Updated: Mar 18, 2024, 8:22pm
Talent management software can help you attract, hire and develop your company’s most important assets: your employees. As long as you choose the right product, you’ll be able to streamline your human resource (HR) functions and achieve a productive, high-performing workforce. To help you choose the right solution for your business, Forbes Advisor analyzed 26 of the leading providers in the space across 34 metrics to find the best talent management software for small businesses.
The Best Talent Management Software of 2024
- Paycor: Best for industry-specific needs
- Rippling: Best for ease of use
- Workday: Best for diversity and inclusion (D&I)
- Zenefits: Best for benefits administration
- monday.com: Best for customization
- BambooHR: Best for performance management
- UKG Pro: Best for people analytics
- Freshteam: Best for recruitment Automation
- ADP Workforce Now: Best for workforce planning
- 15Five: Best for employee engagement
Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business
The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.
Our ratings take into account factors such as transparent pricing, employee self-sufficiency, compatibility with third-party integrations, access to customer support and customer ratings. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Forbes Advisor Ratings
Company | Forbes Advisor Rating | Starting price | Free Trial | Standout Features | LEARN MORE | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Paycor | 5.0 | Must contact for pricing | 14 days | One-on-one conversation feature, predictive analytics for resignations | Learn More | On Paycor's Website | |||
Rippling | 4.8 | $4 per user, per month | 14 days | Custom reporting, 90-second onboarding, pre-made courses | Learn More | On Rippling's Website | |||
Workday | 4.7 | Must contact for pricing | No | Value inclusion belonging score, manager dashboards, career development planning | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
Zenefits | 4.6 | $8 per month, per employee | 14 days | Health insurance marketplace, compensation management, people analytics | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
monday.com HR | 4.5 | Free; $8 per user, per month (three-user minimum) | 14 days | Highly versatile with 200-plus customizable templates | View More | ||||
BambooHR | 4.4 | Contact for pricing | Yes, seven days | Goal setting and tracking, 360-degree feedback, performance assessments | Learn More | On BambooHR's Website | |||
UKG Pro | 4.3 | Contact for pricing | No | People analytics, compensation management, benefits administration | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
Freshteam | 4.3 | $1 per employee, per month (billed annually) | 21 days | Applicant tracking system, auto résumé screening, 100-plus job description templates | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review | |||
ADP Workforce Now | 4.3 | Must contact for pricing | No | Robust workforce reporting, recruitment management, onboarding management | Learn More | On ADP's Website | |||
15Five | 4.2 | $4 per user, per month (billed annually) | 14 days | Engagement surveys, one-on-one performance reviews, high fives | Learn More | Read Forbes' Review |
What Is Talent Management Software?
Talent management software is intended to help employers attract, hire, develop and retain employees. It simplifies various aspects of human resources, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, professional development, compensation and benefits management, and succession planning.
Most talent management software can automate and streamline different processes, saving businesses with both in-person and remote workforces time and money. It usually includes specialized modules that each support a unique function. Some solutions come with a variety of modules while others only focus on a few.
Benefits of Talent Management Software
The most noteworthy benefits of talent management software, include:
- Smarter hiring decisions: You’ll have the resources you need to attract and retain the right types of employees. Most solutions let you post job descriptions, schedule interviews, score candidates and more.
- Simplified onboarding: A manual onboarding process can cost you a lot of time and hassle. You can eliminate this issue with software that automates many onboarding tasks.
- Improved training: The key to employee success is a thoughtful training program. Talent management software can help you train your employees and monitor their progress so they can advance in their careers.
- Competitive edge: In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, it’s important to keep your workforce happy and stand out from your competitors. Through talent management software, you can strengthen your organization and do just that.
Talent management software can be used in a number of ways, providing a number of various benefits. Many businesses also choose an HR software system that includes talent management to further centralize and streamline their HR processes and functions. Learn more about the best HR software.
How To Choose Talent Management Software
There are many options for talent management software. To choose the ideal one for your company, you must ascertain your priorities. Maybe you hope to simplify the recruitment and onboarding process. Or perhaps your focus is employee performance and recognition. Once you hone in on exactly what you’re looking for, search for options that meet your needs.
If you find a few that pique your interest, check out reviews from existing customers and consider pricing. Ideally, you’d go with an affordable option that checks off all your boxes and doesn’t include any extra fees or surprise charges. Before you commit to a talent management software, meet with your team to get their feedback and approval.
Essential Features
Some of the key features you should look for as you shop for talent management software include:
- Recruiting: With the recruiting feature, you can post jobs on popular job boards, identify strong candidates, distribute offer letters and more.
- Onboarding: Onboarding makes it easier for new hires to fill out employment forms and sign documents digitally.
- Performance management: Performance management is ideal if you’d like to provide ongoing feedback to your employees and improve their performance with ease.
- Compensation management: Compensation management can allow you to oversee employee pay and make adjustments for promotions, commissions, stocks and bonuses.
- Benefits management: If you offer benefits, such as health insurance and 401(k) retirement plans, the benefits management feature may come in handy for you and your employees.
- Reporting and analytics: The reporting and analytics feature typically combines data from different modules to create custom reports you can use to make smart decisions.
Pricing
The cost of talent management software varies and depends on the number and types of features included. In most cases, however, you’ll pay a flat rate per month and per user. This may be anywhere from $4 per user, per month, to $8 per user, per month.
Sometimes, you’ll be able to get away with a free plan, especially if your business is fairly new and you don’t need many features. You’ll find that some platforms are transparent about their pricing and make it easily accessible on their websites while others require you to contact them directly for a custom quote.
Methodology
When assessing the best talent management software, our team evaluated 26 of the leading talent management providers across 34 metrics to score and rank the overall best. We looked for reputable solutions that offer a comprehensive suite of features for common human resource functions, including recruitment, onboarding and performance management.
Here are the primary categories that we used to determine the best talent management software:
Pricing – 10%
Affordability matters to small businesses, so we reviewed pricing and plans. In addition to the cost of each plan, we also considered the availability of free trials, contract lengths, long-term discounts, and money-back guarantees.
Key Features – 30%
There are certain features every talent management software system should have to provide the best solution to businesses. For example, the inclusion of applicant tracking, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, e-signatures and e-verify, learning management tools, employee reviews and feedback, org charts and peer reviews.
Extras and Inclusions – 20%
On top of the key features, many of the leading talent management solutions offer unique features that some businesses will find very useful. For example, we looked at whether each provider offers shift scheduling, PTO tracking, tax tools, software integrations, custom branding, engagement tools and live customer support.
Ratings and Reviews – 10%
To get a better sense of how users feel about the providers, we look at ratings and user reviews. This gave consideration to each provider’s rating, as well as the number of reviews that each provider had.
Expert Score – 30%
First-hand experience makes all the difference when it comes to determining the best talent management software. So we included our own expertise with consideration to factors such as ease of use, value for price, and the quality of the features.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What does talent management software do?
Talent management software automates and simplifies the various aspects of talent management. These include recruitment, onboarding, performance management, compensation management, benefits management and succession planning.
How does talent management software work?
Talent management software usually consists of various modules that each focus on a different aspect of talent management. You may take full advantage of every module or only use the ones that apply to and support your business.
How much does talent management software cost?
Pricing for talent management software varies but is usually between $4 per user, per month, to $8 per user, per month, or more. Some solutions are transparent about their fees while others require you to reach out for a custom quote.
Who is talent management software for?
Talent management software is for business owners and HR departments. It can also be used by anyone involved in recruiting, onboarding, performance management and offboarding.