A Guide to Essential Software for Employee Management
Managing employees is complex and time-consuming. Hiring and onboarding the best candidate, tracking productivity, ensuring all deadlines are met, and planning strategies for employee development and motivation are challenges managers and HR departments have to overcome. Luckily, we live in the age of booming technology that can significantly ease our daily struggles. There is a digital solution for everything. In this article, we explore types of employee management software and their benefits and describe reliable solutions in each category.
Employee monitoring software
Tracking programs are perhaps the best-known type of software for employee management. Their features usually include:
- screenshots
- logging keystrokes
- tracking visited websites
- recording search queries
- monitoring file operations
- capturing printer activity
- time-tracking, and more.
This data is summarized into productivity scores and stats, simplifying performance evaluation.
Privacy concerns are on the other side of the coin. Due to its specifics, employee monitoring software can collect vast amounts of data, including sensitive information. That is why getting acquainted with local privacy regulations is necessary before implementing such solutions. If you balance monitoring needs and respect for employee privacy, employee tracking software will become your reliable assistant in boosting your team's productivity.
CleverControl is a powerful software for employee management. It offers all the necessary features for smooth productivity monitoring: screenshots, clipboard monitoring, recording search queries and website visits, tracking activity on social media and messengers, and more. The platform analyzes the employee's usage of apps, chats, and the web, including how much time the employee spends daily and how these trends change over the selected period. CleverControl also highlights the most used apps and websites. These statistics let you quickly see the overview of each employee's day and immediately spot distractions.
CleverControl allows monitoring not only retrospectively but also in real time. Thanks to its Live Viewing feature, you can instantly see what happens on any employee's screen.
CleverControl has a set of time-tracking features that let you automate attendance tracking. The software records each employee's presence in the workplace, the start and end of the workday, and periods of activity/inactivity. You can see the detailed activity log by time and hourly activity statistics with the highlighted most active hours. This feature lets you understand individual work patterns and better plan tasks and meetings.
CleverControl's advanced features include Screen Recording, Webcam Recording, and Call Recording. Using Screen Recording, you can record selected employees' screens throughout the day. Webcam Recording turns the computer's webcam into a simple surveillance system or helps monitor client-employee interactions. With Call Recording, you can record calls from popular messengers such as Zoom, WhatsApp, and Discord. This feature will be invaluable for evaluating customer support agents' work or recapping information from an important meeting.
CleverControl keeps up with the latest technological advancements. The platform recently incorporated AI functionality. AI examines employees' activity in apps, chats, and online, compares it to the industry benchmarks, calculates individual productivity scores, and briefly comments on found inefficiencies.
CleverControl has flexible settings. Most of its features can be enabled/disabled, allowing you to adjust your monitoring practices to applicable privacy laws and regulations. The software can also be installed in the visible mode, allowing employees to start and stop monitoring or access their personal activity dashboard.
Project management software
As much as managers would want to remember and control all project deadlines, assignments, and expenses, very few can boast of a supercomputer brain. Project management is a type of software for employee management designed to take this load off a manager's shoulders. It is a centralized platform for planning, organizing, and managing projects effectively. Its usual features include:
- creating, assigning, and prioritizing tasks
- setting deadlines
- tracking task progress
- commenting, messaging, and chat within the platform
- file sharing
- road mapping and milestone tracking
- time tracking
- budget tracking, expense management, and more.
Such software for employee management allows managers to see the entire project, easily break it down into tasks and subtasks, and assign them to employees. They can get real-time insights into progress, detect potential issues, and reallocate necessary resources. Such improved task visibility increases team efficiency and improves decision-making and budget management. Clear task assignments and progress tracking hold team members accountable for their work.
Asana is one of the most popular cloud-based project management software. Its friendly interface and wide range of features won over thousands of companies globally. You can break large projects into smaller, manageable tasks and subtasks, define dependencies, and set priorities and deadlines. Project views can be customized depending on your preferences. You can organize assignments as a list, calendar, timeline, Gantt chart, or Kanban board. Custom fields can be added to tasks for easier sorting, filtering, and reporting.
Asana can track time spent on each task so you can assess expenses and needed time more accurately.
The platform has excellent communication features such as team messaging, mentions, and file sharing. Smart inbox allows customizing notifications to filter the most important updates, pause notifications to protect your focus, and follow through on notifications from the inbox.
Robust automation functionality helps automate repeated tasks. For example, you can assign tasks based on rules or triggering notifications.
Asana integrates with many other tools, including Google Drive, Slack, and Microsoft Teams.
The platform is suitable for businesses of all sizes and across various industries thanks to its user-friendliness, powerful feature set, and scalability.
Human resource management systems
Human resource management software (HRMS) is a comprehensive platform designed to streamline and automate HR functions throughout the employee lifecycle. Its key features are:
- employee information storage (contact details, employment history, performance records, etc.)
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS) (managing job postings and candidate applications)
- onboarding workflows and checklists
- background checks and drug screenings
- payroll processing and tax calculations
- benefits administration (health insurance, retirement plans, etc.)
- time and attendance tracking
- performance management
- employee development initiatives, and more.
Such software for employee management automates repetitive tasks, reduces administrative burdens on HR specialists, and minimizes errors in data entry and payroll processing. Thanks to this, HR teams can focus on strategic initiatives that enhance employee engagement.
Using HRMS, organizations can maintain accurate records and ensure compliance with labor laws. Besides, HRMS provides valuable data and insights that enable informed HR decisions.
HRMS offers functionality for employees as well. Its self-service features allow employees to manage their information and access HR services easily.
Workday is an advanced cloud-based software for employee management. It unites all HR functions, such as payroll, benefits, talent administration, and employee data management, into a single system.
The platform offers customizable dashboards and reports. There, you can get insights into turnover rates, performance trends, and workforce demographics. All changes reflect instantly, so you always have access to the most current information and make strategic decisions.
Workday supports the entire employee lifecycle, from job postings to candidate tracking and onboarding to performance management and benefits. It also facilitates succession planning since it can help identify employees with high potential. Later, you can prepare them for future leadership roles.
Another practical set of features automates payroll processes: salary, taxes, benefits, and deductions. The automatization reduces errors and administrative load and ensures timely and accurate payments.Another practical set of features automates payroll processes: salary, taxes, benefits, and deductions. The automatization reduces errors and administrative load and ensures timely and accurate payments.
Workday benefits employees as well. Its robust self-service functionality allows them to manage their personal information, access pay slips, request time off, and enroll in benefits.
All in all, Workday is an effective solution that significantly improves human resource management. It can adapt to the specific needs of organizations in diverse industries and support both small and large businesses.
Employee experience platforms
As the name suggests, employee experience platforms (EX) serve to improve the overall employee experience from onboarding to the moment of leaving the company. This type of software adds to traditional HR functions. Its primary purpose is to improve employee well-being and motivation, boost productivity, and create a friendly and engaging work environment.
EX usually offers the following functionality:
- employee surveys, pulse checks, and feedback tools)
- recognition tools (for example, point-based systems, peer-to-peer awards, etc.)
- internal social networks or forums
- chats and file sharing
- a central hub for company news and announcements
- data and analytics on employee engagement, sentiment, and performance trends
- access to training materials and courses
- wellbeing programs, and more.
Thanks to employee experience platforms, employees feel more connected and valued. According to studies, employees who receive regular recognition are 14% more productive, 43% more engaged, and three times more loyal to their organizations. Thus investing in EX means investing in lower turnover and higher productivity.
EX provides access to all necessary resources in one place, from company-wide announcements to well-being programs. Thanks to this, employees spend less time searching for information and stay informed about available opportunities.
Finally, employee experience programs help reduce burnout and stress in the workplace, which, again, improves productivity and engagement.
Culture Amp is one of the leading employee experience platforms. It offers multiple survey templates and tools to gather employee feedback on various aspects of their experience. For example, you can conduct engagement surveys, diversity and inclusion assessments, and 360-degree feedback. You can conveniently collect and organize feedback results in the centralized hub throughout the year. This data hub makes preparations for performance reviews much easier.
Culture Amp is powered by the latest findings in psychology and data science. It will help you not only collect feedback but also translate it into actionable improvement plans.
With Culture Amp, you can create and share role descriptions and competencies required for each role. This information not only clarifies individual responsibilities but also allows employees to assess their current skills and identify possible gaps. The platform can also be used to create personalized development plans to increase performance and engagement.
Culture Amp offers a supportive community with virtual events and a Slack group. It provides ongoing education and networking opportunities for HR professionals.
Summing up, Culture Amp's effective evaluation of employee experiences combined with scientific insights makes it a valuable tool for any organization that wants to create an attractive and engaging workspace.
Wrapping Up
In our technology age, we are lucky to have an app for every routine task. These four types of software for employee management will ease the administrative burden, optimize complex time-consuming tasks like performance evaluation and employee engagement surveys, and enable effective project management.