Free HR Software
When choosing a new HR software system be very aware of the bottom end free HR software systems and packages. These tend to be older products that are at the end of their product lifecycle, often using inferior technology and with key modern features sadly lacking.
Be also wary of small suppliers, who create a large web presence for themselves through internet marketing activity and a slick website. All too often these organizations are small companies run by sole trader and small family concerns.
How do you select the right provider then?
There are a number of simple steps to ensuring you have found the right HR supplier.
Firstly, once you have a short list of potential suppliers, make sure you visit their offices, this gives you the opportunity to see their set-up check that there are indeed a full complement of staff to support their product and you for many years to come. Avoid those software suppliers who have less than 40 employees, they are not big enough to cope long term.
As well as ‘free’ software, you must also be very careful not to fall for the cheapest systems.
The old adage that ‘you get what you pay for’ is very true when it comes to purchasing HR and payroll software.
Secondly, ensure that the software package you are purchasing has all the modules and features, even if you are not intending to buy them all. A very good example is payroll, many HR professionals by a HR system only to find that in a few years time their payroll colleagues are looking for a new payroll system and they then find that the hr system supplier doesn’t do a payroll. This causes much friction between hr and payroll and can result in a new fully integrated hr and payroll system being procured, causing a lot more work for the HR team. So, always ensure you hr provider also provides their own payroll system.
This brings us onto the third important point. Always ensure that the supplier is supplying their own software, it is common for hr providers to supply someone else’s software rebranded as their own, this is rife with regards to payroll systems where many good HR software providers will not have the in-house resources to deal with payroll and will re-sell and re-badge another providers payroll. This is a no-go area as you will suffer from having to deal with 2 different suppliers, 2 different help desks and the inevitable ‘buck passing’ that happens whenever issues arise concerning the integration of hr and payroll data.
Cascade HR are one of only a few UK suppliers who provide all modules including HR, payroll, self service and workflow. You can see the Cascade Human Resources and Payroll systems here.
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