People management is one of the most important elements of the company’s activities. Considering that, it is not surprising that there are multiple software solutions available in the market to make this effort easier.
People management, otherwise known as Human Resources management, comes as a relatively new field. While humans were working and forming organizations, the holistic approach toward human resources, tracking the retention, engagement, and performance of employees is the effect of changes during the XX century.
The process is complex enough to bring the need to be supported by software tools. Approximately 36% of HR professionals cite the unfitting and ineffective technology as the root cause of the inability to automate and improve onboarding processes. On the other hand, up to 57% of companies claim to use a specific performance measurement technology.
According to GrandView research, HR management software is predicted to reach $37.17 billion by 2027. To understand the cause of the popularity of this type of software, it is necessary to grab definitions of both the people management and people management software.
People management is an umbrella term encompassing the process of training, motivating, inspiring, and managing employees to boost their productivity and the company’s performance. People management can be also considered synonymous with human resources management, yet with a slight twist. While Human resource management is usually focused on payroll, hiring, and all the paperwork, people management brings the humane face to this area.
People management software term applies to all digital tools designed solely to support HR operations. Thus, while the time tracker or attendance management software like Calamari is a perfect example, an Excel spreadsheet, even the most sophisticated one, is not.
People management software comes in multiple versions – from the jack of all trades masters in none to tools that focus on delivering a particular feature in the best way possible. And basically everything in between.
Software used for people management is a choice not to underestimate. Once implemented, it stores employee data and influences multiple operations in the company. Project managers start to use the data from the people management system to invoice clients and manage their operations.
The system itself is used widely outside the HR department, so it is not only about one particular group to be used to the system. That’s why there are several universal qualities the system needs to have, regardless of the size of the company, the industry, and the number of users.
The Human Resources Management System (HRMS), or at least some components of it, will be used on a daily basis by all people in the organization. Time and attendance tracking is the best example of such a feature. That’s why the system needs to be legible and clear, to not confuse and annoy the users.
According to Impact, 79% of users feel annoyed if the website is not providing what they expect it to. This is a disastrous situation for e-commerce, where there are multiple other shops. In the company’s daily operations, it is about amassing the frustration and bitterness in users, who are in fact forced to use the service they don’t like to use.
To avoid this silly way to annoy employees, the company needs to invest in a UX-polished people management platform.
Time tracking is an essential feature when it comes to people management software. In some legal systems (for example some EU countries and the US) it is mandatory to deliver the timesheet, there are multiple other motivations to track the time of employees.
First of all, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an explosion of remote work – a fact easy to see in the example of the EU. Before the pandemic, only 5.4% of EU employees were working from home on a regular basis. During the first lockdown, the share skyrocketed to 40%.
Also, it is increasingly popular to use the services of freelance workers and independent contractors. According to skillscounter, by 2027 the majority of the US workforce will consist of freelancers and independent consultants. Considering that, the need to have a trustworthy way to measure their working time and calculate fees is a must. When the information is kept in the same system as used by the rest of the company, it is easier to make all calculations and keep the compliance.
An offshoot to the time tracking system, the attendance tracking system provides reliable information on whether the user is working. With the remote or semi-remote workforce, it can be tricky information to get.
The attendance tracking system stores the information whether one was online, offline, in the office, or out of it.
During the pandemic this information came with another tweak – if there was a person who was sick in the office, it is possible easily to check who was in the office also and provide them with necessary information.
Leave management is another feature that will be used widely among the organization. In a sophisticated system like Calamari, the user can make and check the leave request by him or herself. There is no need for additional paperwork or manual passing of the information.
According to the DMEC study summarized on the Calamari blog, the cost of leave management is growing significantly with the organization, with the biggest companies having separate teams only to handle the leave management. In companies bigger than 50 employees it is a rarity to not have a dedicated person responsible solely for managing the employee leaves.
That’s why all the automation of this process can bring significant savings for the company by reducing the dull, repetitive, and mistake-prone work required by this process.
The people management software needs to be used by nearly every company – as long as there are employees, it is necessary to manage their attendance and leaves.
Yet there are a myriad of other features that may or may not be used – and for each of them, the user needs to pay. Paying for unused features is not a good strategy.
That’s why modern systems like Calamari provide users with multiple integrations to support the core functionalities of provided HR software tools. Traffit is a great example of adding the hiring management extension and Jira comes as an excellent example of project management software tightly integrated with time tracking.
While the features listed above make the usage of the system more convenient for the company, security is another challenge. The people management software stores information about HR processes as well as sensitive information regarding the employees – data about their age, their skills, sometimes family, or hints about their health.
That’s why hardening the system against attacks and attempts of hacking is crucial. A cloud-based system like Calamari provides multiple layers of security. Firstly, the system itself is based in a nearly unbreakable Amazon Cloud, where dozens of security engineers work on ensuring that the environment is safe to keep and process data. By placing the system in the cloud the company ensured compliance with the most stringent legal frameworks, including the GDPR.
Also, Calamari comes with an efficient way to manage the permissions. There is a centralized panel to manage the people who have access to the employee data.
According to the Retarus data, this aspect is overlooked oftentimes. On average, every employee has access to 11 million files – but only 5% of companies’ folders are properly protected – and the folder with personal data can be an omitted one.
Last but not least, the software needs to be available on various platforms and optimized to be used on different devices.
Calamari provides the user with desktop apps, mobile apps, and web apps to make the usage as convenient as possible. The system also comes with Slack integration to enable the user to request leave via Slackbot.
According to Google data, 52% of users said that a bad mobile experience discouraged them from engaging with the company and 48% said that the lack of smartphone optimization made the users think that the company didn't care about their business. This applies also to the users from inside the company – the employees.
Choosing a good and effective people management system is a tricky challenge. A wise choice lets the company avoid being stuck with a bloated and unfriendly system that is hard to replace. Also, using such a system ultimately hampers the productivity of the team instead of boosting it.
Calamari comes as a wise choice for the company, regardless of its size and industry. If you wish to talk more about the features and benefits of using Calamari, don’t hesitate to contact us now!
Get monthly insights and make HR simple with us
