The global HCM applications market is expected to reach 37.9 billion dollars by 2025, according to a report by Statista. Choosing the right Human Capital Management (HCM) software is crucial for businesses looking to streamline HR tasks and manage employees effectively. These platforms provide various HR functions like payroll, benefits, hiring, and performance tracking in one place.
What is HCM Software?
HCM software stands for Human Capital Management Software, a comprehensive HR suite that enables organizations to manage their employees. These platforms provide core HR features like time & attendance management, payroll and leave management. In addition, they provide companies with tools for talent management and development.
HCM Software Features
Human Capital Management (HCM) software offers a toolkit of features designed to streamline a wide range of aspects of employee management. It covers everything from employee onboarding to performance tracking and benefits management. This helps businesses run smoothly and keeps employees engaged and satisfied.
- Recruitment & Onboarding: HCM software supports HR professionals in the end-to-end hiring process, from posting job openings to managing applications and interviews. The platform can automate document submissions, training schedules, and orientation.
- Career Development: The software helps plan and manage employees’ career paths within the organization. It includes tools for setting career goals, figuring out needed skills, and creating development plans to achieve professional growth.
- Learning Management: HCM software is like a learning hub for delivering, tracking, and managing employee training and development programs. The software keeps track of courses, workshops, and certifications to help employees keep their skills up-to-date.
- Time & Attendance Management: HCM systems track employee working hours, attendance, and time off. Features like clocking in and out and managing shifts help with managing work hours and making sure employees are paid correctly.
- Payroll Management: This module handles the payroll process. It makes sure salaries, taxes, and deductions are calculated correctly, so there are no slip-ups on payday.
- Benefits Administration: The software manages employee benefits programs like health insurance and retirement plans. It automates enrollment, eligibility tracking, and benefits administration, making it easier for employees to access and manage their benefits.
- Compensation Management: HCM software solutions include tools for salary benchmarking, bonus management, and compensation reviews, ensuring fair pay practices.
- Leave Management: HCM systems make requesting and managing absence a breeze. It manages leave (vacation, sick leave, parental leave, etc) to maintain accurate employee records.
- Compliance Management: This ensures organizations adhere to labor laws, regulations, and industry standards. It helps track legal requirements and avoid any legal headaches.
- Employee Engagement: HCM software helps measure how happy and engaged employees are. It includes tools for surveys and feedback to foster a positive work environment.
- Performance Management: This tracks and manages employee performance. It includes setting goals, giving feedback, and conducting performance reviews.
- Employee Self-Service: HCM systems offer a self-service portal where employees can access and update their personal information, view pay stubs, manage benefits, and request time off. This feature empowers employees and reduces the administrative burden on HR staff.
- Workforce Planning: This helps with people strategy by providing insights into workforce needs, skills gaps, and future talent requirements. It helps organizations align their workforce with business strategy and optimize resource allocation.
- HR Analytics: HCM software provides data and insights about HR activities such as turnover rates, employee performance, and recruitment effectiveness. These help organizations make better decisions and improve HR practices.
Top 7 Best HCM Software
ADP Workforce Now: Best HCM Software Overall
ADP Workforce Now is a cloud based HCM software for all-sized businesses that automates and streamlines HR processes. It offers core HR, employee self-service, payroll, time and attendance, and benefits administration.
The platform integrates seamlessly with popular software applications, and HR and financial systems like Quickbooks, Wave, Sage, ICIMS, VidCruiter, and Workday. ADP Workforce Now serves more than 1,000,000 clients all over the world such as Year Up, Envoy Air, and Atos.
ADP Workforce Now Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Training Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking | ✔ Time Off Management ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
ADP Workforce Now Pricing
ADP Workforce Now offers three pricing plans:
- The Select plan provides an all-in-one suite, including features like payroll & tax, new hire onboarding, and HR tools.
- The Plus plan includes everything in the Select plan, plus benefits administration.
- The Premium plan includes everything in the “Plus” and adds workforce management.
Add-ons: recruitment, performance management, and learning management.
ADP Workforce Now Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
 user-friendly interface real-time data reporting custom reports easy to access pay stubs, tax documents, and manage personal information seamless integration with other software | ❌ the system could be overwhelming at times, especially for new users |
Paycor: Top HCM Software for Benefits Administration Tools
Paycor is a comprehensive HCM platform that empowers leaders to develop their employees and build winning teams. With a single source of truth for all employee data, this software modernizes the entire employee lifecycle management from employee onboarding to exit. Paycor focuses on talent development that helps you build a great workplace.
The platform integrates with many other systems like GoodHire, Guru, and Awardco. Paycor has 30,000+ customers globally like OrthoArizona, SimpleNexus, and ACMS.
Paycor Key Features
| ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Time Off Management ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement | ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
Paycor Pricing
For businesses with under 50 employees (discount for 6 months available):
- Basic plan: payroll and tax service, wage garnishments, new hire filing EVS, and more.
- Essential plan: everything in the Basic plan, plus onboarding, time off manager, job costing, and 401(k) EDI processing.
- Core plan: everything in the Essential plan, plus expense management, employee import, HR, COR Leadership, and engagement.
- Complete plan: everything in the Core, plus career management, compensation planning, and talent development.
For businesses with 50-1000+ employees ( 1 month free available): payroll, HR, and analytics.
Paycor Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| user-friendly interface powerful payroll features manages employee leave and absences effectively | ❌ additional fees for resolving issues or implementing certain features ❌ generating reports can be challenging |
Rippling: Best Easy-to-use HCM Software
Rippling is a global workforce management platform that unifies HR, IT, and finance. It allows companies to manage the entire employee lifecycle.
Every application on Rippling HCM is built in-house and shares the same data model called the Employee Graph. This shared setup makes advanced reporting very easy, allowing you to create reports with just a few clicks, with no code or data scientists required. This top HCM system now has over 500 integration partners like Slack, PayPal, AWS, Jira, and Zoom. Its global customers are Harver, Andros, Beam, and more.
Rippling Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Training Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking ✔ Time Off Management | ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
Rippling Pricing
Starts at $8/user/month
| Rippling HR Cloud plans | Features |
|---|---|
| US and Global Full-Service Payroll | Direct deposit or check, job codes & multiple pay rates, and time off and PTO tracking, etc. |
| Time & Attendance | Integrated with payroll and PTO systems, overtime policies, approval chains, customizable workflows, etc. |
| Benefits Administration | Online enrollment, third-party broker support, global benefits synchronization, etc. |
| Flex Benefits | FSA, HSA, and commuter benefits, along with automated ACA & COBRA Administration. |
| Recruiting Plan | Global talent recruitment, checkmark, personalized recruiting dashboards, etc. |
| Learning Management | Pre-built courses, automated enrollment, and more. |
| Headcount Planning | Hiring progress tracking, checkmark, etc. |
| Performance Management | 360° reviews, goals and OKRs, checkmarks, and more. |
| Pulse | Surveys automation, responses-based trigger actions, feedback sharing with comment chains, etc. |
| HR Help Desk | Real-time compliance updates. |
| PEO Services | Large group health plans, one-on-one healthcare guidance. |
| ASO Services | Compliance across the USA with automated administrative tasks and legal updates. |
| Global Employer of Record Services | Onboarding, local benefits administration, payroll, and more. |
Rippling Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| easy-to-use interface excellent customer service comprehensive features highly customizable beneficial for global teams integrates well with many systems | ❌ no custom branding |
Oracle Cloud HCM: Best HCM Software for Employee Experience Solution
Oracle Cloud HCM (or Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM) connects all HR processes and everyone in your organization. With its complete human capital management software solution as part of the unified cloud across HR, finance, sales, and more, Oracle provides a single source of truth for informed and strategic decision-making.
Oracle ME, a part of Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM, is the only comprehensive employee experience management platform that delivers personalized guidance and communication to every employee. Today, Oracle serves many clients like FUJIFILM, Fujitsu, and Sofigate.
Oracle Cloud HCM Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Training Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking ✔ Time Off Management | ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
Oracle Cloud HCM Pricing
Oracle Cloud HCM offers a quotation-based pricing plan.
Oracle Cloud HCM Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| ❌ limited customization ❌ no disclosed pricing | ❌ limited customization ❌ no disclose pricing |
Workday HCM: Best HCM Software for Talent Management
Workday HCM offers a flexible suite of HR applications built for all-sized organizations. The platform delivers intelligent automation across the entire attract-to-pay process, reducing manual tasks and boosting productivity. Workday Skills Cloud, a part of Workday HCM, leverages machine learning to automatically match talent with opportunities.
Workday HCM integrates with Kudos, Motivosity, Sapling, and more. It serves famous companies like Dell, Salesforce, and pwc.
Workday HCM Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Training Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking ✔ Time Off Management | ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
Workday HCM Pricing
Workday HCM offers a quotation-based pricing plan.
Workday HCM Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| user friendly interface comprehensive features combines HR, finance, accounting, billing, expense management, and data storage into a single platform excellent reporting and analytics capabilities seamless integration with other systems scalability | ❌ customization challenges ❌ cost can be high for small businesses |
BambooHR: Leading HCM Software for SMBs
BambooHR is one of the best HCM software built for small and medium businesses that offers employee payroll, time, and benefit information in one place. It helps companies make strategic workforce plans with 49 built-in reports.
BambooHR serves customers in more than 150 countries, including Freshbooks, Reddit, and ZipRecruiter. This HCM platform integrates with over 120 tools such as Slack, Nectar, Greenhouse, Okta, Lattice, and Deel.
BambooHR Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Time Tracking ✔ Time Off Management ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Workforce Planning | ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Employee Community |
BambooHR Pricing
BambooHR offers two pricing plans:
- The core plan includes essential features like HR data and reporting, hiring and onboarding, time off and benefits tracking, and integrations marketplace.
- The pro plan includes everything in Core plus performance management, employee experience, and employee community.
- Add-ons: payroll (for US employees only), benefits administration (for US employees only), and time tracking.
BambooHR Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| user-friendly interface highly customizable responsive and helpful customer support automates HR processes integrates well with other systems | ❌ limited global payroll management capabilities ❌ benefits administration capabilities are for US employees only |
Ceridian Dayforce: Top-rated HCM Software
Ceridian Dayforce is a global people platform that simplifies payroll, HR, benefits, talent acquisition, and workforce management in one place. It helps you quickly find and manage HR information, streamline administrative tasks, and uncover insights to retain and engage employees. Its customer base includes Gannet, Henkel, and Vince. The platform integrates with Assembly, Docusign, ICIMS Talent Cloud, and more.
Ceridian Dayforce Key Features
| ✔ Payroll Management ✔ Training Management ✔ Applicant Tracking ✔ Recruiting Management ✔ Onboarding ✔ Performance Management ✔ Employee Engagement ✔ Talent Management ✔ Time Tracking | ✔ Time Off Management ✔ Benefits Administration ✔ Workforce Planning ✔ Compliance Management ✔ Time & Attendance Management ✔ Self Service Portal ✔ Employee Lifecycle Management ✔ Compensation Management ✔ Reporting and Analysis |
Ceridian Dayforce Pricing
The software offers a quotation-based pricing plan.
Ceridian Dayforce Customer Reviews
| Pros | Cons |
| user-friendly interface comprehensive knowledge hub document management security setup automates many HR processes regularly updates | ❌ complex implementation |
Top HCM Software Comparisons
| Aspect | ADP Workforce Now | Paycor | Rippling | Oracle Cloud HCM | Use case suitability | BambooHR | Ceridian Dayforce |
| Easy to use | | | | | | | |
| Integration | | | | | | | |
| Price | Quotation Based | Quotation Based | Starts at $8/user/month | Quotation Based | Quotation Based | Quotation Based | Quotation Based |
| Free trial | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | | ❌ |
| Free plan | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ | ❌ |
| Free Demo | | | | | | | |
| Customer Support | | | | | | | |
| Use case suitablity | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses | All-sized businesses |
Benefits of HCM Software
HCM software can be used to track employee data and manage payroll, benefits, and more. There are many benefits to using HCM software, including:
- Automate many manual HR tasks like data entry and payroll processing.
- Provide businesses with access to employee data which helps them make better decisions about hiring, training, and compensation.
- Help businesses to stay compliant with complex HR regulations.
- Plan future workforce.
- Identify, develop, and retain top talent.
- Streamline the onboarding process for new employees.
- Track employee performance and provide feedback.
How to Choose the Best HCM Software?
Here’s a simple guide to help you find the best HCM system for your business:
- Core Features: Start by looking at the basic features of HCM software. You’ll want it to handle essential HR tasks like hiring, onboarding new employees, managing performance, payroll, benefits, and training. Make sure the system has strong tools for these functions and fits well with your current HR processes.
- Ease of Use: The system should be easy to use. It should have a simple interface that your HR team can quickly get the hang of and a user-friendly portal for employees to manage their own information.
- Integration Capabilities: Check if the HCM software can work well with your current systems, like accounting or CRM platforms. This means your data flows smoothly between systems, saving time and reducing errors.
- Scalability: The HCM system should scale with your business growth. Look for a system that can handle more employees, new locations, and extra features without switching to something else.
- Compliance Management: The human capital management solution should help you stay on top of local laws and regulations. It should handle things like keeping track of rule changes and managing required documents to ensure your business stays compliant and avoids legal issues.
- Security: Make sure the HCM system has strong security features like encryption and secure access controls. It should also follow data protection rules and have clear policies for handling security issues.
- Customization and Flexibility: Your business might have unique needs, so look for an HCM system that can be customized to fit your requirements.
- Reporting and Analytics: The HCM software should provide reporting tools that give you insights into important HR metrics like employee performance and labor costs. It should allow you to create and view reports that help you make informed decisions.
- Support and Training: The HCM software provider needs to offer helpful support and training. You’ll want access to help when needed, plus resources to train your team on how to use the system effectively.
- Pricing Transparency: Finally, check the pricing. Look for clear information about all costs, including setup fees and monthly/yearly subscriptions. Transparent pricing helps you plan your budget and ensures the system stays affordable as your business grows.
Human Capital Management (HCM) Statistics (Market Size, Future Trends)
- HCM held the second largest share among cloud applications by functional market in 2020, accounting for 13.90%. (Apps Run The World)
2. In 2020, the global HCM applications market was valued at around 33.6 billion U.S. dollars, and it is expected to reach 37.9 billion dollars by 2025. (Statista)
3. Personnel management and payroll accounted for the largest share of the HR tech market in 2019 at 57.8%. This was followed by recruitment at 26.4%, and engagement and connectivity at 10.3%. (Statista)
4. Time & attendance is projected to lead in revenue within the workforce management software industry, expected to reach $2.56 billion in 2024. Compare this to $1.12 billion for workforce analytics, $942 million for workforce scheduling, 634 million for absence & leave management, $245 million for task management, and $50.5 for fatigue management. (Apps Run the World)
5. Employee engagement increases by up to 44% when using HCM systems. (Gitnux)
6. Generative AI will automate many tasks. (Forbes)
7. Companies increase their investment in career development. PwC announced spending $1 billion to train its employees in AI, covering topics like AI ethics, responsible AI use, and creating effective AI prompts. (Forbes)
8. Focusing on employee well-being is one of future HR trends from 2024. (TriNet)
Conclusion
Choosing the right HCM software involves considering features such as automation, compliance, and scalability to meet your human resources management needs. By implementing the right HCM software, businesses can simplify HR processes, boost productivity, and create a more engaged workforce.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the difference between HRIS, HRMS, and HCM?
HRIS focuses on storing employee data, including core HR features like recruitment, time & attendance tracking, payroll, and compensation management. HRIS is popular for small businesses.
HRMS expands on the HRIS, emphasizing managing employee data and providing advanced talent management tools.
HCM is the most comprehensive, focusing on a strategic approach to managing an employee’s lifecycle.
What’s the difference between HCM and ERP?
ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) focuses on core business processes, such as HR, finance, accounting, production, sales, and supply chain. Workday HCM, ADP Workforce Now, Oracle Cloud HCM, and BambooHR are top HCM systems whereas SAP ERP and Oracle ERP Cloud are typical ERP examples.
Which HCM software is best for small businesses?
HCM software is best for small businesses such as Rippling, BambooHR, and Paycor.
Is Workday an HCM system?
Yes. Workday is a cloud based HCM software built for all-sized organizations.
Is there any open source HCM software?
Open HRMS and OrangeHRM are open source HCM software.
How is HCM different from HR?
HR (Human Resources) focuses on handling daily employee-related activities like recruitment, training, payroll, and benefits administration. HCM (Human Capital Management) takes a more strategic perspective on employee management like career development, performance management, workforce planning, and workforce analytics.
