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In this Guide
- Top Employee Management Software
- Intro and Our Criteria
- Our Reviews of the Top Vendors
- Key Features of Employee Management Software
- Common Mistakes Made When Buying Employee Management Software
- Pricing Models of Employee Management Software
- Benefits of Using Employee Management Software
- Questions to Ask During Your Employee Management Software Demos
- Implementing an Employee Management Software
- Employee Management Software FAQ
- Final Thoughts
Employee management software is a must-have in a modern workplace. If you need an employee management system to keep your employee data orderly, check out these top vendors: Gusto, 15five, and WorkDay. Between these three, most companies will find a perfect fit. But your business has unique needs, so read on to learn more!
Our research covers everything you need to know. This guide has input from user research, expert contributors, and our in-house HR Tech nerds. Our criteria are consistent, and our methods are meticulous. Keep reading to learn the right questions, what to expect, and more.
Hand picked by our HR Technology experts after product testing, user research, and much debate - enjoy!
Whether you’re a small business or large company, you can benefit from a best-in-class employee management solution to easily store and retrieve employee data, track time and attendance, manage leave requests, schedule shifts, monitor performance, and much more. When such tasks are automated, you can save money, boost productivity, and increase employee satisfaction.
Convinced but not sure where to start? Look no further than this guide. Read on for a breakdown of everything you need to know about employee management software, including the best vendors, key features, benefits, pricing details, and more considerations to help you in your selection process.
Our criteria: How we chose the best vendors
We take research seriously. To make sure we’re offering our readers the very best solutions in a given software category, we are methodical, rigorous, and expansive in our research. We consult with HR professionals, vendors, and industry experts. We cut through the noise to bring you a carefully curated list of vendors, along with other essential information, to help you find the right software platform for your business.
Here’s how we chose who makes the cut:
Product: We believe in gaining a comprehensive understanding of a product before we recommend it, so we start by getting to know the software. Whenever possible, we meet with a senior executive (CEO or Head of Product) for a demo and Q&A. We also test the product ourselves to make sure it has a solid UI, intuitive workflows, and the features to make it a best-in-class offering.
User feedback: We go straight to the source and compile feedback on user experience. Real-world input supports our commitment to diligence in our software evaluation methods and the products we recommend. Keeping up with the everyday experience of HR pros also puts new vendors on our radar, and it keeps us close to our community so we can better connect the right products to the right people.
Financial metrics: We are certified finance nerds, so we use all the data we can get our hands on to make selections for our guides. We comb through data for concrete statistics like retention rates, growth, profitability, and scalability. We evaluate the bottom line of each product because we know making a software purchase can put your reputation on the line.
Best for a use case: Software is never a one-size-fits-all product. Sometimes the best solution is free or cheap. Other times it’s the one that is best for global companies or the one that’s sized right for early-stage startups. Keeping this in mind, we include solutions across the spectrum so our readers can find the best fit for their unique needs.
Here's more detail if you want to read more about how we research vendors. Our dedicated staff writers rely on hard data, impartial experts, and user feedback to ensure our reviews are helpful, truthful, and hopefully a pleasure to read!
Top Employee Management Software
We track thousands of HR Tech solutions. Here are the best employee management software as of 2022.
Why we love it
:
Leapsome is highly flexible; you can quickly set up a review process from their best-practice templates and frameworks as well as build on their existing surveys and questionnaires developed by psychologists - or simply customize everything yourself.
- 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.
- 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.
Leapsome
Review:
With easy onboarding, customizable performance reviews, employee training, recognition, and engagement option as well as goals and OKRs management, Leapsome has everything you need for you to manage your employees, listen to their feedback and keep them happy and productive.
Leapsome
Customers:
- Mercedes-Benz
- Spotify
- Trivago
- Eventim
- Babbel
- Plus Dental
Leapsome is used by many well-known companies, including Spotify, +Babbel, Unity, PayFit, Learnerbly, Modus Create, Spryker, DCMN, and more.
Leapsome
Pricing:
Leapsome’s pricing depends on the number of your employees, the modules you want to use, and the length of your contract. Its modular pricing starts from $7 per user per month when billed annually. To get a detailed quote, contact Leapsome’s sales team. You can also test out Leapsome free of charge for a full 14 days - no credit card required.
Leapsome’s pricing starts at $8 per user per month. You pay for the module(s) you want to use, which are:
- Perform: It includes features such as Performance Reviews, 360° Reviews, Skill Framework, Automations, Analytics, Feedback & Praise, and 1:1s & Team Meetings.
- Align: It includes features such as Goals & OKRs, Activity Feed, Goal Tree, Goal Analytics, OKR Check-ins, Feedback & Praise, and 1:1s & Team Meetings.
- Engage: It includes features such as Pulse & Engagement, Best Practice Library, Onboarding Surveys, Conversations, Benchmarks, Feedback & Praise, and 1:1s & Team Meetings.
- Learn: It includes features such as Onboarding Paths, Learning Paths, Content Library, Quizzes, Learning Analytics, Feedback & Praise, and 1:1s & Team Meetings.
- Reward: It includes features such as Compensation, Promotion, Proposal Approval, Set Rules, Track Progress, Feedback & Praise, and 1:1s & Team Meetings.
Best For
Leapsome can be used by companies of all sizes across different verticals.
Why we love it
:
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.
WorkDay
Review:
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.
WorkDay
Customers:
- Target
- Patagonia
- Bank of America
Target, Patagonia, Bank of America
WorkDay
Pricing:
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.
Why we love it
:
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
BambooHR
Review:
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
Customers:
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
Among the 20,000+ companies that use BambooHR, you’d find names like Quora, Universal Group, Reddit, Asana, Change.org, University of Maryland, Grammarly, Stance, Postmates, Wistia, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and ZipRecruiter.
BambooHR
Pricing:
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but they do offer a free trial of their all-in-one software and then go out of their way to find a version that will suit you. Before they come up with a personalized quote that will align with your budget, however, they are also likely to extend your free trial upon request or even give you a free demo of the advanced features.
Best For
BambooHR is a good fit for companies looking for a very customizable HR product, with pricing that reflects their needs. It’s also popular among teams that are partially or even fully remote.
Why we love it
:
Zenefits is a great option for small businesses looking for a robust, all-in-one HR, payroll, and benefits management system without breaking the bank.
- 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.
- 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
Review:
Zenefits automates several human resources tasks and functions like onboarding and payroll. What makes it noteworthy is that it is specifically made with small businesses in mind. So if you're a small business owner that needs a comprehensive HR product but can’t afford an HCM suite, or if your HR department is rather thin, Zenefits is definitely worth considering.
Zenefits
Customers:
- Coney Island Prep
- MeUndies
- FireClay Tile
- Impact
- Goals for Autism
Since they focus on the small business sector, you likely won’t see huge brands among Zenefits’ customer list. You might see one of the local brands you interact with, however! Their “Customer Success Stories” page is frequently updated with profiles of their customers and how they’re making good use of the product. Rather than name drop several companies this time, we’d suggest checking that out.
Zenefits
Pricing:
- Essentials: This plan costs $8 per employee per month and packs all of Zenefits’ core HR features, employee time and scheduling tools, 3rd party integrations, as well as access to Zenefits’ mobile app.
- Growth: This plan costs $14 per employee per month and includes all of the features under the Essentials plan, plus compensation and performance management tools.
- Zen: This plan costs $21 per employee per month and includes all of the features under the Growth plan, plus tools and services for employee well-being tracking, employee engagement surveys, as well as access to Zenefits’ People Hub, where employees and admins can communicate and collaborate directly in their HR system of record.
In addition to the above, Zenefits offers the following add‑ons that can go on top of any of its base plans:
- Payroll: $6 per employee per month.
- Advisory services: $8 per employee per month.
- Benefits administration (with your own broker): $5 per employee per month.
Zenefits starts with the following plans:
- Essentials: This plan costs $8 per employee per month and packs all of Zenefits’ core HR features, employee time and scheduling tools, 3rd party integrations, as well as access to Zenefits’ mobile app.
- Growth: This plan costs $14 per employee per month and includes all of the features under the Essentials plan, plus compensation and performance management tools.
- Zen: This plan costs $21 per employee per month and includes all of the features under the Growth plan, plus tools and services for employee well-being tracking, employee engagement surveys, as well as access to Zenefits’ People Hub, where employees and admins can communicate and collaborate directly in their HR system of record.
In addition to the above, Zenefits offers the following add‑ons that can go on top of any of its base plans:
- Payroll: $6 per employee per month.
- Advisory services: $8 per employee per month.
- Benefits administration (with your own broker): $5 per employee per month.
The Essentials plan features ACA compliance. If you have 50 employees, the ACA minimum, it will cost $400 per month at its least expensive. However, if you use your own insurance broker, it's an extra $5 per employee per month. They offer a free two week trial before you have to buy.
Lastly, for larger businesses looking into Zenefits, Enterprise pricing is available upon request.
Best For
Small businesses looking for an all-in-one HR, time tracking, payroll, and benefits administration platform.
Why we love it
:
From paying your employees to managing them, developing them, and everything in between, UKG Pro is a robust HRMS suite that can cover all of your people management needs.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Review:
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. It also has features for performance management, engagement, and succession planning. Naturally, this eliminates the need to purchase additional products to fulfill such needs separately.
This is especially true since the company also offers UKG Ready, a workforce management solution developed from Kronos (which was one of the top time and attendance tools for years). This adds features like time and attendance, scheduling, and ACA compliance into the broader UKG offering.
UKG
Customers:
Through the years, UKG has been trusted by organizations like Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung, Mammoth, Temple University, MGM Grand, The YMCA, The Salvation Army, and Feeding America.
Through the years, UKG has been trusted by organizations like Tesla, Marriott, Yamaha, Aramark, Puma, Sony Music, Samsung, Mammoth, Temple University, MGM Grand, The YMCA, The Salvation Army, and Feeding America.
UKG
Pricing:
Pricing for UKG Pro 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. However, our research has shown that licenses tend to start at $600.00 per year for every 5 users.
Pricing for UKG Pro 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. However, our research has shown that licenses tend to start at $600.00 per year for every 5 users.
Best For
UKG Pro is mainly marketed toward companies with more than 100 employees. That being said, their software is used in all kinds of industries. Smaller teams looking for an HCM-based approach to workforce management can also do a lot with the software.
Why we love it
:
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.
- 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.
- 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
Review:
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
Customers:
15Five’s customer base includes Hubspot, Spotify, American Red Cross, Clearbit, Pendo and more.
15Five’s customer base includes Hubspot, Spotify, American Red Cross, Clearbit, Pendo and more.
15five
Pricing:
- 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.
- 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 more suitable for growing companies and enterprises wanting to ensure that they're getting feedback from all corners of the organization.
Why we love it
:
Core solution for HR teams looking for an affordable or even free tool to manage their workforce. It features modules for core employee management activities like database keeping and scaling, self-service portal, permission controls, and more.
- All core HR features in a single dashboard
- Wide array of integrations
- User-friendly UI, constantly updated
- Available in multiple languages
- All core HR features in a single dashboard
- Wide array of integrations
- User-friendly UI, constantly updated
- Available in multiple languages
- 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.
- 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
Review:
Zoho people is a 360-degree HR solution that can automate your HR processes while you take care of your employees. From hiring, onboarding, and attendance management to time tracking and appraisals, Zoho People has got all of your employee management needs covered.
Zoho People
Customers:
Some of the companies that use Zoho people are ZPE Systems, Cloudfronts Technologies, Zomato, SpiceJet, and Foresight CFO.
Some of the companies that use Zoho people are ZPE Systems, Cloudfronts Technologies, Zomato, SpiceJet, and Foresight CFO.
Zoho People
Pricing:
Zoho People is free for up to 5 users. After that, it has 4 plans that are priced as follows:
- 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
Zoho People is free for up to 5 users. After that, it has 4 plans that are priced as follows:
- 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
Zoho People has plans for many sorts of organizations, even offering custom pricing for those with more than 500 employees. The product is affordable enough to be used by small businesses and robust enough to handle the complex and scalable needs of large companies. Even the more expensive Zoho People plans can check all the HRMS boxes without breaking the bank.
Why we love it
:
Namely is an all-in-one HR platform that's made specifically with mid-sized companies in mind, but can be used all businesses, regardless of size and industry.
- 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.
- 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
Review:
Namely has quickly become one of the best HR software solutions for the mid-market (from 50 employees to up to a thousand). Their modern, employee-friendly software sees nearly 80% of employees log in each month. Plus, their software saves their clients an average of 11 hours each week through automation and integrations which provides a strong ROI for overworked HR teams.
Namely
Customers:
- Greenhouse
- MacStadium
- Life is Good
- OneLogin
Over 1200 companies use Namely, including Greenhouse, MacStadium, Life is Good, and OneLogin.
Namely
Pricing:
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.
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.
Why we love it
:
Gusto recently an ATS to its features. It can handle job posting, syndication to job boards, interview notes, and basic scheduling – all within the Gusto platform. It is currently optimized for employers with “moderate” hiring needs, but they can help you determine whether their new native ATS or another within their ecosystem is right for you. The tool is promising and it operates well within the environment it, and, like the platform itself, has the uncanny feel of a product that is sound in its inception and sturdy in its architecture.
- 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
- 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
- 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
- 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
Gusto
Review:
Gusto has done a great job avoiding a common software pitfall. Many good tech teams have fallen under the spell of the Shiny New Thing, and, in allowing themselves to be distracted and diluted, their core products and loyal customs suffer from neglect. Gusto has kept a steady pace through the years and their primary focus on payroll and benefits has not been clouded by impulsive building more features into their stack. Instead, they work with numerous integrated partners who take the wheel on new initiatives, letting Gusto stay in its lane.
Gusto
Customers:
- American Canning
- Matchless Builds
- Citizen Pilates
Gusto’s site has some customer stories for the curious
Gusto
Pricing:
- Simple: $40/month +$6/month/person
- Plus: $60/month +$9/month/person (limited time sale)
- Premium: call sales for customized plan options
- Contractor only (no W-2 employees): $6/month/person
- Simple: $40/month +$6/month/person
- Plus: $60/month +$9 / month/person (limited-time sale)
- Premium: call sales for customized plan options
- Contractor only (no W-2 employees): $6/month/person
Best For
Even budget-strapped startups can afford Gusto’s basic plan, and for companies who have some bank capital to invest in human capital, the top-tier Premium plan is a great choice, especially if they have an HR department of one person.
Why we love it
:
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.
kissflow
Review:
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.
kissflow
Customers:
- Domino’s
- Pepsi
- Sears
- Hubspot
- Casio
- Domino's
- Pepsi
- Sears
- Hubspot
- Casio
kissflow
Pricing:
- 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)
- 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, 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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