Choosing an HRMS system can be super stressful for a number of reasons – you may not have time, a limited budget and doubts about the choices you’re making.
Having worked in operations for a number of years, I know too well the struggles of picking the right system for your team.
As a disclaimer, I’m also part of the team at CharlieHR – an HR software built specifically for small businesses and startups.
That doesn’t mean, however, that I can’t give you my opinions on the best HRMS systems there are out there, having worked with different ones and being able to recognise what’s best depending on your company size. This will also allow me to introduce you to our own.
Let’s have a look at what choosing the best HRMS looks like for you.
At Charlie, we understand what small businesses and startups want from their HRMS – that’s why we’ve put it all in one place.
Of course, I have a big bias since I work at Charlie, but I also know it’s a great tool on a day-to-day basis to help me sort out all the admin I have.
With Charlie, you can automate all of your most time-consuming tasks and remove human error from your HR processes.
Easy setup – no assistance needed, set up your HRMS in a few clicks (but we’re always on hand if you need help)
Secured records – get over the frustration of juggling between several drives and keep your employee records in one secured place
Self-service onboarding – get new hires to fill in their information and upload their documents through a tailored onboarding flow
Time off requests – bin all of your spreadsheets and approve or deny requests on the platform
Performance review – transform flimsy and informal chats into an effective process that’s run in just three steps
Rewards – even with a tight budget, get over 300,000 deals and discounts at exclusive brands
Applicant Tracking System – Discover Recruit, a complete tool to easily handle recruitment at your small business.
From as little as £5 per month – no hidden fee
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
Hibob’s pricing is not available on their website, and can only be accessed through a call with a sales representative.
However, we’ve heard from customers who have switched from Hibob to Charlie that the pricing is £10 per employee per month along with a potential implementation fee.
Notable Customers: Monese, PariMatch, Cloudinary
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.
£4 per employee per month for the core HR package + £150 per month to include the recruitment tool.
Notable Customers: airBaltic, PaperlessPost, Miele
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
We don’t have information available at the moment on this HRMS’s pricing, however, you’ll be able to customise your plan by getting in touch with Ciphr directly.
Notable Customers: Natural History Museum, Wolkswagen, Met Office
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
With integrated AI (Artificial Intelligence), Oracle’s HRMS systems remove risks of human error as well as providing complex insights into the business
Notable Customers: Vodafone, Elf Cosmetics, Levi’s Jeans
Once you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’s pretty straightforward. Just follow these steps:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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:
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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.
Each HRMS has different goals, so it’s important to be aware of their many functions:
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.