The most important question to ask before you choose HR

Of course it is exciting going out to the market to look at what’s new in HR technology – and according to Gartner’s latest report, you’re not alone as the market is thriving. But once you start investigating in any real depth – and perhaps even looking at software demonstrations or product ‘road tests’ – it’s practically impossible not to get carried away with how much easier life could be for you and your HR colleagues.

From onboarding software to talent management, from sophisticated mobile HR systems to performance management reporting at the click of a mouse: the features and functionality on offer today is impressive. HR systems really are the best they’ve ever been.

But don’t get distracted

The functional and technical questions you have are obviously important, but there is one question that will determine success or failure of the project: How does it help you deliver what matters to your business?

Before you get too far down the path towards choosing, specifying and ultimately buying a new HR software solution, you need to ensure complete clarity on your HR and business objectives. These need prioritising too because once you get into detailed discussions about standard features versus customised functionality (or even bespoke design and build) you may need to make some compromises to avoid blowing the budget.

The best HR software providers will be used to this kind of discussion. Every business is unique, not just in what it does but also its distinctive processes and interdependencies. What seems relatively straightforward at first can quickly become rather more complex, so a clear set of prioritised business and HR objectives will go a long way towards choosing the right path. It will also help to keep everyone involved focused on what the solution needs to achieve as these HR leads have found.

“Employee information was stored in various places; it wasn’t just on one spreadsheet or in a folder. The company was growing so quickly that I knew we could no longer continue with manual processes because they would make life extremely difficult. I decided early on that we needed a system that could store everything in one location” -

Inland Homes

Do take time to enjoy the process of evaluating and choosing a system that is sure to make HR’s job a lot easier on a day to day basis. But don’t forget that fundamental question.