Software-as-a-service (SaaS) is big business at the moment, and the term is being used as a buzzword in pretty much every industry out there. And when it comes to human resources (HR), it’s no different. In fact, SaaS solutions arguably have just as much to offer HR as they do for any other industry, and perhaps even more. Powerful SaaS platforms can make all of the difference.
But first off, what exactly is SaaS? Well, according to Wikipedia, it’s a “software licensing and delivery model in which software is licensed on a subscription basis and is centrally hosted.” It typically takes the form of a piece of software that stores all of your data in the cloud for you and allows you to interface it through a web browser or application on any device. Salesforce, DocuSign, and Slack are all good examples of SaaS solutions.
That’s all well and good, but it’s not what you’re here for. You want to know what SaaS means for you, so let’s take a look at how SaaS can help when it comes to human resources.
Better understanding of big data
Big data is exactly what it sounds like: huge amounts of data that no human being could ever hope to analyse. That’s why we get machines to analyse big data instead, whether we’re talking about purchase histories and social media usage or whether we’re talking about employment and salary data. Big data is what powers Netflix’s recommendations. They crunch the numbers for every user and every show to make the most relevant recommendations possible.
The great thing about big data is that it can encompass all types of data imaginable, including all of the latent data in your HR department. Getting to understand the data a little better can help you to identify potential efficiencies and even to pinpoint areas of the company which are likely to experience shortfalls and where you’ll need to hire new people.
More focus on retention
One of the great things about having access to all of this data is that you’ll be able to figure out why people are leaving and to try to combat the problem. In some cases, you can even take what you learn and turn it from a weakness into an advantage. Even if not, it gives you a greater understanding of who your employees are and what makes them tick.
On top of that, some software even helps you to identify potential bottlenecks and to predict in advance what employees are likely to do. This becomes particularly important when it comes to your top performing or most productive employees. If they’re about to leave, you need to know about it. You can be strategic about it and focus your efforts where they’re most likely to have an effect.
Better recruitment and development
As your SaaS platform gets to know more about the people you have data on, the recommendations that it makes get better and better. This means that when you’re feeding in jobseeker data, it can help you to streamline the process and even to make early predictions about who might be a good fit. You can start to specifically seek people out with the qualities that have worked well for your company in the past.
But SaaS also has a lot to offer when it comes to personal development. After all, it can make tailored recommendations about what to do with internal staff, including how best to develop them and where to grow the business through internal promotion. It’s all thanks to the huge amounts of big data that these platforms can store and process and the predictive analytics that they can provide as a result of it.
Conclusion
SaaS can be particularly successful when it comes to replacing archaic legacy software, such as old payroll software or out-of-date personnel databases. In fact, SaaS payroll programs have already evolved to the point at which not using them puts you at a competitive disadvantage. That’s why it’s a good time to invest in them if you haven’t already.
After all, we’ve already established how SaaS can help you to attract, retain and develop your staff, and that’s only the beginning. As this type of software becomes more and more accessible, it’ll also become more powerful and start to use the data that it gathers to better improve itself. You might as well jump on the bandwagon now before it’s too late.