Hello and welcome back to HR Fun Fridays, created to give you a break from the daily grind of HR while disguising itself as ‘useful, work related reading material’.
This week we’re looking at the world of HR software, and how similar it is to the world of Game of Thrones we all know and love.
As we come to the end of the year, businesses across the world begin to question and re-evaluate their current processes, goals and investment choices – HR software systems being one of them. For us, as providers of this software, it becomes more and more fitting to confirm with familiar dread – ‘winter is coming’.
The HR software marketplace is jam-packed. There’s hundreds of providers fighting for the top spots, and hundreds of businesses left scrolling through the madness unable to make head or tail of most of it. Sound familiar?
That’s because choosing an HR software system can be as confusing as choosing who you want to sit on the Iron Throne in Westeros. Asking my office who they think should rule Westeros I get at least seven different answers, a lot of bickering, and no conclusions whatsoever at the end of it.
If you’ve ever tried to get a coherent answer to the question ‘what’s the best HR software?’ you’ve probably already discovered that everyone has a different opinion and personal favourite. Because the truth is, there isn’t one – all products bring different features and benefits to the table, and all are designed for different types of businesses.
In the same way that Danaerys’ kindness draws in some viewers, and Cersei’s strong and relentless leadership skills draw in others, HR software systems vary greatly, but it doesn’t make any of them less effective than others, necessarily.
The marketplace is competitive, too. We always work hard to keep up-to-date with what our customers need from our software, and with so many providers out there, we often have to move at lightning-speed. As far as I know, there’s never been an actual re-enactment of the ‘Red Wedding’ amongst HR software providers, but the desire to be the King of the market is present amongst us all – and this can affect how businesses like yours perceive us, as well as making your job that much more complicated when trying to pick a system.
So how can businesses fight through the noise and pick the rightful King? Websites like HRcomparison, plus review sites like Capterra can give you a headstart in narrowing down the right HR software for you based on the size of your company and your business requirements. There are even specialised consultants who are there to save you time locating the right solution for you. As long as you don’t go for the Joffrey of HR systems, you should be alright.
Luckily, this is Westeros and not Mordor – it isn’t one HR software to rule them all. They’re designed in different ways for different purposes, and although some are very basic systems, many of them provide you with unique features and benefits which might be exactly what your company is missing.
Join us next Friday for more fabby HR fun on the Youmanage blog, and if you’d like to find out more about how Youmanage can benefit your business, check out our product page.
