The days of large corporations being the only ones able to afford HR software are over.

While the software has long been popular with large, wealthy corporations, most of it is now affordable enough to help smaller businesses looking to save time and money. Most HR software is able to automate the work of a human resources department by keeping track of whether employees have met their goals and calculating the amount of compensation they deserve.

HR software is performance-based software that matches employee goals with business priorities, such as increased sales and better customer service.

According to a CNNMoney article by Cindy Waxer, the idea of being managed by software may make some employees wary, but paper-based performance appraisals are usually just as uncomfortable.

The article cites the case of Erin O'Leary-Rallis, CEO of Nittany Embroidery & Screenprinting, a small design company in State College, Pa. O'Leary-Rallis, like many CEOs, is not a human resources professional and prefers to focus on her business.

"I wasn't really prepared for employee evaluations, and I didn't have a hard-and-fast way of performing them," she said in the article.

O'Leary-Rallis would usually only conduct an employee evaluation when an employee asked for one, which some thought gave greedy workers the upper hand. So instead of hiring a human resources manager, O'Leary-Rallis decided to invest in HR software.

The company's use of HR software was initially met with some backlash from employees who thought setting up the software was too time consuming with data entry, reviewing peers, setting goals and tracking achievements.

At the same time, however, the software helped the company identify one lethargic employee, who was then let go, saving the company $25,000 per year. Another top performing employee also was recognized with the software, and was rewarded with a $3,000 per year raise and $2,000 bonus.

Overall, O'Leary-Rallis is able to save about $10,000 per year by using HR software. The technology also has helped her cut job coaching by about 30 percent.

"Such savings may not impress the average employee," the article adds. "But back at Nittany, at least, all workers are now onboard with the new system. Even the dissenting employee decided that her work would be more fairly compensated with the help of software rather than by human managers alone. Score one for the machines."

Labels: HR Software