Human resource information systems (HRIS) have become mission-critical tools for managing key HR processes like recruitment, onboarding, payroll, time and attendance tracking, benefits enrollment and performance management.
By centralizing employee records and automating manual tasks, HRIS platforms empower HR teams to focus more on strategic priorities and enhance the employee experience. As the market matures, AI and people analytics capabilities are differentiating the leading enterprise HRIS vendors.
This comprehensive guide will explore:
- The fundamentals of HRIS software
- Leading HRIS vendors
- Key software evaluation criteria
- Implementation best practices
- Emerging industry trends
- The future of HRIS technology
Let‘s dive in to explore the current HRIS landscape and how the right platform can elevate your organization‘s HR capacity.
What is an HRIS?
Before reviewing solutions, let‘s recap what an HRIS is and why it matters.
HRIS Software Defined
An HRIS (human resource information system) is cloud-based software that acts as a central database for managing employee records, HR workflows, policies and reporting in one place.
Core HRIS capabilities include:
- Centralized employee profile management
- Recruiting and onboarding
- Payroll and compensation tracking
- Time and attendance monitoring
- Benefits enrollment and management
- Performance management
- Learning management (LMS)
- Custom analytics and reports
In short, an HRIS eliminates manual processes, enables organizational analytics/insights and gives HR teams better data to drive impactful decisions on the employee lifecycle.
Common HRIS system overview (source: CIO)
The Strategic Value of HRIS Solutions
While foundational HRIS capabilities center on transitioning manual HR processes like payroll and compliance to digital workflows, the strategic advantage comes from data consolidation and analytics.
With an integrated HRIS platform, organizations can better understand and optimize:
- Turnover trends
- Manager effectiveness
- Compensation decisions
- Performance bottlenecks
- Employee career progression patterns
- Productivity drivers
- High-potential talent retention
- Diversity, equity and inclusion gaps
- Recruitment channel effectiveness
- Learning program ROI
As HRIS systems mature to incorporate predictive analytics, artificial intelligence and employee engagement functionalities, HR leaders gain immense strategic advantages.
Top HRIS Software
Based on analyst evaluations and user reviews, the highest-rated HRIS platforms for enterprises include:
1. UKG Dimensions
UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) Dimensions brings together workforce management, payroll, HR and talent capabilities in a unified suite. Key strengths include:
- Real-time centralized HCM database
- Advanced scheduling with shift optimization
- Integrated payroll, timekeeping and leave management
-Embedded analytics, mobile access and manager self service
-over 8,000 customers across 160 countries
Industry Fit: Organizations with hourly/shift-based frontline workforces like healthcare, retail, hospitality, financial services and higher education.
Company Profile
- Founded: Infor, 1977; Kronos, 1977; Ultimate Software, 1990
- Customers: 19,000+
- Market presence: 190+ countries
- Cloud suite unification: 2021
As a long-standing workforce management vendor now offering integrated cloud HCM, UKG leverages its industry expertise to meet the changing needs of dynamic global enterprises.
Advanced workforce optimization paired with HR transformation capabilities makes UKG a trusted choice for future-focused organizations.
2. Oracle Cloud HCM
Oracle delivers a complete, innovative HCM suite trusted by leading global enterprises. Capabilities span:
- Unified talent, HR and workforce management
- Built-in predictive analytics and benchmarking
- AI-powered digital assistant and conversational UI
- skills-driven recruiting and development
- Highly configurable workflows
- Seamless integration with existing Oracle Cloud solutions
Industry Fit: Large regulated enterprises in healthcare, financial services, utilities, retail and the public sector.
Company Profile
- Founded: 1977
- Customers: 5,000+ HCM Cloud
- 75% of global workforce leverages Oracle solutions
With 45 years in business applications led by high R&D investments, Oracle HCM Cloud brings together best-in-class HR tools with a focus on driving innovation, insights, automation and an optimized experience for every user and staff member.
3. SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors excels in core HCM capabilities complemented by powerful workforce analytics and planning. Strengths include:
Core HR
- Employee Central for HR data/lifecycle management
- Global benefits and payroll administration
Talent Management
- Recruiting, performance, compensation, learning
Workforce Planning & Analytics
- Reporting, visualization and planning capabilities
200+ APIs for extensibility and third-party integration
Industry editions tailored for specific vertical needs.
Industry Fit: Complex global organizations across all major sectors
Company Profile
- Founded: 2001
- Customers: 7,040+
- 6+ million users
- 69% of Forbes Global 2000 are customers
With over 20 years dedicated solely to cloud HCM, SAP SuccessFactors excels in workforce intelligence, driving productivity and meaningful employee experiences for even the world’s largest enterprises.
4. Workday
Workday offers an innovative unified platform spanning HCM, financials and planning tailored for agile organisations. Notable features include:
Machine Learning Applications
- Predictive analytics and intelligent recommendations
Consumer-Grade User Experience
- Personalized mobile app with voice, chatbots and nudges
Unified Suite
- HCM, financial management and adaptive planning
Continuous Innovations
- 3 major annual releases
Global Enterprise Focus with 35% YoY customer base growth
Industry Fit: Enterprise leaders seeking HCM-driven digital acceleration across regions and functions.
Company Profile
- Founded: 2005
- Customers: ~60% of Fortune 50 as well as mid-market growth firms
- 50+ million workers leveraging Workday globally
Born in the cloud and centered around the employee experience thanks to consumer roots, Workday delivers continuous innovation via regular major updates aligned to customer needs.
5. PeopleSoft
Part of Oracle’s industry-leading HCM portfolio after a 2004 acquisition, PeopleSoft continues to deliver robust, configurable HR technology for large global firms. Strengths include:
Proven Scalability
- Supports workforces ranging from 1,000 to over 400,000 employees
Tailorable Global Capabilities
- Built-in tools to meet regional compliance needs
Powerful Analytics
- Real-time decision-enabling insights
Flexible Deployment Options
- On-premise, hosted and hybrid cloud
Ecosystem Integration
- Coexistence with existing Oracle JD Edwards, EBS and PeopleSoft solutions
Industry Fit: Heavily regulated industries like higher education, healthcare, manufacturing and the public sector
Company Profile
- Founded: 1987
- Customers: 20 million users
- 87 of the Fortune 100 leverage PeopleSoft
- Part of Oracle Corporation since 2004
With over 20 years delivering adaptable HR technology now backed by Oracle’s cloud infrastructure, PeopleSoft empowers highly complex organizations to unify a multitude of HCM processes globally.
Evaluation Criteria
While top-tier vendors have proven track records meeting rigorous enterprise demands, aligning solution capabilities with your organizational needs and technical environment remains critical.
Consider these aspects when assessing options:
Intended Size
- Employee count (now and in 3 years)
- Locations and countries supported
Required Capabilities
- Which HR workflows need modernizing? Recruitment, payroll, etc
- Must 3rd party app integration meet IT security protocols?
Innovation Needs
- Openness to AI, ML and analytics?
- Solution roadmap aligned to executive vision?
UX Importance
- Will poor design lead to lackluster employee adoption?
- Is self-service strategy tied to HR metric goals?
Implementation Factors
- IT bandwidth for integration management?
- Change readiness among managers and staff?
Current Software Footprint
- Will gaps in the vendor portfolio necessitate more apps?
- Does the vendor support easy integration?
Price Justification
- Are CFOs sold on the ROI proposition?
By aligning desired features and UX with speed of deployment, disruption tolerance, innovation appetite and budget, HR leaders can find the ideal technology partners ready to elevate strategic influence operationally and across the leadership table.
Implementation Guide
Seamlessly rolling out an enterprise-grade HRIS platform requires thoughtful orchestration supported by leadership. Follow these best practices for successful adoption across your organization:
Secure Executive Buy-In
Rally stakeholders early around growth goals tied to HRIS measurement capabilities. Maintain enthusiasm through ongoing communications.
Clean Data Inputs
Invest in properly consolidating and mapping all inputs like payroll, retirement plans etc to maximize accuracy.
Strategically Stage Deployment
Take an incremental vs big bang approach if change adverse, focusing on self-service then reporting enhancements targeted to influential business units first.
Boost Accessibility
Support mobile usage expectations with manager/employee apps for high engagement anywhere.
Reinforce Change Management
Require formal training completion and offer social forums to smooth adoption pains proactively.
Tie Analytics to Decisions
Connect analytics dashboards to existing meetings for continuous insights influencing business reviews.
Iteratively Improve
Solicit user feedback to guide enhancements addressing pain points.
Follow structured frameworks like ITIL, Lean or PROSCI ADKAR to drive adoption at scale while minimizing disruption across complex global organizations.
Industry Trends
Beyond foundational HR process automation and compliance, four technologies are maturing HRIS capabilities:
AI and Advanced Analytics
Applied AI through machine learning algorithms helps enterprises:
- Predict optimal sites for recruiting high-potential talent
- Match internal mobility candidates to open requisitions using skills analysis
- Inform compensation planning based on projected market benchmarks
- Recommend learning assignments aligned to succession plans
- Alert managers to retention risks based on resignation drivers
As analytics in HRIS continues maturing, organizations gain immense strategic advantages.
Blockchain
Blockchain shows early promise modernizing core HR datasets like employee credentials, compensation histories and performance records in a distributed yet secure manner.
Use cases solving pressing pain points include:
Verification of Credentials
Immutable distributed records minimize background check costs
Confidential Data Exchange
Safely digitizing and sharing verified sensitive personnel documents
As blockchain platforms enterprise-harden in coming years, core HR processes can modernize. Leading vendors are investing in pilots and partnerships.
Extended Reality (XR)
Emergent extended reality tools like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) create engaging, immersive environments aiding key HR workflows like:
- Onboarding – Boost new hire product knowledge
- Learning – Elevate skills development and safety training efficacy
- Recruiting – Showcase company culture "day in the life" digitally
As headsets and custom content creation enhanced, XR promises to revolutionize parts of the employee lifecycle.
Natural Language Processing
Advances in natural language understanding elevate personalization, discovery and decision intelligence by:
- Answering common employee questions via chatbots
- Parsing exit interview insights to highlight retention risks
- Capturing HR call transcript sentiment revealing training gaps
- Automating document classification and text insights
Within enterprise HR chatbots and voice assistants, NLP drives smarter self-service, predictive analytics and empathetic communications at scale.
While promising, carefully evaluate if leading vendors’ ethical principles governing AI usage align to your organizational values prior to purchasing tools reliant on monitoring workers.
Future of HRIS Software
The next five years will usher even greater HR process automation and intelligence enhancements including:
HR Assistants – Advancements in conversational AI will create digital helpers augmenting employees, managers and CHROs via voice interfaces
Hyper-Personalization – Next generation personas, recommendations and nudges will adapt to life events, goals and communication preferences
Predictive Retention – Spotting subtle activity patterns tied to a degradation of engagement can trigger proactive outreach
Career Path Optimization – Internal mobility recommendations will map skills, aspirations and possibilities to auto-generate enriched career roadmaps
Network-Based Hiring – Enterprise social network analysis will highlight talent clusters primed for key positions before recruiters start sourcing
Underlying these innovations, Cloud and AI engineering from leading technology vendors readily provide the secure building blocks allowing people-focused HR leaders to deliver rich strategic value as analytics, ethical AI and an empowering employee experience take the fore.
Key Takeaways
- An HRIS centralizes systems, automates manual processes and enhances analytics to elevate HR capacity and productivity within modern dynamic organizations.
- Core software capabilities make foundational workflows around payroll, benefits and compliance vastly more efficient while advanced tools incorporate innovations in AI, blockchain and extended reality to enrich solutions still further.
- While all featured enterprise HRIS solutions can enhance most HR workflows, aligning capabilities against organizational maturity, culture, employee population uniqueness and strategic aspirations ensures a optimal fit.
- Proper change management, executive sponsorship and staged adoption best practices drive solution acceptance across global enterprises with even the most complex needs at scale.
By selecting feature-rich HRIS platforms fitting infrastructure needs and people-focused operating models, CHROs gain an adaptable technology foundation ready to accelerate transformation well beyond traditional HR‘s transactional reputation across epochs ahead.
