7 HR problems your spreadsheet can’t solve by citrus HR

The spreadsheet – a great place to create and analyse data, right? Right. So there’s no harm in using it for managing your HR, right? Well, not quite. We know that it can be an easy way to manage holiday requests and employee information when you’re just starting out. Lots of businesses do this and there’s nothing wrong with it. The problems can start to occur as your business grows and you take on more staff. Here are 7 HR problems your spreadsheet can’t solve, and 7 ways good HR software can help.

1. No privacy

Problem: An employee has requested to see some information about themself, but your password protected spreadsheet is filled with lots of other sensitive data.

Solution: Any good HR software will let you set up different access levels as well as two factor authentication. This means you can have peace of mind that your data is kept safe and you are GDPR compliant.

2. Mistakes are easily made

Problem: Your holiday spreadsheet has been edited by multiple team members and now you’ve got too many employees off on the same day.

Solution: Your HR software notifies you when a team member requests holiday and tells you which other team members are off on that day. With our software you’ll also be able to choose which of your people can approve holiday requests.

3. Spreadsheets can be inconsistent

Problem: You’ve got a new HR manager but they can’t make sense of the previous spreadsheet. They then have to spend the next couple days either updating it or creating a new one.

Solution: The point of HR software is that it allows you to be consistent. We recommend using software that is intuitive and easy-to-use. Have a look at what our customers say about ours here.

4. Not scalable

Problem: Your business has grown from one employee to ten and you can’t keep track of all your different spreadsheets. Some spreadsheets have been saved under multiple different names and you don’t know which is the most up to date.

Solution: Good HR software is, of course, scalable. Our software has been designed for small businesses like yours. Everything is cloud-based and simple to find, you can click on an employee’s file and get the exact information you’re looking for in seconds.

5. Employees can’t find their own answers

Problem: A team member asks you how much holiday they have left. You’re not sure if all the holiday spreadsheet is up to date, or who has the latest copy.

Solution: You’ll find one of the biggest benefits of HR software is self-service – this means that your people will be able to check and request their own holiday (as well as other key information) through the software. What this means for you is far fewer HR-related questions taking up your precious time.

6. You can’t do anything with the data you have

Problem: You want a quick breakdown of staff absences for the last three months, but there’s too much data to sift through.

Solution: You’ll be able to make the most of your data when you use HR software. citrus HR’s snapshot report shows your everything from your staff turnover to the amount of sick days that have been taken in the last year.

7. You don’t have the time to make sure your information is up to date

Problem: You’ve been using a spreadsheet for HR tasks since your company started, but now you just don’t have the time to get to it and your records are getting out of date.

Solution: We understand that putting a new system in place can seem daunting, which is why we take you through the simple process of getting your company set up on our software. Once you’re set up you’ll be shocked by just how much time you are saving each month and how you ever made do without HR software.

We know that every business is different and therefore has a different set of needs. Using spreadsheets can be a great starting place when you’ve got a very low number of employees as they are low-cost and are something that most people are used to using. We get it. But in order to help your business continue to grow, it needs to work as efficiently as possible, and HR software is something that can help you scale, and help you remain legally compliant.

It’s important for you to decided whether HR software is right for your business. To help you decide you can:

• Book a demo

• Schedule a free trial

• Get in touch with us

Then, it’s up to you whether you want to retire that spreadsheet.