5 Best HR management systems for 2023

Culture can be an important part of what small businesses and startups want to focus on when it comes to their priorities.

As our direct competitor, Hibob offers core features when it comes to HRMS (that includes onboarding and time off management for example), but what they specialise in is bringing culture to life.

Of course, culture may not be your point of focus as a small business or startup, but if it is, make sure to check out those features. 

Customised onboarding flow that includes a video recording system where new team members can introduce themselves to the rest of the team

Shoutouts and kudos, so team members can congratulate each other and make sure everyone’s work is recognised

Gamification features such as customisable names and colours as well as a homepage that looks like a social media platform 

Complete team members’ profiles where they can display their pronouns, how to pronounce their names, their hobbies and anything they care about

Bob’s Clubs where team members can connect between each other, even when your company is remote

SageHR gives companies a recruitment tool with an array of automation designed to speed up the hiring process and improve employer branding.

It’s a great way of making sure you scale confidently if you need to hire more people to work for your business, however, the price is something to think about when it comes down to it.

Each step of the hiring process is documented through a pipeline management tool to avoid going back and forth between emails and drives

The pipeline’s drag and drop interface facilitates overviewing and moving candidates between stages

Customisable job ads make the company stand out from its competitors

Candidates can book interview slots through an in-app diary that synchronises with the hiring manager’s calendar

Hiring managers can gather their feedback in custom scorecards to make well-informed decisions about each candidate

With detailed reports, SageHR gives hiring insights on sourcing, referrals, etc.

Ciphr helps your people engage with training and learning to help them grow. If you already have HR software in place, you can even use the training feature as a standalone.

Cloud-based Learning Management Software – bring all your training documents and procedures in one place

Choose whether you want to use your own training material, get it from one of the e-libraries, or have it tailored to your needs by Learning and Development experts

Learning isn’t about just sitting in front of a computer but becomes interactive with badges, forums and visual learning journeys

Employees can join forums and use a help centre so they’re never left stranded

In-depth reports help understand training spendings and track team’s progress

Oracle gives big international corporates with cash to spend a complete automation experience, covering not only HRMS but also Customer Relationship Management, Enterprise Performance Management and Supply Chain Management among many others.

If you want your business automated from A to Z then Oracle definitely is the best way to go. 

Runs an autonomous and converging system that includes employee data, workload and development tools

Offers a series of analytics that can help provide a single and scalable solution to present data

Provides cloud software with a high-security level, avoiding your business to become a hackers’ target and making Oracle securely available from anywhere

With integrated AI (Artificial Intelligence), Oracle’s HRMS systems remove risks of human error as well as providing complex insights into the business

What to do next to choose the best HRMS for your business

Once you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’s pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps:

• Weigh the pros and cons of HRMS software for your business based on the information you got here 💪
• Make a list of what you think may be a problem and note done questions 📝
• Request a demo if you need additional information 📱
• Start a free trial like the one we offer at CharlieHR if you want to find out more 🚀

Methodology for our best HRMS software guide

I work for Charlie, but it doesn’t mean we didn’t use a specific methodology to find out what the best HRMS would be for your team and depending on your team. 

Here are a few insights as to how our product team weighed the pros and cons of each HRMS: 

• We compared 15 software on the market – this was based on our internal knowledge of external competition. We then took out free trials or engaged with the sales team individually to find out more about each software if we had extra questions to answer. 
• We analysed what their strongest features were – Charlie is a great software, but we also not it’s not fit for every team, so that’s why we picked software that offered features we didn’t so we understand better where they were stronger than us and how they could be interesting to people reading our guide.
• We dived into their reviews – one important aspect of any software or product you’re going to buy is what people say about it, so to make sure we didn’t miss any important aspect, we dived into each software review and picked the most relevant ones.

How can I tell which HRMS is best for my business? 

Let’s get something straight. In my opinion, there is no one-size-fits-all HRMS. Many software don’t bother thinking about whether they’d be the right fit for a small business or a corporate. They just assume everyone wants to use their software.

At Charlie, we decided to focus on the specific needs of small businesses and startups. With all the research we’ve led on the subject over the years, we’re now able to offer core features that concretely save time and reduce your HR admin.

Below, I’ve listed the methodology you can use to pick the best HR management system for your own business depending on your headcount: 

HRMS for businesses up to 300 people

Startups don’t have a large number of resources available compared to larger companies – founders hardly know where to start when it comes to HR, and operations or HR people may be juggling with a lot of tasks. 

Implementing an HRMS system can really help small businesses put solid HR foundations in place and set up their company and team for success.

To do that, it’s essential to think about having: 

• A one-stop-shop to store all of your documents securely and employee records
• A self-service system so team members become more autonomous and you have less data entry to do 
• A time-off management tool that allows your team to send leave requests that you can review with the click of a button
• Additional features that have been thought of specifically for the growing needs of small businesses: performance reviews to set up career progression and engagement surveys to make sure you keep up with your team’s needs, for example,
• A simple interface that’s easy to use 
• A pricing plan that’s transparent and affordable with no hidden costs 

HRMS for businesses up to 300 people

Larger companies sometimes reach a point where growth can become problematic if they don’t have the right tools to support it.

They will need to double up on their efforts to streamline processes and ensure their transition from small to medium size business goes smoothly.

Here are the features they should focus on when choosing their HRMS:

• In-depth reporting to get insights that drive business decisions
• A talent management tool to keep up with the growing needs of their business and smoothly handle recruiting 
• A time-off management tool that allows your team to send leave requests that you can review with the click of a button
• Features that make sense for their business – if you’re already using another software for compensation and benefits (a large task to manage), why not invest in HRMS that has it all? 
• Opportunities to tailor their pricing plan depending on their needs so they can keep an eye on cost and add on additional features as they grow

For companies with more than 600 employees

At this point in their journey, enterprises and multinational companies already have high standards of onboarding and HR admin – automation needs to be done at each touch point of the employee’s journey.

What they want is to be ambitious by investing in complex software as well as being able to control every single aspect of their business.

Here are the HRMS functions that can help:

• One platform that does it all or that has enough integrations to increase productivity – whether that’s engineering, marketing or HR. All of your company operates from one place. 
• AI-powered HRMS as well as machine learning to facilitate all of your processes and remove human error and intervention.
• Have standardised training that can be scheduled automatically to learn new skills and organise continuous learning.

FAQ for HR management systems

What is HRMS software?

HRMS (Human Resources Management System) is an HR software that allows businesses to automate HR processes by dealing with HR admin tasks and using a range of HR self-service features.

It can be used to automate payroll, ease recruiting, or simply get something as tedious as time off management off your hands.

Are there different types of HRMS systems? 

Each HRMS has different goals, so it’s important to be aware of their many functions: 

• Onboarding software: an essential function that ensures team members start off on the right foot by automating tasks linked to their first steps at the company including but not limited to all the documents they need to read and all the information they need to provide to stay compliant 
  
• Leave Management System: a time off management system is essential in any HR software and can also be used as a standalone tool to deal with all the time off requests like holidays, sick leave, parental leave and any types of leave your business allows 
• Performance Management System: HR software or part of an HR software that focuses on employee performance and helps automate some of it such as performance reviews and goal settings
• Employee Engagement Platform: contributes to helping companies build more engagement at their company either through gamification, feedback, coaching, etc
• Applicant tracking system (ATS): HRMS that allows businesses to make their hiring process smoother by managing applications, job posting and offers.  

How much do HRMS systems typically cost? 

This is a tricky question that really depends on what features and size of company you have – the best choice you can get on the market is to get a flat price, like the one we offer at Charlie: from as little as £5 per month.