HR or Human Resource software is a wide category of software inclusive of all the functionality related to human resources and personnel management.
Individual sub-categories within human resources software include:
- Recruiter software
- Staffing software
- Applicant tracking software
- Time clock software
- Payroll software
- Time management software
- and others
Human resource management occurs in any organization. Small businesses have limited needs and can handle more functionality outside of an automated system. Larger organizations have proportionately higher needs based on volume. The human resource department in any government or public organization has extra tiers of requirements and reporting needs.
There are hundreds of human resource management software packages available today, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Even the simple, inexpensive, packages usually contain most of the functionality needed for standard organizations. In fact, most businesses only make use of a small portion of the functionality of even the small, inexpensive HR packages.
Although there are business specific human resource management software solutions, generally a standard package will do.
Major entries in the HR software market include:
- Great Plains (integrated with its own financials)
- Kronos
- Everest
- PeopleSoft
- Oracle E-Business
In selecting the proper human resource package for your staffing needs, several factors come into play.
These factors are similar to those for selecting other software packages:
- Interfaces: Are there interfaces built into the software to allow for automated interfaces into other standard software such as other HR software, business management software or accounting software
- Training: Training can be complicated, Human resource management software can be complex and difficult to become productive at, even for HR professionals
- System resources: Not usually an issue, but sometimes small business environments are on under-powered hardware already. Since it contains private information, a server dedicated for HR applications only is desired.
- Market usage: Do other organizations in the same business use a specific package (don't try to set trends unless it is your core business – very few companies have HR as a core business
- Availability of data: can you easily extract all information needed for use in customized reporting, warehousing, integration to other packages, etc.