Small businesses can drastically improve their operations, from workforce management to productivity, by implementing HR software.

When a business starts out, it typically only has a few employees, and during the early stages, the budget for HR software is often extremely limited. In fact, there probably isn’t even an HR department to speak of. However, as a business grows, human resources management becomes vital to a business’ success. Today, there are more HR software offerings than ever, and many solutions are specifically marketed toward small businesses with a limited budget.

At their outset, small companies rely on an employee or two to manage all staff information, benefits, and pay. Small businesses often charge one person with managing all HR-related duties, and sometimes that is just a portion of this person’s job. This individual is often the beginning of a small HR department that will manage all HR-related tasks for the entire organization.

However, a recent survey found that less than 50% of small-business owners were confident about the HR processes within their company. As small businesses grow, an increasing number of HR tasks become more and more difficult for an individual or small team to manage.

Companies can either outsource these tasks to benefits administration services or payroll services, or they can find software to ease their growing pains.

How to Find HR Solutions for SMB

HR software can be incredibly helpful for an HR department when it comes to employee record keeping, recruiting, payroll, time & attendance, and benefits administration, to name a few. Since these software products are becoming more accessible and affordable, small businesses are turning to them before they become overwhelmed.

Let’s review a few of the highest-rated small-business HR solutions. This list includes essential HR management solutions, recruiting software, and training eLearning options.

Highest-Rated Small Business Solutions

HR Management Suites

Benefits Administration

Benefits administration software helps organizations and HR departments manage and administer employee benefits, such as insurance plans and stock options. These solutions also help companies remain compliant with federal and local regulations, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Benefits administration software can be implemented either as a standalone solution or as part of an integrated HR management suite.

Core HR

Core HR software manages employee information, such as benefits administration and payroll, within an easily accessible, centralized HR database. HR managers use core HR to track employee records and report key trends to management. Meanwhile, employees can use self-service options to update their benefits or contact information. Core HR software can be implemented either as a standalone solution or as part of an integrated HR management suite.

Employee Scheduling

Often used in retail or industries that rely on scheduling employee shifts, employee scheduling software automates the process of creating, maintaining, and tracking employee schedules. These systems are not as complex as workforce management software, which typically fit into a larger HR management suite or core HR software solution.

Recruiting 

Job Boards

Job boards, also known as job search engines, provide employers with a platform to post jobs and track the activity on their listings. Some job boards allow employers to search through resumes and contact prospective employees without being contacted first. These solutions serve job seekers, employers looking to fill open positions, and companies that either want to publish open positions to their websites or create their own job board.

Applicant Tracking System (ATS)

Recruiters, HR personnel, and hiring managers use applicant tracking systems to manage the recruiting and hiring process. ATS provide a variety of features to streamline the recruiting and hiring process. They can post positions to job boards, communicate with candidates, scan resumes for pertinent information, and store applicant information in a centralized system of record, to name a few. ATS can integrate with onboarding software and recruitment marketing software to form a talent acquisition suite.

Recruiting Automation

Recruiting automation software helps HR personnel, hiring managers, and recruiters automate the process of manually sourcing qualified candidates. These tools use AI to find qualified candidates, verify contact information, and export candidate information to the appropriate file or software application. Recruiting automation solutions are often integrated with ATS software to streamline the job hiring process.

Training and E-Learing

Corporate Learning Management System (LMS)

Corporate LMS software helps companies organize, track, and manage employee training efforts. Organizations use corporate LMS products to manage individualized training programs for onboarding, compliance training, and skill development. Corporate LMS software is frequently integrated with course authoring software, through which most training content is created.

Course Authoring

Organizations use course authoring software to develop training courses and content for educational purposes. Course authoring solutions are commonly implemented in HR departments, enabling administrators to create educational content with no programming knowledge.