How to choose a human resources management system (HRM system) for an IT company quickly and correctly

The issue of selecting and setting up a human resources management system (HRM system) is relevant for any company, and especially for those who really care about colleagues and employees.

That is why we chose 5 experts who were asked several identical but interesting questions in order to find the truth in the matter of how to quickly and correctly choose a human resources management system. In this material, we have collected the experience and opinions of people who are engaged in practical work with employees and automation of these processes on a daily basis.

So, we decided to ask HR directors and HR Business Partners about practice and all the pitfalls of choosing an HRM system specifically for an IT company.

Natalia Ten, HR Business Partner, Cpamatica

1.1. What, first of all, do you recommend paying attention to when choosing a human resources management system for an IT company?

Personally, I joined my current company at a stage when we did not have HR process automation. Accordingly, in practice, we faced the need to select an HRM system for our processes.

We followed a fairly simple path in our search, asking colleagues for recommendations. Also, we found several profile communities, where we also conducted a corresponding search. Selected the list of systems to which requests for demo versions were made. Through trials and tests, we singled out the systems that could fit our processes and those that had to be abandoned immediately.

For me, what was important was the price ratio of the software and its compliance with our requirements.

This ratio is one of the key indicators that you need to pay attention to when choosing not only an HRM system.

5 HRM systems made it to the finals of our internal selection. These are very popular solutions on the market, so we chose among them.

1.2. In your personal opinion, from what number of people in an IT company can it no longer be possible to use Google spreadsheets for hiring and adapting people, and it is time to switch to an automated human resources management system?

From 50 people it is almost impossible, or simply very difficult.

When I joined the company, there were already about 100 people working there. Therefore, we immediately started the process of searching for an HRM system.

1.3. And how can you “sell” to the company’s management the idea of the need for financial investment in the HRM system?

I believe that this is the task of an HR or department head. This person must clearly understand and “sell” the idea to the top management of the company, what kind of software it needs, what processes this software should cover, and also have an argument as to why it is all there at all.

How to convey this to management?

You look and track the time that you and your colleagues spend on certain processes. This, firstly, gives an internal understanding of exactly what you are doing and for how long. Secondly, these figures should be used for guidance.

These numerical indicators are the best argumentation for management, if, of course, you initiate these processes yourself.

Olena Kolesnichenko, HR Director, Apriorit

1.1. What, first of all, do you recommend paying attention to when choosing an HRM system for an IT company?

When choosing an internal HRM system, you should pay maximum attention to 2 basic factors. The system should:

1. Maximum coverage of the needs and tasks of the company at a specific stage of development, but taking into account the further growth of needs.
2. The system should be as flexible as possible in settings.

It will be very good if the system can be configured independently and flexibly even at the basic level.

1.1.2. Do you remember how you chose the system?

At first, I started looking for what kind of systems are on the market, I started googling certain reviews about them. Everything needs to be tried with your own hands, so we asked the companies for trial versions to study.

If you buy such software, it is better not to pay for it immediately for a year, because many systems do not allow you to fully download the data that you upload to them.

It makes sense to test the system for a few months before paying for a long period.

1.2. In your personal opinion, from what number of people in an IT company is no longer possible to use Google spreadsheets for hiring and adapting people, and it is time to switch to an automated human resources management system?

We kept this data in semi-automated spreadsheets until we grew to 300 people.

Maybe we would have continued, but the sooner, the better. You can start with 50 employees in the staff, but if there is an accurate understanding of which system solves your business problems.

You can always change one system to another. It is important to look for the one that will meet your requirements as flexibly as possible.

Tetyana Rekalo, Head of HR, Lampa Software

1.1. What, first of all, do you recommend paying attention to when choosing a human resources management system for an IT company?

I had a similar experience a year ago. The company began to develop rapidly, I joined the team at about twenty, and now we have almost 100 employees. So, a year ago, we had an urgent need to find and select an HRM system.

When we started to choose, the first thing I thought about was the future feasibility of a specific HRM and its functionality for our company. Many people on the market use, for example, Hurma, but for me it has too much functionality that we will potentially not use.

And this is not a minus of the system, it is a nuance that must be taken into account.

Therefore, the first thing I would pay attention to when choosing an HRM system now is how much a specific system is generally related to business processes in the company.

Also, I would advise HR to listen to the team. It seems to me that all participants in the process should get pleasure from using the HRM system, and not negative emotions.

Having immersed ourselves in the selection process and being inspired by the available offers, we nevertheless decided to engage in the development of our own HRM system specifically for our needs. This does not mean that we have not found our system among those available on the market, there are really cool offers, but we have a very motivated team that is interested in new things, and the eyes of colleagues are mentally burning from this. So, we decided to go the way of our own development.

Self-development is always a thorny road to stardom, however, our team has never shied away from challenges.

In my opinion, the ATS and the HRM system are like two little angels sitting on the shoulders of HR specialists and recruiters.

These are our assistants, so everything should be easy and adjusted to our needs.

1.2. In your personal opinion, from what number of people in an IT company can it no longer be possible to use Google spreadsheets for hiring and adapting people, and it is time to switch to an automated human resources management system?

When we had 20 colleagues in the team, and 2 people joined the team each month, I could somehow do all this in tables. But when there are already 100 of us and 5-10 people come in a month, it all becomes unspeakably difficult to work in tables.

I would advise already 20 employees to think about the automation of processes and the choice of an HRM system. This is growth for both the HR specialist and the company.

At the same time, the sooner, the better. It is one thing when we need to implement the system for a team of 20 people, another thing is when you need to teach and immerse more than 100 people in the system. The more employees become in the company, the more there may be those who will not understand why this is all.

In summary, I would recommend switching from spreadsheets to a full-fledged HRM system as soon as possible.

1.3. And how can you “sell” to the company’s management the idea of the need for financial investment in the HRM system?

For me personally, it was very simple. When there were 20 more people in our team, we already needed the HRM system, but not urgently. When there were more of us, the human factor began to appear and turn on, so it became literally impossible to work without some automation of these processes.

The HRM system structures people. Therefore, if I were now faced with the task of mentally “selling” the need for this software to management, I would argue it from the standpoint of the need for an HRM system for the relentless development of the team.

My first argument: if we plan to grow and develop, if we plan to develop the brand of the company and people, then before we grow, we need to think about internal processes. When internal processes are ready, external ones can be developed. If we want to grow not only in the number of people, but as a company, we need internal automation.

If the business owners say that we have 30 people and that’s ok with us, we don’t plan to grow quantitatively and qualitatively yet, then that’s also ok, it’s also a position. It may not be acceptable for everyone, but it has the right to life.

Personally, we did not have any internal sabotage from the top management, so I was lucky here.

However, after about a year of using CleverStaff, I roughly calculated how much time (and therefore money) we saved by automating some processes. The savings came out, approximately, twice.

This saved time helps us to develop, so we began to grow more actively. And, last but not least, because they automated the recruiting process.

Olena Kravtsova, Head of HR, Aimprosoft

1.1. What, first of all, do you recommend paying attention to when choosing a human resources management system for an IT company?

First, it is necessary to write down the human resources management processes that you have now and that you plan to implement in your company in the near future. You need to listen to the processes that you came up with and, as it were, filter them for the feasibility of automation.

Next, I highlight the key features of the product (the future HRM system), starting from the processes that were previously recorded.

Then, you can move on to finding solutions that already exist on the market. Of course, it makes sense to look and search for information about the capabilities of both popular and not so HRM-systems, in order to have the most complete picture of which systems can cover your processes.

I have experience working with several HRM systems, so as a rule, after searching and researching, I select 2-3 main options and ask to organize a demo or trial of this software for me. At this time, we are testing the implementation of automation of processes that are critical or most necessary for us.

The systems should be “feeled by hand” and then finalize the decision as to which HRM system should be chosen profitably. Later, I set up a lot of things in the HRM system myself and with the help of guides.

I always make a report table for myself, where I record processes, systems and results, whether the system covers my needs and how exactly. It helps a lot to approach the choice in a structured and rational way.

1.2. In your personal opinion, from what number of people in an IT company can it no longer be possible to use Google spreadsheets for hiring and adapting people, and it is time to switch to an automated human resources management system?

I am a fan of automation at any level, even if the company is small. If the company plans to scale at all, it is necessary to automate the first priority from the very beginning.

That is, the earlier the better. However, if theoretically and if the team does not exceed 50 employees, it is still possible to work in tables. Then it will be difficult without automation.

1.3. And how can you “sell” to the company’s management the idea of the need for financial investment in the HRM system?

I believe that it is necessary to rely on actual data and figures. If I had such a task, I would make at least an approximate calculation of the time that my team and I spend on things that can be optimized and automated using, for example, an HRM system.

I would calculate what processes we currently do “by hand” and calculate the amount of time automation saves us using the indicators of employee salaries. Specific numbers are hard to argue with and hard to ignore.

Zoia Avanesian, Head of HR, QuartSoft Games

1.1. What, first of all, do you recommend paying attention to when choosing an HRM system for an IT company? Point by point, if convenient.

First of all, when choosing an HRM system, you should pay attention to whether it meets the needs of HR and the flexibility of the system itself. So that if, for example, the system calculates sick leave in a different way than the company is used to, it could be upgraded as needed by us, that is, clients of HRM systems.

When we chose the HRM system, we proceeded as follows:

1. The HR specialist and I wrote down everything that we would like to transfer to the future HRM system.
2. Our technical department searched for HR systems currently available on the market and organized video calls with sales for us.
3. During these video calls, HR specialists asked questions that concerned them about working with the system (which modules are available and in what volume), the technical department asked questions about integration and security.
4. We chose by weighing all the pros and cons: features offered by the system, how often updates are released, convenient and fast support, and price.

1.2. In your personal opinion, from what number of people in an IT company can it no longer be possible to use Google spreadsheets for managing HR processes and should you switch to an automated HRM system?

We grew to 120 and moved on. I have colleagues from other companies who believe that even with 200 employees, it is more convenient to keep tables. So it depends on the HR specialist’s attraction to the automation of work and on the management vector.

Let’s summarize

As we can see, approaches to choosing an HRM system may differ depending on the specifics of the company and its request. That is why, in this article, we purposefully collected for you different opinions and practical experience of various experts.

Someone may be a big fan of automation, so they are ready to implement an HRM system as soon as possible, starting with the first employee. Others start to think about it already when the number of employees has reached 100 people or more, and it becomes almost impossible to store all the information in Excel spreadsheets. However, if the company is actively growing and developing, at some stage the need to automate HR processes will definitely appear.

However, in some aspects, the opinions of our experts coincide – when choosing an HRM system, it is important to analyze all processes in human resources management in order to know what functions the future system should have. Having a clear understanding of what each employee in the department does and how much time they spend on each task, you will not only find the right solution faster, but you will also be able to convey the benefits of such an implementation to the company’s management.

Of course, each expert can have his own view on solving the problem, but we are sure that after looking at the issue of choosing and implementing an HRM system in an IT company from different points of view, you will make the most correct choice.

Good luck with your implementation!