Managing your workforce is no simple task. Creating both a positive employee experience and patient experience requires a great deal of time and attention. Investing in a human capital management (HCM) system will help you automate and streamline many of your HR functions. With an HCM system, you can spend less time on administrative HR tasks and more time on the more people-centric HR functions.
It can be challenging to sort through all of your options to find the top human capital management software to meet your organization’s needs. Fortunately, there are solutions available that cater specifically to the behavioral health and human services field, with features designed for the unique objectives and needs within these industries. Here’s what you need to know about HCM systems and how to find the best option for your organization.
What Is HCM Software and How Can It Help?
HCM software is an HR software solution designed to help you keep track of your essential human capital management functions, including payroll, recruiting, time tracking, and performance management. HCM software incorporates many of the features and functionalities of other standalone HR software, including applicant tracking systems, human resources information systems (HRIS), attendance tools, and benefits management platforms. By combining these tools and more into a unified software solution, HCM systems are able to deliver an all-in-one HR platform that simplifies HR management.
Having one centralized HR software that you can use to support HR functions throughout the entire employee lifecycle means a better experience for employees, managers, and your HR department. Nobody enjoys having to constantly switch between different systems to piece together all of the information they need. And it becomes problematic when different systems have conflicting data to reconcile.
Features of the Top Human Capital Management Software
When evaluating your top human capital management software options, it’s important to consider what features you will need. Here are some of the most useful HCM software features to look for:
Employee Data Storage
Your HCM system can act as your electronic employee records where you store employee contact and licensing information, new hire paperwork, employee performance documentation, and more. Most HCM systems offer human resource information system (HRIS) functionality to keep track of employee data, but it’s always good to check if their features match your workflows. For example, behavioral health organizations need to track credentials and licenses, which isn’t necessarily a core HR function for most businesses. Not all HR platforms will be well-suited for that task.
Payroll Processing
Processing payroll accurately and on time is important. Proper payroll management is essential for employee satisfaction — and legal compliance. A good HCM system can provide tools to accurately and efficiently run payroll, even if your organization has complex pay codes, shift differentials, and other added factors to manage.
Recruiting Tools
Talent acquisition is becoming incredibly competitive across all industries due to the Great Resignation. However, the behavioral health field currently faces increased demand for services while also dealing with staffing issues. That’s why it’s a good idea to look for an HR solution that includes recruiting tools. An HCM system that includes an applicant tracking system can help you organize the recruiting process and find top talent.
Time Tracking
Keeping an accurate log of employees’ time helps you manage labor costs and address any attendance issues in real time. When choosing HCM software, be sure to check out their mobile app if you will be using the time tracking features. Since many behavioral health and human services staff work off-site, either engaging in telehealth from home or doing site visits at various locations, you may need a system that enables your team to clock in or out from their mobile device while still maintaining regulatory compliance.
Position Control
Position Control is a valuable tool for workforce planning, succession planning, and managing labor costs. With Position Control, administrators can view workforce data by position rather than by individual employees to get a clearer view of the labor budget, hiring needs, and organizational structure. Position Control can also be used to track incurred labor costs against projected costs to closely identify where you may be going over budget or where you may be understaffed and have room in the budget to hire.
In behavioral health, like many health care fields, it is common for staff to work overtime due to emergencies or staffing issues, and this can lead to your labor costs far surpassing your allocated budget. Not all HCM software solutions include Position Control, but it is a beneficial feature for behavioral health organizations due to the increased staffing challenges and budgetary constraints in this field.
Benefits Administration
Streamlining your benefits management processes by bringing them together in a unified platform is beneficial as well. Health insurance, 401(k)s and other retirement plans, vision and dental, and more can all be managed within a single platform to reduce redundancies and unnecessary data entry. It also helps if the HCM system features a self-service option for employees to review, select, and change their benefits enrollments.
Talent Management
It’s also best to manage your employees’ learning and development objectives, performance reviews, and more in a central location. Even small businesses with tiny HR departments shouldn’t overlook performance management.
There is a direct link between performance management and employee engagement, retention, and better patient safety outcomes. A study by Gallup found that ongoing conversations around career development and performance were driving factors behind employee engagement at the organizations surveyed. They also found that high levels of employee engagement led to an 81% reduction in absenteeism, an 18% decrease in turnover at high turnover organizations, and a 58% decrease in patient safety incidents. These are excellent outcomes to strive for, particularly for behavioral health providers, as it is traditionally a field with very high turnover.
Business Intelligence
Most HCM systems include some form of reporting and analytics functionality. Robust business intelligence reporting tools can give you an in-depth look at what is happening in your workforce to aid in decision-making, workforce planning, and more. Top human capital management software options will also offer customized reporting tools that enable you to quickly access the exact information you want.
How to Choose the Best HCM Software Solution
Finding the top human capital management software can seem like an overwhelming task. There are a ton of software vendors offering different HCM system suites and myriad HR tools. However, not all of the human capital management software solutions on the market will have what you need. In addition to the above features, here are three other aspects to think about when looking for the best HCM platform for your organization:
1. Consider the User Experience
Many of the top human capital management software solutions also include employee self-service options so that staff can log in to track their time, input PTO requests, review goals, and more. As such, you’ll want to choose a solution that is user-friendly both for your HR team and your staff.
The behavioral health field tends to be a bit behind other health care specialties when it comes to adopting new technologies. Staff resistance can be a factor, so you want to make sure that you choose a human capital management solution with an intuitive user interface and a low learning curve.
2. Ask About Customer Service
A top human capital management software solution can help you better support your employees, but the HR department and leadership team may also need some support in getting the platform up and running. Don’t forget to inquire about what the onboarding and implementation process will look like. You’ll want to know that there will be a team there to support your team throughout the process to ensure that the transition to your new human resources management system is smooth. You’ll also want to know that customer service will be available on an ongoing basis to help with future troubleshooting, training, and related support.
3. Find HCM Solutions Tailored to Your Industry
Look for an HCM platform designed for behavioral health and human services companies. Many of the top human capital management software options may not be a good fit for your organization because they aren't designed to fit your unique needs. Behavioral health and human services organizations have different goals than most businesses, as they are typically focused more heavily on patient outcomes and less on generating high profits.
The top traditional HCM solutions often have well-designed systems, but the system design and features may not translate well into the behavioral health field.
The Top Human Capital Management Software for Behavioral Health Providers
Investing in HCM software can help you optimize your HR management workflows and centralize all of your HR functions to save time while better serving your employees. If you’re looking for the top human capital management software solution for your behavioral health organization, ContinuumCloud is right for you.
ContinuumCloud’s HCM platform is the only solution that focuses solely on the behavioral health and human services industry. Our solution best meets the needs of the behavioral health industry because these organizations have complex operations and function very differently from typical profit-focused companies. Therefore, more generalized solutions are unlikely to meet your unique needs. ContinuumCloud also offers unparalleled support — our support team understands your industry and your needs, so we can provide better service.
Contact us today to learn how ContinuumCloud’s HCM software can help you streamline your organization’s HR processes and workforce management.
