HR Software Requirements

What Is an HR Software Requirements Checklist?

A requirements checklist outlines the key capabilities and features an organization needs in a human resources (HR) software solution. Such checklists encompass both functional and non-functional necessities across areas like core HR, payroll, talent management, and more. Additionally, an HR checklist comprises three types of requirements:
 

• Business requirements define the high-level goals and objectives the HR software must achieve for the organization, such as improving employee retention, reducing payroll errors, or streamlining performance reviews.
   
• User requirements specify how end users will interact with the system and what they need to efficiently perform their HR responsibilities.
   
• System requirements outline the underlying technology, hardware, network, security, and operating system needs to support the HR software solution.

Business Benefits of TEC’s HR Software Requirements Checklist

Leveraging a comprehensive HR software requirements checklist delivers multiple advantages for an enterprise, including:
 

• Capturing input from all stakeholders such as HR administrators, executives, managers, and employees to understand needs across the business.
   
• Aligning HR software capabilities with overall business objectives and strategy.
   
• Enabling long-term planning by anticipating how HR needs may evolve as the organization grows and changes.
   
• Uncovering gaps or inefficiencies in current HR processes that new software could help address.
   
• Accurately evaluating different vendor solutions against documented feature/functionality needs.
   
• Prioritizing requirements to focus on the most critical HR software capabilities.

Defining HR Software System Requirements

The HR software requirements checklist contains 913 total criteria across eight key modules: Talent Acquisition, Personnel Management, Payroll, Benefits, Workforce Management, Training Management, Employee Self-Service, and Product Technology. Having clear requirements across these critical HR areas enables better software selection, implementation, and optimization.
 

• Talent Acquisition (112 criteria): streamlines recruiting, applicant tracking, and onboarding to enhance quality of hire.
   
• Personnel Management (143 criteria): centralizes employee data, organizes HR workflows.
   
• Payroll (165 criteria): automates pay calculations, tax payments for accuracy and compliance.
   
• Benefits (78 criteria): simplifies benefits enrollment, administration, and cost management.
   
• Workforce Management (123 criteria): optimizes schedules, time tracking, and leave management.
   
• Training Management (87 criteria): develops talent with learning management and development planning.
   
• Employee Self-Service (102 criteria): empowers workforce with access to data, tools, and resources.
   
• Product Technology (103 criteria): delivers platform scalability, security, integration, and configuration.

Download our full HR software requirements checklist to equip your organization with the key criteria to drive software selection and implementation success.
 

Steps to Building a Robust HR Software Requirements Foundation

Here are some of the fundamental steps involved in the HR software requirements gathering process to establish a robust foundation for selecting and implementing an HR software system tailored to your organization's unique business requirements:
 

1. Obtain our comprehensive HR software requirements document or HR software requirements gathering template, which will serve as the foundation for the process. You can download TEC’s HR software requirements document from this page.
    
2. Identify and engage the relevant stakeholders and department leaders who will contribute to refining the HR software requirements checklist to fit their specific processes.
    
3. Distribute the unified HR software requirements gathering questionnaire to all stakeholders, ensuring equal access to the same set of questions.
    
4. Facilitate brainstorming sessions with stakeholders, encouraging them to think creatively and articulate all potential needs within the HR functional specification document.
    
5. Gather the completed HR software functional requirements lists from each stakeholder, consolidating and organizing their inputs for further analysis.
    
6. Conduct a thorough analysis of the collected responses, allowing you to distill the information into a well-defined HR software requirements checklist that captures the collective needs of the organization.

By following these steps, you will establish a robust foundation for selecting and implementing an HR software system tailored to your organization's unique requirements. This meticulous and structured approach paves the way for a seamless HR software evaluation and selection project, empowering your company to enhance employee relationships, streamline operations, and drive sustainable growth.
 

HR Software Requirements Checklist: In-Depth Selection Criteria by Functional Modules and Features

Our comprehensive HR software requirements checklist examines key selection criteria across eight critical modules listed above, and we’ve developed an extensive set of over 900 criteria spanning features and functionality requirements in each of these areas.

Walking through these modular requirements enables organizations to thoroughly evaluate how well vendor solutions address both current and future HR software needs. Our checklist facilitates aligning high-priority requirements with overarching business objectives around improving recruitment, retention, productivity, and other workforce metrics.
The checklist’s modular structure also makes it easy to customize and prioritize criteria based on each organization's unique processes, challenges, and strategic goals. Whether seeking to upgrade legacy HR systems or implement new unified solutions, our checklist serves as an indispensable selection tool for identifying the right HR software for your human capital management (HCM) needs.
 

Talent Acquisition Tools Support Recruitment & Hiring Processes

HR software’s Talent Acquisition module streamlines and optimizes the entire recruitment process, from sourcing candidates to hiring and onboarding top talent. This HR module comprises key submodules for applicant tracking, recruitment marketing, interview scheduling, offer management, background checks, and onboarding.

Specifically, Talent Acquisition’s criteria span features like AI-driven job description writing, customized career portals, automated screening questions, skills assessments, interview scorecards, user-friendly offer letter templates, self-service onboarding workflows, and more.

Additionally, criteria are tailored for recruiters, hiring managers, candidates, IT administrators, and executives across industries and organization sizes. For example, recruiters may prioritize intuitive applicant tracking system (ATS) interfaces, customizable hiring pipelines, and robust reporting on metrics like time-to-fill and quality of hire. Hiring managers often focus on streamlined collaboration for scheduling interviews, assessing candidates, and accelerating hiring decisions, while candidates want a positive application experience with mobile apply options, user-friendly portals, and timely communications.

By optimizing talent acquisition requirements, enterprises can enhance productivity, achieve hiring key performance indicators (KPIs) more quickly, and deliver exceptional candidate experiences that boost employer brand.
 

Personnel Management Facilitates Handling of Employee Data

This HR software module is the core system of record for all employee data, as it creates centralized employee profiles with job details, compensation, performance reviews, goals, development plans, and other workforce information. Key personnel management capabilities help streamline essential HR processes around organizational planning, compliance, policy administration, and analytics.

Our checklist examines dozens of criteria to evaluate how well solutions address personnel management needs across features for org chart visualization, succession planning, policy distribution, document management, workflow configurability, and mobile accessibility. This HR module’s criteria also assess flexibility to tailor review cycles, custom fields, permissions, and analytics for different industries and business sizes.

For instance, large enterprises prioritize automated policy acknowledgements, self-service org charts, and advanced reporting with dashboard customization, while fast-growing startups could focus more on flexible metadata, employee lifecycle triggers, and goal transparency.
 

• Custom Review Cycles: Configure performance and talent review frequencies and dates with flexibility for different employee types and management levels.
   
• Automated Policy Distribution: Instantly publish updated policies and track real-time acknowledgement reporting to mitigate compliance risks.
   
• Lifecycle Management Tools: Trigger automated checklist workflows for employee status changes like promotions, transfers, terminations, and more.
   
• Succession Planning: Proactively assess and develop talent pipelines with visibility into critical positions and existing bench strengths.

Payroll Streamlines Staff Compensation

In HR software solutions, the Payroll module is the engine that drives employee compensation, namely by automating complex pay calculations and tax payments to ensure accuracy and compliance. This HR module’s core functionalities include configurable pay rules, time tracking, payroll processing, reporting, and integration. Submodules like Time and Attendance track hours worked and time off to feed pay calculations, with advanced features supporting multiple pay frequencies, custom earnings/deductions, garnishments, and other complexities.

Additionally, robust reporting provides real-time visibility into gross pay, taxes, deductions, overtime, and other data to inform workforce planning, while tight integrations with general ledger (GL), banking, and accounting systems enable seamless financial processes.

Payroll requirements are especially relevant to stakeholders like payroll specialists, finance teams, managers, and employees. Specialists often prioritize configurability to adapt to changing regulations and automation to minimize manual errors, finance leaders focus on accuracy, compliance, and analytics to guide budgeting, and employees desire an exceptional pay experience with self-service access to pay stubs and tax documents.
 

Benefits Functions Bolster Company Management of Benefit Plans

In leading HR software systems, the Benefits module allows organizations to efficiently manage a diverse range of benefit plans, often with key functionalities to help automate enrollment, streamline administration, ensure compliance, and contain costs of plans like health insurance, retirement accounts, paid time off (PTO), and more.

This HR module comprises dozens of criteria and various submodules like Absence Management to track paid and unpaid time off balances, requests, and approvals, and Benefits Administration to configure various insurance plans, deductions, eligibility rules, and lifecycle events. Enrollment tools also empower employees to select their benefits plans, while self-service portals provide 24/7 access to balances.

Furthermore, robust reporting functionality equips administrators and finance teams with real-time visibility into enrollment rates, participation, costs, and other metrics to guide planning. Tight payroll integrations, for their part, enable seamless, accurate deductions and contributions across benefit plans.
 

Workforce Management Supports Routine Personnel-Related Tasks

Workforce Management enables enterprises to optimize scheduling, time tracking, labor cost management, and analytics, with its dozens of functions empowering effective planning, execution, and analysis of staffing levels and labor spend to meet business demands. Essential features within this key HR software module include demand-based scheduling, shift planning, overtime tracking, integrated time clocks, exception management, cost analysis reporting, and mobile accessibility.

From a stakeholder perspective, managers can schedule teams based on forecasted workload, leverage notifications for unfilled shifts, track time more accurately, and access overtime analytics. Employees benefit from shift transparency, automated time tracking, and access to schedules, timecards, and leave balances via mobile, while finance personnel gains visibility into granular labor data to improve budgeting and cost optimization. Ultimately, the Workforce Management module fosters productivity and operational excellence by aligning staff levels, shift assignments, and labor spend with organizational goals.
 

• Shift Planning: Configure customizable shift templates with complex patterns, location-specific needs, and qualification requirements for transparent scheduling.
   
• Exception Management: Establish configurable workflows for time exceptions related to late clock-ins/outs, missed punches, overtime approval, and more.

Training Management Drives Upskilling and Enhanced Leadership

HR software’s Training Management module allows businesses to develop employee skills and leadership capabilities that drive business success. This key HR module’s core functionalities span training administration, e-learning course libraries, instructor-led class scheduling, development planning, and analytics. Additionally, robust reporting enables HR and business leaders to demonstrate training return on investment (ROI), improve workforce capability mix, and forecast budgets for human capital development initiatives. Succession planning tools provide visibility into bench strength, allowing strategic decisions on upskilling high potentials.

Recruiters and managers can assess candidate skills versus role requirements during hiring, while learning administrators configure curated content libraries with video courses, quizzes, and resources to engage employees. Furthermore, managers can assign training based on performance reviews and career development plans to strengthen competencies, and employees can browse catalogs and register for classes aligned to their goals.
 

• Automated Training Assignments: Trigger required learning for new hires, transfers, promotions, and other job changes to facilitate smooth transitions.
   
• Development Planning Integration: Link assigned training to development plans, enabling targeted skill building tied to advancement potential.
   
• Instructor Capacity Planning: Optimize allocation of internal subject matter experts for knowledge sharing by balancing employee training demand with instructor availability.

Employee Self-Service Empowers Staff to Manage Their Information

In market-leading HR software solutions, the Employee Self-Service module allows staff across an organization to easily access and manage their own HR data. Dozens of modular capabilities empower employees with self-sufficiency while eliminating manual workloads for HR teams, leading to productive employees while freeing up HR staff to focus more on strategic initiatives. Essential Employee Self-Service features include secure access permissions, user-friendly interfaces, mobile compatibility, profile management, knowledge base access, and manager empowerment.

When assessing stakeholder and user requirements, employees need to view pay statements, update skills, check time-off balances, and complete training via any device. Managers require access to team profiles to approve time-off requests or manage ongoing performance reviews, while HR administrators prioritize robust analytics on usage and automated workflows triggered by employee data changes.
 

• Automated Profile Updates: Instantly trigger emails, tasks, and record updates when employees update business-critical data like legal name or bank details.
   
• Manager Empowerment: Provide leaders with access and permissions to view, edit, and manage direct report profiles, enabling efficient maintenance.
   
• Knowledge Base: Deliver a searchable portal containing HR policies, employee handbooks, job aids, benefits resources, and FAQs for 24/7 self-service access.
   
• Accessibility Validation: Ensure user interfaces and mobile applications meet compliance standards for employees with visual, motor, or other disabilities to prevent legal risks.

Product Technology Provides Infrastructure for Reliable HR Solutions

Lastly, the Product Technology module forms the technical foundation enabling HR software solutions to meet enterprise needs today while offering scalability for tomorrow. Indeed, this HR module encompasses infrastructure elements like server, database, network, and security, plus critical integration, configuration, and analytics capabilities.

Product Technology’s 100-plus criteria span essential requirements for optimal HR software performance, reliability, and usability. IT administrators focus on scalability, uptime, security protections, and extensibility of application programming interfaces (APIs) for interconnected HR workflows. HR leaders require self-service customization and real-time analytics to drive data-based workforce decisions, while employees need high performance and mobile accessibility to stay productive on the go.

Our modular criteria also cover differences across industries regarding compliance demands, end-user interfaces, and data residency regulations. Large global enterprises often prioritize robust localization support and configured user access tiers, while smaller companies emphasize training, support response times, and streamlined upgrades.
 

• Data Encryption: Robust encryption applied across databases, backups, and communications channels ensures HR data privacy and security for compliance. Critical for IT admins and HR leaders.
   
• Automated Testing Tools: Embedded testing frameworks accelerate validation of customized workflows to optimize HR process automation for both HR admins and IT teams.
   
• Load Balanced Infrastructure: Load balancing and auto-scaling optimize application performance across fluctuating usage volumes, enabling high workforce productivity while alleviating IT burden.

Avoiding Common HR Software Selection and Implementation Pitfalls

Implementing a new HR software system is a major undertaking rife with potential pitfalls that can derail projects and undermine ROI if not properly addressed. However, taking proactive steps to mitigate risks in the planning, selection, and deployment stages can set enterprises up for success.

One common mistake is failing to thoroughly document existing workflows, processes, and requirements before evaluating solutions. Without outlining unique business needs, organizations risk misalignment and capability gaps, thus requiring heavy and costly customizations down the road. Taking time upfront to detail pain points, objectives, and integrations enables better vendor evaluations.

Many companies also struggle to accurately prioritize expansive requirements lists into well-organized tiers based on business criticality. As a result, they overload implementation roadmaps tackling too many complex enhancements simultaneously. Thoughtfully ranking requirements with the help of key stakeholder input prevents resource drain and timeline overruns.

Underestimating the effort involved in integrating new HR systems with surrounding infrastructure is another frequent pitfall. Whether connecting to financial systems, importing historical data, or enabling single sign-on, seamless interoperability is essential and requires extensive planning.

Finally, lack of emphasis on user adoption leads many organizations to fall short of expected ROI. Without driving employee usage via training programs, communication plans, and engagement initiatives, systems fail to reach full impact and value realization.
 

Selecting the Best HR Software for Your Specific Business Needs

Selecting the right HR software is crucial for supporting your organization's workforce needs. Indeed, the system must align closely with your unique requirements across areas like payroll, benefits, compliance and more, and carefully evaluating fit will maximize both value and ROI.

Conduct in-depth requirements gathering workshops with stakeholders from HR, finance, IT, and other departments. Document pain points in current processes and chart out future objectives, and utilize independent templates to capture needs across key HR software modules.

Assess leading solutions against criteria tailored to your industry, growth stage, and geographic footprint. Prioritize must-have features like customized onboarding, automated policy management, and regulatory compliance.

Additionally, keep long-term scalability in mind during selection. Software as a service (SaaS) solutions offer flexibility to add capabilities as growth and emerging needs arise. Weigh options for expanding modules, users, and integrations over multi-year roadmaps aligned to growth.

Carefully evaluating alignment between HR software features and current/future business requirements is the foundation for maximizing value. Conduct thorough needs assessment and solution scoring to uncover the right fit for your organization.

As an impartial advisory form with over 30 years of experience in software evaluation and selection, we encourage companies to research all options fully before finalizing their HR technology decision. TEC is home to an array of software selection tools that can support the HR software shortlisting and evaluation process, from vendor comparison charts to features lists, while our impartial, proven methodology can guide you through every step of your system evaluation and selection. To help your organization find the ideal HR solution matching strategic growth plans, contact us and leverage our advisory services with our expert team.