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Six Hacks for Streamlining Your HR Software

PostedOn: 2018-03-09 11:11:24

We love complexity as humans. Keep it simple is not in our DNA. But complexity is almost never good, and that sure holds true for human resource software. 

Complexity in HR software leads to inefficiency and underutilization. That’s bad for business. 

Thankfully, the industry’s move to the cloud is changing that. Just as software for other industries and business functions has gotten simpler and easier to use as they systems have moved off premise, so too has HR software. 

But that doesn’t mean things are simple enough; for many companies, there’s still the need for reduced HR software involvedness and simplify processes. 

Over the past few years, businesses have seen an evolution of technology in HR work processes. By streamlining HR technologies and processes, businesses will reap huge rewards not only in cost-savings but also in productivity, employee happiness and happiness index.

With that in mind, here are six ways you can streamline things. 

1. Skip Best of Breed 

Choosing the best software for each HR function is enticing, but resist the temptation. Best of breed means many systems that must work together, as well as different interfaces and methodologies. What is gained by using the best solutions in each category is more than offset by the added complexity? 

So keep it simple whenever possible, and avoid best of the breed. 

2. Buy to Your HR Staffing Maturity 

The best solution is not always the best product for your company. There’s a case for simpler, less robust solutions if your HR team isn’t ready to take advantage of deep, complex functionality. 

Just as most people use a light-weight photo editor as a substitute of powerful but complex Adobe Photoshop, you might be able to streamline your HR software by choosing a simpler solution if your team chokes on the complex stuff.

3. Embrace Standardization 

Really, streamlining your HR software is a battle against human nature; we want the perfect software solution, but that makes it more of a headache because it adds complexity through other features and often requires custom processes and hacks. 

Keep it simple instead. One central way to streamline is by using the best practices exhibited by HR software standards instead of going all custom. 

4. Minimize Alerts and Approval Chains  

HR software should be configured to be simple to use and maintain. That means watching the balance between usability and controls/automation. 

A hack to streamline your HR software is to look at areas like leave approvals and see if the system is too complex. If leave approval requests are going out to either immediate managers or HR depending on the nature of the leave, that’s one thing. But your systems can be effective if there are three or four levels of routing. 

5. Don’t Buy More Than You Need 

Another way to streamline your HR software is avoiding features that you don’t actually need. These features might be nice and theoretically useful, but they clutter the software and add to bloat. 

One of the big mistakes with HR software simplicity is purchasing more features and functionality that will be in reality used, according to Carlson at KPA. 

6. Use Self-Serve Functions 

Finally, you can modernize your HR software by taking advantage of its self-serve functionality. 


This only happens if you open it up to employees through self-service access. So don’t ignore this important functionality. 

Unless having self-serve functionality in your HR software requires going best-of-breed, of course.