Best Workforce Management Software

Manually running payroll can take a long time and a lot of math. Zenefits speeds things up by automating as many payroll features as possible. For example, if you use Zenefits for scheduling and time off, it will automatically calculate time worked and time off (used and accumulated), so you don’t have to manually calculate paychecks. Likewise, it can automatically take care of benefits and tax deductions.

Plus, Zenefits can handle special payroll situations. If you have a new hire, say, Zenefits can automatically prorate their first paycheck based on their start date. Or if you have an employee with wage garnishments, Zenefits can take care of calculating and remitting those for you.

Now, all these great features don’t come standard with Zenefits’s HR-focused plans. In most cases, you’ll have to pay extra to get them (though it sometimes runs time-limited promotions for free payroll). Still, Zenefits has fast, painless payroll worth paying for.

Paychex gives you all the data you need to effectively manage your workforce. It lets you create reports for all kinds of things. You can see how much benefits are costing you, track how much overtime has affected your payroll, keep tabs on your employee turnover, and more. If there’s something you want to analyze, there’s a good chance Paychex lets you do it.

In fact, Paychex comes with plenty of standard reports (around 160) that you can use to quickly analyze your data. But if you want something specific, it also gives you all the tools you need to filter and customize your reports―meaning you can focus on what matters.

Paychex offers way more than just reporting though. It’s also got payroll, time tracking, tax help, and more. With so many features, Paychex does have higher plan costs than many other workforce management software. But if you want powerful analysis that can guide your workforce management, Paychex has what it takes.

Restaurants work differently than other kinds of businesses. 7shifts knows that just as well as you do, so it comes with all the tools restaurants need to manage their unique workforce―and none of the tools they don’t.

Take its task lists. 7shifts lets you set up custom task lists for specific shifts and specific workers. Whenever someone clocks in for a shift, 7shifts will show them their assigned tasks. You’ll be able to make sure your openers always remember to count the cash drawer and that your closers always remember to turn off the oven. Need another example? As a restaurant-specific software, 7shifts charges by the location―not by the employee.

Of course, because it was designed for restaurants specifically, 7shifts won’t work well for most other businesses. It’s a niche product that way. But if you’ve got a restaurant to run, 7shifts offers the best software for managing your staff.

If you’ve ever been concerned about your return on investment for your employees, you’ll like DeskTime’s project tracking features. DeskTime gives you the ability to track time for both specific projects and employees. You’ll be able to spot, for example, if someone is taking a surprisingly long time on something and slowing a project down, and you’ll be able to tell when someone isn’t spending their time on the right tasks.

DeskTime can even translate your time tracking into costs. Its cost tracking tool will use employee salary information and time tracking to calculate how much a project is costing you. With any luck, you’ll see that your employees are worth their weight in gold. And if not, you’ll have the numbers you need to make an informed decision about how to proceed.

Keep in mind that DeskTime doesn’t allow you to customize your time tracking units―you’re stuck using hours, which may not give you the granularity you want. But that’s a small limitation, and DeskTime’s time and cost tracking still offer information that can help you get the results and profits you expect.

Workforce management software often deals with hard numbers, from timesheets to payroll to cost tracking. And all of that matters, for sure, but managing your employees can’t always be so easily quantified. That’s why BambooHR also offers tools to help with employee evaluations and growth plans―things that software can’t automatically track.

For assessing employees, for example, BambooHR provides simple tools that allow managers and peers to provide feedback for employees. They’ll answer a handful of focused questions, which ensures that your employees get manageable, specific feedback. And to help employees act on feedback, BambooHR has tools to let employees and managers set goals together and then track those goals over time.

Take note that you’ll have to speak with a rep to get pricing information for BambooHR. Once you do, though, you’ll be on your way to getting all the tools you need to manage employee feedback and goals.

A big part of managing your workforce comes down to managing when they do and don’t work―and that’s what CakeHR excels at. It has features for both employees and managers to make scheduling easier.

Employees can use CakeHR to track vacation days and to indicate their preferred schedules. That lets managers take vacation days and other preferences into account as they schedule. The actual scheduling process is dead simple too. CakeHR has a drag and drop schedule creator, so you won’t have to deal with fussy spreadsheets or anything.

Keep in mind that CakeHR doesn’t offer all the features that other workforce management software does. It helps with employee records and other HR basics, but it doesn’t have any payroll or benefits tools. If you don’t need those, though, CakeHR will make your schedule management a cinch.

Want to manage your staff’s productivity? Then you’ll probably like Hubstaff. It allows you to track everyone’s time and their activity (including keystrokes and screenshots). That way, you’ll always know that your employees are spending their time on the right work.

Hubstaff also has GPS features, so you can be sure that your staff works from the right location. You can even make it so employees can sign in only from specific places or devices. You’ll never have to worry about anyone clocking in from their commute or the wrong job site.

You should know that Hubstaff doesn’t offer much in the way of customizability. Features like screenshotting and idle time detection require you to choose from just a few time intervals, for example. Even if you can’t tweak those things, though, Hubstaff will give you plenty of information on your workforce's time use and productivity.

Different software focuses on different areas of workforce management, but you’ll commonly see tools and features like these:

Some workforce management software will include many of these features, while others have a much narrower scope.

Workforce management software usually has a per-user or per-employee cost, so your price will depend on the size of your staff.

Some workforce management software offers a free plan, usually for just one or two people. In most cases, though, you’ll have to pay to get the most useful features. You can find plans that start under $10 per employee.

Top-tier plans will cost you more―often $20 or more per user.

Workforce management software covers a lot of territory, from payroll to scheduling to employee feedback. So the first thing you’ll want to do when choosing workforce management software is to decide what features you need. After all, you won’t want basic time tracking software if you really care about benefits administration.

Of course, you’ll also need to find software that works with your budget. Most workforce management software offer several different plans, so you’ll choose both between brands and between specific plans to find one you can afford.

Whether you’re scheduling employees, clients, or your own day, these scheduling softwares can help.