When you’re small and focused on finding customers, HR is one of the least business aspects you worry about. After all, it’s rather easy to keep track of everyone when the entire team includes you and your friend John from college.
However, as the team grows, things will change. And, if things go well, the change will happen at exponential speeds. When this happens it is incredibly easy to lose track of your business administration if you don’t have a solid base to begin with.
HR is an administrative department but its main focus is on the employees, which are one of the most valuable resources of your company. Therefore, if you want a motivated and productive workforce, you have to start by building an HR system that’s easy to navigate.
This system should include efficient staff management software, specifically tailored to align with local employment laws and practices. For instance, in the US, such software needs to adapt to various state and federal employment guidelines, ensuring compliance with laws.
Similarly, in the UK, utilizing UK staff management software is essential to comply with specific regulations and employment laws unique to the region. UK staff management software empower organizations to make informed decisions, optimize productivity, and foster a more adaptable and engaged workforce.
With such region-specific solutions, you can automate and streamline HR processes, from recruitment and onboarding to performance evaluations. This not only boosts operational efficiency but also fosters an environment where employees feel valued and supported, which is vital for cultivating motivation and productivity in the workplace.
This usually involves the use of technology and HR software to reduce time spent with redundant tasks, bring costs down, and increase transparency. Plus, according to the 2022 PwC HR tech survey, technology investments in HR are going to increase in the near future.
In short, if you don’t want to be left behind by the competition, it’s time to give your HR department better access to technology. Moving forward, we’ll have a look at some of the most important tech tools small businesses can use to improve growth and keep people motivated.
1. Leave Tracking Software
A reliable employee leave tracking software allows you to reduce the time spent calculating Paid Time Off (PTO), leave approval, and make the entire process more transparent. It’s important that employees also have access to the system in order to communicate their needs for time off to both managers and colleagues.
Plus, such a tool provides managers with an accurate report on days off for each employee, availability, and behavioral patterns.
2. Payroll automation
Payroll is part of any business (like it or not) and its job is to decide how much compensation each employee receives based on the hours worked, performance, PTO, and other factors. Now, all these factors, that influence the final amount, are the ones that make payroll quite a pain in the behind for the people in charge of this task.
However, if automation is part of the equation, you can set the system to track the time worked by each employee and then run all the factors that apply. This shortens the time spent with salary and tax calculations and frees up HR employees for more interesting tasks.
3. Employee Self-Service
This feature is usually integrated with other software tools, but it can be used on its own. Its purpose is to provide employees with secure and easy access to their data within the company. This usually involves available PTO, leave scheduling, salary and its progression, tax data, and more.
When employees can easily access and download information that pertains to their activity within the company, you reduce the bureaucracy and wait times, which in turn, keep things moving.
4. Project Management
Task assignment, progress, monitoring, and other similar activities are often a manager’s responsibilities. Yet, HR managers can also use a Project Management tool’s features to keep track of their own tasks and monitor progress.
Overall, a PM tool increases transparency and communication with the higher-ups as it allows anyone with the right credentials to check the data.
Wrap Up
Leave tracking, payroll automation, employee self-service, and project management are only a few of the tools that can help a business grow. So don’t stop here – keep searching for tech tools that help with business growth.
Technologies such as virtual phone service or online document signing help reduce the time spent with redundant, unproductive tasks and re-focus your efforts towards creative, productive ones.
