Does Free HRMS Software Serve the Purpose?

HRMS software comes in different shapes and sizes, which is to say that they offer a variety of customizable suites to serve different requirements depending on organizational objectives and priorities. Pricing is one of the most mandatory aspects when choosing an HRMS software, as it gives an idea about the software’s complexity, its features and its long-term viability and applications. There are hundreds of innovative, modern HRMS software available in the market today, many of which provide transparent pricing options, for a variety of HRMS packages, on their websites.

A human resource management system (HRMS) is a platform which merges core and strategic HR tasks and objectives into a single easy and comprehensive solution. HRMS solutions have two major benefits over old-school HR documentation:

• Organizations do not require any other platform or portal for related tasks.
• Most tasks are automated, sparing HR staff valuable time to focus on strategic company matters.

Generally, a standard HRMS software comes with several modules included in the suite which form a complete package to organize and maintain an organization’s HR-based portfolio. However, in many cases and with many major HRMS providers, there are many specialised modules which can be purchased separately. Common modules are as below:

Records management – key module for centralized employee database management to manage and update key employee information like name, address, role, reporting manager, salary, date of joining and additional key information.

Payroll management – payroll module to record and track periodical employee salary, deduction, tax, etc.

Time and attendance – module which assists managers to track employee attendance, hours, overtime details.

Benefits management – module to track employee benefits information such as insurance, off-time etc.

Recruitment / onboarding – module to assist recruiters and hiring managers to track and manage applicant information, such as interviews and onboarding.

Talent management – module to assist organizations in measuring employee engagement, development and performance.

Additionally, HRMS platforms can also include document management, social collaboration and mobile device management and functionality.

 

Free / Open Source HRMS Software

As regards free or open source HRMS software options, there are many such HRMS software packages available in the market today, like IceHR, WebHR, Jorani, Sentrifugo, Zoho etc.

Even though free HRMS software are an immediately attractive prospect, especially for small businesses, they have significant limitations incorporated into their free plans. Organizations must carefully consider and evaluate their requirements vis-à-vis prospects and benefits offered by a free HRMS software, else they’ll have to replace their HRMS software or buy a paid version of it.

Now, why would an organization create an HRMS platform in the first place only to roll it out for free later on? Some scepticism and psychological intuition definitely promises to come in handy here, as one begins to realise and stumble upon the limitations of some of these HRMS platforms, no doubt how promising they seem to work for a business.

There is a limit to the free options and services offered by these brands, which is generally limited for use for up to 5 employees and offering basic HR functions like personal tracking, attendance management, recruitment, payroll management, performance tracking etc. These very basic functionalities might be of use for small start-ups or businesses having an extremely limited employee base and single core business area, but their shortcomings are immediately apparent in case of a mid-size or large organization having hundreds to thousands of employees.

Some popular free HRMS software and their major drawbacks:

• Bitrix24
  Even though it is a robust platform for an HRMS, offering myriad options to improve your business, its free version only supports a maximum of 12 users and 5 Gb of online data storage. Many of the indispensable HRMS features like attendance management, customer support, etc. are not even included in the free version.

• Factorial
  As it is an HRMS software based in Barcelona, so it offers functionality to organizations based only within Spain.

• HR.my
  HR.my offers an extremely basic and only limited functionality to users.

• IceHRM
  IceHRM is a robust HRMS software that offers a number of innovative HRMS modules. However, a small business needs to install and maintain their own hardware systems, like servers, if they intend to use IceHRM for an extended timeline. IceHRM also lacks many important HRMS features.

• OrangeHRM
  Just like with IceHRM, a small business needs to install and maintain their own servers if they’re using OrangeHRM. Additionally, this software is also missing critical features.

There is a plethora of other free HRMS software which also have major limitations and drawbacks when it comes to offering uninterrupted and full HRMS privileges to businesses and organizations.

When it comes to technology and business, “free” doesn’t always mean free. There is always a catch behind using a “free” technology for business. If an organization intends to perform better and grow in its line of business steadily, it needs to expand and hire a greater number of employees, therefore it must eventually shift its HR processes to paid HRMS software as:

• Free HRMS software have a limit on the number of users.
• Free HRMS software come with inherent functionality limits.
• Free HRMS software generally come with no customer support functionality, which is critical to an organization’s HR processes and its growth.
• Free HRMS, even offering full functionalities for free, do not include hardware support like servers for software deployment. Thus, organizations are forced to deploy their own hardware.

Thus, paid HRMS software is always a better option for your organization, as compared to a free one, as it offers you unrestricted access to robust and innovative functionalities that help your organization surge ahead of its competitors in this time of cutthroat competition and cutting-edge perfection.