7 Essential Questions to Ask When Buying HR Software

You’ve decided that investing in new Human Resources(HR) software will benefit your business. Using a sleek new HR management tool will streamline your HR processes and free your team from the burden of manually sifting through CVs, tracking candidates, and other tasks. The next step is to choose the right software to meet your needs.

Here are our top questions to ask when you are comparing different systems on the market.

1. What features do you need?

Different systems offer different features and functionalities. You’ll need to weigh the options and choose features that are most valuable to you and your business needs. For example, if your business has a high staff turnover with high volume recruitment, you may prefer a system with robust CV matching features. Or, candidate sourcing may be on your radar. If that’s the case, you might benefit from a system with advanced recruitment sourcing capabilities.

2. What is their key area of expertise?

With all of the competing HR tools on the market, you are looking for one that stands out from the crowd and aligns with your business needs and priorities. Look at review sites and find out why people love a certain tool. Then, you’ll know which ones are really in tune with your organization and excel in the areas that you have identified as being the most important to you. While using your sense of intuition is important here, you can also draw a simple tally of competing systems to compare what benefits they offer.

3. What pricing can you afford?

HR software pricing can vary widely among different offerings. Check whether the system charges you per user (this is the most typical method of pricing) or instead offers you a set monthly price. Flat monthly pricing is better for budgeting, but many providers feel they need to charge you for the amount of usage.

There are options out there at nearly every budget range. You’ll discover what you can compromise on, and what is essential, and find the best tool for the money.

4. What will the implementation look like?

This is an often-neglected question by clients who are ready to get the system up and running. But it’s an important area to consider since complicated and long-winded setups cost you valuable time and money, not to mention staff resources. Data migration is usually a key point to consider here, as it’s likely that your business will have existing data that needs to be moved across to the new platform. Make sure that any additional costs relating to the implementation process are laid out clearly in advance.

You’ll also want to understand what the training process looks like, including how your HR team will be trained and what ongoing support they will be offered. Choose a system with intuitive, clear navigation that makes life easier for your users. After all, that’s why you’re investing in it.

5. What reports are available?

One of the reasons that you are looking to digitize and automate parts of your HR process is to improve consistency and quality while reducing time, overhead, and complexity at the same time. With this in mind, choosing a tool with superior reporting functionality will allow you to tap into the performance of your recruitment process by analyzing areas such as time to hire, the efficiency of your candidate sourcing, hiring success by line manager, and many other aspects.

Getting a handle on this data can help you streamline the process by identifying and improving the key areas that need it.

6. How is customer support?

Make sure that both the technical and general customer support are high quality. Ask for information about response times, including SLAs, methods of complaint resolution, and the type of support resource that is available (e.g. online help resources, customer helpdesk, instant message facilities).

7. Will it grow with your business?

It’s imperative that the HR software you choose is in tune with your current business needs, including its size, your budget, the type of features that you will find most valuable, etc. However, you should also take the time to look ahead and make a calculated assessment of what your needs could be in the future. If you choose software that has the scale and functionality to grow with your business, it will save you a lot of time, inconvenience, and money switching platforms at a later date.

Finding the Right HR Software

Deciding to invest in new HR software is only the beginning. As you navigate the market for the system that is right for you, don’t be afraid to ask difficult questions, request free demonstrations, or dig deeper into the areas covered above to ensure that you invest in a program that has no hidden surprises and matches your organization’s needs.

About Kissflow HR Cloud

An HR automation software with pre-built apps for almost every popular HR process. Leave requests, timesheet tracking, performance appraisals, onboarding, offboarding, expense claims, etc., are all ready to go. Best of all, you can customize any of these apps to your organization’s requirements.