Unlocking the Potential: How Cloud-Based HCM Solutions Drive Growth in SMBs

Many SMBs are eager to adopt HCM tools. Several factors contribute to this phenomenon, including advancing technology and savvy HR professionals hungry for it.

Cloud HCM solutions offer several benefits over their traditional on-premise counterparts. These include a secure, scalable deployment model, automatic updates, and reduced maintenance costs.

Streamlined HR Processes

To achieve business goals and increase ROI, HR departments must be able to streamline their processes. However, this cannot be easy if their software is not scalable or flexible. This is why more and more businesses are opting for cloud HCM solutions that can help them improve their overall productivity by allowing them to automate tasks, streamline data entry, and provide a single source of truth.

HCM cloud tools are no longer just for back-office payroll and HR professionals, as they can also serve employees by offering them digital tools for time tracking, leave management, expense reporting, and shift scheduling. These tools can make HR work more efficient and effective for everyone involved.

Moreover, these systems allow HR teams to access employee information from any device without manual input. This can significantly reduce the time HR spends on routine employee requests and free up their resources to focus on more strategic projects.

Additionally, with HCM cloud tools, organizations can save on maintenance costs as these platforms eliminate the need for costly on-premise hardware and IT staff. Furthermore, because these systems are hosted in a vendor’s data centers, they can be updated automatically, eliminating the need for IT to invest their resources and time in upgrading the system.

Increased Employee Engagement

Few things are more crucial to a company’s success than effective employee engagement. An excellent employee experience can increase employee productivity by up to 31%. That’s why providing employees with tools that help them feel valued and motivated is essential. Fortunately, cloud technology and automation breakthroughs can deliver engaging employee experiences and boost payroll and HR process efficiencies.

One of the best ways to boost employee engagement is to provide them with access to their data through a cloud-based HCM solution. By allowing employees to manage their information on their mobile devices, you can free HR staff from time-consuming administrative tasks such as facilitating benefits enrollment and time off requests. Connecting to an HCM solution in a matter of minutes is made possible by an employment data API like Finch. Their pre-built HCM solution integration helps you save time, money, and endless engineering sprints.

In addition, with a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model, cloud-based HCM solutions are more affordable for small businesses. Unlike on-premises software, which requires the purchase of hardware and an in-house IT support team, SaaS solutions reduce IT costs, lower hardware maintenance requirements, and accelerate deployment and upgrades.

Increased Employee Satisfaction

One of the critical challenges faced by HR departments is employee engagement. A survey by Gallup revealed that only 85% of employees are engaged at work, leading to an alarming 40% considering quitting their jobs in the wake of what’s been called the “Great Resignation.” The good news is that effective HCM solutions can help close the gap by making sure employee data is up-to-date and accurate, which can boost employee morale.

Another way to increase employee satisfaction is by giving them a single, unified repository where all their information can be stored. This can eliminate errors because the data is always available and easily accessible. In addition, cloud HCM systems are generally designed to offer a more user-friendly experience than on-premise systems.

Lastly, cloud solutions are typically built with security in mind. They are built-in secure data centers with multiple backups and fail-safes, ensuring that data is protected against cyber threats and natural calamities like earthquakes.

A cloud HCM solution can significantly reduce an organization’s upfront costs and maintenance expenses while increasing scalability and agility. However, it’s essential to choose a vendor that can provide the capabilities an organization needs today while also providing for its growth in the future. For example, a cloud HCM solution should be able to integrate with other business systems and APIs to enhance interoperability.

Increased Employee Productivity

The right HCM solution can provide a framework for utilizing employee data to improve business processes and empower leadership with accurate and meaningful analysis. By eliminating technology siloes, cloud solutions can offer a unified repository for HR information, reduce human error on critical recordkeeping and management activities, deliver key analytics to employees and leaders, and support workforce trends for informed decision-making.

HCM software provides a platform that allows businesses to streamline and automate many HR procedures, including payroll, hiring, performance management, benefits administration, training, and recruiting. These solutions enable organizations to gain efficiencies in all business areas, increase employee satisfaction and retention, and improve overall productivity.

One of the best ways to maximize the benefit of an HCM system is to select a provider with a proven track record of successful implementations using the cloud and software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery models. This approach accelerates deployment, converts capital expenses into fixed and transparent operating costs, lowers IT costs, and increases agility.

With SaaS, the client’s software interface and data are stored at the vendor’s data centers rather than on the organization’s servers. This reduces upfront capital investment costs, eliminates recurring hardware costs, and makes it much easier to scale the system as the business grows.