These are the tools all startup HR teams need

We look at the top tools that will make HR teams work more efficiently—and many don’t break the bank to be useful.

Calendly

The days of secretaries setting up the appointments of the managerial level in workplaces are long gone.

Though some companies still have administrators, most people manage their own appointments and calendars.

But while having control over your meetings can give employees a certain amount of freedom, it can be a challenge to keep track of everything.

That’s where a tool like Calendly comes in—you can program your available times and send a link to your contact. They will see what available slots you have and choose one that suits them.

The process is completely automated—you receive reminders about when the next meeting is scheduled so you don’t have to worry about missing it.

One of the best reasons for HR teams to use Calendly is that the free version offers a variety of features—individuals at your company can sign up and schedule unlimited appointments.

Even the Premium and Pro versions are more than affordable—only $8 and $12 per month—for multiple users and integration with HubSpot, Zapier, and MailChimp.  

Monday

Managing projects can be one of the biggest challenges for startups, no matter which department has to run the project.

HR teams are juggling numerous projects at once—searching for candidates, hiring new recruits, onboarding employees, training, organizing events, and teambuilding.

To maintain these various tasks, HR teams need a little help—a project management software like Monday.com.

Monday is a great tool that works for various departments—marketing, IT, project management, sales, and HR.

A number of HR processes can be automated through Monday—recruitment, employee tracking, performance, as well as onboarding.

With a set of easy-to-use templates, Monday makes HR workflow processes much easier.

And the free version of Monday comes with a host of convenient features which makes it perfect for startups on a budget. You can also get the $50 Standard, $80 Pro or Enterprise packages.

People First

People First is an all-inclusive HR platform that startups can use to save time and money—the platform allows you to handle employee engagement and is designed for small businesses.

If you’re looking for a tool that can be used across the lifecycle of each employee, People First is the solution for you.

Noted as a top workplace tool, People First is a flexible HR and payroll tool for startups that can be used for recruitment, talent, and workforce management. It also gives you in-depth insights.

The major benefit of using People First is the digital assistant that acts as an HR administrator—the assistant can handle tasks like leave bookings, expenses, and attendance.

The social media-like interface makes this platform easy to use—you even get regular notifications as you would on Twitter.

For goal-oriented, efficient HR, People First has plenty to offer.  

ProofHub

One of the many challenges for HR teams is managing collaborative environments—the entire team being on the same page is crucial for a number of reasons.

For one, you don’t want people wasting time doubling up on the same tasks. You also don’t want a situation where updates are made to documents or processes without others knowing.

One of the best ways to keep tasks and teams on track is by using Gantt charts—effective visual tools that streamline the task management process.

While you can take the time to make your own Gantt charts, a tool like ProofHub is more useful because it automates the creation of Gantt charts and task management for you.

With ProofHub, you can use the benefits of Gantt charts to the advantage of your HR team—you can assign tasks, adjust schedules, manage deadlines, and track progress.

For HR teams juggling numerous tasks—both individually and as a group—ProofHub is a great tool. The cost is a bit high—from $49 to $150—but the features are worth it.

Slack

The days of inboxes full of internal emails are long behind us—workplaces now thrive on instant communication.

That is why a tool like Slack has become the go-to for startups and small businesses—especially since so many companies now employ remote staff.

You can create distinct channels where only certain members are invited, thus maintaining confidentiality.

Alternatively, you can share a channel with an external company so you can maintain communication within one space.

Slack allows you to share links, files, images and has integrations with Google Drive, Microsoft and more. You can also make audio and video calls, and with some packages, conference calls.

The free package offers extensive features, but you can also get paid versions from $6.67 per month to $12.50, as well as an Enterprise package.

Trello

Productivity management is the buzzword of the new decade but how do you keep productivity levels up when there is so much to do and so little time to do it.

This is a particular challenge that startups face—particularly marketing and HR teams who have a lot to juggle with few resources available to them.

Using a productivity tool like Trello is a massive boon to an over-stretched team.

Trello’s ease-of-use is its biggest asset—the interface is clean and can be easily summarized with a glance.

You can create dedicated lists grouped according to the kind of task that needs to be completed and label them with colors and text for ease of organization. 

Assign cards to team members, add due dates, and drag and drop cards with ease—this is an interface that you can pick up in minutes.

For small businesses and startups, the free version is one of the best featured on this list. As your company grows, you can look at the $10 business plan, or $21 enterprise plan.

Venngage

There are a number of documents that HR teams need to create—reports, handbooks, itineraries, as well as a variety of official letters.

Creating all these documents from scratch can be a massive chore and lead to time being wasted because of changes that may be required over time.

But there is a way to create documentation that covers all the important information you need to refer to—by using templates.

The Venngage reports generator offers a number of convenient and customizable templates for daily, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports, performance reviews, as well as incident reports.

You can also create employee handbooks, offer letters, and travel itineraries using the Venngage template library.

Not only are the templates easy to customize, but they can be branded with the company’s logo and colors with the click of a button.

Making visual documentation no longer needs to be a hassle, requiring companies to invest in graphic designers or third parties—with Venngage, these tools are at your fingertips.

Venngage offers a free version of its tool, as well as a $19 monthly package and $49 dollar package. Educational institutions and non-profits also get discounted packages.  

Conclusion

The tools we have mentioned here will make it easier to run startup HR teams.

From creating concise visual documents to productivity and team management, the above tools are everything a startup needs.

And the best thing is that most of these tools can be used for free before you feel the need to upgrade for a bigger business model.