Best HCM Software 2024: Top 7 Picks & Reviews
All products recommended by Bizreport are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
HCM software is becoming extremely popular because of its helpful nature and HR solutions in a digital world. It allows HR managers to focus on what’s truly important instead of spending their time filing paperwork and sifting through applications.
7 Best HCM Software 2024
- Workday: Best Overall
- SuccessFactors: Most Affordable
- BambooHR: Best Employee Experience
- BizMerlinHR: Best Onboarding
- Paycor: Best Team Building
- NetSuite: Best Financial Integrations
- Lano: Best Global Services
What is HCM (Human Capital Management) Software?
HCM software is the management of human resources in a technologically savvy way. HR managers used to keep track of their personnel using physical files and documents, but now there’s a way to manage all of this digitally.
What Do Human Capital Management (HCM) Software Do?
HCM software helps HR teams with workforce management. They contain personnel files and streamline HR processes from recruitment all the way to seasoned employee training.
How Much Does an HCM Software Cost?
HCM software adoption can cost anywhere from $100 to thousands of dollars a year. Depending on how robust the system you’re considering is, and what customer service and customizable resources they provide, you might have to pay more or less for a service.
Why Should You Use an HCM Software?
HCM software systems are rising in popularity for good reason. Here are a few reasons why you might need one for your company.
- Fully Customizable Features: Instead of using an interface that only offers one option for its HR professionals, HCM solutions offer features that can morph and change for any business need (to a certain extent).
- Enhancing Time Management: Instead of spending all your time doing monotonous core HR tasks, you can focus your needs on the truly big questions of human capital management processes when you use an HCM.
- People Analytics: How do you make the right decisions for the future of your human resource management? A human capital management software can help you analyze current trends to make better employee engagement decisions in the future.
- Heightens Employee Engagement: Need solutions for your lack of employee buy in? An HCM software can help you with employee self service logins and employee programming to keep everyone engaged.
- Easy Access to Information: Top HCM software companies offer access to employee information anywhere at any time, at the click of a button. Check absence management information and general HR software information whenever you need.
- Flexible Payroll Management: Make your payroll process your own with HCM software tools made for any HR manager. Schedule payroll and lay out benefits for employees on their portal.
- Updates in Real Time: Human capital management refers to pertinent management of the people that are so important to your organization. Make sure you get all your important updates in real time by using HCM tools for your company.
Top 7 Best HCM Software March 2024
Workday
Workday HCM offers great employee training and flexibility to their customers. Their employee engagement programs are hard to beat, and they can cater to your company’s specific needs to help you reach your full potential.
- Talent management to acquire new skills and assess current skills
- Use surveys to assess employee satisfaction
- Automate HR processes to save time
- Mange compensation and benefits from their interface
- Cloud HCM to pivot processes quickly
- Starts at $100 per year
- No free trials available
With a super reasonable price point, a cloud based HCM system, benefits administration and core HR capabilities, Workday HCM is our favorite out of all the HCM software vendors. Workday human capital management truly provides excellent HCM software solutions and an awesome talent management module.
SAP SuccessFactors
SuccessFactors is a pretty standard human capital management software that offers everything you would want, including an awesome analyzation feature that helps hiring managers find trends and pivot human capital management practices as needed.
- Manage payroll, benefits and time tracking from one place
- Recruiting and training resources
- Keep employee records
- Analyze retention trends through employee data
- Pricing starting at $85 per year
- Users report some system bugs
On top of these analysis tools, they also boast compensation management, performance management, and talent acquisition tools. Their pricing is very reasonable, but some customers do complain of system bugs.
BambooHR
BambooHR is an HCM software that’s gained national acclaim. Their employee self service is top notch, and everything they do is meant to further the employee along in their journey. We love that they offer an HCM system to analyze and improve the employee experience.
- Manage employee data from one place
- Retention and employee management data
- Applicant tracking system
- Payroll management system
- Performance reviews and employee health programs
- Free trial available
- Customer support team doesn’t always have glowing reviews
Even with this employee-based service, they also have other awesome features. BambooHR boasts an easy to use interface for their HCM software, payroll management, talent management tools, and programs made just for your employees. The only complaint we found was related to their customer service team not being the easiest to work with.
BizMerlinHR
BizMerlinHR offers many great features, but our favorite is their onboarding. They have a paperless onboarding process that keeps track of employee information from their hire date until they retire. We love this individual care the HCM software provides.
- Open API system for customization
- Automate performance management
- Workforce planning capabilities
- Paperless onboarding
- Time tracking capabilities
- Employee development programs
- Free trial available
- Some customers complain that integrations aren’t simple
As far as human capital management goes, BizMerlinHR has it all. They help employees develop while offering an open API system and time and attendance tracking. They do also offer a free trial to test their services, but we have seen customer reviews stating the integrations they offer can be confusing.
Paycor
Paycor is all about team building, and they certainly place a high value on talent management and helping improve the entire workforce. The main HR functions that help with this management include benefits administration and employee surveys and programming.
- HR and payroll solutions
- Recruitment software
- Schedule management
- Benefits management
- Onboarding processes
- Free trial available
- Integrating company applications and processes can be difficult
As far as a full-blown HCM system, Paycor certainly provides a robust offering. Their talent acquisition help, human capital management systems, onboarding and cloud based solution are just a few of the perks. They also offer a free trial, but some say that integrations can be cumbersome.
NetSuite
NetSuite’s best feature is their financial integrations, allowing expense management as well as workforce management. This is the best option for companies looking to consolidate their financial and HR software.
- Integrate financial management with HR management
- Workforce planning features available
- Free trial available
- Cloud based HCM software
- Helpful workforce analytics
- Different price points for different business sizes
- Some customers have complained that the help system is confusing
On top of financial integration, Netsuite (acquired by Oracle HCM cloud) offers cloud HCM suites and analytics to match the best HCM software. Like some other HCM platforms, they offer human capital management and different price points to help any business with workforce management. The only drawback we found was their help system, which some customers claimed came up lacking.
Lano
Lano has become known for their internationally acclaimed HR software. They have core HR functionalities as well as HCM systems that remain compliant globally. The offering of different currencies and compliance steps is Lano’s best feature, and it sets them above the rest of HCM systems.
- Payroll processing automation
- Global human resources services
- Complete HR solution to global hiring including currencies
- Hire contractors with ease
- Tax management compliance
- Employee information tracking
- Invoicing features are cumbersome
On top of these global features, Lano has features allowing businesses to hire contractors, and their HCM system allows for talent management on a contractor level. Lano is an excellent option if you’re hoping to hire employees from around the world to do contract work. The only issue we found was freelancers and managers complaining that the invoicing and payment features could be updated.
Features to Consider When Choosing the Best HCM Software?
Here are a few factors to consider when choosing the best HCM software systems for your business.
- Price: Obviously, you’ll want to start with the pricing. Do you have a budget for HCM programming? How much can you afford? Most HCM software supports monthly or yearly billing, but it can be difficult to find transparent pricing online and you might have to start a trial to see how much a service truly costs.
- Workforce Management Portal: A management portal will be crucial to your success when tracking your workforce time and attendance, benefits and overall movements.
- Talent Lifecycle Management: “From hire to retire,” you’ll need to keep track of your employee’s information updates, performance and benefits. A HCM system can streamline all this information into one place.
- Employee Performance and Goal Management: Need help setting, tracking and updating employee goals? An HCM service can help you with all of this and more.
- Accurate Payroll and Compensation Management: Keeping track of payroll and ensuring it’s accurate can be difficult without automation and an easy to use system. An HCM program is perfect for this conundrum.
Final Thoughts
If you’re on the market for an HCM solution, there are some awesome options out there. Take the time to read through our reviews and look on their sites for yourself before you start out with one or make the switch.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Yes, typically an HCM system will allow for employees to clock in or out, and managers can view and edit this information for payroll.
Yes, ADP Workforce is an HCM system for HR professionals.
Kronos Workforce is HRIS software that provides HR solutions for customers.
Oracle cloud is in the same family as Netsuite, and Oracle acquired Netsuite in 2016.
HCM software streamlines your HR processes by automating some tasks, keeping all your talent management information in one place, and keeping your company benefits and payroll compliant and secure.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
+ 5 sources
Bizreport Advisor adheres to strict editorial integrity standards avoids using tertiary references. We have strict sourcing guidelines and rely on peer-reviewed studies, academic research. To ensure the accuracy of articles in Bizreport, you can read more about the editorial process here.
- HCM and Human Capital Management Software | Workday. www.workday.com. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.workday.com/en-us/products/human-capital-management/overview.html
- Human Capital Management (HCM) | Cloud HR Software Systems. SAP. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.sap.com/products/hcm.html
- What is Human Capital Management? (HCM) | BambooHR. www.bamboohr.com. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.bamboohr.com/resources/hr-glossary/human-capital-management-hcm
- BizMerlinHR. Award Winning HR Software | HCM | HRMS | BizMerlinHR. HRMS – Human Capital Management – BizMerlinHR. Published October 25, 2021. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.bizmerlin.com/
- Paycor.com. Published 2019. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.paycor.com/