A guide to choosing an ideal HRIS software solution for your business

Companies in the United States take an average of 15 weeks to choose HRIS software*. That’s more than a quarter of the year — and precious time you could use to drive growth, increase efficiency, simplify systems, and boost employee engagement instead. 

Ironically, choosing the best HRIS software for your business will make those goals far easier to achieve.

The time it takes to choose an ideal HRIS software solution shows how complex the task can be. After all, an HRIS is the backbone of your HR operations; you want to get it right.

We created this guide to help you beat the odds and make a great decision fast. Our step-by-step process will help you spend less time figuring out what to look for in an HRIS and more time actually using a top-tier tool to drive results.

*Softwarepath, 2022

🕑 Don’t lose any more time choosing HRIS software

‍Assess your needs, research the best options, and determine your HRIS requirements.

👉 Download our free HRIS requirements checklist now!

How to choose an HRIS that fits your needs

Follow these six steps to choose the best HRIS software solution for your organization:
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1. Assess organizational “needs” & “wants”

It may be tempting to google all of the leading HRIS software companies and start there — but this is the fastest route to confusion and overwhelm. Doing so would be like going to the grocery store without a list.

‍Your first step when selecting an HRIS system should be figuring out your company’s primary HR needs and how you want your HRIS to address them.

Consider: 

• Existing HR challenges. What does your team experience problems with on a regular basis?
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• Current HR data management apps and systems. Get crystal clear on what’s working and what’s not so you can reduce your tech stack and avoid tool overload. 
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• Tasks or manual administrative work that overload your to-do list, especially those you could streamline or automate.
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• Projects and initiatives you’d want to invest more time into if you could.
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• Your dream HR set-up for onboarding, performance management, compensation, development, and other people enablement tasks — alongside an HRIS platform.

In addition, talk to team members across the entire organization and ask them to share the changes they’d like to see in HR. Would they welcome a self-service portal for requesting PTO? How about having more control over their own data management? Could the onboarding process be easier? What about gaining deeper insights into their KPIs or setting and tracking OKRs? 

As an example, one study found that nearly 25% of companies were looking to adopt an HRIS to bring them greater functionality, while 21.2% wanted to use an HRIS platform to consolidate disparate systems.

Once you understand your organization’s requirements, you’ll have your “shopping list” ready, making it much easier for you to move forward. You likely won’t have to start this list from scratch; you can use your company’s existing KPIs, values, and OKRs as a starting point.

2. Match “wants” to your reality

Now that you’ve figured out your organizational needs, it’s time to fit them into a realistic framework that reflects your business’ situation.

Reflect on:

• Your resources. How many people will use the HRIS?
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• Your budget. Few organizations choose an HRIS based on price alone (in fact, one study revealed that average HRIS spend per user was similar across small, medium, and large companies), but it’s still an important consideration.
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• Your other tools. How will your new HRIS platform fit in with them? Could it integrate with the apps you use — or even allow you to streamline your stack?

You might also ask yourself and your team the following questions to further understand how different HRIS options could serve you:

• Does the software meet your organization’s data security requirements (like ISO 27001 certification)?
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• Will it simplify and unify data storage?
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• What payroll features does it have? Are they automated and flexible?
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• Does the HRIS offer time tracking?
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• Will it save you time with automations and templates to help you manage workflows?
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• How customizable is it?
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• What kind of analytics does it offer? Can the platform provide data-backed, actionable insights?
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• Does the HRIS allow employees to share anonymous feedback?
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• What’s the customer experience offered?

Be sure to understand the parameters of your business before moving ahead to the next steps.
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3. Research & evaluate options

Now’s the time to scope out options and choose your HRIS based on the work you’ve already done.

Ask yourself:

• How do the organization’s wants, needs, and resources match up to the options on the market?
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• Does the team need to adjust its expectations? 
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• Do specific software solutions align with the company’s needs more closely than others?
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• Do some platforms offer more than the business needs? Are other options not sophisticated enough?
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Continue to talk to the People team, managers, and other employees at this stage. They could provide feedback on the initial shortlist, discuss needs more deeply, and help you evaluate how to select an HRIS that makes the most sense for all levels of your organization. 
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4. Demonstrate & demo

Now the fun starts! Request demos of different tools, sign up for free trials, and test-drive some brand new software.

The learning curve can be steep, but researching platforms can be exciting, too. You’ll get the chance to see what new technology can do for your business and explore the potential of HRIS software; ideally, you’ll begin to understand just how much the right one will improve your HR team’s workload and results.

This is the time to think about:

• UX — Is the platform’s UI easy to use? Do you find it intuitive? How’s the UX?
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• Features — Does the solution have all (or most of) the functionalities you wrote in your “shopping” (step 1)? Will it help your company reach its goals faster? For example, Leapsome’s people enablement and HRIS tools include a Goals module that integrates seamlessly with the rest of the platform.
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• Integrations — What other platforms and apps do you have access to? Will this HRIS solution integrate with them easily?
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• Budget — How does the solution fit your budget, and how will the cost scale with your company?
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• Pre-purchase support — Can you sign up for a call or demo with a real person and ask them all of your questions?
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• Switching — How would you migrate from your existing systems to this one? How much downtime would be involved?
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• Post-purchase support — Can you get reliable, helpful customer service if you need it after purchase? How? For how long?
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5. Make a proposal & come to a final decision

With all your shortlisted software tested, demoed, compared, and contrasted, put together a proposal and reach a decision that everyone supports.

Go back to your original list of essentials and consider if your chosen solution delivers on your requirements:

• Are there any major stumbling blocks? 
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• How did your teams react to the demo(s) or trial? 
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• Are there any deal-breakers regarding your chosen solution that you need to work around or figure out before you can move ahead?
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‍When presenting the proposal to stakeholders, it’s important to crunch the numbers and show that your HRIS selection makes sense financially.

For example: 

• How many hours could you potentially save with the new tool?
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• How much time are you spending on HRIS tasks that you could outsource to the new software?
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• What impactful initiatives could you spend more time on after switching to this HRIS? How would these improve key metrics like employee churn and employee engagement?
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Presenting specific data will help you deliver a persuasive case to stakeholders; you want them to see that the organization can’t afford not to back your choice. 
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6. Assess & re-evaluate regularly

Deciding on an HRIS tool doesn’t lock you in for life, and you should periodically re-evaluate whether it’s still working for your company; after all, even the “best” HRIS solution might not be “the one” for your organization forever.

If your organizational HR needs change, you may need to revert to step 1 of this guide and create a new, updated “shopping list.” That’s OK; as long as you don’t feel that you have to reassess your needs and software too frequently, these changes are expected as your company grows.

Reaching out to colleagues and asking for their opinions is one of the best ways to assess whether your HRIS software is working as planned (especially because employees are often the main beneficiaries of new HR tools).

Send surveys, track usage, and request feedback; the most useful HRIS tools (like Leapsome!) include features to help you do this.
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Choosing an ideal HRIS solution: make the right decision for your company

Selecting the best HRIS solution for your business can be time-consuming and overwhelming — but it doesn’t have to be.

‍Following a clear step-by-step process that you can rinse and repeat will help ensure that you make the best choice for your organization’s needs and goals.

First, assess your needs and wants. The sky’s the limit here, so be thorough and start your search on the right path. Then, consider real constraints such as budget, resources, and deal-breakers. Next, do your research. Look at the available options and consult with team members about what solution would be best for them.

Finally, have some fun! Test solutions, request demos, and take a look around. Assess if the HRIS software you’re considering really does what you need and figure out how easy it is to use. Then, run the numbers to come up with a compelling business case to showcase and plan how much of a difference selecting this HRIS system will make to your organization.

Last, re-evaluate. What works now might not work in the future, and that’s OK. Stay alert to how your people use and benefit from the system, and be ready to tweak or change where needed.

‍An HR platform like Leapsome — with its suite of people enablement modules and new HRIS tool to come — could be the best all-in-one solution. Our platform unites core HR features with engagement and empowerment tools, which is ideal from a strategic point of view as you scale.

🕑 Don’t lose any more time choosing HRIS software

‍Assess your needs, research the best options, and determine your HRIS requirements.

👉 Download our free HRIS requirements checklist now!

FAQs about choosing HRIS software

What are the 5 types of human resources information software?

The five types of human resources information software (HRIS) are operational, strategic, tactical, comprehensive, and limited-function. When choosing an HRIS tool, consider which HR solution is right for you and be honest about the features your organization needs.

• Operational: Increases efficiency of hiring, promotions, and employee talent management
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• Strategic: Helps with strategy — think goal setting, analysis, insights, and data-driven decisions
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• Tactical: Mainly focuses on internal employee management, training, and compliance
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• Comprehensive: Typically refers to an all-in-one HRIS that does all of the above and more
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• Limited function: Specializes in one function, like payroll or benefits