Adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) by small and medium size businesses (SMBs) is on the upswing. It is projected that the global market for SMB SaaS will outgrow that of enterprise SaaS by year 2020, according to a report by Google and Accel Partners.

Why are SMBs embracing SaaS? There are many reasons, foremost of which are cost reduction, flexibility, and scalability. Add to those the latest technologies and innovations that are built right within SaaS applications which give SMBs the tools not only to save time and money but also to level the playing field with their larger competitors.

Purpose built SaaS products will see hyper growth and adoption by SMBs, and will contribute to more than 75% of the public cloud revenues driving the global SaaS industry to $ 132B revenues by 2020, of which SMB SaaS is expected to reach $76B

Today’s HR solutions delivered through SaaS platforms leverage technologies and provide businesses the means to automate and optimize tasks and activities. This article jots down over 50 good reasons why SMBs should take advantage of current HR systems. Here’s the top 10 on that list:

1. Mostly cloud-based
2. For companies of all sizes
3. One online dashboard
4. Easy and convenient
5. Innovative and automated
6. Organized, visually appealing
7. Scalable
8. Flexibility
9. Data storage
10. Access to data from anywhere at anytime

The reasons above are essentially SaaS software features that can help small and growing companies when it comes to managing their human resource. But how do these translate to values that benefit SMBs? Technology transforms the way we do things and HR is no exception.

Revolutionizing the HR practice

Technology transforms how HR departments manage their workforce, store and organize employee information, and assess employee performance. Technology makes HR practices and processes more effective and efficient. When implemented properly using innovative tools, HR practices increase benefits and lessen problems for the organization.

Here are some ways small businesses gain immense values from today’s HR technology.

1) Transforming core HR

Many HR software solutions streamline and simplify core HR processes. These solutions are robust platforms that can automate employee recruitment and selection, onboarding of new hires, scheduling, payroll, benefits administration, and compliance, among others.

These capabilities unburden the HR department or your small HR team from routine tasks, facilitates the selection and hiring of the most qualified candidates, make more accurate the computation of taxes and benefits for an error-free payroll system, and streamline many other basic HR activities.

As an example, the process alone of hiring needs no face-to-face time with the applicant until the final interview. The modern, technology-driven way is the posting of job notices by companies in electronic job boards, job marketplaces, forums, and even social media, aside from the official company website.

Applicants can simply fill up standardized online forms and submit them online. An applicant tracking system, a feature normally carried by an HR software, does the sorting, pre-evaluating or scoring of applicants based on qualifications that match the requirements of the job. For a small business, this translates to valuable savings on time and resources with the process done automatically without compromising the quality of hire.

2) Integrating information into HR processes

Human resource information system (HRIS) can be a standalone application or a module of a complete HR software. However it is packaged or employed, it provides an important central location or database for all information pertaining to an employee such as personal details, attendance, leaves, hours worked, etc. All these information become the basis for computing taxes, payroll, and benefits.

Often, information on employee progress and performance is stored in the system, including trainings and development. These can be used to determine if an employee is ripe to rise from the ranks or take on bigger responsibilities. An HRIS or similar analytics feature can help evaluate an employee according to relevant information.

3) Analyzing tons of HR data

HR software such as CakeHR can handle much of the work when it comes to making sense of the mountains of data relating to the workforce and individual employees as well as identifying work-related trends that can impact on the organization. For instance, cake.hr offers analytics and reporting tools to help draw insights, conclusions and directions from historical data to predict future needs and behaviors. These can be vital in tweaking or aligning business or work processes to achieve strategic goals.

In related areas, HR solutions can analyze employee performance, undertake performance appraisal, and provide metrics on employee productivity and efficiency. Technology allows for easy collection and break down of employee data to get a clearer overall view. It can even give you the big picture on major company statistics such as length of service, average age, demographics, turnover, and more. In other words, you get the figures and facts that matter without having to hire accountants or IT professionals to crunch the numbers for you. Again for small business, this is one less expense that is significant if you’re operating on a lean budget.

4) Facilitating communication

Communication and collaboration are facilitated by HR technology. Since most HR solutions are cloud-based platforms, they offer unparalleled accessibility and connectivity. Clear communication is among the top best practices in whatever field or industry. Projects and processes are accelerated and resolution of issues is made faster when everyone in the organization has clear and open lines of communication both vertically and horizontally.

Many online HR platforms can work with external communication apps such as Slack or Skype that allow for real-time chat and messaging. Also, with an HRIS in place or a similar system, you can easily exchange files and documents with concerned employees, teams or departments. And with mobile apps almost becoming a standard offering, you can take your HR system with you on the go, access information anytime from anywhere, and enable employees to perform HR self-service from whatever device. Communication via email, text and messaging, information exchange, and even video conferencing is well covered with HR integration technology.

5) Flexible integration

Speaking of integration, nearly all HR products in the market today offer this feature – the ability to work and connect with third-party or external apps, services, and systems. The HR software becomes one flexible and extensible platform where you can open and use within it any other business and productivity software it can integrate with such as office apps, online storage, communications tools, content and document management solutions, accounting services, CRM or ERP, and many others. This integration capability of HR software redounds to savings, eliminating the need to purchase several apps that you need for your everyday tasks.

6) Enterprise-grade security

Like any other SaaS solution hosted on the cloud, you can be assured of enterprise level security when it comes to your HR software without having to pay big time. HR tech gives you a cloud platform that stores and safeguards your critical information and data in secured servers housed in state-of-the-art data centers. These facilities boast of redundant systems, UPS, power backups, 24/7 physical security and network monitoring, spam filtering and virus/malware protection, and a host of other safeguards to guarantee you 100% uptime.

All you need to do on your end to get all these high-tech security infrastructure is choose any of the affordable SaaS subscription plans offered by software vendors that fit or match your HR operational requirements. They take care of software maintenance and updates, keeping the platform running and accessible all the time, securing your cloud data, and providing you customer support and technical assistance.

Takeaways

From automating everyday activities, optimizing workflows, improving efficiency of processes, enhancing productivity of your employees, and a whole lot more, HR technology will provide your small business with huge benefits and advantageous unheard of before.

Packaged in low-cost, flexible and scalable SaaS software, HR tech gives you the tools and the means to convert your human resource processes into something more conducive to a modern environment and more responsive to the present digital workforce. As a small business, you need to harness HR technology because of what it can give you – solid returns and tremendous business value.

Bartosz.