Regardless of the size of a business, what every business owner strives is to increase productivity. The key to boosting the productivity of your business and employees is not hidden in bonuses (although they can be quite a motivator!) but it can be as simple as providing your employees with the right tools to work with.
Types of Software Every Business Needs
With that in mind, let’s take a look at 5 software solutions which can be of great help to any business.
1. Aid for the HR department
In a way, it is hard to answer what are the typical duties of an HR person and this is due to most companies having their own view regarding what HR is in charge of. Most times, an employee would go to their HR representative for everything from taking a day off to asking about their rights as employees.
This is why the HR department needs comprehensive tools to be able to respond to all kinds of queries and demands.
For instance, they would be more efficient if they had reliable tools to track personnel, their schedules, days off, vacations when they clock in and out of work. These are all important pieces of information not only for the employees who might inquire after them but also for the company itself, to be able to measure the productivity and see if there is a place for improvement.
2. Improving your relationship with customers
The idea is rather simple, if you wish your business to grow, you need to nurture your present customers and find ways to expand that customer base. Both these ingredients are necessary because you can’t build something on shaky grounds or strive to grow without a plan. To achieve this, you need a database on which to rely on and we all know how complicated spreadsheets can be.
Also, the most important notes on your customers are sitting idly in your employees’ emails and you are not using them in the best possible manner. Another potential problem is that the communication between employees and current/potential customers can be inconsistent due to the lack of information.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools not only ensure you have everything categorized and easily accessible but they also speed up procedures making it possible for a business to develop.
3. Facilitating payroll procedure
Employees are the pillar of every business – many of the success an average company makes is owing to the work of diligent individuals and dedicated teams and not so match to the management’s vision.
At the end of the day, what those people want besides respect and recognition, and of course, their hard-earned salary. However, getting those right can be more complicated having in mind that not all employees work the same hours or have the same hourly rate.
Automation of the payroll process is of immense importance because it excludes the possibility of human error which can result in dissatisfaction of those people who keep the business running. Employers should also facilitate employees’ access to the salaries as much as possible, such as by introducing employee income cards that integrate with any payroll service provider. There are no checks or check-cashing fees which means more money for employees.
4. Communication made easy
E-mails are great written trails containing vital information but for everyday tasks in a busy company – they are too slow. Of course, some things should remain in the domain of e-mails, but if your employees would agree on every little thing via email, they would never get anything done by bouncing emails between each other.
Instant messaging software tools are a quick and efficient manner to agree on the spot, especially with colleagues who work remotely. They are easy to search, you are able to create groups that would correspond to the team, also upload documents, screenshots, and images, and of course, they can have separate groups for ordering food, sharing entertaining content, etc. Internal communication is vital so your employees need to have access to functional tools for the workflow to continue uninterruptedly.
5. Managing projects more efficiently
Many small business owners believe they don’t need project management tools because their business is small but the truth is, the sooner you start introducing a manner of monitoring the project, the better it is for your future growth.
Imagine landing a major project that could significantly improve your business and realizing in the middle of the project you just have no idea how long it would take to finish it or who was in charge of which task.
Project management software helps with delegating tasks and making sure the deadlines are respected by setting smaller goals and tackling the project bit by bit. New employees can also use it to get to know how everything works and not to mention that you can use them to present the progress to your clients when it’s time for feedback about the project.
Over to you
It’s true that looking for particular software tools can sometimes be overwhelming since there’s so much choice but the key is to take a deep look at your business needs and that would narrow your list significantly.
The second factor that can influence your decision is the budget and remember, whichever software you choose, provide proper training for your employees to maximize productivity.
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