10 Tools Every HR Must Know in 2023

Newsflash: Your HR team is no longer just a backend administrative department. In today's information-centered business landscape, talent is one of the most valuable resources. HR has become a frontline strategic function that will be facing a lot of industry-altering trends in 2023.

So just like any team that leverages technology to make their jobs easier, HR also needs to unify diverse tasks and processes onto one platform. Talent acquisition specialists are responsible for attracting, identifying, and hiring qualified candidates. On top of that, they also deal with processing payroll, tracking attendance, performance evaluations, and employee engagement. These are just a few of the things that fall under their jurisdiction, so having the right tools to streamline these operations would be a godsend. 

With that in mind, we assembled ten of the best HR management tools out there so you don’t have to.

How we picked our favorite HR tools

Of course, we didn’t just list any tool just because it’s new or popular. We spent a lot of time exploring countless programs on the market, looking at several criteria that HR folks will truly appreciate. 

Aside from the basic features and other pertinent information, we also looked at:

• Needs-specific features
• Unique perks and hidden gems
• Budget-friendliness and reasonable subscription structure

The next time you have to automate your processes or need a tool to implement your strategies faster,  you will be the one to say this by the time you finish reading this list.

1. Equip: Automated skill assessments to identify top candidates

​Equip is an assessment platform for HR teams that offers the quickest method of evaluating. It “equips” recruiters with the tools necessary to the best candidates from a large pool of applicants. 

What it offers

Right off the bat, Equip helps recruiters by being able to jump right from sourcing to preliminary screening. You can build a standardized process to reliably hire for a variety of roles. Each function requires a specific set of talents, and each competence requires a particular kind of test, which Equip readily offers with its vast so you can create assessments in a snap.

Just select the role you want to hire for to get a list of recommended skills to include in your test. Equip will provide you with questions across different skills and allow you to choose the level at which you want to test the skill.

Where it stands out

The best thing about Equip’s assessments is its anti-cheating feature. It was built by the same team that made AutoProctor ー a tool that monitors fraudulent activities in online assessments. That means no copy-pasting, no switching of tabs, no plagiarism, and no dodgy test environments.

Equip also offers other cool features such as but not limited to:

• Importing your existing content to create Custom Tests
• Automatically graded coding tests with plagiarism detection
• Async video interviews
• Excel skills test with Spreadsheet simulations
• Voice-based responses
  

Pricing

• 14-Day Free Trial with 25 credits (no credit card required)
• The lowest plan starts at $24/month for 1 admin account

2. TimeCamp: No-sweat time tracking and project management

​TimeCamp is a 100% free cloud-based time tracking solution that helps project managers to collaborate, track billable work hours and monitor project status. This system also enables creating invoices, time management, and tracking attendance.

What it offers

TimeCamp’s best asset is its timesheets module, which provides a dashboard of work hours and offers automated employee time tracking. This also allows the HR team to create different sub-tasks in projects and delegate each sub-task within the team. Bills can be created according to complexity, employees assigned, and working hours.

Do you need automated tracking of computer usage with productivity analyses for each employee? What about automated weekly emails summarizing work completed, time wasted, productive hours, and lists of time-consuming websites? If yes, then you’re going to love TimeCamp.

Where it stands out

Unlimited users for $0. Need we elaborate?

Pricing

• Free forever plan with unlimited users, limited features
• Lowest plan starts at $6.30 per user per month, with more reporting, tracking, and integration capabilities

3. Empuls: Holistic employee engagement platform to improve company culture

​Empuls uses feeds, groups, and chats to facilitate team collaboration and employee engagement. It also enables your teams to recognize and reward employees, to encourage retention and productivity through its various functionalities.

What it offers

Empuls boasts an array of features such as pulse surveys, anonymous feedback, rewards and recognition, gamification, chat/voice bot, document management, nomination workflows, and more.  It also supports integration with various third-party applications such as Salesforce, SAP, and Freshworks.

Where it stands out

What we like about Empuls is how it assists HR managers with automating the distribution of rewards, incentives, and e-gifts. This is useful in creating a fun culture of appreciation within the organization. With Empuls, managers can also create custom workgroups based on employee interests, allowing managers to group and manage tasks, files and even HR-related issues.

Pricing 

• 30-day Free Trial
• Lowest plan starts at $2 per employee per month
• Offers bulk pricing for custom requirements

4. Lever: Hire more in less time 

​Lever is a web-based applicant tracking system (ATS) and recruitment platform that helps HR teams streamline and manage their hiring process. The site offers automated workflows, advanced analytics, and onboarding tools and is used by more than 4,000 businesses.

What it offers

Lever stands out among its competitors as the only one that offers a complete applicant tracking system (ATS) and robust candidate relationship management (LeverCRM) platform all within the same solution.With advanced integrations, robust analytics, and a host of CRM tools, Lever is perfect for HR teams looking for a full-cycle recruitment solution. Equip's Lever integration also allows recruiters and their teams to automatically invite candidates to Equip assessments from Lever. 

Its cloud-based Talent Relationship Management (TRM) combines ATS and CRM capabilities so it’s easier for managers to source, nurture, and manage candidates all from one place.

Where it stands out

Lever is a visual spectacle when it comes to reports and analytics. With its Visual Insights feature, you’ll have comprehensive dashboards with predictive analytics to help you and your team easily track the progress of recruiting initiatives.

Pricing 

• Pricing model is based on two packages: LeverTRM and LevelTRM for Enterprise
• Request your demo and pricing information here: Lever Personalized Demo​

5. HROne: Intelligent automation for payroll, attendance, and performance management

As India’s first HRM software to offer a consumer-centric experience in the B2B space, HROne's focus is to bring simplified HR solutions to companies. This tool also provides actionable insights, which accelerate the decision-making process and also bring faster results. 

What it offers

HROne is designed to be scalable, making it convenient for both small startups and large enterprises. It includes capabilities for training management, performance appraisals, employee lifecycles, time, and attendance, as well as a dedicated inbox for HR tasks, which can be automatically assigned to users based on their role and has a similar interface to a regular email inbox. 

Where it stands out

HROne’s Human Capital Management (HCM) software facilitates HR teams in a unique way; they can implement the core modules already provided and add more as they grow, making HR tasks and processes more efficient and less tedious, while also enhancing the team’s interconnection and decision-making ability.

Pricing 

• Quotation-based pricing model. Request here: HROne Pricing​
• Base plan + add-ons + free mobile app

Can't get enough of discovering new HR Tech products? Check out HRTech Marketplace!

6. When I Work: Manage and track employee schedules in minutes

​When I Work is a cloud-based employee scheduling solution that helps HR teams track time and attendance, create and modify employee schedules, assign new jobs to the calendar, and manage timesheets.

What it offers

When I Work is a mobile marvel; it lets HR teams manage schedules and track time on mobile devices using native and browser-based apps. Employees can edit schedules and request shift changes using the app and both parties will get instant notifications. HR teams can also import employee data from spreadsheets or CSV files and also take advantage of group email services and custom texting capabilities to communicate with employees.

Where it stands out

Because it’s on mobile, When I Work shines best with its built-in online time clock app with GPS for accurate clocking in and clocking out across devices. That’s like turning any device into an employee time clock where you can track attendance, breaks, and time off.

Pricing 

• Free trial
• Standard plan starts at $2.50 per user per month

7. LearnWorlds: Meaningful and exciting learning experience for employees

​LearnWorlds is a powerful, straightforward, and reliable training solution for individuals and enterprises, but it’s a good match for HR teams, too! With its fully customizable, white-labeled solution to train employees and associates, it empowers organizations to create a unique and interactive learning experience.

What it offers

On the surface, it may seem like LearnWorlds is just a place for selling online courses, but with an in-depth look, you’ll see that it comes with a built-in social community, preloaded with beautiful templates, a Modular Pages Builder, an Assessment Engine, and even an Automated Certificates and Advanced Analytics for designing a holistic online learning experience.

Where it stands out

People gravitate towards learning that is compelling but also fun. That’s where LearnWorlds is best at — turning dull content into enjoyable courses with its rich library of learning activities and a super-customizable course player. It’s best for developing Learning & Development initiatives to keep your employees engaged and informed.

Pricing 

• 30-day Free Trial (no credit card required)
• Starter pack starts at $29 per month ($24 when billed annually)
• Higher tiers remove all transaction fees and add advanced features

8. Trakstar: Streamlined performance management solution for modern teams

​Trakstar is packed with all the vital features your HR team needs for performance appraisal software. It is designed to administer 360-degree feedback to your employees, colleagues, and managers. Despite its comprehensive set of features, the tool has a user-friendly interface that HR professionals and managers from other departments will love.

What it offers

Featured in Trakstar’s main modules are performance reviews, 360-degree feedback, goal setting, and succession planning. The program offers real-time multi-rater feedback and optional peer-to-peer communication to create year-round journals of employee performance. Its workflows and forms can be customized to fit your HR team's needs. It even has automated email reminders to ensure that action plans are implemented on time. 

Where it stands out

Trakstar’s coolest feature is called Insights, a dashboard analytics tool built right into Trakstar products. This function provides various data and analytics related to human capital, learning, and people management, including visualizations, graphs, and other information about the workforce. 

Pricing 

• Quotation-based pricing. Request yours here: Trakstar Pricing​

9. heyy: A go-to support system for every employee

​heyy has been steadily building its reputation as one of the leading employee growth and wellness platform in Asia. It helps teams create a desirable workplace by giving employees the mental health support that they need.

What it offers

When using the app, employees get access to Helpers — a go-to support system composed of trained psychologists (with a PhD or a Master’s degree) that they can talk to anytime and anywhere. Helpers follow a conversation-first and listening-led approach which make them highly accessible and effective in giving employees world-class mental healthcare and support. The app is chat-based and is available around the clock.

Where it stands out

The power of heyy lies in its accessibility — employees can easily book sessions via the app, and sessions are available 7 days a week, even on evenings. They also get access to Lifebouys, which are designed to help them cope with any professional or personal challenges that they may be facing. heyy is also a sleep app which offers sleep sounds, sleep stories, and more.

Pricing

• The app is free (iOs and Android) but with in-app purchases for Expert Services
• Request a demo here: heyy App Demo​

10. ProofHub: Projects and team collaboration under one roof

​ProofHub provides applications for HR project management, collaboration, resource management, task management, and more. It boasts an easy-to-understand system with little to no learning curve required. It can, however, replace 6-7 apps that all charge per user with one project planning software.

What it offers

ProofHub's key features include discussions, notes, Gantt charts, to-do lists, calendaring, milestones, and timesheets. Its reporting engine helps project managers to generate custom reports and manage their resource utilization. The app includes both group and one-on-one chat features with a built-in proofing tool.

ProofHub also has an API feature and supports integration with Google Docs and Dropbox. It can deliver content over HTTPS using custom domain names and certificates.

Where it stands out

One excellent feature is Custom Roles, which gives managers the power to allocate roles and decide who can view certain information and who can work on a specific project based on their roles.  The Project Manager feature also allows managers to assign tasks to specific employees which then also automatically sends important updates and notifications.

Pricing

• Flat pricing. No per-user fee.
• The lowest plan starts at $50 per month ($45 when billed annually), which includes 50 projects and 15 GB of storage

The endless possibilities of a technology-driven HR 

As HR continues to involve the integration of a wide range of tools and technologies to streamline processes, improve efficiency, and enhance the employee experience, it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest resources available to help you to not only source talent efficiently and effectively manage your team but also cultivate a positive work environment. Whether you’re looking for a running start in finally embracing technology with open arms or just trying to collect supplemental knowledge in leveraging what the market is offering, we hope these tools give you the boost you need in your HR initiatives.