Looking to upgrade your HCMS or HRIS? Then you already know how much work it takes to compare and contrast the many options on the market. That’s why we created our HRIS Comparison Tool and HCM Quick Search Tool—to help you expedite the research process and give you an easy way to match your requirements with a short list of vendors.
In this article, we’ve put together a summary of the categories and questions in our survey tool. The tool itself contains a comprehensive list of features and options designed to hone your requirements list based on the capabilities available with today’s HR software solutions. It’s the most efficient way to narrow your options down and identify the top vendors who can meet your needs.
As you work through the list, evaluate each item based on your current processes as well as your goals. What is working for you now? What would you like to improve? How do you expect your new software to add value to your HR department and to the organization as a whole? Our comparison tool will help you drill down to a granular level on these questions and more.
Ready to meet your HR software selection secret weapon? Let’s get started.
Before you tackle the survey, we’ll ask you to answer a few questions about your company to help us create the best vendor matches for you. These include your country, industry, and number of employees. We’ll also ask you to indicate the following preferences:
Product Purchase Options
Saas (Subscription service)
Licensed Purchase
Deployment Options
Cloud
On-Premise
If you're unsure what direction you want to go with your new software, we've written some helpful articles that talk through the various options in more detail. Check them out here:
Human Resource Information Systems: In-House Solutions vs. SaaS
Public Cloud, Private Cloud, and Hybrid Software: Who’s In Your Sandbox?
The bulk of the survey comprises a standard list of core features and additional options available from vendors. Take your time ranking these options, because we will use your answers to create your short list of vendors that best match your requirements. If you’re using our Quick Search Tool, you’ll simply select which top-level features you’re looking for from a grid:
If you’re using the full HRIS Comparison Tool, you’ll see a much more detailed list of questions, including descriptive notes to help you differentiate between various HRIS applications. Simply rank each question using our 5-point ranking scale:
In some cases, if you rank a question as a 2, 3, 4, or 5, a series of sub-questions will appear so you can choose the specific features most important to you.
Let's take a look at the questions you'll be asked to consider:
New payroll software
Integration with your existing payroll software
Expense management capabilities
Employee Self Service (ESS) – Employees can access their data and make changes online
Benefits Open Enrollment – Automated process where employees can enroll for benefits online
Automated benefit eligibility based on your individual rules
Pre-calculated employer matching
Pension processing
FSA/HSA Administration
Hidden paycheck benefit statement (show your employees exactly how much you pay for their benefits)
Ability to track benefit and leave time accrual (military leave, family leave, etc.)
Online Performance Management - allows automation of your review process
Workers comp employee tracking - attendance, claims, injuries & training to meet government requirements
Compensation Management - users can set compensation adjustment tasks & assign them to colleagues for approval, includes data-based reports on a variety of values (cost of living calculations, job market pricing, total compensation analysis reporting, etc.)
Succession Management - foresee talent gaps with predictive analysis, measure retention, design development plans, identify & promote talent, gain insight, etc.
Position Control - Tracking of data related to positions rather than employees, such as salary grades, job descriptions, training requirements, requisition details, hiring costs, etc. (may all be attached to an individual position)
Recruiting/Talent Acquisition Capabilities
Ability to add dynamic content such as videos, photos, documents & web content to your branded welcome screen
Employee access to their welcome screen via a mobile device
Personalized pre-boarding page that introduces the company, connects new hires, displays notifications, suggested activities, etc.
Automated notification to internal team members to complete new hire tasks, such as adding network permissions, ordering hardware like laptops and phones, and scheduling new hire training
Ability to create, assign & customize forms to specific groups, departments or employees
Attendance Tracking
Paid time off tracking and leave accrual
Online scheduling calendar which everyone can see instantly
Ability to identify employees by specific job skills
Tracking of compliance training
Tracking of continuing education hours or units
Access to eLearning content delivery
Training goals and achievements automatically flow to performance review data
Deployment of employee surveys
Motivational elements such as challenges, badges, leaderboards, gamification elements, etc.
Ability to build teams, facilitate communication among team members & monitor project completion
Social Activity Stream - blogs, discussion forums, wikis, photo albums, video support, shared files, etc.
Multiple Community Hubs with activity streams based on type. (Role-based, Program-based, Tenure-based, Special Interest, New Hires, etc.)
Multiple currency data support, including simultaneous display of preferred and local currency
Global payroll capability
Intuitive, engaging interface design
Open API - Application Programming Interface making 3rd party systems integration easier
Compliance with external security certifications
Ad Hoc Report Writing in real time
Built in benchmarking data refreshed monthly - compares your metrics to the 'norm' within your size, geography, industry, etc.
Organizational Charting
Automated email alerts - ability to provide automatic email notifications on important dates within the HR database
Custom Screen Development
Ability to import and export data
E- Forms - allows for the storage and the populating of fields from HR database into pre-formatted fields
Triggers or Automated Processes - Field changes trigger an automatic process that may include displaying a screen, displaying a message, running a report, assigning a task to a manager or sending an email
Custom sandbox environments for implementations prior to “go-live”
Managed parallel processing runs
Designated support representative
Regional or On-site Client Training
Live webinar training sessions/Virtual hands-on training sessions
Embedded FAQs
Searchable help topics within the platform for employees
Our Comparison Tool is far more detailed than the Quick Search tool and we included description notes on many of the questions related to HRIS applications.
Payroll
Payroll Sub Questions
Employee Self Service
Employee Self Service Sub Questions
Benefits
Benefits Open Enrollment
Performance Management
Performance Management Sub Questions
Recruiting
Recruiting Sub Questions
Training Management
Training Management Sub Questions
Additional HRIS/HRMS Product Options
Time Entry & Leave Accrual
Time Entry and Leave Accrual Sub Questions
Additional HRIS/HRMS System Features
Customization
Purchase Options
That's it! It takes most users about twenty minutes to work through the survey and receive their custom list of vendors. You may also want to use our list to create your RFP or to compare vendors feature-by-feature in a spreadsheet.
If you're ready to take the survey, head on over to our HRIS Comparison Tool page to get started.
If you're looking for more resources to help you in your research process, check out our HRIS Buyer's Guide where you'll find an in-depth look at the ten steps we recommend you follow as you research, compare, and select your next HR software platform.
