The ability to customize business software – “customizability” – is an important capability because it allows the solution to be tailored to meet the specific needs and objectives of your company. Customizability also paves the way for important business benefits such as increased efficiency, better user adoption, and enhanced productivity.
To fully understand the full range of benefits that software customizability can deliver, this article will take a closer look at the topic of customizability in HR automation solutions, including the challenges associated with non-customizable HR solutions, reasons to implement customizable technology, and best practices you can follow to achieve ideal results with HR software.
But first, what is an HR automation solution? HR automation software is a category of solutions that automate and streamline manual and repetitive HR tasks such as payroll, time tracking, leave management, employee onboarding, and more. For example:
Recruiting solutions streamline important hiring processes by automating tasks related to job posting, candidate tracking, and interview scheduling. Recruiting solutions – also known as applicant tracking systems (ATS) – help HR teams manage applications more efficiently, identify top talent, and improve the overall candidate experience.
Similarly, onboarding solutions automate and simplify the steps needed to bring new employees into a company, making the onboarding process faster and more efficient. This includes tasks such as document collection, training, and providing important company information – everything employees need to hit the ground running.
A performance management software solution is a digital tool designed to help organizations monitor, evaluate, and improve employee performance by setting goals, tracking progress, providing feedback, and facilitating regular performance reviews.
By automating manual processes and saving time, HR automation software can help HR teams to become more productive and focus on higher-value, more strategic initiatives. And they can do even more when they’re fully customizable.
Why is this? Customizable HR automation solutions help companies do a better job of aligning the software with their actual – and often unique – business processes. By tailoring features, functionality, and workflows to the company’s specific needs and goals, companies can adapt the software as they grow or as market conditions change. As an added benefit, customizability allows HR software to remain highly relevant and useful over time.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the most significant benefits related to HR software customizability with some industry-specific examples.
HR software in the healthcare industry can play a crucial role in aligning with a company’s unique business needs by offering the ability to tailor features and functions to fit specific operational requirements. This customization ensures that the software integrates smoothly with existing processes and workflows, enhancing efficiency and overall effectiveness.
For example, a company in the healthcare industry can take advantage of specialized features to track and manage employees’ certifications to improve compliance efforts. In this case, the software can be configured to track certificates and license expiration dates and then trigger alerts to notify employees and managers as these dates approach.
Not only does this eliminate manual efforts – that often come up short – but it helps the entire organization remain more compliant.
Customizing software is also a good idea if the company is expecting to grow since customizability can provide the scalability the business may need in the future.
Consider the example of a construction company that is experiencing growth and needs to hire new employees. Customizable HR software enables this company to easily add new employees to the system and even create a new department for the addition of a project management team. All of this helps the team easily add employees and give them the same experience – all without missing a beat.
Customization also allows businesses to create tailored reports, dashboards, and other types of analytics that focus on a company’s most important metrics and goals.
For example, a restaurant group can customize its HR software to develop new reports to track key metrics related to waitstaff and other employees, such as employee turnover rates, shift attendance, overtime customer service feedback, and employee training. These insights give the business the real-time information it needs to influence results quickly and align employees’ efforts with company goals.
Why consider customizable HR solutions? It’s important to remember the alternative – non-customizable software – can lead to many challenges in the future. It can be hard to add new users, difficult to maintain and update, and can lead to too many manual processes that waste time and lead to too many errors.
Higher costs are also a concern with non-customizable HR automation software. Businesses might face increased expenses if they need additional software to fill gaps or as a result of the inefficiencies of working around the system’s limitations. Over time, these costs can outweigh the initial investment in the software.
Before implementing a customizable HR solution, you need to start by thoroughly assessing your own goals and requirements and defining “must have” functionality. After that, it’s important to select the right vendor. This should include a company that can provide the base functionality you’re looking for in HR software, whether it’s HR, payroll, onboarding, performance management, or other specialized applications.
Yet the vendor should also have a proven track record when it comes to customizability, which can include easily modified software or a professional services team who can help your company make the changes you need. From there, managing the implementation process requires careful planning and collaboration with your HR team and other stakeholders.
With so many recent innovations in HR software lately, you really should only consider solutions that can be easily customized to fit your specific needs. Still, so many vendors may claim that their software can be customized when they only offer some limited options to change their basic application. Yet by carefully finding the right vendor and collaborating closely with them during the implementation phase, you can gain an HR automation solution that will truly support your objectives – now and into the future.
Author Bio:
This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.