The best human resource analytics software

One of the biggest challenges for today’s HR teams is having to do more with less.

According to a recent Gartner report, 83% of HR leaders said they’re expected to do more now compared to three years ago—including 64% who say they don’t have the time or resources they need to meet critical challenges, according to UpCounsel. 

HR analytics software enables HR departments and managers to efficiently track employee data, streamline HR processes, and make data-driven decisions that enhance their workforce management and productivity. With so many HR professionals saying they’re strapped for time and resources, HR analytics software could be exactly what they need to get out from under the crush of administrative work that’s holding many of them back.

In this article, we’ll delve into some of the best HR analytics software solutions available today, exploring their key features, benefits, drawbacks, and other important considerations to help you choose the right software for your organization. Whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise, finding the right HR analytics tool can help you turn your HR team into a strategic part of your business that propels you toward your long-term goals. Let’s dive in.

What is HR analytics software?

HR analytics software is a type of tool designed to help organizations collect, analyze, and interpret people analytics data, or data related to their human resources.

By leveraging this type of software, companies can gain valuable insights into different aspects of their business, from recruitment and retention to employee performance, satisfaction, engagement, and overall HR processes. These insights empower HR professionals (as well as other stakeholders in their companies) to make data-driven decisions, streamline operations, and ultimately, enhance workforce management.

HR analytics software doesn’t just collect data—it transforms raw data into meaningful information, allowing businesses to identify trends, address issues proactively, and optimize their HR strategies to become more efficient and productive.

The 9 best HR analytics software

Choosing the right HR analytics software provides your organization with the tools to make informed decisions and optimize your workforce. There are a lot of options out there, from tools purely for data analysis and visualization (like Tableau and Databox) to HR dashboards (like Visier, ChartHop, or IntelliHR). But in the list below, we’ll focus on nine of the more robust platforms available today, many of which offer HR analytics as part of a suite of workforce management tools, making them valuable assets for HR departments looking to level up.

1. Rippling

Rippling powers advanced HR analytics with employee data, empowering HR teams and other stakeholders to make better decisions across the entire organization. The result? Unified data that’s easy to securely share with the right people at the right times so they can run in-depth analyses—no coding required.

Rippling isn’t just an HR analytics platform—it unifies data across all its tools and applications—from Payroll to Time & Attendance to Recruiting, Performance Management, Benefits Administration, and more (even third-party apps). That means with Rippling, you can pull data from anywhere just by pointing and clicking.

Use one of 150+ fully customizable reporting templates, or build your own from scratch. With no-code custom report building, you can add any variables from Rippling and third-party applications, calculate and combine multiple pieces of data, and see your data the exact way you want to by filtering it in many different ways—all without writing a single line of code.

Rippling also uses role-based permissions, which allow you to give every employee in your organization access to a report builder. Anyone can proactively run reports on any data within their scope and access—which you can set based on attributes like their department, role, and reporting line. They can share reports with others within your organization, but the reports will only show everyone the data they’re allowed to see—no one can ever share or see data they shouldn’t.

Finally, Rippling has built-in workflow automations that help you streamline manual work, like scheduling shared reports. Simply set a workflow to repeat on schedule and choose "Send a report" as your workflow action and it’ll happen automatically—the right person will get the report at the right time, every time.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• HR metrics library
• Trend analysis
• Full suite of other HR tools
• Custom, no-code report building
• Fully customizable report templates
• Automated workflows

2. Gusto

Gusto is a cloud-based HR platform that offers simple payroll and other tools, mostly geared toward startups and small businesses. It’s well-known for being intuitive and easy to use, despite the fact that initially setting up a Gusto account and onboarding your employees is a manual process that requires you to input each employee’s information one-by-one—a tedious, time-consumer undertaking that can also be prone to human error.

Gusto does offer some reporting capabilities within its tool suite, but they’re limited compared to other products on the market. For example, Gusto only offers 32 pre-built reports (an additional five are available to certain users). When building custom reports, Gusto only offers six data variables, no Excel functionality (like pivot tables or formulas), and a handful of ways to filter your data. And since Gusto is only HR software, your data isn’t integrated. That means you can only report on the HR data that lives within Gusto—not IT, finance, or any other data across other apps or systems.

Key features:

• Trend analysis
• Other HR tools, like payrolls and benefits administration
• Limited custom reports
• Limited out-of-the-box reports

3. Workday HCM

Workday HCM offers an AI-driven human capital management platform for managing payroll, compensation, time tracking, scheduling, benefits, and more. 

Workday offers analytics and reporting capabilities to help HR teams and other stakeholders make workforce decisions. But despite marketing itself as an all-in-one solution, in order to get many of the features you’d need for truly powerful reporting and data analysis with this platform, you’d need to purchase add-ons. For example, automation requires the Workday People Analytics add-on, and integrating data across apps or pulling it in from external sources requires the Workday Prism Analytics add-on.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• Trend analysis
• Comprehensive suite of other HR tools, though some require purchasing add-on software
• Customizable report templates

4. BambooHR

BambooHR is a human resources management platform (HRIS) that offers an all-in-one HR system to combine hiring, onboarding, payroll, benefits, employee experience, and HR analytics—all without siloes. That’s a pretty appealing claim, and many reviewers love that BambooHR is intuitive and easy to use, especially for small businesses. It also offers a convenient mobile app, where users can access all of its HR features—including HR analytics—in one place.

BambooHR just isn’t as comprehensive as some other analytics solutions, however. It doesn’t offer as many pre-built reports and templates as some of the other options on the market, for example (BambooHR offers 47 compared to Rippling’s 150+). And while BambooHR allows for HR data analysis from its own platform, it doesn’t unify other data sources.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• Trend analysis
• Full suite of other HR tools
• Custom report building
• Some out-of-the-box reports

5. Paycor

Paycor, a legacy HCM, advertises an all-in-one HR system for businesses of all sizes and industries. According to its website, that includes HR analytics software that provides real-time data, industry benchmarking, and other features to help drive actionable insights and data-based decision-making for your organization.

Paycor was founded in 1990, and over time, has pieced together all the different parts of its HCM platform—from its HRIS to its workforce planning tools, performance management features, and people analytics software—through multiple acquisitions. This has ultimately resulted in a disconnected system that impacts everything from employee experience to reporting—and slows you and your team down.

Paycor’s disconnected modules make it difficult to use and configure. One of the biggest impacts is a lack of reporting capabilities—for example, you can’t pull data across all of its modules (there’s no way to pull in data from the performance management or ATS modules at all). You also can’t preview reports or schedule them to be sent to other members of your team.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• Trend analysis
• Full suite of HR tools

6. TriNet HR (formerly Zenefits)

TriNet HR (formerly Zenefits) is an HR, payroll, and benefits platform geared toward small to mid-sized businesses. It offers three straightforward tiers of membership at affordable prices—they start at just $8 per employee per month.

TriNet HR advertises itself as an all-in-one HR solution. But a closer look at the different membership levels reveals that TriNet HR is more limited than many other all-in-ones on the market. For example, payroll—typically a staple part of an HR platform—is only included in the most expensive tier. TriNet doesn’t offer device, app, or expense management at any membership level. It has few options for customization or automation, and its HR analytics and reporting capabilities are narrow—especially if you choose the lowest tier. For configurable people analytics, you have to upgrade to a more expensive plan.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• Trend analysis (available on some plans)
• Custom report building
• Limited out-of-the-box reports and templates

7. Paychex Flex

Paychex offers a few different solutions for organizations seeking HR analytics software via its Paychex Flex platform: an all-in-one HR solution and a PEO, which is an outsourced solution that gives businesses a way to streamline their HR operations so they can focus their time and resources on core business functions.

Pricing for Paychex Flex’s different offerings isn’t transparent—all its tiers require requesting a quote, and HR analytics are only included with certain plans.

Key features:

• HR analytics dashboards
• Trend analysis
• Full suite of other HR tools
• Custom report building
• Customizable, pre-built reports

8. ADP Workforce Now

If you’ve done any shopping for HR software,  you probably already know ADP, one of the largest and longest-running HR tech companies in the world. ADP Workforce Now is the company’s all-in-one platform. It doesn’t offer HR analytics out-of-the-box, but if you use the platform, you can add insights and reporting as an add-on to run reports and analyze trends from your payroll, time, talent acquisition, and benefits data.

ADP started out as a punch-card payroll system. A legacy vendor, it’s added other solutions over the years through over 100 acquisitions to piece together its all-in-one platform—but as a result, its modules are disjointed, disconnected, and slow.

One of the most limited areas is its reporting. ADP doesn’t offer pivot tables, report previews, or drill-downs. You can’t create reports that go across every module, which means incomplete reporting and possibly missing insights. And if you want to create complex custom reports, it often requires contacting ADP support or hiring professional services to assist.

Key features:

• Large variety of workforce management tools
• Some customizable, pre-built reports
• Custom reports (though support may be required to build them)

9. UKG

UKG is another well-known, legacy solution, created when two other platforms, Ultimate Software and Kronos, merged in 2020. About two dozen total acquisitions dating back to the 1970s have completed its all-in-one platform, which includes payroll, benefits administration, talent management, and more. UKG has strong brand recognition, especially among enterprise companies. 

One thing UKG is often praised for by reviewers is its ease of use. Many customers say it has a gentle learning curve. They also appreciate the ability to customize views within the platform, making it even more intuitive.

But despite its comprehensive suite of HR tools, UKG charges users extra for certain essential features. One of these is the ability to create custom reports in the workforce analytics module. Additionally, reports and workflows are extremely complex, which leads some users to pay for professional services for help—on top of UKG’s already high fees.

Key features:

• Comprehensive suite of HR tools
• Custom report building (for an extra charge)
• Pre-built reports

Features to look for in HR analytics software

When selecting the right HR analytics software for your organization, you want to consider features that align with your business needs and goals. The right features will impact not just the effectiveness of your HR strategies, but the success of the platform you choose. Here are some key features to look for.

Data integration and centralization

Many HR analytics platforms only collect and analyze HR data. Rippling unifies all your employee data from across your applications—from payroll to performance metrics, recruitment and compensation to headcount planning, benefits enrollment, device health, IT reports, and more—so you can unlock powerful insights and better decision-making across your entire organization.

Reporting capabilities

Reporting capabilities are at the heart of any analytics software. See what your HR analytics software can do out of the box. How many pre-made reports and templates does it come with? Are they easy to use? Can you adjust them to meet your exact needs?

Some software comes with less than two dozen. Rippling comes with more than 150—and you can customize them all.

Scalability and customization

Many of the platforms that include limited, pre-made reports also make them difficult or impossible to customize.

Instead, look for software that allows you to build custom reports with all the variables you need, use Excel-like formulas to calculate and combine data, and filter and visualize your reports however you want to. Even better if you can do it all with no code, so it’s intuitive and beginner-friendly.

And when your business is scaling, a solution like Rippling makes it easier to focus on important work instead of manual tasks. Automate steps like creating and sharing reports with certain stakeholders at the right times by building a workflow in just a few clicks.

Benefits of implementing people analytics tools

Implementing HR analytics software in your organization can come with many benefits. Here are some of the key advantages.

Improved decision-making for HR professionals and managers

One of the primary benefits of HR analytics software is the ability to make data-driven decisions. By analyzing comprehensive employee data, HR teams and other stakeholders can gain valuable insights into different aspects of workforce management and use them to identify trends, address problems proactively, and implement strategic initiatives to improve employee experience and drive business outcomes.

With accurate data from analytics software at their fingertips, HR leaders’ decision-making can become even more precise and impactful.

Predictive analytics for future planning

Predictive analytics is a powerful feature of some HR analytics software that allows organizations to forecast future trends and outcomes. By analyzing historical data, the software can predict potential future challenges and opportunities, giving HR departments the chance to plan more effectively.

For example, predictive analytics can help identify trends in employee turnover. HR teams, once they’ve identified a trend, can develop targeted retention and recruitment strategies. And by taking a proactive approach, they better prepare their organization for future workforce needs and challenges.

Improved recruitment process

One area where HR analytics software can make a huge difference for HR teams is recruitment. By analyzing data on candidate sources, time-to-hire, and candidate quality, HR professionals can optimize their recruitment efforts, leading to more efficient hiring processes, better candidate selection, and ultimately, a stronger, more engaged workforce with less turnover. Less turnover means spending less money on recruiting and hiring, and retaining valuable institutional knowledge and talent.

Make better decisions with Rippling’s HR analytics software

With Rippling, your organization isn’t limited to just HR analytics. Unify your data and report across your entire organization with pre-built templates, custom reports, automated workflows, role-based access and permissions, hundreds of integrations, and more powerful features that put data behind your strategic decisions. It’s what makes Rippling the best HR analytics software on the market.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of July 24, 2024. 

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions