Spreadsheets vs HR software

As a small business owner, you’ve already got lots to do. In fact, you might feel as though you’ve got so many competing pressures, you hardly know where to start. 

And it's not just running the business — looking after your people takes time and effort too. 

As a fellow small business, we understand this. 

As one of Charlie’s product managers, much of my time is spent researching the pros and cons of spreadsheets vs HR software — and assessing the best solution for an ever-increasing load of HR admin. To save you the time and hassle of doing the same, I’ve put together this guide. 

You can use the information and comparisons below to decide the best HR solution for your team and business. 

What are the challenges when you’re dealing with HR at a small business?

Small businesses experience very specific challenges when it comes to HR — which is why it’s important to take the time to consider the pros and cons of spreadsheets vs HR software before you decide what’s best for managing your own people. 

These are the main challenges faced by small business when dealing with HR:

Lack of time

You are time poor — there’s so much to do and only a few people to do it. Your HR solutions need to be easy, reliable, affordable and quick-to-implement. 

Limited hiring budget 

The lack of money to hire someone dedicated to manage your HR means you have to look for alternatives — which is why you’re weighing up the effectiveness of spreadsheets vs HR software. 

Not streamlined

As a startup new business, you’ve not had the time or experience to streamline your HR processes yet, so everything feels reactive and piecemeal. 

Everything scattered everywhere

In that same vein, it takes a while to get on top of organisation and filing — especially when there’s so much unexpected HR admin.

In need of a rapid and reliable solution

New businesses need to hit the ground running in order to have the best chance of success, so any HR solution needs to be fast and effective. People are your most important asset. 

Want to look professional

You’re new and small, but that doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re doing. You need your HR to align with your aims and ambitions, and assure your employees that they’re working for a company that’s going places. 

Spreadsheets vs HR software: spreadsheets for HR

There are reasons so many businesses use spreadsheets for all sorts of admin, including HR. Let’s look at the pros and cons so that you can make an informed decision about spreadsheets vs HR software for your own business:

Pros of using a spreadsheet

No cost

The biggest advantage to spreadsheets is their lack of cost. If you already have the Microsoft Office Suite then Excel comes as standard, and a Google account gives you access to Google Sheets.

Familiar

Most of us have used a spreadsheet before, and anyone who’s ever managed a budget will be very familiar with them. 

Easy to put together

Their familiarity means spreadsheets are pretty easy to set up and populate.

Online templates

As spreadsheets are so widely used, it’s likely you’ll find a template online that you can adapt for your HR.

Easy calculations and automations

If you know the basics, you can set up spreadsheets to calculate things like working hours and holiday accrual.

Pros of using a spreadsheet

A lot is still manual

Even with the calculations and automations, using a spreadsheet for HR requires a lot of manual input. This is okay when you have one or two people working for you, but as your team starts to expand, so does the admin.

Risk of human error

Mistakes happen and one missed error on a spreadsheet can throw everything out. And the chances of this are pretty high with a spreadsheet because of all the manual data entry. 

Need to have backup documents

If you use spreadsheets for your HR then you’ll need to have backup copies in case anything gets accidentally deleted. And every time you update anything you’ll also need to update (and re-save) the backups.

Limited functionality

Spreadsheets are great for budgets and lists as that’s what they’re designed for, but their functionality is super limited when it comes to HR. You may quickly reach a point where you can’t do everything you need. 

You’re still the bottleneck

If you use spreadsheets for HR then everything (like holiday requests and other absences) has to go through you. Again, this may be doable when your team consists of only a few people, but your task list will grow as your business expands and can quickly become unmanageable. 

Not secure

Data relating to people needs to be stored securely, and unfortunately spreadsheets don’t comply with GDPR.

Spreadsheets vs HR software: what can HR software do?

When you’re weighing up the pros and cons of spreadsheets vs HR software, there’s a lot of information to take in. 

‍To help you narrow down what’s best for your business, here are the big things that HR software will help you with:

Time off management

Managing time off is one of those HR jobs that’s never done, and it can grow to be hugely time-consuming if you don’t have the right tools. 

Good HR software takes your time-off worries away, as it automates everything. In Charlie, for example:

• Employees submit their leave requests within the software
• The software flags any overlapping time off
• You approve or reject with a click
• Don’t mind paying extra for integrations
• All calculations are automatic
• The software sends your managers alerts and reminders
• All calendars are instantly updated when anything is altered or approved.

Onboarding and employee data

With HR software, you seamlessly onboard new employees — guaranteeing a professional welcome for them and reducing the workload for you. With Charlie:

• Employees follow an automated onboarding flow
• They input and update their own data 
• All documents are uploaded to the system, so they’re safely stored and easily accessible.

Performance management

As your team and ambitions grow, performance management becomes an increasingly big part of HR. And dedicated HR software will prove to be a game changer: 

• Easy set up for first time performance management 
• Anytime access to past reviews
• Automatic reminders to the right people and ahead of time 
• Can be rolled out in cycles with specific dates.

Employee engagement

Listening to your team and keeping them engaged is an important part of HR. With HR software like Charlie, you can:

• Easily run engagement surveys — within the software, responses are anonymous
• Track, report and analyse engagement metrics
• Boost team morale through the shout-outs feature (peer-to-peer praise).

Spreadsheets vs HR software: what’s best for small businesses?

My aim with this guide is to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision about spreadsheets vs HR software. 

‍Only you will know what’s ultimately best for your business, but I recommend taking some time to think of where you are now and where it is you want to go. 

For example, if you initially opt for spreadsheets, is it likely that you’ll be forced to move to HR software sooner rather than later? 

If your answer to this is yes or maybe, it’s probably worth trialling software like Charlie (which you can do for free here) and seeing how you get on with it. Because it’s much easier to start as you mean to go on, rather than make a change further down the line. 

I know there’s a lot of information to absorb, so to recap and help you choose between spreadsheets vs HR software, here are the pros and cons again: