5 Benefits of an HR Management Platform

Millions of Americans are now working from home in a nationwide effort to flatten the curve of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a shift that poses unprecedented challenges to employees, managers, and businesses across the country. In a time of such sweeping change, it has become a top priority for organizations to quickly adapt to the range of challenges posed by the crisis.

HR professionals face a particularly complicated problem. On top of suddenly having to adapt to a distributed workforce model, these professionals are also largely responsible for disseminating the latest news around COVID-19 throughout their respective organizations.

In response to these challenges, many organizations around the country have begun to rely on HR management software.

What is HR Management Software?

HR management software is a powerful tool for keeping a workforce engaged, informed, and connected. It can provide your team with an all-in-one database to oversee employee records, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and emergency updates.

Here are some of the major benefits that HR management software can bring to your organization, and why it’s a particularly useful asset during the COVID-19 crisis:

• Centralized employee records and information. Many HR teams currently rely on spreadsheets to manage individual employee records. This method, however, can lead to a whole host of problems. Spreadsheets are often tricky to track down, update, and organize, and their incompatibility with other apps and employee databases can make them a drain on precious time and resources. HRMs, on the other hand, allow teams to update and organize employee records from a single, centralized database. This feature, in particular, will become increasingly valuable as organizations continue to work with a distributed workforce for the duration of the pandemic.

• Employee self-service. Now more than ever, it’s crucial for employees to be able to easily access their personal records, tax information, and PTO request documents. Through an all-in-one HR management software, your employees will be able to take control of their personal information while working remotely.

• Individual benefits management. Virtually every American is currently striving to overcome some sort of professional, financial, and/or health-related challenge. In response, the federal government has unveiled a number of federal financial relief packages, including the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). In order to ensure that employees are able to access as many benefits as possible, it’s crucial for managers to provide regular updates around COVID-19-related care packages. And given the rate at which new information is becoming available, this can be an overwhelming task for many traditional HR teams. But with the help of a sophisticated HRM platform, you’ll be able to keep your employees informed, educated, and safe. You’ll also be able to provide your employees with the information and resources that they’ll need to apply for federal relief programs as they become available.

• Streamline and secure your payroll management. Amidst the recent wave of organizational restructuring and emergency budgeting, it’s become a challenge for many small businesses to manage payroll in a timely and organized manner. At the same time, millions of individual employees have been struggling to overcome their own financial challenges. Thankfully, an all-in-one HR platform makes it easy to distribute, manage, and oversee a payroll system for a distributed and quarantined workforce. It will also increase the security of your payroll system with data encryption and password protection.

• Simplified onboarding process. Many employers are in need of talented candidates who will be able to contribute valuable skills during the pandemic. Strict social distancing measures, however, can be a barrier to businesses who are looking to vet new employees. HRMs can save your team a significant amount of time as you continue to communicate with and onboard new employees.

How to Choose an All-In-One Software Platform

With so many different HRMs out there to choose from, how can you be sure that you’re investing in one that will be a perfect fit for your organizations’ unique needs, budget, and business model?

The trick is to understand the idiosyncrasies of your HR department, and to choose a platform that will be able to accommodate each of them.

With that in mind, there are a few key questions that you should keep in mind when you’re setting out to find an HRM:

• Is it cloud-based? In other words, can it be accessed easily by your remote employees and by prospective job candidates?

• Does this platform offer tools and resources to help me navigate COVID-19-related matters? In times like these, it’s important to integrate an HRM that is able to help navigate the business complexities associated with COVID-19. This is a major step in ensuring that all employees are able to access all of the emergency benefits that they’re eligible for.

• Will this HRM be able to meet the unique needs of my HR department? No two HR teams are exactly alike. In the same way, HRMs vary in terms of design, scalability, and specific features. So before you decide to implement a particular HRM, be sure to check out and compare a few different options.

The Best HR Software for Small Business

At Justworks, we’ve designed our HR software with the needs of small businesses in mind. We’re aware that it’s important for these businesses to be able to rapidly change alongside their industry, which is why we provide some of the most dynamic and flexible HR solutions available. We’re here to support you with 24/7 customer support via phone, email, Slack, or SMS, and our team of certified HR professionals are standing by to provide your team with tailored HR guidance and best practices.

We also understand that it’s more important than ever right now for businesses to be able to provide clear and regular updates to their employees around the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, we’ve created the Guide to Navigating COVID-19, a helpful resource that contains key information you and your team need to know about the CARES Act, the FFCRA, and other federal news.

If you’re looking for an innovative, user-friendly, human resources management system to help your organization navigate the uncertainty of the unfolding pandemic, Justworks might be the partner you’ve been looking for.