisons, such as the comparison between Workday and SuccessFactors.

Top Human Resources Software Recommendations

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Nearly 50 million employees switched jobs in 2021, and even in early 2022, 44 percent of employees were actively seeking other employment. But now, we’re seeing an increase in layoffs in the tech space as businesses react to the market downturn.

As a result of these rapid changes, businesses are facing significant challenges in recruiting and retaining employees along with making more informed decisions related to their workforce. Unsurprisingly, software applications that help with the hiring process, performance management, and increasing employee engagement are seen as part of the solution. 

Before the Great Resignation, recruiting and retaining employees was seen largely as an HR function. Today, top-level executives see the need to attract, retain and replace employees as a matter of business survival.

HR Tech Buyers Have Expanded

In 2020, there were about 1,400 unique job titles researching HR software, according to TechnologyAdvice first-party data. In 2021, that number exploded to 3,300, and 2022 is on pace to nearly double the 2020 number. This means that marketers need to create content that speaks to a number of roles beyond what they’ve traditionally targeted for HR tech. Additionally, they need to understand and address the concerns these new buyers are bringing to the table. 

The buying committee is also larger—not just for HR tech, but for technology as a whole. The average tech purchase involves between 14 and 23 people. And these buying committees are engaged in the research process and actively comparing vendors. According to TechnologyAdvice data, 70% of buyers engaged more than once with content from one or more vendors.

And while buying committees are getting bigger and there are more unique job titles looking for HR tech, the first-party data from TechnologyAdvice found managers and director-level roles are still the best represented. These are the people you should be building content for because they’re the ones doing the product research—not executives.

Learn How Your Target Market Changes When Everyone is a Tech Buyer.

HR Needs Are Changing

What people want from their HR technology is changing, and we can see this reflected in the types of assets tech buyers are downloading and engaging with. According to TechnologyAdvice data, in 2020, a lot of people were looking for information about transforming HR, the future of HR, and cloud HR solutions. The COVID-19 pandemic had just started, and people wanted to know how they could keep their businesses operational while following state and local regulations. 

In 2021, those needs shifted to building HR systems, adapting HR to the remote workforce, and best digital practices for HR. The Great Resignation changed the way employees thought about work, and organizations had to adapt and find solutions for employee turnover and engagement.

Based on an IEEE Global Study, in 2022, the biggest focuses for HR technology buyers will be on artificial intelligence and machine learning (21%), cloud computing (20%), and 5G capabilities (17%). As the economy shifts and we’re seeing more layoffs, businesses want better insights into their HR data, which they can get from AI, ML, and connected cloud applications.

HR Software Buyers Are Facing Complexity

The HR software market is extremely fragmented and doesn’t have many dominant vendors. There are nearly 600 vendors to choose from, but many of those don’t overlap in their offerings. Consider that the HR software space includes payroll, applicant tracking, performance management, and many other types of software. And because of this, many organizations, especially small businesses, opt for standalone, best-of-breed products instead of full HR suites.

Due to this complexity, buyers don’t feel like they can get the information they need from a single vendor’s website. They want to be able to compare this large number of vendors in one place and do so without added bias. Therefore, buyers may not communicate with a vendor until they’re in the final stages of the buying process.

HR Tech Buyers Don’t Start Their Journeys with Vendors

In general, tech buyers complete about 70% of their buying journeys without speaking to a vendor, and this holds true for HR tech purchases. Instead, they’re getting information from third-party resources to narrow down their options. Marketers have to find trusted third-party sites to help them meet potential buyers where they’re engaging with content. If you’re only connecting with the people that come to you, you’ll miss out on a huge potential audience.

TechnologyAdvice can help you get in front of these buyers. We’ve earned the trust of 100 million technology buyers who come to our portfolio of websites each year to navigate the tricky tech buying process. Supporting our portfolio is a team of 150+ editorial experts or technologists covering more than 200 tech-related topics and publishing around 5,000 pieces of content each year.

To learn more about reaching buyers early in their buying journey, check out TechnologyAdvice’s lead generation and content syndication programs. We can help you meet buyers in each stage of the buying journey and create the content you need to capture their interest.

The post How HR Tech Buyers Change with Employment Trends appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Comparing Workable vs. ZipRecruiter proves these vast differences right out of the gate. Here are some analogies I came up with:

• ZipRecruiter = hammer; Workable = tool shed
• ZipRecruiter = apple; Workable = apple tree
• ZipRecruiter = microphone; Workable = audio soundboard
• ZipRecruiter = a tube of paint; Workable = the art supply store

You get the picture. What’s important to remember here is that each of these products is useful in its own right, but your talent acquisition team is not going to use them for the same purpose. Both are in the recruiting software category, but that’s about where their similarities end.

Workable calls their product “the most popular applicant tracking software.” Although they don’t define a sample group, there are quite a few five-star reviews on the web. Hiring managers and recruiters seem pretty happy using Workable’s complete, end-to-end applicant tracking system.

ZipRecruiter, on the other hand, provides coverage for your job posts on major job boards and a searchable database of candidates. Think of it as a job posting tool, rather than a full-service applicant tracking system for hiring managers.

Just to warn you from the outset: This is going to be an unbalanced comparison when you look strictly at the number of features. That aside, both products have high satisfaction ratings for what their features provide.

Candidate Sourcing

Candidate sourcing is ZipRecruiter’s primary feature, and it does this really well. Upload your job listing to their platform, and ZipRecruiter will push that description to hundreds of paid and free job postings. You do have to provide a ZIP code or other location identifier, but you can source qualified candidates from anywhere in the world.

ZipRecruiter boasts a database of over nine million job seekers, where you can search for active and passive candidates and go after the best fit for your job opportunity. The service also sends a daily email to job candidates, and your opening can feature prominently as a paid job ad.

Some of ZipRecruiter’s extras in this category include a hosted Careers page you can easily add to your website, social media sharing, and “boosted” posts that rise higher in the overall listings.

For its part, Workable provides technology resources to help you promote your job opening on your site and within your social network. The platform offers a hosted Careers page that automatically updates when you make a change to the position in Workable, and you can build a custom jobs tab on your Facebook page.

You can also use the Workable People Source browser app to source candidate information from social media and public online data into a central view. Workable also provides syndication to multiple job boards, but you pay per applicant rather than per job post. They also provide a shortlink for every job, so hiring managers can post to a job board outside of the Workable network.

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When choosing between these pieces of software, you should consider how strong your current network of candidates is, and whether you want to source from outside that network.

ZipRecruiter can post to 100 job boards at once and connect you with candidates that you might otherwise not reach. Workable gathers potential job applicants from the corners of your network or who already have some knowledge of your company.

Resume Handling

Both of these recruitment tool options provide pre-screening questions that your applicants must answer prior to submitting their resume and job application. These questions immediately remove candidates who don’t meet the job requirements, which cuts down on the amount of time you spend reading unqualified resumes.

Both Workable and ZipRecruiter have features to organize, tag, and view your candidates’ resumes. They also offer automated and personalized email responses to send to candidates when they apply for a position.

ZipRecruiter lets candidates upload resumes to keep on file, and their overall profile helps you search the database. However, ZipRecruiter’s capabilities do not extend beyond resume organization.

If your hiring managers have a current workflow for scoring and interviewing qualified candidates — very common for a bigger employer — then you’ll need to export your data and upload it to that system. That said, if you’re a small business looking for an easy job posting tool, then ZipRecruiter might be exactly what you need.

As the more comprehensive recruitment tool, Workable has a resume parsing feature that can pull experience and education data from a resume and upload it into a candidate profile that houses all of the applicant’s data.

Thus, Workable streamlines the recruitment process for your talent management team, helping to reduce redundant work so you can get to the hiring stage faster.

Interview and Beyond

After sourcing your candidates, Workable effectively turns into a CRM for your applicant pool. Workable integrates with your calendars and email, as well as your actual CRM — you can provide a single view of candidates across all systems, no matter what job site they came from.

With these capabilities, you can schedule interviews, provide feedback, email candidates, and score responses. A mobile app provides easy access to the Workable CRM and interview functions, so you can update your potential candidate profiles and give feedback to your entire talent team from any location.

If they want, your recruiters can also run your entire hiring process through Workable, including background checks through the Checkr app and even EEO compliance auditing. Built-in analytics and reporting help you find your most reliable sources of job candidates, speed your hiring process, and build better human capital.

All of these features means that your hiring manager can work within a single system, from sourcing candidates to extending an offer letter.

Conclusions

Workable vs. ZipRecruiter is hardly a fair comparison, as the two recruitment software products address different aspects of the hiring process. Both are worthy in their own right; it just depends on what your recruitment team needs and what your budget is.

Workable is a great product for managing sourcing, applicant tracking, and hiring. ZipRecruiter is a job posting solution for expanding your hiring network.

If you still have questions, visit our product selection tool, or call one of our unbiased Technology Advisors for a free consultation.

Top Applicant Tracking Software Recommendations

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The influx of workers into these new remote and hybrid corporate positions will put a strain on service, manufacturing, and logistics jobs that need local, on-site employees to support their processes. The overall effect should bring higher wages, more flexibility, and more opportunity for workers at all skill levels.

Knowledge work companies providing flexible options will benefit in several ways

For knowledge work companies, there are some naysayers as to the benefits of hybrid work, but the overall effect could be positive, if your HR team can get the jump on it.

Companies that post remote or hybrid jobs will find that they will have a larger and more diverse pool to choose from. According to a 2021 Microsoft Worklab study, remote work job postings on LinkedIn increased more than 5x during the pandemic. And most of the people applying for those jobs are women, GenZ, and people without a graduate degree. These trends show us that the flexibility offered by remote work appeals to the worker segments that have been underrepresented in the office.

For companies that are looking to hire a more diverse staff, increase creativity in the workplace, and attract a younger, more rural, or less formally educated staff, offering remote and hybrid workplaces will widen their staffing options. Remote work often gives women the flexibility to manage the many childcare duties that may fall on their plate without excluding them — or the value they bring — from the workplace. It gives Gen Z the opportunity to find affordable housing options without long commutes.

These expanding hiring pools will also change the makeup of our workplaces. We can expect that recruiters will be able to find smart, talented, and dedicated employees with non-traditional work backgrounds, if they’re willing to train and reskill their workers. Mothers who took a career break to raise their children, Gen Z directly out of high school or college, and those from rural areas or small towns who aren’t willing to move into the big tech sectors will become bigger contributors to the workforce. This will change the makeup of our knowledge work and bring more solutions to the market.

Recruiting for in-person jobs will become more difficult

The movement of non-traditional knowledge workers into corporate staff will drain the other pool that has heretofore supported our essential in-person work. The pandemic highlighted the need to have in-person workers to keep our service, logistics, and manufacturing industries running. If there’s a brain drain of women and young employees to corporate knowledge work, who will stock the grocery store or run the cash registers at your local Walmart?

We saw the argument play out all over the internet in 2020: If these workers are so essential, why don’t we pay them more?

It’s not enough to praise our essential workers — we have to protect and pay them.

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) November 19, 2020

And in the US, the issue became even more fraught when much of the country found out that service and essential workers could make more money through unemployment payments than they did in their jobs.

It’s not a popular opinion with many business owners or legislators in the US, but if more workers are taking a chance on hybrid office work that gives them better flexibility and pay than part-time, restaurant, or manufacturing jobs, those employers will need to make their jobs more appealing. One way to do that is to offer better pay.

Hybrid work will force all companies to rethink their recruiting and retention strategies

That same Microsoft Worklab study reports that 41% of respondents say they’re thinking of moving jobs, and 46% of those say it’s because they can now work from home. Many companies can save money on turnover by changing to a hybrid or fully remote policy. Companies looking to attract workers may need to offer more flexible work options combined with higher pay.

To support these new recruiting strategies, companies will need to make permanent the IT and HR tactics that they employed during the pandemic lock-downs. Implementing applicant tracking tools or recruiting software options that integrate with video conferencing software is key to running efficient interviews. Building the company culture around a remote-first policy backed by project management software and company-wide collaboration tools will support remote employees working from home. And most importantly, HR will need to clarify policies on paper and with all employees to ensure clear communication.

We can be sure that the coming years will bring intense workplace change. But we have the opportunity to use that change to build a more diverse, creative, and connected workforce that ultimately brings innovation to our workspaces.

Read next: Tips for Onboarding Remote Employees

Top Human Resources Software Recommendations

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Whether it’s for motivation, education, or entertainment, everyone loves a good story. And that includes businesses. In fact, it’s one of the reasons why business intelligence is still growing, as companies search to uncover the narratives hidden in their data.

The human resources (HR) department is no exception. As talent becomes a scarce commodity, organizations are now applying analytics to their people data.

If retailers can use purchase history data to accurately predict when someone will run out of makeup, why can’t businesses use behavioral data to spot employee attrition and identify turnover risk?

The intersection of data and human behavior has led to the consumerization of workforce HR analytics tools. Historically, IT had access to business data, and HR relied on them to create workforce reports. But, as technology has advanced, these tools have become increasingly easy to use. Now, HR departments can get the data they need from accessible, self-service human resources software.

Looking for the right HR solution for your business? Save time by requesting a free, no-hassle shortlist of the best software for your needs. To get started, complete the form by clicking the banner below.

What is an HR dashboard?

Acquiring, developing, and retaining talent is complex. From recruiting to performance management, businesses increasingly rely on technology to help monitor the lifeblood of the company. From payroll to performance measurements to goal alignment, HR solutions provide a great deal of worker information.

But, simply collecting data isn’t helpful. Data is only valuable when it tells a story.

That’s where modern HR technology and analytics comes in. It helps companies aggregate and present employee data in a meaningful way. In turn, that lets businesses make data-driven decisions.

• Where should time and money be spent to source new candidates?
• What is the difference in skill level between top and bottom performers in the company? How can you bridge that gap?
• How many high potential leaders does the company have, and what is the risk of losing them?
• Are you strong or weak in the skill capabilities your company needs in the next three to five years?

To help spot these trends, an HR dashboard solution collects the most relevant information — the reports and KPIs (key performance indicators) you actually care about — and organizes it on one screen. Charts, graphs, and meters visualize this information.

Presenting the data graphically helps with monitoring everything at a glance and gauging company progress toward goals. Human resources dashboards can also be used to drill down to get more information and can be customized to show only high-priority objectives.

How are HR dashboards used?

HR dashboards can serve a variety of different purposes, but they all function to improve the organization’s efficiency using data. HR systems use these screens to provide information that enables human resource professionals to track, analyze, and report on their HR KPIs.

These software solutions present data and relevant HR KPI information to human resources teams through dashboards. KPIs can involve a variety of HR metrics to track indicators of the organization’s progress toward reaching its objectives. This is commonly presented in reports that portray a visible representation of the analyzed data. HR professionals can easily view all of the information they need on their dashboard screens.

There are many different categories of information that can be represented on HR dashboards, relating to recruitment, human resource management, and compensation KPIs. The data pertaining to these human resources activities can be analyzed to reveal important trends including the costs associated with certain practices, like training and recruitment.

Oftentimes, these software tools enable HR professionals to configure their dashboards, allowing them to generate an at-a-glance view of relevant information needed to track the data and KPIs that are most important to them. HR dashboards can also be configured to provide automatic reports to key stakeholders and send users HR reports based on activity related to their KPIs.

Not all HR dashboard functions have to do with the review and analysis of KPIs. HR dashboards can also reveal information that is necessary to core HR tasks, including payroll processing features, employee information, and more. After all, this information is all important data for tracking HR performance indicators.

What makes a good HR dashboard?

HR dashboards are useful for analyzing performance and identifying areas for improvement in an organization. They’re not only important to HR managers but C-level executives as well.

Decision-makers ensure the company strategy is aligned from executive to managerial to individual goals. Executives and HR leaders must work together to identify the data they need in order to take action. Then, that data can be collected and monitored to keep workforce performance aligned with organizational objectives.

A good HR dashboard will provide a concise and intuitive display of clear key performance indicators. Below are a few tips to consider when customizing or creating an HR dashboard:

1. Narrow down metrics: The right KPIs should guide the decision-making process and benchmark performance, so stick to the eight to 12 most important visualizations, and drill down as necessary.
2. Only measure meaningful data: The goal is to monitor key metrics which can be linked to a future course of action; therefore, the most valuable data to monitor is that which you can glean actionable insights for decisions. 
3. Dive deeper: To find a balance between measuring everything and measuring nothing, businesses must first pinpoint the challenges of each department, determine which are related to HR, and then, determine what metrics would provide insight into these challenges.

Let’s use employee retention as an example; it’s a huge challenge for most businesses. Simply monitoring the annual or monthly turnover rate provides no context. To gain information about underlying causes, the voluntary turnover rate must be segmented into multiple categories, such as retirement versus non-retirement, department or manager, skill level, and age.

Are you losing millennial employees? Are workers leaving due to their relationship with a manager? Go beyond basic metrics to find the story.

Remember, a dashboard is a means to an end. Monitoring HR data alone won’t revolutionize a company; taking action will. If your HR dashboard isn’t driving informed decisions and strategies, then modify it until it does. Continual advantage comes from continual improvement.

Common Types of HR Dashboards

Workforce demographics

Workforce demographics dashboards and diversity dashboards can analyze data about staff members based on their genders, ages, location, ethnicities, roles, and departments. By tracking data and trends related to workforce demographics, public sector HR personnel can maintain diversity in their staff and carry out best practices for recruitment that will support a well-balanced roster of employees.

Payroll is of course a key factor of workforce demographics dashboards as well. These dashboards can include reports on how the average and maximum amounts of wages are distributed to staff members, so users can ensure their organization is appropriately allocating their compensation to support the workforce’s diversity.

Tracking these workforce demographics may also provide insights to support operations involved in strategic workforce planning. For example, dashboards that provide information on workforce age distribution can be helpful for an HR professional to determine staff retirement rates and employee turnover rates, so they can plan their workforce hiring practices accordingly.

Employee performance

Employee performance dashboards measure and analyze employee data to show HR teams relevant KPIs regarding the value, progress, and efficiency of their staff members and overall workforce. This can involve people analytics information pertaining to employee productivity, such as data on compensation, absenteeism, overtime hours, leave analysis, and performance ratings.

The employee productivity KPIs are usually measured according to criteria and goals set by the organization. Many HR performance dashboards show the overall labor effectiveness not just for individual employees, but also by department. These types of HR metrics can reveal valuable insights into areas of the workforce where improvement is needed, so HR managers can dedicate their attention appropriately.

Performance dashboards may also be able to reveal detailed information regarding the demographics of employees within each of these categories. For example, a dashboard may be configured to display the average percentage of absenteeism for male or female members of the workforce.

Recruitment

Recruitment dashboards can display HR reporting on recruitment metrics based on the organization’s onboarding data. For example, HR management users can track the organization’s recruitment costs, like the costs for the time dedicated to candidate selection and new hire training.

HR executives can use their workforce data to calculate KPIs to help the organization reach its objectives, enabling hiring teams to appropriately plan their recruitment pipelines. Additionally, recruitment dashboards can present information to help HR professionals understand their hiring funnels and identify areas of employee onboarding processes that may require improvement.

Another example of how recruitment dashboards can benefit HR staff is by revealing information that can help them improve their recruitment strategies. Data collected about how current qualified staff members were informed about the open roles can tell HR professionals how they should advertise their jobs to gain more strong candidates.

Examples of HR dashboards

Now that you know the prerequisites for a good HR dashboard, it’s time to familiarize yourself with some examples. Let’s examine a few dashboards from leading HR software vendors, so you can better navigate the market.

Workday

TechnologyAdvice rating: 4.5/5

Workday is a leader in enterprise HR software, and their software redefines how organizations unify data spread across multiple sources and systems. Workday combines big data analytics and HR into one simple, intuitive interface.

Users can combine Workday data with non-native data for in-depth reports and dashboards that are accessible on a tablet, smartphone, or desktop. An all in one human capital management platform should provide insights regarding retention and performance, in addition to bread and butter metrics such as headcount, absenteeism, workforce productivity, performance goals, and HR to staff ratio.

Jobvite

TechnologyAdvice rating: 4/5

In addition to end-to-end dashboards, you can also access HR dashboards in standalone systems such as a recruiting or applicant tracking systems. Jobvite’s simple interface details how efficient a company’s recruiting process is, by tracking metrics such as hires by recruitment source, and the hiring manager interview to offer ratio.

You can also track referrals, which lets you know how likely your employees are to recommend your company to a friend or colleague. This provides insight into employee satisfaction and comparative data per department referrals. If referrals are severely lacking in one business unit, it’s a red flag that the team or manager could be improved.

OfficeVibe

TechnologyAdvice rating: 4.5/5

If you want to keep a finger on the proverbial pulse of your organization, OfficeVibe can help. The company specializes in technology that regularly measures employee engagement and satisfaction in order to promote better employee morale, increase productivity, and reduce turnover.

Each week, Officevibe automatically sends a quick survey question to employees. The results of these pulse surveys can be viewed by manager’s on their dashboard as the results are collected. Officevibe’s platform can also be accessed via smartphones and mobile devices.

Finding the right HR software can feel frustrating. It doesn’t have to.

A good HR dashboard is an invaluable tool for businesses. Companies need to be able to see, understand, share, and act on their workforce data. If your company has difficulty analyzing performance or identifying areas for improvement, consider upgrading to a modern HR solution that uncovers the meaningful stories inside your data.

Need help finding the best HR technology for your business? Complete the form on our HR software page. Our Technology Advisors will listen to your specific needs and send you a free, personalized shortlist of the best software for you. Getting started is easy and takes less than five minutes.

The post Top HR Dashboards: Examples, Metrics, & Workforce Analytics appeared first on TechnologyAdvice.

Of course, passive candidates are often more difficult to recruit than active candidates. So to help you with your recruiting efforts, we’ve put together a list of modern tips to recruit passive candidates.

Read More: 5 Steps to a Successful ATS Implementation

You may ask: why spend so much energy sourcing candidates who might not want to change jobs? Believe it or not, recruiting passive candidates isn’t as hard as it seems. In fact, 99 percent of employed professionals would be willing to take an interview if they were approached by a recruiter. Plus, if you ignore passive candidates, you’ll miss out on some great hires. Passive candidates are 120 percent more likely to make a strong impact on your company and 17 percent less likely to need additional skill development opportunities than active candidates.

Simply put, recruiting passive candidates is worth the extra effort. Need help recruiting the perfect candidates for your open roles? Use our Recruitment Product Selection Tool to find the perfect HR and recruiting software. Answer a few questions, and our team will follow up with a short, unbiased list of software that will perfectly meet your company’s needs.

Table of contents

1. Invest in artificial intelligence
2. Expand your search outside of job boards
3. Ensure you’re appealing to your ideal candidate
4. Offer a flexible interview process

1. Invest in artificial intelligence

It’s no secret that artificial intelligence (AI) has changed the recruiting industry. Using advanced automation tools to source candidates not only saves time, but it can also help you discover higher-quality candidates.

Think about it: the biggest challenge with passive candidates is knowing which ones will be receptive to a job change. AI-enabled tools can scour the web and analyze vast quantities of candidate data, and then predict which passive candidates are open to new jobs. It’d be near-impossible for a recruiter to perform this type of predictive analysis manually.

If you haven’t embraced artificial intelligence yet, it’s time to get on board. 55 percent of recruiters say that AI will be a main part of the recruiting process within the next five years.

Helpful recruiting tools

Finding the right recruiting software can make or break your talent pool. Recruiting software automates repetitive HR processes to weed out unqualified candidates and make sure only the best prospects are coming across your desk.

BambooHR offers an applicant tracking system (ATS) that organizes candidates and keeps their information handy throughout the entire recruiting process. In addition, it automates the more tedious parts of the onboarding process, like sending paperwork, so you can focus on engaging your new employee and helping them contribute from day one.

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Zoho Recruit is an ATS made for both in-house recruiters and staffing agencies to find the best prospects for your open jobs. The system can automatically send emails, update a candidate’s status, and provide reports to keep your recruiting process running smoothly. You can even design your own pre-screening assessments, so you won’t waste time on candidates who don’t fit your needs.

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2. Expand your search outside of job boards

Every recruiter is using job boards to find their perfect candidate, but passive candidates aren’t looking at them consistently. You need to find other ways to get your company in front of these candidates.

Social media

Social media is the modern recruiter’s best friend. In fact, 59 percent of recruiters found high-quality candidates when they sourced from social media. But it’s not enough to use social media to locate passive candidates, you must also know how to effectively engage with them.

Here’s what we recommend by platform:

LinkedIn

We’ll start with the bad news, 52 percent of hiring managers claim that passive candidate recruitment on LinkedIn has been less effective because recruiters on LinkedIn are all competing for the same pool of candidates. But just because there are so many recruiters on LinkedIn doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use the platform. Conduct your candidate research as usual, but instead of reaching out within the platform, work with a contact data provider to source candidates’ contact information. Then reach out using a direct dial phone number or email address. This will cut through the LinkedIn noise and will increase your likelihood of attracting a candidate’s attention.

Also Read: LinkedIn Job Posting & Cost

Facebook

Although not typically seen as a recruiting platform, Facebook offers some unique search features that allow recruiters to perform highly targeted candidate searches. Once you’ve identified a high-quality candidate‚Äîshoot them a message! This isn’t a tactic that will work in every instance, so use it sparingly. Explain that you don’t typically reach out to candidates through Facebook, but that you have the perfect opportunity for them. The number of positive responses you receive might surprise you.

Instagram

Similar to Facebook, Instagram offers unique search functionality that recruiters can use to pinpoint everything from industry-related hashtags to users complaining about their jobs. Just as you would on Facebook, conduct your outreach within the platform or secure their direct contact information with the help of a B2B contact database. It also lets you promote your company using images, which are more likely to drive engagement.

Other platforms

Everyone knows the aforementioned “big three” work for recruiting,but don’t be afraid to experiment with less traditional social media platforms like Reddit or Quora. In fact, many companies are sponsored Snapchat stories to reel in passive candidates.

Leverage your employees’ network

Referrals have always been a great recruiting source, and that’s even more true for passive candidates. Not only is it easier to entice a passive candidate through a referral, but you’re getting a better quality candidate as well. In fact, 78 percent of recruiters claim that referrals provide them with their best candidates. Employees aren’t going to reach out to people they won’t want to work with, and they won’t put their name on the line for a candidate they don’t believe in.

Employee referral programs are a great way to incentivize your team to recruit new members. Offer some kind of bonus or reward for referring a candidate who you end up hiring. You can also run a social media campaign and offer a group reward or charitable donation if a certain percentage of your team participates.

Connect with local colleges and commerce groups

Local colleges often have active alumni groups that may be an untapped source of talent for your company. You might bring lunch to one of their events or have an open house where they can learn more about your company and see if they’re open to interviewing with you. Even if they aren’t, they might know someone who would fit your needs.

Commerce and referral groups are also strong sources of potential talent. These groups tend to form tight bonds and come to trust each other, so if one member is looking to fill a job, they’ll come to the group for referrals.

3. Ensure you’re appealing to your ideal candidate

The modern candidate has access to a wealth of information about your company, and they will use it. Companies that invest in promoting their brand as quality employers are three times more likely to hire a great candidate for their open positions.

Also Read: Gen Z Values and How Companies Can Prepare for the Workplace of the Future

If you’re not sure what steps to take to improve your brand as an employer, here’s what we recommend:

Emphasize growth

According to candidates, competitive compensation packages, emphasizing a work-life balance, and career advancement opportunities are the top three things they look for when switching jobs. This means that people don’t change jobs for short-term benefits, they do it because they believe it’s the proper next step in their career. Collaborate with your marketing department to create specific content that appeals to passive candidates, prioritizing the growth opportunities and work-life balance at your company.

Read More:  The Power of Decision Support Tools 

Showcase company culture

Passive candidates won’t leave their current role unless they’re confident they’ll love working somewhere else. Share photos and videos of your employees interacting at the office, having fun at work events, etc. Present a full scope of what makes your company an enjoyable place to work.

Encourage employee advocacy

Incentivize your employees to share branded content on their personal social media profiles. In today’s socially-driven environment, people trust their peers much more than they trust brands. In fact, research shows employee posts are three times more credible than those from the CEO or a recruiter. When your employees share your content, it shows passive candidates that your team is engaged and passionate about their jobs.

Update review sites

Review sites like Glassdoor are now an essential marketing tool for employers. If a passive candidate checks your profile and sees poor reviews, they won’t be interested in working for you. Make sure your profiles are updated with helpful information, a gallery of pictures, and any open positions.

4. Offer a flexible interview process

Passive candidates often hesitate to approach a new role because they don’t have time to go through the interview process. If a passive candidate takes time out of their schedule to interview with you but has a bad experience, they’ll never leave their current job for your company. In fact, bad interview experiences make 65 percent of candidates lose interest in the job.

When you contact passive candidates, let them know your interview process is flexible. Thanks to recent technological advances, there are a number of ways you can virtually meet candidates without requiring too much from them. Follow up a phone interview with a video conference call rather than an in-person interview. Eventually you will want to meet in person, but by that point the candidate will have a good idea whether or not they want to join your company.

Scheduling tools

Scheduling tools can keep your interviews organized and ensure you aren’t flaking on candidates. Passive candidates don’t have the same availability as active job seekers, so they aren’t going to be as receptive if you have to constantly reschedule their interviews.

Calendly lets you set availability, so candidates can look at your calendar and schedule a time that works for them. You won’t have to email back and forth to determine the right time, you can just open a few slots that you have available and send them your link. They choose the meeting time and it automatically blocks off your calendar for that period.

Key Takeaways

As with any profession, when you do something long enough, it’s easy for your strategy to grow stale. But, unfortunately, as the hiring climate changes and technology continues to advance, the same old tactics will no longer work. New tools and recruiting strategies aren’t something to be wary of. Instead, we say, embrace these new strategies as more efficient and effective ways to find the best candidates.

To find the perfect HR tools to boost your recruiting strategy, check out our Recruiting Product Selection Tool. Answer the questions and you’ll get a custom list of software tailored to your company’s needs.

Top Human Resources Software Recommendations

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