11 Features to Look for in an HCM Platform

If you're one of the many business owners stuck using manual processes for both talent acquisition and onboarding new hires, it's time to explore more efficient options. Automated HCM (Human Capital Management) solutions have numerous benefits, including:

• Automation is king: So far, research shows that 31% of businesses have already fully automated at least one function, with 63% saying it has contributed to a revenue increase, 43% saying it enhances their product/service, and 41% saying it optimizes internal business operations.
• Reduce wasted time and costs: Although you may not realize how much wasted time is created by manual work, your revenue is heavily impacted by the decision not to upgrade. In fact, research shows that at least 60 hours per month is lost to the average employee on tasks that could be automated.
• Kaizen can help! You don't have to go at it alone. Kaizen can get you connected to the perfect HCM platform for your needs.

In the meantime, here are 11 features you should be looking for in your HCM platform.

CORE HR MANAGEMENT

In today's market, workers are much more in tune with the efficiency and capabilities of the company for whom they work or plan to work. Any slight misstep can be a bad look and harm the perception of the company in the eyes of current and potential employees. Keeping up with advancement means fewer employees experience burnout, overworking, stress, and more.

In fact, studies found that an estimated 70% of the workforce have quit or would consider quitting if another opportunity was presented to them. To prevent your business from being impacted too severely, core HR management functions — including timesheets, leave, attendance, and payroll — should be included in your HCM.

This will allow your HR team to have more free time to focus on other ways they can improve employee satisfaction and engagement.

TIME & ATTENDANCE

Automating time and attendance is at the top of the list for HCM requirements. This is because manually inputting time and attendance can lead to several small mistakes that can cost the company a lot in the long run. At least one of two mistakes can occur with human error:

1. More time is added: more numbers can easily be added to an employee's timesheet with just a small slip of the finger. This type of time theft will cost the company more money than required and can add up if it happens frequently.
2. Not enough time is included: on the other hand, an accidental change in numbers that leads to an employee not being fully compensated could risk much bigger problems like lawsuits and government audits. It can also lead to business-wide mistrust in payroll.

The biggest problem with being manual is that these kinds of human-error mistakes are more common than they should be, and are ultimately avoidable with automation. You could save nearly 25,000 hours and $878,000 in costs by switching to automation.

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE

As technology continues to advance and reach incredible heights, your business must be able to keep up with it. Business intelligence, for instance, allows you to access a lot more information about your business and its operations to continue improving your future decisions. 

And for this reason, the HCM platform needs to be able to provide you with those capabilities. 

According to Uniserve, business intelligence answers the questions of 'what' and 'how' to keep what works and makes changes in underperforming areas. BI empowers your business with actionable data, enabling you to get more insights into trends that you can integrate well with your business planning strategy.

APPLICANT TRACKING

Automated applicant tracking can save your HR team substantial time, especially if you're organizing several candidates for hiring and recruitment throughout the company. 

Many of the benefits you can expect from having applicant tracking capabilities in your HCM include:

• Making quality hires
• Improving the recruiting process
• Improving the candidate experience
• Removing the burden from HR

EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING

Although many employers don't realize it, an employee's experience with your onboarding can shape many things in their relationship with you and your company. A negative onboarding experience can:

• Reduce future productivity if the training was not extensive enough
• Decrease satisfaction in the company if the new hire is thrown into action without proper preparations
• Lead to high turnover because new hires aren't happy with their experience (first impressions say a lot about your company!)

Techjury reports that a positive experience ensures 69% of employees stick with a company for three years and increases new hire retention by 50%.

PAYROLL ADMINISTRATION

Manual payroll has cost companies thousands in preventable mistakes and human errors — not to mention the loss of great employees affected by those accidental mistakes. 

According to Digital Thoughts, more than half (54%) of the American workforce has been affected by payroll problems, and almost half (49%) would start the job search process after only two mistakes on their paychecks. 

An HCM with automated payroll capabilities ensures that human error does not prevent your staff from receiving more or less than they are entitled to get paid. A healthy business starts with employees who are well-taken care of and fairly compensated. 

BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION

Another important aspect of a good company is the benefits provided for current and potential employees. In fact, it is among the top reasons employees leave their companies for another, and is exactly what you need to attract and retain the right talent. 

Benefits administration is also very time-consuming for HR when done manually, making it another essential feature for your HCM platform.

TALENT MANAGEMENT

Talent management refers to the process of onboarding suitable candidates for a position and optimizing their skills and capabilities to the best of their potential in the company. A lot of tasks are included in this process, such as:

• Onboarding new hires
• Scheduling training sessions
• Identifying gaps in the company and defining requirements for positions
• Preparing future hiring plans

An HCM platform that can help you track the entire process for each employee will allow you to stay up to date on the best practices and improve when and where possible. This way, your company is continuously providing optimal experiences.

EMPLOYEE SELF-SERVICE PORTAL

Another HCM feature you want to include is 24/7 access to important employee information via an employee self-service portal. This will allow workers to obtain information when they need it without any frustrating delays from HR.

It also keeps HR focused on more important matters that affect the company as a whole while still catering to individual needs.

Some beneficial features of employee self-service portals may include:

• Paystub viewing 
• The ability to change and view tax filing status
• Access to W-2s and 1095s
• Benefit elections, costs, coverages, and effective dates
• Company documents and policies

MOBILE ACCESS

Mobile access is becoming much more essential in everyday business. Research suggests that this is likely due to the increase in mobile usage in the workplace — 93% of people use a smartphone for work every day, with 33% of a person's workday spent on their cellphones. 

Take, for instance, a few unique mobile app key features where users can:

• View current paycheck, including earnings, deductions, taxes, and net pay distribution 
• See W-2 information from the past three years 
• Look at benefit details, including benefit amounts, dependent information, coverage type, and coverage effective date 
• View past paychecks, from the current year and previous years

HR ANALYTICS

The only way you can ensure your employees are well-taken care of — whether that be with compensation, benefits, culture, etc. — is with access to HR analytics in your HCM platform.  

HR analytics keep your HR department up to date and in tune with all of your employees’ needs. With this insight, the company can track the root of certain problems to prevent them from becoming a problem again and reduce the severity of the problem before it becomes more complicated.

According to Mick Collins, Global Vice President, Workforce Analytics & Planning Solution Strategy and Chief Expert at SAP SuccessFactors, "HR analytics is a methodology for creating insights on how investments in human capital assets contribute to the success of four principal outcomes: (a) generating revenue, (b) minimizing expenses, (c) mitigating risks, and (d) executing strategic plans."

He also states that analytics are transformative in HR since it gives your team the insight it needs to meaningfully contribute to your company's bottom line.

TRANSFORM THE ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS OF HR

It’s more important than ever that your HR team becomes an essential component of your business, bringing your staff and company together. Transform the administrative functions of HR with an HCM platform that lightens the burden on human resources so that they can contribute to the overall well-being of the company. 

Better yet, implement Your Payroll Department to prevent thousands of dollars in lost money due to payroll miscalculations. The key to success isn't working harder, it's working smarter. Contact us for more ways to optimize your accounting with automation.