Human resource management is a very involved and daunting task, especially if your organization is growing and expanding. There are many functions involved within the HR (Human Resource) function. They include:

• Recruitment, Staffing and Applicant Tracking
• Learning Management Systems
• Training and Development
• Human Resource Planning and Budgeting
• Workforce Management
• Personnel Administration
• Benefits Administration
• Time and Attendance Management with Leave Tracking
• Employee Performance Management
• Payroll Management

All these and more functions are not easy to manage in medium to large scale organizations unless one resorts to buying a human resource management software to take care of all the various records and data.

Tips On Buying A Human Resource Software

Most of the human resource software available in the market today, offer these various functions either as separate modules or as a combination package. Therefore it is extremely important that your organization conduct a requirement analysis before venturing out to the market to purchase a HR software solution. While doing such a requirement analysis, the things to consider are:

• How many employees would be using the software?
• What specific HR functions do I need in the software?
• Will your staff need to undergo training to learn how to use the software?
• Do I need to have different accessibility options for my software? For example, should employees be able to access the system via the Internet or should employees be able to access and change their personal data in the system.

After this step, your organization needs to decide upon a budget for the software. Towards that end, one can research online and find out the average prices of the various human resource management softwares available in the market today. The organization can also contact the respective vendors and ask for quotes.

Once your needs and budgets have been established, you can then look into the various benefits / facilities offered by the softwares available. Here is a list of features you should be looking for:

• If your staff needs to be trained on the software, does the software vendor offer comprehensive training facilities along with the purchase of the software?
• What kind of technical support options does the software vendor offer?
• Is it possible to view a demo of the software?
• Is it possible to have a trial version of the software installed in your organization, so that you can try before you buy the software?
• How many employee records would the software be able to support?
• What has been the performance record of the software in the industry?
• Does the software offer cross platform compatibility?
• If your organization is already using some other software solution for a section of the HR functions, then does the new software developer / vendor offer different integration capabilities with that software?
• Does the software offer web based accessibility features?
• Does the software offer self-service options for employees?
• Does the software offer features where you can customize the visibility of different screens depending on the level of the employee?
• Does the software offer reports? Are they customizable?

Once you have ascertained your needs and have checked the features available in the human resource management software, and if the software matches your needs, then you can negotiate with the software vendor for a good deal.

There are several benefits of having such a system installed in your organization. Chief among these benefits is easy accessibility to all the relevant information about your employees at the click of a button. The reports function also has its uses for filling out various government regulation forms. Apart from this, the time and attendance management module collaborates with the payroll module to efficiently calculate the salaries and benefits of all the employees effectively. The self-service option which is another important feature helps employees access their own data and fill in performance review reports periodically. This helps generate a feeling of participation among the employees.

Thus, armed with this information and common sense, you can make an informed decision about which human resource management software to purchase for your organization.

By Madhavi Ghare