Self-service HR software is a centralised management system that allows team members to carry out all sorts of HR tasks themselves — without you, an HR manager, or anybody else having to get involved.

With automated HR tools like Charlie, your team members log in and can then upload or update their own information, book time off, and access company policies and other HR information. It’s that easy. 

If you’re responsible for Human Resources at your small company, you’ll find self-service HR software like Charlie will help you to:

• Improve efficiency: self-service HR systems improve efficiency in all sorts of ways: for example, you can deal with holiday requests in just one click, ensure tasks go straight to the right people, and rely on a shared calendar that's always up to date.
  

• Reduce the administrative burden: self-service HR systems automate all essential HR tasks, significantly reducing your admin workload. Plus, you can move even more work off your desk by delegating, empowering your managers and team members to lead on more of their own HR admin.
  

• Ensure better compliance: self-service HR systems are legally compliant with UK employment law, giving you complete peace of mind. 
  

• Engage your employees: self-service HR systems enable better people processes, which improve employee experience and encourage engagement. And automated engagement surveys help you to further understand and communicate with your team.
  

• Reduce mistakes: removing the manual elements of HR means far less risk of mistakes. With no manual upkeep, self-service HR systems ensure errors are kept to a minimum. 
  

• Improve remote working: self-service HR systems allow your employees to access information and complete tasks anytime and from anywhere, so they’re fully compatible with remote and hybrid work. 
  

• Get a big chunk of your time back: with self-service HR systems, you can re-invest all the time you’d usually spend on HR admin on what really matters to your business.
  

So you’ve decided you need self-service HR software to help you improve your HR processes — here’s how to pick the right self-service HR platform for you.

These questions will help you narrow down the options while exploring different automated HR tools:
‍
1. What am I most struggling with at the moment?

If it helps, you can break this question down even further:

• What is blocking you from doing what you need to do?
  

• What specific HR tasks are taking up most of your time and preventing you from actually growing and nurturing your team? 
  

Pinpointing like this will give you a better idea of what HR features you need your self-service HR software to take care of.
‍
2. What type of self-service HR software is right for the size of my company?
‍
If you work at a small business or startup with under 100 employees, you’ll want easy and user-friendly self-service HR software that’s quick to roll out and requires little to no training.

With a small team, you want to avoid being overwhelmed by features you don’t need and focus on reducing your HR admin for key tasks like HR data entry, absence management, time tracking / timesheets, real-time leave requests and employee engagement.

On the other hand, larger companies should look for self-service HR systems that can support sizable teams based in different parts of the world. These will be more complex automated HR tools with large-scale reporting dashboards.

3. What is my budget?
‍
You’ll have to decide how much you’re ready to spend on self-service HR software. 

If you are a startup or small business, it’s likely you’ll have fewer resources so ask yourself what you can afford with your budget. And is the pricing sustainable in the long term?

4. How can I justify this extra spending?
‍
If you need to justify the extra cost of self-service HR software, focus on how much time you’ll get back and what you’ll be able to do with it. And if you’re still unsure, why not trial one or more self-service HR systems before you commit? 

At Charlie, we offer a 7 day free trial so that you can literally try before you buy and see exactly how employee self service works in reality. Trialling self-service HR software is likely to answer any final questions and should definitely help you to justify the cost. Try Charlie’s self-service HR software for free.