Almost every small business would love to expand and grow their operation. Often the fastest way to do this is to begin investing in advances in software and services. When you can no longer handle the finances by yourself, you outsource the work to an accountant. When your website traffic becomes unmanageable, you hire IT staff. But when it comes to HR it can be easy to overlook the work that goes on.
The truth is that HR covers a wide range of tasks that are vital to the running of any business. So investing in high quality HR software can make a world of difference to you. Here are five ways that using HR software can revolutionise the running of a small business.
1. It makes your HR staff more productive
For small businesses it is always important to get as much efficiency and productivity out of your staff as possible. It has been well documented that the UK has a productivity problem but this isn’t due to staff not working hard enough. The best way to improve productivity is to invest in upgrades in software and technology.
To get more out of your HR staff, it makes sense for you to invest in HR software – such as this unified program available at BreatheHR. Good software allows you manage multiple tasks in one place, saving time and making your staff more efficient in the work that they carry out. Good HR software can help you with everything from managing sick leave and absences to tracking tasks and goals.
2. It can help with you with compliance
Businesses of all sizes need to take compliance with laws and regulations seriously including everything from employment regulations and business insurance to ensure that they pay the right amount of tax. But sometimes for smaller businesses it can be challenging to stay on top of all of the red tape.
Utilising HR software can actually make it much easier to manage a number of different areas of compliance including ensuring staff are working the correct hours and taking the holiday that is owed to them. From handling disciplinary issues to keeping you aware of sick pay and what employees are entitled to.
3. Get more from appraisals and reviews
Another issue that small businesses sometimes struggle with is keeping on top of staff appraisals and performance reviews. This might seem like a small issue but if you don’t keep track of how well staff are performing it can firstly result in a drop in morale and then lead to a slip in the standards you expect from their work.
HR software can provide you with reminders for appraisal and review times, as well as allowing you to store of the details in one place so that these reviews can take without having to sort through reams of past information.
4. Manage annual leave efficiently
When you are running a small business it is essential to effectively manage annual leave. It doesn’t make such a big difference in large companies, but with only a small number of staff it can be vital to ensure that there aren’t too many people missing from a department at any one time or it can create real problems with getting work done on time.
This is where it can be enormously valuable to have all of the information about your annual leave in one place. This can allow staff to look at the calendar of current staff leave to see whether anyone is currently booked in for the time they want off, and it allows managers to make the decision quickly on whether it is acceptable for someone to have time off.
5. Simplify the recruitment process
HR software can also be very useful in the recruitment process which opportunities to save time and money for any small business. This can come in the form of managing interview times, checking references and even keeping track of who you have responded to. The expense of recruitment can also be a burden for smaller companies, and this can be a useful way to keep your costs down.
It even makes sense for an internal perspective as it is easier to arrange time for everyone to get together for interviews, ensuring that time is used in the most efficient way.
