The Best Employee Management Systems Shortlist
Here’s my shortlist of the 10 best employee management systems I’ve covered in detail in this article out of the 20 options I’ve included in total:
Our one-on-one guidance will help you find the perfect fit.
Employee management systems are a core part of HR. They cover a wide range of functions, including employee records, payroll, time tracking, task management, and more.
This article will walk you through the best employee management systems on the market today. These cloud-based systems will get you out of your spreadsheets and filing cabinets and into the area of digital HR.
What are Employee Management Systems?
The term "employee management systems" is used broadly to describe a range of software systems that cover key aspects of HR admin. They are also known by other names too. Some vendors refer to their products as employee databases, while others use acronyms like HRIS (human resources information system), HCM (human capital management), or HRMS (human resource management system).
Regardless of the name used, they are a type of workforce management tool that acts as a single source of truth for all your employee data. The key functions they cover include recruitment & onboarding, time and attendance tracking, performance management, training & development, payroll, and benefits administration.
Detailed Overviews of the 10 Best Employee Management Systems
Below you’ll find detailed descriptions of the 10 best employee management systems that made my shortlist, including their key features and the reasons why I picked them. I’ve also included a screenshot of each system to give you a taste of their user interface too. Plus, in case you’d like even more choices to review, I’ve included 10 more bonus options below.
Connecteam
Best all-in-one employee management app for mobile teams
Connecteam is an employee management app that allows HR people, employee managers, and business owners to communicate, operate, and train deskless employees.
Why I picked Connecteam: The software is divided into three main modules: operations, communications, and HR & skills. The software is available on mobile, desktop, or as a kiosk app for tablets, and it’s intended for organizations where employees don’t spend their working time in the office. Connecteam can adapt to the needs of a variety of industries, including retail, restaurants, manufacturing, construction, field services, and healthcare.
Connecteam Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include Connecteam's dedicated employee communication channel with targeted updates, team engagement features, surveys, polls, and a suggestion box to collect employee feedback. Their platform also includes a searchable company directory, organizational charts, training and onboarding capabilities, a company library, time management, digital forms and checklists, quick tasks, and more.
Their comprehensive platform is designed for out-of-office use, and it’s easy to use, customizable, and quick to set up. You can leverage their wealth of features to automate daily procedures, improve team communication via direct messaging, and help boost employee engagement.
Integrations include Google Calendar, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, and others.
Deel
Best for managing global teams of international employees and contractors
Deel is a global employee management platform that enables hiring in over 150 countries. You can hire full-time employees from anywhere in the world and manage their payroll, compliance, and administration from one single platform.
Why I picked Deel: Deel's platform includes management features for both contractors and employees. For employees, Deel works as the employer of record, handling payroll and benefits, so you don’t need to open up a foreign entity. Their full-featured UI also includes features such as contract management, expense reimbursements, and off-cycle payroll adjustments too.
Deel Standout Features and Integrations:
Compared to other employee management systems, Deel stands out with several new offerings over the past year, including global payroll, global mobility support, integrated Slack tools, and advanced integrations. The global mobility service helps companies with visa sponsorship, allowing them to bring in new employees from abroad. The Slack plugins can be used to create an accessible organizational chart, provide self-service PTO management, and even track applicant referrals.
Deel also complies with SOC2 and ISO 27001 security standards, meaning it follows international guidelines for securing your data.
Integrations are available with major HR and accounting platforms, including Ashby, BambooHR, Expensify, Greenhouse, Hibob, NetSuite, Okta, OneLogin, QuickBooks, Xero, Workday, and Workable. The software’s open API can support additional custom software integrations.
TalentReef
Best for recruiting and retaining hourly workers
TalentReef is a talent recruitment and management system that covers candidate sourcing, hiring, and onboarding, as well as monitoring employee engagement on an ongoing basis.
Why I picked TalentReef: This platform has everything you need to recruit and hire hourly workers. You can post jobs, parse through resumes, and schedule interviews through the system. Plus, you can set up automated onboarding workflows to get new hires up and running quickly.
But the main reason I included this software on my list is for its retention tools for your existing staff. Once you've hired a highly skilled team, you can keep them engaged with the goal setting, feedback exchange, and recognition tools. You can also set up training and learning modules with the platform, and provide an employee self-serve portal for assessments, evaluations, and more.
TalentReef Standout Features and Integrations:
Some of the standout features in this platform are its performance management tools. You can conduct check-ins, set and track goals with employees, and conduct performance evaluations. This includes self-evaluations, so employees have a chance to highlight their hard work.
Integrations include payroll systems, candidate assessment tools, background check providers, and learning management systems, though individual platforms are not specified.
Lattice
Best for incorporating performance-related feedback from multiple sources
Lattice’s people management platform is designed to help HR teams and managers get the most out of their employees through its primary focus on performance and goal management. It's cloud-based system is also accessible on mobile devices too.
Why I picked Lattice: Their platform is designed to help organizations develop employees into high performers with tools to help them set, monitor, and achieve their personal and professional goals. In addition to their performance management module, Lattice also offers integrated solutions to manage objectives and key results (OKRs) and goals; employee engagement tools like surveys, pulses, and eNPS ratings; and employee growth tools that help staff and their managers develop career growth plans and track skill competencies.
Lattice Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features in Lattice's employee management software include modern continuous performance management features such as continuous loops, one-to-one templates, and 360-degree feedback. This means performance reviews prepared within Lattice incorporate a blend of feedback sources from managers, colleagues, direct reports, and the employees themselves, creating a well-rounded profile of how each employee is performing. Lattice also supports project-based reviews too.
Integrations are available with many commonly used human resource information systems (HRIS), including ADP, BambooHR, Namely, Personio, Rippling, Workday, and Zenefits, as well as other popular software platforms such as Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Slack, and others.
Paycor
Best for a comprehensive system with flexible payment options
Paycor is a comprehensive employee management system that helps businesses manage payroll, employee hours, HR, and benefits.
Why I picked Paycor: I included Paycor in this list for several reasons. First, its ability to track employee time and attendance helps employers identify patterns of absenteeism and tardiness, allowing them to take steps to improve employee productivity.
Second, I appreciate how the software includes a dashboard to help managers track the progress of each new hire, as well as a set of tools for creating and managing employee files. It also includes a built-in e-signature function, which allows new hires to sign their employment contracts electronically.
Its integrated payroll software offers a range of features, including flexible pay options like direct deposit, earned wage access, pay cards, and automatic tax filing. Paycor also provides a mobile app that allows employees to access their payroll information on the go with features that enable them to view pay stubs, request time off, and check accruals.
In addition, managers can track employee performance using customizable templates, goal-setting tools, real-time feedback, and 1-on-1 sessions.
Paycor Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features for Paycor include their detailed analytics covering employee pay and benefits. By tracking this data, employers can identify trends and make informed decisions about compensation strategies. You can also generate reports that show employee pay by job title, location, or department. Additionally, you can analyze data on employee benefits usage, such as vacation days and health insurance coverage.
Integrations include HireTech, Emburse Certify, Zillion, Points North, FMLA, Tapcheck, Instant Pay, Sterling, Wageworks, Ignite, and other digital workforce tools.
Businesses can choose from various pricing plans based on the number of employees and the level of service required.
monday.com
Best for employee time & task tracking
monday.com is marketing mainly as a workflow tool for scaling organizations, but they’ve also built in several HR features, many of which can be used well for employee management.
Why I picked monday.com: The platform has features to build collaborative workflows and schedules, assign tasks and projects to your team, track time, report on key performance indicators (KPIs), solicit feedback from your staff, and send automated reminders for important to-dos.
Their platform is also a good choice for organizations with heavy document-processing needs thanks to their workflow management tools for deadlines and built-in communication features like commenting, approvals, @-tagging, notifications & alerts, a built-in inbox, social media-esc 'likes,' and email integration.
monday.com Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include customizable reports and dashboards that you can set up to capture the valuable metrics needed for proper employee management: capacity limitations, progress tracking, time management, budget totals, and missed deadline warnings.
Part of managing your employees is making sure they aren't bogged down in admin and data entry when they could best be using their skills elsewhere. monday.com offers automations that can handle basic, recurring tasks without live intervention, freeing up your people for more creative and complex work.
Integrations include project management apps like Slack, Google Workspace, Gmail, Google Calendar, Jira, GitHub, Trello, Dropbox, Typeform, and many more, accessible through a paid plan with Zapier.
Trinet
Best for performance management and employee learning
Trinet offers HR software and services to help businesses manage various HR functions, including payroll and employee benefits, employee performance and learning, and workplace analytics. The software's features cover the entire employee lifecycle, from hiring and onboarding through to offboarding.
Why I picked Trinet: Their performance management module has cascading goals, performance evaluation templates, and real-time employee feedback. Managers and their team members can track goal progress and connect employee milestones to their performance reviews. Plus, Trinet also gives you access to over 500 courses to help employees learn on the job and train for their roles.
Employee time tracking and scheduling can also be managed through the software. As you manage employee time, you can also manage employee pay and benefits. Payroll and tax filings can be conducted in several countries, making this a good option for global businesses.
Trinet Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features for Trinet, in addition to those mentioned above, include their workforce analytics capabilities. You can customize their dashboard to track key metrics like your headcount, turnover rates, employee tenure, new hires, and terminations.
Integrations are available with BambooHR, Bob, Carta, ChartHop, Compt, Greenhouse, Lattice, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, QuickBooks, Xero, and many others.
Insperity
Best for growing businesses wanting additional PEO support
Insperity is an all-in-one employee management system designed to help businesses streamline their key HR processes, from onboarding and payroll to benefits and retirement planning.
Why I picked Insperity: I included Insperity in this list because of its comprehensive set of features for employee management. Their software combines a wide range of HR functions, including payroll, time and attendance tracking, performance management, and employee benefits administration.
These features are supplemented by their additional PEO (professional employer organization) services, which are run by their in-house experts in payroll, performance, safety, and other HR-related compliance issues. This combination of software plus additional expertise makes them an ideal solution for small to midsize businesses that have limited in-house resources and want to access expert HR support.
Insperity Standout Features and Integrations:
One of Insperity's standout features is its Workforce Synchronization tool, which allows users to easily manage employee information across multiple systems, ensuring that all employee data is consistent and up-to-date. Also worth mentioning is Insperity's Employee Service Center, which provides employees with a central location to access all of their HR-related information, such as pay stubs, time off requests, and benefits information.
Additionally, Insperity's platform is user-friendly, making it easy for HR professionals to navigate and manage employee information.
Integrations are available with several other HR software systems including ADP, Oracle, Sage, and QuickBooks. It also offers an API that allows users to build custom integrations with other applications to facilitate seamless data transfer between systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry and saving HR professionals valuable time.
Justworks
Best for benefits administration and a blend of software & HR services
Justworks is a comprehensive HR solution that provides payroll, benefits, compliance support, and HR consulting services.
Why I picked Justworks: Employee management is easy with this platform thanks to its mix of tech solutions and HR services. Justworks provides access to a team of certified HR professionals who can help businesses navigate complex employment laws and regulations, manage employee performance, and provide guidance on best HR practices.
In addition, its payroll services will provide you with automated payroll management, including tax filing and compliance. And speaking of compliance, you can use Justworks to send out sexual harassment prevention training, keep an eye on timesheet errors, and keep up with the ever-changing employment regulations and tax season payments.
Justworks Standout Features and Integrations:
The biggest standout feature for Justworks is the wide range of benefit options you can access through their platform, including health insurance (medical and dental coverage), vision insurance, life insurance, 401(k) plans, and commuter benefits. Their software simplifies the benefits administration process, allowing you to choose the best options for your employees.
Integrations are available with popular accounting software including Bookkeeper360, QuickBooks, Xero, and others.
Leapsome
Best for people enablement & learning
Leapsome’s all-in-one platform helps companies strengthen their employee satisfaction through a comprehensive suite of tools focused on employee engagement, performance and learning & development.
Why I picked Leapsome: To help with employee upskilling, their learning and development module can create learning paths using customized curriculum, or curated third-party content from their built-in learning library. Knowledge acquisition can also be measured using short quizzes with a variety of question formats. Their learning path dashboard also makes it easy to keep track of internal enrollment numbers, progress status, and completion rates for individuals or at the company-wide level.
Leapsome Standout Features and Integrations:
One of Leapsome's standout features is the depth of its integrated performance review system. This module includes modern elements like 360-degree feedback, agile project reviews, and anonymous leadership reviews, to give employees a voice during the feedback process. Goal setting is also well-integrated into the system so employees always know what’s expected of them, and how their goals are contributing to the bigger picture.
Integrates are available with 15+ common HR software applications including Personio, BambooHR, Bob, Workday, Rippling, PayFit, ADP, Active Directory, SFTP, Okta, OneLogin, GSuite, Slack, Jira Software, Microsoft Teams, and common calendar apps.
Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Workforce Management Software?
We’ve joined up with Crozdesk.com to give all our readers (yes, you!) access to Crozdesk’s software advisors. Just use the form below to share your needs, and they will contact you at no cost or commitment. You will then be matched and connected to a shortlist of vendors that best fit your company, and you can access exclusive software discounts!
The 10 Best Employee Management Systems: Quick Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top employee management software selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best software for your budget and business needs.
Tool | Free Option | Price | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Connecteam Best all-in-one employee management app for mobile teams | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually) | Visit Website |
2 | Deel Best for managing global teams of international employees and contractors | Free demo available | Flat rate user pricing, with a free version for businesses with up to 200 people | Visit Website |
3 | TalentReef Best for recruiting and retaining hourly workers | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
4 | Lattice Best for incorporating performance-related feedback from multiple sources | Free demo available | From $11/employee/month | Visit Website |
5 | Paycor Best for a comprehensive system with flexible payment options | 90-day free trial + free demo available | From $5/employee/month + $99/month base fee | Visit Website |
6 | monday.com Best for employee time & task tracking | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
7 | Trinet Best for performance management and employee learning | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
8 | Insperity Best for growing businesses wanting additional PEO support | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
9 | Justworks Best for benefits administration and a blend of software & HR services | Free demo available | From $59/user/month | Visit Website |
10 | Leapsome Best for people enablement & learning | 14-day free trial | From $8/user/month | Visit Website |
Other Employee Management Systems
Here are a few more options that didn’t make the best employee management software list. If you need additional suggestions for helpful HR systems, check these out:
- Eddy
Best all-in-one HR software for small, local businesses
- Veriato
Best employee management system for tracking employee productivity
- 15Five
Best for linking employee performance with OKR management and employee engagement
- Gusto
Best payroll service for international contractor-based teams
- Zenefits
Best for paperless employee onboarding
- Bullhorn
Best for employee staffing & recruitment
- Workday
Best for business & professional services companies
- SAP SuccessFactors
Best EMS for enterprises
- SyncHR
Best employee management system for employee self-service
- Rippling
Best all-in-one platform for managing HR, payroll, and IT needs efficiently
Selection Criteria for Employee Management Software
Wondering what I look for when selecting the best employee management software for this list? I'm happy to explain my process.
First, I created a long list of human resources software vendors based on recent market data. I also made sure each system had positive user ratings and covered core workforce management features. Next, to narrow my list down even further, I scoured the details of each website to ensure they were a good fit.
Lastly, to make my final selections, I compared each remaining employee management solution using my selection criteria below. By using the questions below as my framework, I was able to compare each system systematically to see how each one stacked up against the next.
Core Functionalities
Whenever I set about reviewing a new type of software, I always determine the core features it should cover first. That way I can ensure no crucial features are missed. Since employee management systems are a very broad category, this was a little trickier than usual! However, as I set about evaluating and comparing the many different options out there, I made sure that each system covered the following core functions:
- A centralized repository for all your core employee data
- Integrated modules for easy digital data management (i.e., no need to enter the same information twice)
- Employee self-service capabilities to cut down on administrative requests
- Customizable user roles and permissions to limit who has access to your data
Key Features
In addition to the core functionalities above, here are some additional features I also paid close attention to when evaluating the best employee management systems for this list. To determine their strength, I asked myself the following questions:
- Engagement and Productivity - Are there features designed to encourage employee engagement or monitor employee satisfaction and sentiment? Are there any productivity tools that can be put to use to increase profitability?
- Surveys & Feedback - Are employees encouraged or enabled to provide some sort of feedback? Are work culture signifiers like mood, conflict, and satisfaction recorded somehow?
- Real-Time Reporting and Analysis - Are the reporting features useful and intuitive? Is there a variety of export and visualization options? Can you easily pull information for top performers?
Usability
Is it user-friendly, and easy to learn and master? Does the company offer good tech support, user support, tutorials, and training? Is it clean, uncluttered, and attractive? Will it provide a good user experience for staff at all levels?
Software Integrations
Is it easy to connect with other SaaS tools? Any there any pre-built integrations? Or if not, do they have an API to support custom software integrations? This is not strictly vital for employee management software but it is a huge plus.
Price
How appropriate is the price for the features, capabilities, and use case? Is pricing clear, transparent, and flexible? Do they offer a free trial or a free plan with limited features (i.e., a freemium plan)? Does their software allow you to scale up and add more modules over time?
Employee Management Systems: FAQs
Have some questions about employee management systems and what they have to offer? These frequently asked questions are a great place to start:
What is employee management?
What do employee management systems do?
What resources can help me be a better manager?
What is a leave management system?
What is an HRIS?
Other Employee Management Tools
While I've got your attention, here are some links to other types of employee management tools you should also consider:
- Benefits Administration Software
- Best ERP Software of 2023 (+ Free ERP Options)
- Employee Experience Software for Engagement & Performance
- Employee Scheduling Software For Small Businesses
- Employee Shift Scheduling Software
- Employee Training Software for Online Learning & Development
- Attendance Tracking Software
- HRMS for Human Resource Management
- Talent Management Systems for HR
- Workforce Management Software
- Learning Management Systems
Stay Connected
Any of the tools above can help you with your workforce management. It’s just a matter of determining which one is best for you.
I also recommend signing up for our weekly People Managing People newsletter. That way, we can keep you up-to-date on our latest articles, podcasts, and software recommendations.