What is HR SaaS?

SaaS is software-by subscription technology. Because you don’t own it, there is no upfront purchase cost, and you’re not responsible for its upkeep.

The vendor does all the hard work. Updates are done automatically, and they require almost no downtime and very little IT involvement.

SaaS HR software is generally cloud-based with a fully digital HR solution, and you will be able to access and manage employee data remotely.

Modern businesses are recognising the big advantages of moving from a manual HR system to SaaS HR solutions; our whitepaper has 11 of the best.

Signs you need a new HR SaaS system

These days, managing HR in a growing business is a constant task. For HR management, SaaS could be a way to prevent your team from being overloaded with work they never seem to get to the bottom of.

It’s not unusual to rush from meeting to meeting, extinguishing fire after fire. But there’s a big difference between being productive and just being busy. And if you’re always busy being busy on admin-based HR tasks with no time for strategic HR thinking, it’s probably high time you made a change.

Here are four telltale signs that you need a new HR system. To help you evaluate your needs, our introduction to managing human resources can be a valuable resource.

Sign 1. Onboarding is all paperwork

The onboarding of new employees is a crucial time to give your new hires a thorough understanding of your company’s history, culture, and mission, and how they fit into the bigger picture and can contribute to the greater success of the company.

But, in too many workplaces, onboarding is all about paperwork. And much of a new employee’s first day is all about completing one document after another. This includes:

• Signing a letter of engagement;
• Acknowledging your code of conduct;
• Filling out the tax declaration form;
• Completing their superannuation choice form; and,
• Giving us their bank account details.

For new starters, it’s dull, and it’s tedious, and for some, it’s a real letdown. But it doesn’t have to be this way when you enable new hires to complete onboarding essentials online, allowing them to fill out and sign all of their onboarding paperwork well in advance of their start date.

It’s important to make an employee’s first days, weeks and months memorable for all the right reasons.

By streamlining your onboarding process with an HR system, you can save yourself so much time, free yourself up from tedious paperwork, and make your new starter’s time with you more productive and enjoyable from day one.

Sign 2. The data you need is always hard to find

If you’re still filing everything away in paper files in a bank of filing cabinets, it’s not only inefficient, but you’re probably putting the business at risk.

Paper-based filing systems are only as secure as the people who have access to the office where they are located.

Even if you’re the holder of the key, when bulky filing cabinets start to fill up with overflowing manila folders, it becomes difficult to keep the information organised.

If you face an underpayment claim or are undergoing an audit by a Fair Work inspector, think of the time it takes to hunt down those important documents. It can be seriously stressful and seriously time-consuming.

And with no audit trail, who can say that it hasn’t been altered? By having HR software fit for your business, you can free up your day and have meticulous files at your fingertips whenever you need them. Consider building the business case for new HR software with our helpful guide.

In fact, online HR software like Employment Hero can save you an enormous amount of time across a range of HR tasks. As all your HR data is encrypted in the cloud, you’ll also have peace of mind that everything’s secure from login to logout.

Sign 3. Human errors keep tripping you up

Sometimes, the sheer volume of paperwork and duplication from manual processes can be simply overwhelming and keep you away from doing more strategic work.

Spreadsheets are probably a large part of why you’re always busy doing busy things. They are also notoriously prone to human error.

With manual data entry, any kind of formula mistakes can seriously mess with everything from managing holiday allowances to your payroll calculations. And it can take ages to unravel it all when something goes awry.

If you’re still doing payroll manually or keeping data in spreadsheets, it’s high time for an upgrade. For many businesses, the answer lies in having a single platform with integrated HR, rostering and payroll, which eliminates the need for data double-handling.

Sign 4. You’re always busy with manual and time-consuming tasks

Employee self-service is all about helping employees and managers build a more self-sufficient work environment.

Having HR self-service functionality is a must as it allows your colleagues to perform routine HR tasks themselves, rather than relying on you to do it for them.

This includes updating their personal details, as well as acting as viewing and acknowledging workplace policies and other HR documents.

By reducing your employees’ reliance on you to perform day-to-day support tasks, you cut costs and response times while improving efficiency, productivity and compliance.

With a cloud-based employee self-service system, your employees can access the system from home. They can view work schedules to see when they’re rostered on, view payroll information, and request annual leave, all without calling on you.

What are the common myths about cloud SaaS HR systems?

With SaaS HR systems operating on the cloud, many are concerned about moving from traditional HR systems to cloud-based ones.

If you have concerns about moving your HR to the cloud, you are not alone.

Since the cloud is still thought of as relatively new, and a few stubborn myths have grown up around it.

So to put your mind at rest, we’ve collected 6 of the biggest myths and misconceptions about HR in the cloud – and we’ve busted them wide open to reveal the truth.

Myth 1: HR in the cloud is expensive

The truth: Quite the contrary. Cloud implementation and subscription costs are low, and the return on your investment is faster than most other business solutions.

By automating your HR, you could reduce the costs of your administrative processes by as much as 60%.

And because everything is in the cloud, expensive upgrades are a thing of the past. Your solution provider takes care of all that for you.

Myth 2: HR in the cloud isn’t secure

The truth: A cloud-based HR solution is likely to be much more secure than your traditional HR department.

The top HR cloud vendors adopt and conform to the highest security standards – much higher than the typical in-house IT department.

To put it bluntly, they can’t afford to get hacked. That’s why software is located on secure servers, in locations managed by experts, with emergency power sources and constant back-ups.

You still need to conduct your own due diligence of course, but a huge number of organisations are now happy to put their business processes in the cloud.

Myth 3: HR in the cloud is style over substance

The truth: This myth usually stems from traditional HR providers who are experiencing a touch of envy.

Automated, cloud-based HR solutions are attractively designed, user-friendly and fun, but there’s a lot more to them than that.

Features like dashboards and graphic-rich reports are packed with accurate and informative data.

If they were all style and no substance, employees wouldn’t use them – and employee engagement is something that automated HR solutions pride themselves on.

Myth 4: It takes a long time to set up a cloud-based HR solution

The truth: Going for a cloud-based business solution is much quicker and easier than other traditional solutions.

No local IT involvement is needed, and no equipment needs to be installed.

Implementation usually takes a couple of days, and then your HR solution can be accessed by any authorised employee with an internet connection.

There’s no maintenance to worry about in the future, either.

Myth 5: Cloud solutions don’t integrate with other applications

The truth: You’ll usually hear this myth from inexperienced IT and HR departments.

They haven’t carried out integration before, so they’re not keen on it.

A good cloud-based HR solution will be able to sync with your existing HR and payroll software.

This is usually done so seamlessly that data doesn’t even have to be manually re-keyed between applications.

Myth 6: You’ll lose control of your HR data if you move to the cloud

The truth: This is the easiest of all to debunk. It’s a misconception that some on-premise software vendors and traditional HR providers are happy to go along with it, but it’s simply not true.

You own your data, you control it, and it will always be available to you.

Cloud-based HR systems are rapidly replacing traditional HR processes. For more insights, see our guide on streamlining HR processes.

Learn why you should switch to a cloud-based HR solution by downloading our factsheet today.

11 Reasons you should switch from traditional HR to SaaS HR

1. No special hardware or additional maintenance is required as SaaS is cloud-based.
2. Costs are lower than software bought outright with a yearly maintenance fee.
3. It’s quick and easy to implement across your business.
4. It’s more user-friendly than more traditional and manual HR processes.
5. It improves employee engagement by enabling employee self-service and ability to use the software themselves.
6. Real-time data allows your teams and leaders to make better, more strategic decisions.
7. It allows for better mobility and accessibility to data across sites and virtually. 
8. Your data will be more secure as everything will be stored securely in the cloud and protected by data servers.
9. It’s more environmentally friendly, as it’s a paperless system.
10. It’s scalable to your needs, allowing you to affordably grow your SaaS HR needs alongside your growing business needs.
11. SaaS HR goes beyond the minimum requirements and goes above and beyond with the use of automation and streamlining of processes.

Introducing our all-in-one HR and payroll software

If you’re interested in taking the next step with SaaS and HR, our all-in-one HRIS is a fully-integrated platform that allows businesses to recruit, hire, onboard, engage, develop, recognise, and reward their employees from one centralised platform. Get in touch with our sales team today to find out how we can help you switch to Software as a Service HR.