10 Best Employee Management Software Solutions (2023)
The best employee management systems selected by our in-house HR tech team and reviewed by external experts. Find info on key features, pricing, use cases, and more below.
The best employee management software stores and retrieves employee data, tracks time and attendance, manages leave requests, schedules shifts, monitors performance, and much more. When such tasks are automated, you can save money, boost productivity, and increase employee satisfaction whether you’re a small business or a large company.
Our expert researchers have compiled a curated list of the best employee management software options, including must-have features, key benefits, pricing info, and other considerations to help guide your selection process.
Top Employee Management Software
To choose the best employee management software, we conducted demos with vendors, sought the expertise of HR tech leaders, tested the products ourselves, and chatted with other end users. Factoring all that in, we think the features that make an employee management system stand out are easy onboarding and self-service, data management and security, and reporting and analytics.
- Easy onboarding and self-service: The best employee management systems offer seamless onboarding for new hires to complete paperwork, access important documents, and familiarize themselves with your company’s policies fairly quickly, shaping a positive employee experience early on. There’s often an employee self-service portal too, enabling employees to access and update their personal information, view pay stubs, submit time-off requests, and more.
- Data management and security: This is perhaps the most important function of an employee management system, and getting it right is vital. Your employee management software should act as a centralized repository for storing and organizing employee information. It should also protect that information with a host of security measures such as authentication, role-based permissions, encryption, and compliance with data protection regulations.
- Reporting and analytics: We’ve looked for employee management tools with robust reporting and analytics capabilities. Besides pre-built reports, the best tools in this space let you customize your own and give you insights on various HR metrics, including employee turnover, attendance patterns, and performance trends.
The above is just a summary of what our team does. If you want to learn more, we have a detailed guide explaining our editorial guidelines and review methodology.
Gusto
Leapsome
WorkDay
BambooHR
Zenefits
UKG
15five
Zoho People
Namely
Gusto
SMBs can use Gusto to manage employees in all states, 1099 workers, and contractors worldwide. The platform offers full-service payroll, plus HR and benefits administration, at budget-friendly pricing.
PROS
- Premium plans give you access to workflows, performance reviews, and development resources.
- The UI is modern-looking and easy to use.
- Payroll deductions are automated.
- You can process payroll for U.S. W2 employees as well as domestic/international contractors.
- The customer support team is responsive both via phone and email.
- All plan users can reach out to Gusto’s team of licensed benefits advisors for help.
- Employees can access a self-service portal to check information and perform tasks on their own.
- The dashboard feature keeps tabs on compliance tasks
- The hiring and onboarding sequence is nicely streamlined between HR and the new hire
- Post-offer, pre-start tasks are made easy with integrations like CorpNet (state tax set up) Checkr (background checks)
- Easy payroll for U.S.-based W-2 folks, domestic, and international contractors
- Person-to-person phone support, email, and other customer service resources
- The business model is responsive to customer needs
CONS
- No international employee payroll, only contractors.
- No native accounting for financial tracking.
- The analytics dashboard is rather basic, compared to similar platforms.
- No native time tracking for the Simple plan.
- Compliance alerts and insurance integration can only be accessed by Premium plan users.
- No free plan or trial.
- Gusto can support payments for international contractors, but not employees
- No native accounting feature to keep earning and spending under the same roof
- Analytics dashboard is simplistic
We have tested Gusto's employee management software and found it a comprehensive solution for SMBs. With the ability to manage employees across all states, 1099 workers, and contractors worldwide, Gusto offers full-service payroll, HR, and benefits administration at affordable prices.
The Premium plan (the highest tier) provides additional value with access to performance features like automated workflows, self-evaluations, manager reviews, and career development resources for better employee engagement and professional growth.
In addition to its functional capabilities, Gusto boasts an eye-catching interface that is visually appealing and user-friendly. Navigating through the platform is intuitive, making it easier for users to manage employee-related tasks efficiently.
We also found automatic payroll deductions and payroll services available for U.S.-based W-2 employees and domestic and international contractors. Gusto's employee self-service portal is also available, reducing administrative burdens and allowing employees to handle tasks independently.
However, we couldn’t help but notice Gusto doesn’t support payments for international employees. Native accounting for comprehensive financial tracking is missing. We also found that the Simple plan lacks several features, such as time tracking, compliance alerts, and broker integration. And regrettably, Gusto does not offer a free trial option.
American Canning, Matchless Builds, Citizen Pilates, Pain Clinic, Distant Moon.
Here are the pricing options offered by Gusto:
- Simple Plan: Starting at $40 monthly, with an additional $6 per person.
- Plus Plan: Currently on a limited-time sale at $60 per month, with an additional $9 per person.
- Premium Plan: Customized plan options available upon contacting sales.
- Contractor Only Plan: Designed for businesses with no W-2 employees, priced at $6 per person per month.
Best For
Gusto's basic plan is budget-friendly, making it accessible even for cash-strapped startups. The premium plan is highly recommended for companies that have the funds to invest in human capital, especially those with just one HR employee. The premium features are worthwhile for such companies.
Day-to-day I used Gusto to manage payroll, benefits, and tax forms.
Gusto's automated payroll is solid and I never had an issue with the main payroll functions, although we had a few issues due to confusing UI with the custom earnings and dismissal payroll workflows.
Gusto's quarterly tax filings and reminders about compliance checks/updates were incredibly useful to us. The Docs section and reporting features turned out to be a helpful resource for all kinds of administrative tasks. Around 2021 I started receiving notices that some of our state tax forms weren't being filed on time. Although Gusto did resolve them eventually without penalty, it was concerning that they didn't keep us in the loop.
Gusto's benefits department is its weakest link. I never participated in the initial setup, but I managed 4 or 5 open enrollments through Gusto, and each was an unmitigated disaster. During two separate years, I sent 4+ requests to discuss new providers and never received a response. Not a peep. I have also had to clean up multiple enrollments and COBRA errors.
I speak to Gusto's support team a few times a month. Their support used to be outstanding, but recently they seem to have shifted to a script model, and the agents' competence is hit or miss. There is often an unrealistically long response time when issues are escalated to a specialist, and it is frustrating to wait days or weeks for an answer only to receive an unhelpful form response. Since Gusto handles so many regulated processes, agents are quick to default to a "we cannot advise" answer, and they often provided bad information that caused more problems than they solved. To be fair, I have also worked with agents that helped me pull off miracles, but I wish the quality were as consistent as it used to be a few years ago.
The UI is clean, intuitive, and (mostly) easy to use. I very seldom had issues with automated processes. They make onboarding new employees incredibly simple. I also really like the friendly tone of the brand's "voice." The marching pig on the loading screen that changes with the seasons never gets old; it still sparks joy each time, even after all these years!
I have used Gusto since 2018 in 3 different early-stage tech startups. Gusto has a reputation as the go-to in Silicon Valley incubators and accelerators, although I've seen Rippling gradually gaining market share in the past few years. In all 3 cases, we selected Gusto because of their breadth of services. Gusto makes it easy to set up everything our organization needed to begin hiring and paying employees. What's nice about Gusto is that it makes processes that are intimidating to many founders into a "set it and forget it" task. Automating payroll, benefits, filing government forms, and quarterly taxes helped free up time for our founding team to focus on a growing set of other responsibilities.
Gusto's benefits department is unresponsive and it's nearly impossible to get answers from support about even simple benefits questions.
I have seen quite a few concerning errors across the platform (mostly with benefits), including employees not being enrolled in benefits programs, dismissed employees not being removed from benefits programs, incomplete COBRA enrollment, and late tax filings.
The information from Support is unreliable and often inaccurate.
The dismissal payroll workflow is misleading and we've had a few serious problems as a result.
When a Gusto admin is dismissed, their admin privileges are not removed automatically, which is a serious privacy concern.
I wish Gusto made it easier to set up a business entity in new states. They partner with a company called CorpNet, but I found the level of service wasn't worth the price and went back to handling state registration myself.
I love Gusto's friendly casual-but-professional tone compared to other providers in the space.
Gusto is best for small teams, the smaller the better. It is a great option for founders and single-person People teams who have less time to dedicate to payroll, benefits, and compliance. It makes many benefits available and affordable for small groups that would not have the numbers to access plans through traditional providers.
Gusto becomes less useful as a team grows and compensation & benefits become more complex. I would definitely recommend Gusto to founders, but I recommend moving off of their benefits platform as soon as you have a full-time person to manage benefits administration. Its payroll functionality is solid, but payroll administrators should be aware that they will get limited guidance from the Gusto support team.
Gusto's functionality has grown over the time I've used the platform as they've added additional features and integrations. However, the accuracy and quality of support have suffered over time. I used to be a Gusto evangelist, but these days I recommend that growing companies move off of Gusto as soon as is practical. New features have become less useful over time, and I wish they would focus on maintaining the quality of their core product rather than trying to expand into new services.
Company founders or admins inexperienced in payroll and benefits. Very small teams with a single person managing payroll and benefits administration among many other HR responsibilities.
Larger organizations with 50+ employees. HR teams with specialists in each area. Companies with complex and highly-regulated compensation structures.
Leapsome
With easy onboarding, customizable performance reviews, employee training, recognition, and engagement features as well as OKRs setting and tracking, Leapsome has everything you need for you to manage your employees, listen to their feedback and keep them happy and productive.
PROS
- Leapsome offers a comprehensive range of features, including modules for employee onboarding, learning management, engagement, performance management, and goals tracking, among others.
- Users find Leapsome's user interface (UI) to be friendly and easy to navigate.
- The platform provides numerous third-party integration options, such as Slack, which users appreciate for enhanced connectivity.
- Leapsome's pricing is flexible, allowing users to pay only for the modules they require.
- Besides English, Leapsome is available in 12 additional languages, catering to a diverse user base.
- Leapsome is quite feature-rich; the platform packs modules for employee onboarding, learning management, engagement, performance management, goals tracking and much more.
- The majority of users find Leapsome’s UI to be friendly and easy to navigate.
- There are lots of third party integrations options to choose from, including Slack, which many users appreciate.
- The platform has transparent pricing, and you only pay for the modules you need.
CONS
- There currently isn’t a way to post or upload images or files within your feedback.
- Due to the platform's extensive capabilities, users may need some time to adapt to its various functionalities, and the implementation process can also be time-consuming.
- Leapsome currently lacks a dedicated mobile app, limiting on-the-go access for users.
- While a free 14-day trial is available, users need to schedule a demo with the sales team to sign up, as self-registration is not possible.
- There is currently no way to post or upload an image or file into your feedback.
- Since Leapsome can do so many things, you may need some time to get used to it. The implementation process can also take some time.
- There currently isn’t a mobile app that users can download and access Leapsome quickly on-the-go.
- Free 14-day trials are available but you need to book a demo with the sales team first to sign up for one; you can’t do so on your own.
Besides hosting your employee data, Leapsome gives you several tools to manage your employees, from performance tracking to sentiment analysis and skills development.
Managers can provide performance feedback to their team members either publicly or privately. The platform also enables peer-to-peer reviews and for employees to provide feedback back to their managers on what can be done to improve leadership styles and collaboration.
The employee engagement and training tools help you pay even more attention to the experience of your employees. You can routinely do surveys and pulse checks to gauge employee sentiment and take necessary actions to improve the workplace environment, while the training module helps you create and deliver learning content, unique to what skills your employees want to be better at.
Leapsome is used by many well-known companies, including Spotify, +Babbel, Unity, PayFit, Learnerbly, Modus Create, Spryker, DCMN, and more.
The pricing of Leapsome starts from $8 per user per month, which varies depending on the specific modules chosen. They also provide multi-module and volume discounts. For an exact estimate, we recommend that you contact Leapsome's Sales team directly.
Best For
Companies of all sizes can use Leapsome, though medium and large-sized companies are more likely to get the most value out of it.
WorkDay
Workday is robust and quite comprehensive. It can cover all of your HR and payroll needs without needing to combine it with other tech solutions.
PROS
- Workday has an intuitive, easy-to-use interface that makes it simple for employees to navigate and find what they need.
- You can integrate Workday with an impressive number of HR systems and tools.
- Users appreciated that Workday consolidates HR information into a single system, eliminating the need to access multiple platforms.
- Customers can get the support they need from Workday’s community of users, or the support team via live chat and telephone.
- Accessible customer support from the community, live chat, and telephone.
- Compatible with 300 HR systems such as ERP/GL, CRM, HR, and PSA.
- Configurable dashboard with AI and ML-driven insights.
- Ability to maintain real-time alignment of budgets and workforce plans.
- SOC 2 Type 2 compliance.
CONS
- It can take a long time to initially set up and implement Workday (avg 4.5 months).
- The reporting functionality has room for improvement, particularly with regard to customization and search.
- Workday’s pricing is on the expensive side, making it less feasible for smaller companies.
- No free plan or free trial.
- Undisclosed pricing.
- No free trial for its talent management software.
- Time-consuming implementation period (average 4.5 months).
- Challenge navigating for first-time users may require training.
- Issues with logging in were reported by users.
Despite mixed reviews on the user-friendliness of Workday from teams that have implemented it, it is still a robust provider of a wide range of Finance, HR, and Planning solutions, made specifically with enterprises in mind. So if you’re looking for an all-in-one solution that can easily scale, checks the necessary data compliance measures, and can be implemented across large global companies, Workday is worth checking out.
- Target
- Patagonia
- Bank of America
The pricing of Workday’s solutions isn’t disclosed on their website. Contact their sales team to get a custom quote.
Best For
Large-sized companies and enterprises.
The key workflows that we use Workday for include employee electronic files, running reports, keeping attendance, performance processes. We have over 320,000 employees and the employee electronic file needed to be customized to our needs. Certain elements such as the performance of an employee, rehire status, offer letter, and other employee related data needed to be located in one place. Strategic reports such as location data, performance trends, flight delays and hundreds of other reports are neatly stored. Attendance is vital, this feature is important in keeping up with vacation time used, earned, and sold. The connection between the time clock and Workday saves the company money because of its ability to cross check automatically.
I love that Workday is set up to have administrators who cross check local changes, hold all employee data, keep historical data and maintain who made changes in the employee file. The cross checking minimizes mistakes that can’t be figured out except by a manager who no longer works for the company! With such a large employee base, the ability to be able to keep up with everyone is paramount.
My company was really trying to get organized, and we felt that Workday was the ideal product we needed! We needed to be in a position where different individuals could access employee files. Different authorizations needed to be granted to different levels of managers. This tool offered organization and a tremendous amount of adaptation to what we needed as a global company. We have had Workday for three years and we are super happy with it!
The cons of Workday are that it can only give the information that you input into the system. Workday does not blend reports; the user has to tell Workday what to do. The best way for the Workday system to improve I think is for back office imaging to have a more active role in the information that is programmed into Workday.
Workday is different from its competitors because it has the ability to build files. As technology changes any software that is going to remain effective has to have a stacking component.
For anyone considering to purchase Workday, i’d recommend having full time programmers to enhance the core of the software. This product is extremely sophisticated and requires a lot of programming. Workday is not for the small business!
Workday is fantastic because the software is forever evolving. Workday knows what the end user wants and that is the ability to export files to excel, and add and subtract components to create a more accurate document.
Workday is designed for very large companies that survive off of statistics. Workday's strong suit is its ability to build on other reports.
Small businesses
BambooHR
With over 20,000 active clients and 1.8 million employee users, BambooHR is a top provider in the HR tech space. Their Employee Management features include time & attendance, leave requests, and employee wellbeing tools.
PROS
- Customizable packaging and flexible pricing options, allowing you to select one or two packages and add modules based on your specific requirements.
- Known for its simplicity and user-friendliness.
- Straightforward tool, easy to navigate and use.
- Flexible packaging and custom pricing is the way they roll. You can pick out one or two packages and pick other modules as add-ons based on your needs.
- Very simple and straightforward tool, easy to use.
CONS
- You can only run payroll for U.S.-based employees.
- Customer support is limited to U.S. workdays and business hours.
- Several modules such as time tracking, surveys, and performance management are available exclusively as add-ons, meaning you do need to pay more to use them.
- Payroll is only available for US-based employees
- Customer support is only offered during US business hours.
- Some modules like time tracking, performance management, and surveys are only available as add-ons.
Here’s a company that is a must-consider when it comes to various types of HR tech, including, of course, employee management systems. BambooHR is a well-known vendor in this space, with a host of HR tools to help companies manage employees throughout their lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding, to payroll and day-to-day management.Of course, employee management tools like time tracking and a performance module are available, but only offered as add-ons within one of the HRIS plans.
BambooHR has over 20,000 customers, including major companies such as the University of Maryland, Quora, Reddit, Universal Group, Asana, and Wistia.
BambooHR’s pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software. The best way forward is to book a demo with their team, request trial access, and discuss pricing for the modules you need.
Best For
BambooHR is great for companies wanting a customizable HR product with pricing tailored to their needs. It's especially popular with partial or fully remote teams.
I use BambooHR for onboarding and offboarding. I also administer it personally in my organization. We've been digging into the performance management piece of it. We've been able to participate in trainings sponsored by BambooHR to acquire deeper skills. Overall, BambooHR is a key aspect of our employee experience.
I like BambooHR because it's user-friendly. I also like that it's a system where you can really track important data like job titles and salary changes. Finally, I like that BambooHR is easy to use.
We bought BambooHR to establish a centralized place that could securely store our employees' data for our HR team. We also wanted to create a seamless onboarding and offboarding process. The customer service is impeccable at Bamboo and they're always very helpful. It's also very user-friendly. I've used the product personally for one year.
I wish BambooHR offered a way for us to administer stock options and 401K directly through the program. I also wish we had a dedicated account rep, which we, unfortunately, do not have at this time. I would love to see more engaging ways for our employees to be onboarded, as well.
They're different because they have a very attractive interface and the response rate of the customer service team is higher. They also tend to offer a more diverse set of program features.
I'd recommend really digging in to make sure you're taking advantage of all of the features and integrations Bamboo has to offer. Also, I'd recommend smaller companies (less than 50 people) really consider if this is a tool that's right for their size.
The training content they've offered is impeccable.
I'd say an organization of at least 50+ people.
An organization with fewer than 50 on its team.
Zenefits
Zenefits is an employee management software that is skillful in lots of things: onboarding, payroll, benefits, time off, workforce reporting, and retiring. Plus, it is designed with American businesses in mind, so all offerings work across 49 states at a price that is exceptionally good.
PROS
- Zenefits is one of the top names in HR tech and payroll software for American small businesses.
- Their platform is one of the best-looking and easiest to figure out in the space.
- Zenefits can grow with you. Its pricing plans allow you to pay and tweak as you go, add certain modules when you need them or get rid of them if you don’t.
- Has a free trial and a transparent pricing structure.
- It’s one of the top names in HR tech and payroll software for American small businesses.
- Their platform is one of the best-looking and easiest to figure out among the sector.
- Zenefits can grow with you. Its pricing plans allow you to pay and tweak as you go, add certain modules when you need them, or get rid of them if you don’t.
CONS
- Oriented to small businesses in the US.
- Payroll with unlimited pay runs is offered as an add-on.
- Basic customization.
- Tax filings, at times, don’t work well for multi-state teams.
- Doesn’t provide phone support or dedicated account managers. Response time on customer service is less than ideal.
- As oriented to small businesses as the tool is, it doesn’t give you the chance to create a custom bundle of the services and/or modules you’d like to have. For instance, Zenefits does not offer a standalone ACA module. Therefore, you will need to purchase an entire HRIS plan if you want to access that offering.
- In addition, Zenefits focuses on small to mid sized companies. If you're an enterprise organization, you may want to consider another option.
- Zenefits is also rather focused on the US market at this point. So, if your team is mostly in another country and you need more of a local know-how, it might not be the best bet for certain modules like payroll and benefits.
Zenefits automates several HR processes including onboarding, payroll, benefits administration, and PTO tracking so under-resourced small businesses can focus on more strategic initiatives.
Despite its affordability, the platform doesn't skimp on features. You can also boost its capabilities with integrations to popular tools like Slack, Google, Office 365, and various accounting platforms, breaking down data silos and giving HR and employees a holistic view of the organization.
With dedicated 24/7 support and a platform continuously updated based on user feedback, Zenefits is clearly devoted to optimizing the small businesses’ employee experience. For any growing company needing to graduate from manual HR processes but not ready for complex HCM tools, Zenefits offers the right balance of automation, integration, accessibility, and support.
Coney Island Prep, MeUndies, FireClay Tile, Impact, Goals for Autism.
Zenefits has three core plans plus optional add-ons:
- Essentials: $8/employee/month. Includes core HR, time tracking, integrations, and mobile app access.
- Growth: $16/employee/month. Adds compensation, and performance management to the Essentials plan.
- Zen: For $27/employee/month, Zen is Zenefits’ top-tier plan, adding wellness tracking, engagement surveys, and People Hub access.
Add-Ons:
- Payroll: $6/employee/month
- Advisory Services: $8/employee/month
- Benefits Administration: $5/employee/month
- Recruiting: Starts at $35/month
Best For
Zenefits is best for small businesses looking for an all-in-one HR, time tracking, payroll, and benefits administration platform.
UKG
From paying your employees to managing them, developing them, and everything in between, UKG is a robust HRMS suite that can cover all of your people management needs.
PROS
- Super robust product, packing years of experience with HCM and Workforce Management technology.
- Administrators can configure the visibility settings for managers, employees, and themselves.
- The Ultimate Community provides on-demand information about all UKG Pro products and their usage.
- The mobile app is available in the Apple and Android app stores.
- Offers UKG Pro for HRMS and UKG Ready for workforce management, you could arrive at a combination of products that suits many of your HR needs from the same set of tools.
- Super robust product, packing years of experience with HCM and Workforce Management technology
- Since they offer UKG Pro for HRMS and UKG Ready for workforce management, you could arrive at a combination of products that suits many of your HR needs from the same set of tools.
CONS
- Compared to newer tools, UKG Pro and UKG Ready have not configured their offering to work for smaller or niche teams.
- Employees can encounter log-in issues at times with the Android app.
- Not a very budget-friendly option for small businesses.
- Similarly, UKG offers many solutions under one umbrella, so it's not the best fit if you're looking for only a handful of specific use cases.
- Compared to newer tools, UKG Pro and UKG Ready tend to miss a unique selling point or a specific focus on a certain type of business. While they work great for bigger companies in all sorts of industries, very niche operations might have a hard time adapting to the tool.
- Similarly, UKG offers many solutions under one umbrella, so it's not the best fit if you're looking for only a handful of specific use cases.
UKG Pro is a comprehensive employee management solution for midsize to large enterprise companies. HR departments at companies like MGM Grand and the Miami Dolphins use it to hire, onboard, pay, and manage employees. This all-in-one tool also features performance management, engagement, and succession planning, so it eliminates the need to purchase additional products to fulfill such needs separately.
UKG also offers UKG Ready, a workforce management solution developed with Kronos, a well-known time and attendance tool. This partnership adds time keeping, attendance, scheduling, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) compliance to the broader UKG offering.
Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung.
- Pricing for UKG Pro or Ready is not available on their website. However, it is usually on a per-employee-per-month basis, either billed annually or monthly.
- You’d need to contact a sales representative for an accurate quote.
- Our research has shown that licenses tend to start at around $600.00 per year for every 5 users.
Best For
UKG goes beyond payroll and offers a comprehensive suite of features tailored for enterprise-level organizations. Its robust capabilities serve as an exceptional payroll + HR solution, well suited for large teams with a global headcount, but also smaller businesses with over 50 employees.
I use UKG at least once a week. I use it for my annual goals, time management, and business intelligence reports. This system has been extremely helpful in tracking and updating strategic goals. There are many reports I run from this system that supports my week to week workload. This system has been instrumental in creating reports for EEO compliance.
UKG is user friendly. It enables my team to self-manage the tools within the system. It also helps hiring managers with bias awareness.
My company has used UKG for over 2 years. We wanted a system that would enhance the recruitment process experience. I have used the system for almost 2 years and the key benefits I enjoy is that it has been a repository for my diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy that all managers can share with their teams.
Sometimes there are small glitches in the system that need technical support. I wish the pricing was cheaper. I have not been able to launch directly into timesheet mode.
I have not used many other tools as this, however, I do like the tools that uses inclusive language to review job descriptions. It recommends specific adjectives in job postings.
People should think about what they really want to accomplish with this tool (i.e., talent management, payroll, ease of integration, etc.). Ask yourself about the level of self-service you want this product to deliver. Does it deliver what you need?
I have only used the product for less than two years and currently cannot compare if it has changed or evolved over time.
Technology industry
Not good fit for large companies
15five
15Five’s Perform module comes with employee management tools to conduct performance reviews, check employees’ role clarity, identify strengths, and help them have a career vision. A unique thing managers can through this module is adjust employee scores in real-time during a calibration session.
PROS
- 15Five helps HR leaders run their performance programs from start to finish and make talent decisions based on a 360-degree view of each employee.
- With the help of visual dashboards, HR leaders can access colorful and easy-to-comprehend insights that will make their talent decisions easier.
- The platform is fairly easy to use, comes with a mobile app, has transparent pricing, as well as a 14-day free trial so users can try before they buy.
CONS
- Some users reported experiencing difficulty creating new objectives or connecting existing objectives to parent objectives in the objectives section.
- When you create an engagement survey using 15Five's template, you can only choose from a selection of pre-made categories rather than creating your own.
- The out of the box integration options are quite limited, and a Zapier integration used to be available but is now sunsetted. As an alternative, 15Five does have a public API for users to plug-in custom tools but that requires a bit more work.
15Five enables managers to have a better understanding of their team members through a host of tools for communication, performance tracking, and goal setting. For starters, managers conduct regular check-ins, performance reviews, and pulse surveys to stay informed about their team's progress and identify areas for improvement. They can also set goals, track progress towards those goals, and provide feedback to employees as needed, fueling a culture of continuous growth.
15Five’s customer base includes Hubspot, Spotify, American Red Cross, Clearbit, Pendo and more.
- Engage: $4 per user per month. Its features include Core engagement surveys, Topic-based assessments, Custom topic-based assessments, Filterable heatmap & analytics, Enterprise-grade security, an Action plan dashboard, and more.
- Perform: $8 per user per month. Its features include Performance reviews, 360º feedback, Talent Matrix, Data insights, Career Paths & Plans, and more.
- Focus: $8 per user per month. Its features include Goal setting with OKRs, OKR chart view, Data insights, Jira & Salesforce Integration, and more.
- Total Platform: $14 per user per month. Its features include everything in other plans, plus DPAs and security questionnaires.
Best For
15Five is a good bet for both growing companies and enterprises. It particularly benefits organizations seeking a holistic feedback system that ensures input from all employees throughout the company.
I utilize 15Five on a weekly basis to monitor team performance and engagement and to identify potential roadblocks as well.
While my team initially adopted 15Five to utilize the OKRs portion of the tool, I would say the most beneficial features have been the weekly check-ins, 1:1s, and best self-reviews.
I love that these key functions are all streamlined into one location and from an HR perspective, make documentation more efficient and proactive. Tracking areas of the company that are struggling has never been easier in this regard.
My employees also utilize the high-five feature more than anticipated. This feature has been key in providing insights into team camaraderie and what employees really care about as well.
I like that 15Five allows for performance and engagement tracking - this insight gives us more understanding of where these things correlate. I like that 15Five's performance tool is modeled for OKRs. I like that 15Five has customizable options to accommodate different departments or teams throughout the business.
My organization was having issues with cross-functional collaboration, understanding the areas of the business with the least efficiency, and monitoring employee engagement. To address these challenges, I recommended that the organization invest in a performance management tool.
When we were shopping for a tool to support this effort, we were specifically interested in tools that would not only streamline 360 performance reviews but also aid us in ongoing performance and engagement tracking as well.
While two years ago I had never formally used 15Five, 15Five was initially attractive because it combined all of the desirable features and even utilized OKRs - which was our leadership team's preferred method of goal setting.
At its core, OKRs are a collaborative goal-setting methodology, so even though adding a new tool or responsibility to employees' day can often feel disruptive, 15Five made this rollout more seamless.
15Five could improve its UX/UI in some areas, specifically in the best self-review section, there are some portions of reviews that are not that intuitive to regular non-admin users.
15Five should improve its support functionality, it is frustrating that the only way to communicate with support is through email.
15Five should produce training modules for admins and employees, the help center is largely ineffective for employees using the platform for the first time.
I would say 15Five is very similar to Lattice. Both tools have their pros and cons, but overall I would say that 15Five measures up similarly to its competitors if companies are looking to utilize this kind of performance tracking.
One opportunity I would say for 15Five is that a lot of companies are wanting to simplify their performance tracking procedures so they are choosing to go with more metric-driven tools that produce custom reports.
When shopping for a performance and engagement management tool, companies should consider what key results are most important. Everyone wants to adopt a system to streamline these areas of the business, but I think a tool like 15Five can overcomplicate companies that do not have the resources to properly roll out a tool with such functionality.
I have been utilizing 15Five for almost 3 years and I would say I am not super impressed with the tool's ability to roll out product improvements. I think making foundational improvements to their support system, help center, and UI/UX would make a larger impact rather than offering opportunities to attend webinars or upsell leadership courses to companies already paying for the platform.
I would say 15Five is best suited for organizations where performance is more subjective or difficult to measure.
Organizations that rely heavily on sales are not a good fit for 15Five. There is a lot of administrative work that comes with utilizing this kind of system and it does not really support that kind of structure.
Zoho People
Zoho People is a solution for HR teams looking for an affordable or even free workforce management tool. It administers core HR activities, like onboarding, time off management, attendance, performance, LMS, engagement, and database management. It also includes an employee self-service portal with security-conscious permission controls and more.
PROS
- Comprehensive core HR features consolidated in a single platform.
- Offers a wide array of integrations.
- Available in multiple languages, catering to users across the globe.
- Provides a free version and a free trial.
- All core HR features in a single dashboard
- Wide array of integrations
- User-friendly UI, constantly updated
- Available in multiple languages
CONS
- Some modules may lack the depth of comparable products. For example, some users found the payroll offering to be relatively basic.
- The mobile app does not mirror the features of the web version.
- The platform's responsiveness is unpredictable – users have reported occasional loading delays.
- Since they offer so many modules, some may be not as robust as other products that have been more specific about covering certain needs. For instance, some teams have found their payroll offering to be quite basic.
- Not all that’s available in the web platform is available in the app
- Some users reported that the platform can be slow to load every now and then.
Zoho People is a 360-degree HR solution that amazes us with its rich features. Depending on the plan purchased, users can get some or even all of their employee management needs covered, from onboarding and attendance management to time tracking, appraisals, and learning.
One standout feature is Cases. The feature lets users post their support questions under specific HR categories to receive prompt responses from assigned agents. It's a simple, effective, time-saving solution.
Zoho People features real-time access control. It allows administrators to assign access permissions for select members, promoting better collaboration while ensuring data security.
Another nice touch is Announcements: managers can use this to keep employees posted on company news using various content types, formatting options, and location-specific visibility.
In our testing, the self-service elements worked well in the Chrome browser. The web version contains numerous tools like employee records, leave requests, timesheets, and policy documents.
However, we did encounter some challenges with the mobile app. It occasionally lagged, particularly when using functions like check-ins and facial recognition. Additionally, certain tools, such as the payroll feature, are less fleshed out than in similar tools in this space.
ZPE Systems, Cloudfronts Technologies, Zomato, SpiceJet, Foresight CFO.
Zoho People is free for up to five users. After that, the platform offers four plans with the following pricing:
- Essential HR: $1.25/user/month billed annually.
- Professional: $2/user/month billed annually.
- Premium: $3/user/month billed annually.
- Enterprise: $4.5/user/month billed annually
Best For
This tool is particularly well-suited for SMBs who can make use of its multilingual capabilities.
I use Zoho People for tracking time and leaves. Besides, it is great to chat with other team members. The platform includes an organizational chart, compensation, and training modules. It has great reporting features as well. I can easily check all my records, such as my pay stub for every month of the year, company employee list, and vacation schedule. etc.
It is affordable and user-friendly. The customer support that is available in the software is good and always active in responding to customers. The application is easy to use for most users. Zoho People is a great option for storing employee information and tracking time.
5 years ago our company started to use Zoho People to deliver exceptional digital HR experiences to our employees while managing the entire employee life cycle on a single platform. I like its simplicity and integration with other Zoho tools like Zoho Payroll, Zoho Books, Zoho Expenses, etc. I love that the request permission, approval, and tracking features are so helpful. I like that the interactive form builder allows us to create different forms that meet our needs and help our HR team.
Sometimes I run into difficulties in terms of data integration between other integrated programs. Zoho People software does not integrate with other similar applications. They only provide a limited number of administrators for Standard and Premium pricing plans. The system is cloud-based only and not flexible to use.
Zoho People comes with an employee portal, organization chart, self-service, performance appraisal, employee leaves management, and salary tool features. All the HR processes can be managed from a central location which can help users to save time and reduce costs. The software offers a fully-mobile self-service that can help employees to get easy access to their HR data from anywhere, anytime. It can help employees have better control over their work.
The price of the solution is low and most people can afford it. Customer support includes online and email user support. Easy to learn and use.
They offer cloud-based hosting, which means IT resources are retrieved through web-based tools and applications and you don't need to buy servers and additional hardware equipment.
It is very good for small and medium size companies.
It would be a bit challenging for big corporations as Zoho People doesn’t offer unlimited employee profile support.
Namely
Namely powerful HR suite streamlines how you manage your people. It covers onboarding, attendance tracking, performance management, payroll, and benefits administration. It also provides valuable insights into market trends so you can stay competitive.
PROS
- Namely offers a user-friendly interface that allows seamless navigation of the platform, even with its extensive features.
- The employee onboarding module has an easy-to-use wizard, facilitating a smooth onboarding process for employees and new hires.
- Besides Namely’s payroll and benefits administration features, you can opt for their managed payroll and benefits administration services to reduce your team's workload even further.
- The majority of users are able to navigate Namely without any issues. They find the UI to be intuitive and clean, despite the fact that the platform has lots of features.
- Namely’s employee onboarding module gets a alot of praise from users. It features an easy-to-follow wizard, which helps new hires get on quickly and be clear on what they need to do.
- Besides the platform’s built in features for data management, recruiting, onboarding, time off tracking, payroll and benefits administration, there are also managed payroll and benefits administration services you can opt for to reduce the burden on your internal teams.
CONS
- Namely caters mainly to the U.S. market, which means it’s not quite suitable for organizations that need it to handle payroll and benefits for employees in other countries.
- If you’re looking for quick implementation, Namely may not be for you as on average, 6-8 weeks are needed to get your instance up and running.
- Currently, Namely lacks employee development features such as skills training, career pathing, and succession planning.
- Users should look into whether Namely is compatible with their existing benefits provider, as a few users have reported instances where Namely's team encouraged them to switch to providers with higher fees.
- Namely primarily operates in the U.S., which means if you’re looking for a global payroll and benefits provider, this platform isn’t for you.
- Though many praise the platform’s ease of use, it does take long to implement it. Namely’s own team says that an average implementation takes between 6-8 weeks.
- For a platform of Namely’s size, there currently aren’t any features that focus on employee development such as skill training, career pathing, succession planning etc.
- You’ll need to check beforehand if Namely can work with your existing benefits provider, if you have one. There have been a few reports (but not few enough to ignore) about Namely’s team convincing customers to change their benefits provider to providers that charged them more.
Namely offers a range of features to help you with day-to-day employee management. A fundamental one is employee profiles, which you can create from scratch or upload from existing sources. You can access these profiles whenever you need to view employee data, including personal details, job roles, performance history, and benefits information. Namely also packs payroll management capabilities, optimizing how you process payroll and helping you with calculations, tax filing, direct deposits, and more.
You can use Namely’s time and attendance tracking module to ensure accurate recording of work hours and payroll processing. You can stay on top of things even further with Namely’s performance management module, which can help you set goals, conduct evaluations, and provide feedback to employees among other things.
Namely is used by several growing companies including Greenhouse, Vita Coco, Life is Good, and OneLogin.
Custom pricing is available upon request of a demo. It will vary depending on which package you choose. They start with a basic HR package and then sell extensions or enhanced services for things like payroll solutions and employee benefits.
Best For
Mid-sized companies across different verticals will make the most out of Namely’s offering.
kissflow
Kissflow Digital Workplace gives you all the tools you need to optimize, manage, and track all of your work. It has five core modules to handle any type of work that moves your way: processes, projects, cases, datasets, and collaboration.
PROS
CONS
Kissflow is designed for both managers and their employees. It lets individuals know exactly what tasks are assigned to them and lets them track work as it moves along a flow. It allows team leaders to create and control codeless workflows and forms. It helps the entire organization digitize their work and creates an operational system of record to know the status of what work was completed.
- Domino’s
- Pepsi
- Sears
- Hubspot
- Casio
- Basic: $16/user/month (Starts at 10 Users)
- Advanced: $22/user/month (Starts at 10 Users)
- Fully Loaded: $30* /user/month (Starts at 50 Users)
Best For
Kissflow has plans for companies of different sizes.
Key Features of Employee Management Software
“Employee management” is a wide software umbrella. Hundreds of different HR management software solutions (HRMS) can be categorized under it. While that may be the case, the following are some of the most common features you can safely expect from employee management software.
- Storing employee records: An employee management software effectively functions as your employee database. It stores employee information such as names, addresses, designations, salaries, and start dates. You can even store custom employee info such as skills, education, birthdays, emergency contact details, and more.
- Time and attendance tracking: Manually updating timesheets is a tedious task that’s not only time-consuming, but almost impossible to perform without any errors. Incorrectly inputting employee time and attendance data leads to incorrect payroll. With the help of employee management software, you can cut down on human errors and ensure that your payroll is always accurate.
- Employee scheduling: Employee management software can help you schedule and move around shifts for your employees to ensure that the working hours of your business are sufficiently covered. Depending on what product you use, employees may also be allowed access to the same system to adjust availabilities and request shift changes.
- Employee self-service portal: The majority of employee management solutions provide employee self-service portals. Employees may use these portals to handle a number of human resources-related tasks that would otherwise require the attention of an HR employee. Most self-service portals allow employees to update personal details such as contact details, addresses, bank account info, and more. Some employee self-service portals also allow employees to put in time-off requests and adjust availabilities.
- Employee performance monitoring: Most employee management systems allow employers to define goals and productivity metrics and monitor employees’ progress towards those goals and metrics from a single dashboard. Accessing such data enables employers to make informed decisions that drive performance, e.g. identify where certain employees could use some training or if their skills are perhaps more suited for a different role.
- 3rd-party integrations: The majority of employee management software solutions offer integration options with your existing business tools such as those for recruiting, payroll, enterprise resource planning (ERP), team collaboration, and more to extend the functionality of your software, have your data synchronize automatically and eliminate duplicated effort.
- Additional features: In addition to the above, some employee management systems may also carry features for applicant tracking, onboarding, payroll management, benefits administration, learning management, employee rewards and employee recognition.
Common Mistakes Made When Buying Employee Management Software
You can easily make mistakes when choosing an employee management solution if you don’t carefully research and compare what’s available on the market while factoring in the needs and budget of your business. Here are a few mistakes you should avoid:
- Buying an all-in-one employee management software when all you need is one or two HR functions covered: To give an example, if you only need a system for performance management or attendance tracking, then buy a product that does just that. An all-in-one HR cloud can be quite costly if you’re not putting it to good use. We recommend that you always invest carefully and selectively to make the most out of your budget.
- Choosing an employee management system that isn’t scalable: Your business may see exponential growth within just a matter of months. It may also experience financial hardships, requiring you to downsize your team. No matter what the future holds for your business, you’ll definitely need your employee management software to grow or shrink accordingly.
- Not aligning internally with all departments that could benefit from an employee management system before buying one: Many of the top employee management systems offer features that extend beyond your HR department’s scope. For example, employee management software can have project management capabilities, which means different managers across your company can use it to stay organized and keep track of their team members’ progress. It is also quite common for an employee management system to have payroll processing and benefits administration features, which are typically the responsibility of the finance department and not HR. Since other departments/managers can benefit from your employee management system, make sure you factor in their feedback in your product selection process.
- Making long-term commitments before thoroughly testing a solution: Most software vendors will offer you a discount if you get into an annual contract. Some will even try to tempt you to get into a two-year commitment. While such deals can save you a significant amount of money over time, you should only commit to a vendor after thoroughly testing their software and verifying that it’s the one for you. Otherwise, you will end up going back and forth with them regarding their refund policy and likely incurring a considerable cancellation fee.
Pricing Models of Employee Management Software
The majority of employee management software vendors offer tiered pricing to accommodate different business needs and financial capabilities. Those tiers vary in terms of features and either cost a flat monthly/annual subscription fee for an unlimited number of employees, or have a per-employee-per-month pricing structure, which could cost anywhere between $1.25 - $30 per employee per month.
Do keep in mind that in all cases, additional fees may still apply for on-demand services such as product training, customization, compliance services, dedicated account management, and cancellation. Consult your selected employee management software vendor on the exact breakdown of their recurring fees as well as the pricing of all on-demand services that are billed separately.
Benefits of Using Employee Management Software
Using employee management software allows you to:
- Secure employee information: Paper files and spreadsheets are not a secure way to store sensitive employee data as they could easily fall into the wrong hands. You can mitigate such risks by using an employee management system instead. The majority of employee management systems are highly secure, with measures such as data encryption and multi-factor authentication to keep your employees’ information safe at all times.
- Increase productivity: Using an employee management system helps you automate many processes that are otherwise quite tedious and take up a great deal of your team’s time. When different departments across your company aren’t manually dealing with employee data maintenance, time and attendance tracking, shift scheduling, leave management, etc, they’re able to reinvest that time in other tasks that contribute to your bottom line.
- Improve employee satisfaction: Good HR tech has an impact on employee experience and retention. When employees are managed through outdated channels and processes, it is easy for them to get frustrated and dissatisfied with your company. An employee management software gives your employees a channel to easily update their information, request time off, adjust their shifts, track their performance, communicate with you when needed, and much more - all in an effortless manner.
Questions to Ask During Your Employee Management Software Demos
As you’re researching different employee management software, we always recommend that you schedule demo sessions with the top vendors on your list to make sure their solution is compatible with the needs of your business. Here are a few questions you can ask during your demos:
- What HR functions does your software cover?/ Can your solution replace other products in my HR tech stack?
- Can you walk me through what employees see through their self-service portal (if any)?
- Does your platform feature Artificial Intelligence (AI) to automate certain processes?
- How easy is it to implement your solution, and would I be able to do it myself?
- What business solutions does your software integrate with?
- What metrics have you used to prove the effectiveness of your solution, and where can I see these in my analytics dashboard?
- What data protection laws are you compliant with?
- How much does the software cost for my team size?
- How will our pricing change as our team grows or shrinks?
- Will I be assigned a dedicated account manager?
- What are your Customer Support SLAs?
- Do you have a help center with articles and other documentation for self-service?
Implementing an Employee Management Software
Implementing employee management software is fairly easy, especially since the majority of them are cloud-based, delivered through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructure. Getting started with a cloud-based solution is relatively quick. Once you’ve purchased a subscription that meets your needs, you can create an account and start configuring it and importing your employee data.
On the other hand, some employee management software solutions are self-hosted (on-premise). Self-hosted solutions generally take longer to set up, and depending on your chosen vendor, you may need to consult them regarding their solutions’ compatibility with your current hardware and installation process or better yet, have them do the installation for you.
Note: Most of the vendors we’ve listed in this guide provide step-by-step video tutorials and help docs that assist customers in getting up and running quickly. For more information, you can reach out to your chosen vendor’s support team.
Employee Management Software FAQ
What is employee management software?
Employee management software allows companies to carry out different HR functions, including time and attendance tracking, new hire onboarding, shift scheduling, leave management, employee engagement, and performance management. It may also have features for payroll processing and benefits administration.
What to look for in employee management software?
Besides making sure that employee management software covers the HR/finance functions that you need, see that it is user-friendly, scalable, can integrate with favorite products, and has an employee self-service portal.
Who needs employee management software?
All businesses, regardless of size and industry, can benefit from employee management software to streamline how they store employee information, onboard and offboard employees, as well as drive up employee engagement and performance.
How are employee management software solutions deployed?
The majority of employee management systems are cloud-based, delivered through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) infrastructure. This means you’ll be able to easily access them through most web browsers, either on your desktop or mobile device.
On the other hand, some employee management systems are self-hosted (on-premise). Self-hosted solutions generally take longer to set up, and depending on your chosen vendor, you may need to consult them regarding their solutions’ compatibility with your current hardware and installation process or better yet, have them do the installation for you.
Final Thoughts
No matter what industry you’re in and regardless of the size of your company, an employee management system is quite useful to streamline different functions across your HR department and beyond. All of the solutions we’ve listed in this guide would make a great addition to your tech stack. All you have to do is:
- Align with your HR, Finance, and other team managers regarding their needs and expectations before selecting a product;
- Carefully consider those needs as well as your budget and choose a product that meets them;
- Request a trial account to test the platform’s features first-hand;
- Schedule demo sessions with different vendors to get all of your questions answered.
Thanks for reading our guide on employee management software. We constantly review the top software vendors in the HR space. If you’re new to HR tech and want to learn more, we recommend you start by checking out our top HRIS, payroll, and benefits administration vendor recommendations.
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