Selecting the perfect human capital management (HCM) system for your organization can be quite daunting. With a multitude of options on the market, a wide variety of business needs to be met, and a tight budget to follow, making a decision is no easy task.
But you have to start somewhere.
When it comes to navigating the best HCM systems available, you should first assess which ones fulfill your most basic HR needs first. From there, you’ll need to determine what part of your operations you want to prioritize – will it be scheduling? Payroll? Time tracking? Talent management? Knowing this will help you choose an HCM with the right niche.
HCM software covers a wide breadth of human resources, operations, and payroll functions. Oftentimes, you can get away with implementing a single HCM for all your business needs - no need to mess with a complicated patchwork of smaller platforms.
A typical HCM platform features things like:
Workforce.com
Best at scheduling, engaging staff, and forecasting demand for large, shift-based businesses.
Workday
Rated strongly for its enterprise payroll capabilities, employee performance management, and quality of support.
BambooHR
Rated strongly for its attractive interface, ease of use, payroll features, and applicant tracking features.
Oracle HCM Cloud
Best at IT management for large enterprises.
SAP SuccessFactors
Rated strongly for leave management and employee onboarding.
Ceridian Dayforce
Best at performance management for mid-sized businesses.
ADP Workforce Now
Best for multiple-state payroll and integrating with other systems.
Paycor
Rated strongly for payroll and tax filing features like payroll entry, check printing, and W-2 printing.
UKG Pro (formerly UltiPro and Kronos Workforce)
Best for enterprise-level HR analytics reporting and performance management.
Best at scheduling, engaging staff, and forecasting demand for large, shift-based businesses.
Workforce.com’s bread and butter is employee scheduling and time tracking, but it also offers a full suite of HCM features like payroll, performance management, HRIS, and more
But what really makes Workforce.com stand out is that it’s the only HCM designed explicitly for hourly, shift-based businesses – this is why it specializes in scheduling and attendance. It has all the tools you need for HR administration and payroll on the back end, while also offering a gamut of real-time, AI-driven solutions for frontline operations.
Typically serving medium to large hospitality, retail, and restaurant businesses, Workforce.com’s products are designed with a mobile-first approach to cater to the fast-paced, agile environment faced by many shift workers.
AI demand forecasting: Workforce.com’s scheduling software is robust thanks to its capability to forecast labor and schedule based on demand. The system takes into account crucial and relevant factors that can affect demand, such as revenue, seasonal trends, booked appointments, and weather, and translates that insight into schedules—ensuring that you don’t get over or understaffed.
Scheduling validations: Workforce.com’s scheduling is set up to ensure you set create the perfect shifts every time by flagging potential issues before you publish. Managers are notified if a shift is at risk for potential labor law violations or if an employee on PTO is accidentally assigned a shift. It can also account for certifications to prevent unqualified employees from working specific shifts.
Complete visibility with time and attendance: Time and attendance is synced with scheduling; this means that data flows seamlessly between those two modules, providing insight into wage and hour variances. In any case of no-shows, you can quickly fill in the gaps and offer vacant shifts to other qualified and available staff.
Mobile self-service: Workforce.com’s employee app offloads simple admin work to employees, freeing up managerial time and engaging staff in a healthy way. Things like timesheet reviews, shift swaps, onboarding, and task checklists can all be completed over the app. Moreover, staff can update personal details and bank information without needing to go through a bloated HR workflow.
Skills management: With the skills management feature, you can build a skills library and assess employee competency via a skills matrix. Over time, you can track employee development in these skills and create action plans to train and cross-train staff in certain areas.
Real-time insights: Leading Indicators™ map labor costs to sales in real-time, enabling frontline managers to stay on top of SPLH and receive alerts on potential overtime.
Fast & accurate payroll processing: Managers can auto-approve timesheets based on conditions like time punch variances and overtime alerts. All issues are flagged so managers can easily correct them, ensuring timesheets are error-free before payroll. Because Workforce.com is proactive in ironing out wage and hour issues beforehand, payroll takes far less time than usual.
Attendance point system: Workforce.com is the only HCM that allows you to auto-assign points to employees whenever they are late or absent for a shift. Track the accumulation of these points and take corrective action according to company policy.
Well, it all depends on the plan you select and what issues you are looking to solve. Contact Workforce.com directly for more information on the pricing of its three suites: Operations, HR, and Payroll.
To really explore the platform and decide for yourself, book a call today, or, start a free trial.
Highly rated for enterprise payroll capabilities, employee performance management, and quality of support.
The Workday HCM platform provides a place for HR teams to collect employee data and perform all their key tasks while offering employees a user-friendly system for their HR needs. Additional functionality, such as Workday’s org studio interface, provides tools that allow executive teams, finance teams, and managers to improve business processes.
The platform is popular in the IT, financial services, and hospital and healthcare industries. Businesses that use Workday include large companies like Wegman’s, Comcast, Dell, and General Electric.
The Workday HCM platform provides human resources management tools, organizational management, benefits administration, talent optimization, reporting and analytics, and employee and manager self-service tools. It can be easily used in tandem with Workday Payroll and Workday Recruiting.
Workday is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.
Rated strongly for its attractive interface, ease of use, payroll features, and applicant tracking features.
While BambooHR calls itself an HRIS (human resources information system) platform, many smaller and medium-sized businesses opt for the platform. BambooHR makes tasks easier for HR departments so they don’t have to rely on spreadsheets for HR functions and can spend time on more important tasks.
Many of the platform’s customers are small- to mid-size companies in the SaaS (software as a service) industry, the IT industry, and marketing and advertising industries. Businesses that use BambooHR include Wistia, Squarespace, Fitbit, ZipRecruiter, Vimeo, and Canva.
BambooHR offers two packages: the Essentials package and the Advantage package. Essentials includes employee records, benefits tracking, document storage, standard reporting, time-off management, standard workflows and approvals, an employee directory, org charts, a company calendar, a mobile app, and more. The Advantage package includes hiring and onboarding tools, tailored workflows and approvals, data integrations, and advanced reporting. Companies can opt into add-on services like payroll, time tracking, and more.
For information on BambooHR pricing, contact BambooHR directly.
Oracle HCM Cloud | User Reviews
Best at IT management for enterprise organizations.
Oracle HCM Cloud offers multiple products that can provide everything a company needs for their human resources team to work effectively, from the time someone applies for a position to the time they leave the company. It can also help businesses with other needs, including payroll and learning management.
The platform is popular among the education, financial services, hospital and healthcare, and entertainment industries. Businesses that use Oracle HCM Cloud include Hormel Foods, Emblem Health, Hitachi, Adventist Health, Baylor University, and Securitas.
The Oracle HCM Cloud includes core HR modules, learning management, talent management, employee management, analytics, recruiting, and payroll. Also included is the Oracle ME platform, which streamlines employee and manager communications.
Oracle is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.
SAP SuccessFactors | User Reviews
Rated strongly for leave management and employee onboarding.
SAP SuccessFactors offers companies core HR and payroll services, as well as HR analytics and workforce planning, talent management, and employee experience management. Other business products offered by SAP that work with the SuccessFactors platform include financial management, supply chain management, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and more.
The platform is popular in the computer software, IT, retail, and the hospital and healthcare industries. Businesses that use SAP SuccessFactors include Vodafone, Telefonica, Whirlpool Corporation, and Growmark.
SAP SuccessFactors includes hiring, onboarding, culture and belonging, succession, learning and development, and payroll tools. It also offers time tracking, feedback, benefits management, and more. Managers and business leaders can use its analytics and insights tools for strategic workforce planning, and guided workflows make using SAP SuccessFactors easy.
SAP SuccessFactors is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.
Best at performance management for mid-sized businesses.
Dayforce is a cloud-based HCM platform that serves as an all-in-one solution for HR, benefits, workforce management, payroll services, and more. The platform helps HR departments ensure they follow compliance and regulations globally and minimize the company’s risk of non-compliance. Analytics features help companies make decisions for the future, such as hiring needs.
The platform is popular among retail companies and highly-regulated industries, like hospitals, healthcare, and financial services. Businesses that use Dayforce include the Hawaii State Federal Credit Union, El Pollo Loco, Organic Valley, and the American Diabetes Association.
Ceridian Dayforce includes payroll services, employee benefits, HR tools and analytics, workforce management, talent intelligence for recruiting, engaging and retaining top employees, and more. Dayforce also offers services like implementation, configuration, tax filing, education, and consulting.
Ceridian Dayforce is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.
Best for multiple-state payroll and integrating with other systems.
ADP Workforce Now is at its best as a payroll and HRIS platform. You should use it if you are a mid-sized company spread across multiple states in need of a tried and true payroll system. However, it is not a very user-friendly system – you’ll need a well-trained HR and payroll department to make the most of its tedious yet robust, reporting features. For this reason, ADP Workforce Now isn’t the best solution for smaller businesses with limited time and resources to spend on mastering a software system. It also is not a great choice if you are on a tight budget as many features, along with the time clocks, cost you extra.
The platform is popular with mid-sized IT, retail, and healthcare organizations between 200 - 1,000 staff.
ADP Workforce Now includes a suite of HR tools along with payroll, recruiting, time and attendance, workforce management, payroll, and benefits.
ADP Workforce Now’s most popular package serves businesses with 50 - 999 employees. For information on pricing and promotions, you’ll need to contact ADP directly.
Rated strongly for payroll and tax filing features like payroll entry, check printing, and W-2 printing.
Paycor is a cloud-based HCM platform that provides companies with the HR systems they need to manage their workforce and operate their business. From recruiting to professional development to payroll, the company focuses on ensuring business leaders have the HR data they need to make decisions that help them reach key business objectives.
The platform is popular with small and mid-size businesses and popular in the hospital and healthcare industries, computer software industry, and non-profit organizations. Businesses that use Paycor include OrthoArizona, Chive Media Group, and Senior Resources of West Michigan.
Paycor’s platform includes HR analytics, talent management tools for recruiting, onboarding, talent development, and other HR and payroll services. Additionally, it offers workforce management features like employee engagement tools, benefits administration, and time and attendance.
Paycor is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.
Best for enterprise-level HR analytics reporting and performance management.
UKG Pro Suite combines core HR tools with an easy-to-use payroll system as well as workforce management features. The platform can help users streamline their recruitment processes and was created to serve team members throughout the employee lifecycle — from the time they enter the applicant tracking system until they retire.
Many large financial service institutions, non-profit organizations, and insurance companies use UKG Pro.
The UKG Pro Suite platform includes tools for human resources, talent management, workforce management, payroll, HR service delivery, reporting and analytics, and compliance.
UKG is quote based, meaning you’ll need to contact them directly to figure out pricing.