HR tools can reduce your hiring and staff management costs

Few small businesses can afford the overhead of a dedicated HR department. Although the absence of this admin function from the office is a cost saver, it does mean that small businesses often fail to plan their HR requirements properly and can create ill will among staff through the haphazard treatment of HR functions such as pay and sick leave. Incompetent HR management can lead to production limits and uncooperative staff. Fortunately, there are a number of online HR tools that can help the busy business manager cope with the demands of HR needs. Here are five of the best HR tools currently available.

The Resumator automates the hiring process. It integrates with your email system, enables you to post job vacancies on a list of well-known employment websites, and then reads through and parses arriving resumes sent in PDF or Word formats. You can also post jobs on social media platforms through this HR tool or have your own jobs webpages, which The Resumator will host for you. The system also sets up workflows, which give you a schedule by which to complete the necessary steps the hiring process requires. However, you would need to have a fast turnover of staff or operate an employment agency to justify the cost of operating The Resumator. The system is available only on a monthly subscription; therefore, if you hire only one or two people a year for your small business, you probably wouldn’t require the unlimited capacity this HR tool offers. If you do have a regular staff intake, you can add “onboarding” and training modules to the basic HR tool for an additional fee.

Zenefits covers the operational aspects of HR. It keeps employee records, calculates payroll, and manages tax, insurance, disability, and compensation payments. The system records time sheets and logs employee attendance. Payments to employees can include a range of benefits, such as stock options. As you would expect with all that operational data going into the system, Zenefits is also able to produce a range of reports to help you file taxes and analyze resource utilization. This is a very comprehensive HR tool, but it is specifically written to comply with US taxation and employment law, so Canadian, British, or Australian readers are unlikely to benefit from Zenefits.

Small businesses need to be quick on their feet. Web-based companies often have short-term requirements for programmers and content creators that do not justify hiring long-term employees. Rather than paying top whack for a consultant, you should check out Upwork to source specialist skills from freelancers. Many of the skilled workers who work through Upwork live in remote locations and like to telecommute. The benefit of this method of employment to you is that you don’t need to provide equipment or office space for these short-term workers. You don’t have to worry about the overhead cost of bringing in a specialist from far afield, either. This HR tool is more than just a job board; you can track goals and work hours through the system and even make payments to the freelancers. Upwork charges freelancers 10 percent of their fees, and you don’t have to pay anything for the service.

The payroll functions of Zenefits are specifically written to cater to a US customer base. Staff Squared is very similar to Zenefits, but it does not cover payroll. Therefore, it is suitable for use by companies both outside and inside the United States. This is a cloud-based HR tool, so you don’t have to worry about losing data if your system crashes. The remote storage of your HR records also means that you can access your HR files from anywhere, so if you take a day working from home, you can still perform all your HR tasks. Staff Squared has an employee interface that mediates requests, such as vacation and shift change requests. The requests get directed to the relevant manager via email for approval. The system is charged on a subscription basis and is US $4.50 per month, per user. Unfortunately, because every employee needs to access the system for functions such as time-off requests, every staff member is counted as a user; thus, if you have a lot of staff, it could get pricey. You can try this HR tool for free for 14 days.

If you are fully stretched running your business, you may not have the time to dedicate a full day to interviewing applicants for a vacancy. Jobatar has a solution to this problem. This HR tool is an interviewing scheme. You record questions for interviewees and then send them invites to access the questions and record answers. The interviewees are recorded through the webcam of their PC or laptop, and then you can view each respondent whenever you have the time. You don’t have to be in the office to review the interviews because the system can be accessed from tablets and smartphones. Therefore, if you are always on the move in your job, this HR tool should tie in with your lifestyle.

These new HR tools mean that small business owners can better manage their HR functions themselves without needing to have an HR manager on the team. After reviewing each of these HR tools, consider whether any of them could help you manage your own staff more effectively.

Improve your efficiency with the latest business tools

Whether you are a sole trader or a growing concern, chances are that you never seem to have enough time to complete all the tasks your business demands. Technology helps the entrepreneur expand his or her efficiency to stretch those precious hours. You can improve your own productivity and that of your enterprise by employing the latest business tools. This list covers six handy services and apps that will solve the problems you face in your working day.

New businesses pop up everywhere. You don’t need to pay high rental fees for big-city offices to be a success. However, every salesperson and product designer will tell you there is no substitute for face-to-face contact, and getting to meetings with faraway customers can be time-consuming and expensive. If you feel that email contact isn’t enough and you want to work with collaborators and customers all over the world, consider using a video-conferencing business tool. Thanks to improvements in broadband speed, video conferencing is now a very effective way to get face-to-face contact without having to travel. The Fuze video-conferencing system offers HD-quality video and sound. Best of all, there is a free version.

The biggest trend in web access during 2014 was the shift from access through desktops and laptops to access via smartphones and tablets. Since January 2014, more Internet access time in the U.S. has come from mobile devices than from desktops and laptops. That fact sent big Internet companies, such as Google and Amazon, scrambling to produce mobile-friendly versions of their sites. The IDG Global Mobile Survey 2014 found that 77 percent of executives use a mobile device to research products and services, which shows that you need to get a mobile-formatted version of your site prepared. Small screens require different layouts compared with those traditionally used for webpages, and getting an expert to produce your mobile version can be expensive. DudaMobile is a business tool that enables you to quickly create a mobile-friendly site for your business via a series of templates and apps. You can also add “click to call” buttons and interactive maps to help boost your conversion rates.

Many entrepreneurs find they now access their emails from their phone more often than from their desktop computer. MailBox is an email system specifically written for smartphones. This mail app business tool is formatted to be mobile friendly and includes some special features. It learns your habits and sets priorities for emails from those senders that it notices you access immediately, and it gives less priority to emails from senders you tend to ignore.

Tripit “automagically” converts all your travel-booking confirmation emails into a travel itinerary. If you have ever gone on a business trip to a conference or seminar, or made a customer visit, you know there is enough to worry about, such as making sure you have all your notes, brochures, and samples organized, without having to keep track of all the printouts of hotel confirmations and electronic boarding cards. The Tripit business tool can be accessed from a range of devices and is even available on your phone or laptop when you do not have Internet access.

You are legally required to keep sales and employment records for a number of years, depending on the nature of the data. However, you do not have to store all the original paper documents to comply with these requirements. Still, if you digitize your records and your computer crashes, wiping out everything, you could be in big trouble. Therefore, it is very important to back up all data, although having a backup device on your premises is a bad idea. If your office gets robbed, the thieves are likely to take any USB memory sticks they find, along with the computers. Fortunately, many online-data backup business tools are now available. CrashPlan offers cloud-based storage that enables you to back up all your data on the Internet and protects your business from data loss.

Every website and online service that requires a log-in advises you to choose a password that is different from those you use for other services. Having the same password for everything would enable a data or identity thief to get access to all of your business’s online services after learning that one word. However, keeping track of all the different passwords you need to log in to all of your essential services can be a headache, and you certainly shouldn’t write down a list of them. LastPass fixes this problem by providing a secure list that is password-protected. You write all of your passwords into the system, and then it logs you in to each site you visit, prompting you only for your LastPass password. With this business tool, you only need to remember one password.

These six essential business tools will enable you to run your business even when you are on the move. Savvy entrepreneurs know that acquiring and adapting to new technology provides a business edge that improves productivity. The rapid proliferation of mobile-friendly business tools shows just how important it is for your business to have a website that can be accessed from a mobile device. The World Wide Web is going mobile. Make sure your business doesn’t get left behind.