The Best Employee Management Systems Shortlist
Here’s the list of the best employee management systems I’ll cover in this article, with detailed summaries below:
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.
If you’re researching HR technology, you’re probably doing so for one of two reasons. 1) You're tired of the employee management system you're currently using, and looking for something better. 2) You're a growing small business looking to implement employee management software for the first time. Either way, I'm here to help you.
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.
Overviews of the 10 Best Employee Management Systems
Here’s a brief description of each of the employee information systems that are featured on this top 10 list. I've also included a screenshot of each system to give you a taste of their user interface too.
Paycor
Best for comprehensive hiring or training initiatives
Paycor is a comprehensive employee management system that helps businesses manage payroll, employee hours, HR, and benefits. 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. The software includes a dashboard that allows managers to track the progress of each new hire, as well as a set of tools for creating and managing employee files. Its onboarding software integrates with Paycor's performance management and time-tracking software. Also, it includes a built-in e-signature function, which allows new hires to sign their employment contracts electronically.
Users can track and manage employee performance with customizable templates, goal setting and tracking, real-time feedback, and 1-on-1 sessions. Its payroll software offers a range of features, including direct deposit and 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.
Paycor's analytics feature allows users to access detailed information about their employees' pay and benefits. By tracking this data, employers can identify trends and make informed decisions about compensation strategies. Users can generate reports that show employee pay by job title, location, or department. Additionally, the feature provides data on employee benefits usage, such as vacation days and health insurance coverage. Businesses can choose from various pricing plans based on the number of employees and the level of service required.
Integrations include HireTech, Emburse Certify, Zillion, Points North, FMLA, Tapcheck, Instant Pay, Sterling, Wageworks, Ignite, and other digital workforce tools.
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. 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.
Managers will appreciate the customizable reports and dashboards which can display valuable metrics needed for 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.
monday.com’s 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.
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.
Deel gives you 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.
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 candidates 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 integrates with major HR and accounting platforms and complies with SOC2 and ISO 27001 security standards, meaning it follows international guidelines for securing your data.
Connecteam
Best 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 remote employees.
The tool 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’s features include a dedicated employee communication channel with targeted updates, team engagement features, surveys, polls, a suggestion box to collect employee feedback, a searchable company directory, organizational charts, training and onboarding capabilities, a company library, time management, digital forms and checklists, quick tasks, and more.
Connecteam is designed for out-of-office use, and it’s easy to use, customizable, and quick to set up. Connecteam can automate daily procedures, help improve team communication, and help boost employee engagement.
Factorial
Best with performance tracking and payroll processing
Factorial is a talent management software and all-in-one solution for businesses to manage employee data, payroll, expenses, and time off requests. It also provides HR analytics, employee performance tracking, and document management. Users can set SMART goals and OKRs in the system, and measure success across teams and departments.
The software's talent management module covers the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding all the way through offboarding. Performance management tools like 360 degree reviews and employee assessments help managers track each team member's growth and development. Managers can also set employee goals and monitor their progress over time.
Time management is also included in the platform. Employees can track their time and submit time-off requests through their portal. Meanwhile, managers can create schedules and manage shift workers. Payroll operations can be automated with the software, ensuring each staff member is paid on time and accurately according to their hours worked and relevant tax deductions.
The software integrates with workplace tools like Sage, Gmail, Slack, PowerBI, Indeed, and others. Paid plans start from $6.50 per user per month, and a 14-day free trial is available.
SyncHR
Best employee management system for employee self-service
SyncHR is an innovative employee management system that helps businesses streamline their HR operations, manage talent and benefit programs, and process payroll. It includes easy-to-use tools that help you efficiently organize data like employee records, performance reviews, leave requests, and attendance details. It also includes onboarding workflows to help you get your new hires up to speed quickly and easily.
SyncHR can help you manage your entire performance review process. It includes customizable templates for performance reviews so you can create detailed assessments of each employee's progress on an annual basis (or more frequently, if necessary), and provide feedback on areas where they need improvement.
SyncHR also offers a powerful time-tracking feature that tracks employee work hours and any paid or unpaid time off taken. This integrated feature helps ensure accurate payroll processing while also providing detailed insights into workforce productivity across an organization.
Payroll administrators can easily create payment schedules, generate tax forms, and track employee deductions with just a few clicks. SyncHR also offers customizable security access and reporting options so companies can tailor the system to their unique business needs.
With SyncHR's built-in employee self-service portal, employees can access all their personal information in one central location. They can view their pay stubs, enroll in benefits plans, or update their contact info without calling or emailing HR for assistance. This helps cut down on constant administrative tasks, making your HR team more efficient.
Details on potential software integrations are not currently available.
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.
The 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. The company 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.
The software integrates with QuickBooks, Oracle NetSuite, Sage Intacct, BambooHR, Lattice, Greenhouse Software, Carta, Xero, and other workplace software. Pricing and a free demo are available upon request.
Insperity
Efficient employee management for growing businesses
Insperity is an all-in-one employee management system designed for businesses looking for an easy way to manage their employees' needs, benefits, and payroll. As a user, I appreciate how Insperity streamlines the entire HR process, from onboarding to retirement planning, making it a one-stop shop for all things related to employee management.
I picked Insperity as one of the best employee management systems because it offers an array of features that are essential for any growing business, such as time and attendance tracking, performance management, and employee benefits administration. Additionally, Insperity's platform is user-friendly, making it easy for HR professionals to navigate and manage employee information.
One of the standout features of Insperity 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. Another feature that stands out 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.
Insperity integrates with several other HR software tools, such as QuickBooks, Sage, and Oracle, making it easy to connect with other business systems. This integration also allows for seamless data transfer between systems, eliminating the need for manual data entry and saving HR professionals valuable time.
Justworks
Best for its mix of tech + HR services
Justworks is a comprehensive HR solution that provides payroll, benefits, compliance support, and HR consulting services.
Employee management is easy with this platform thanks to its mix of tech solutions plus 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.
Additionally, you have access to a variety of benefits options, including health insurance, 401(k) plans, commuter benefits, and more. It simplifies the benefits administration process, allowing you to choose the best options for your employees.
Finally, 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.
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. Their performance review system 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.
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 integrates 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!
Best Employee Management Systems Comparison Chart
Here’s a comparison chart that 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 | Paycor Best for comprehensive hiring or training initiatives | 90-day free trial + free demo available | From $5/employee/month + $99/month base fee | Visit Website |
2 | monday.com Best for employee time & task tracking | 14-day free trial + freemium plan available | From $8/user/month (billed annually, min 3 seats) | Visit Website |
3 | 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 |
4 | Connecteam Best employee management app for mobile teams | Free plan available | From $29/month (30 users) | Visit Website |
5 | Factorial Best with performance tracking and payroll processing | 14-day free trial | From $6.50/employee/month | Visit Website |
6 | SyncHR Best employee management system for employee self-service | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
7 | Trinet Best for performance management and employee learning | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
8 | Insperity Efficient employee management for growing businesses | Not available | Pricing upon request | Visit Website |
9 | Justworks Best for its mix of tech + 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
- Rippling
Best all-in-one platform for managing HR, payroll, and IT needs efficiently
- Buddy Punch
Best online time clock with scheduling
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 with positive user ratings that cover 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 is a leave management system?
What is an HRIS?
Other Types of Employee Management Tools
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.
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 Business
- Employee Shift Scheduling Software
- Employee Training Software for Online Learning & Development
- HRMS for Human Resource Management
- Talent Management Systems for HR
- Workforce Management Software
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, podcast, and software recommendations.