Onboarding is the process of welcoming a new hire into your business. On its face, this may seem quite simple. When you break it down, however, you’ll find that employee onboarding includes a lot of different elements. Everything from payroll and document signing to job training and experience management. Accordingly, finding the best software for employee onboarding can help streamline all these tasks.
Effective onboarding benefits businesses by reducing the turnaround time for new hires to become truly productive, and making sure they get a good enough first impression to stick around.
It can be a lot for even a great HR team to manage. Don’t sweat it, though. Having the best software for employee onboarding can streamline things massively, providing richer insights and greater capacity to support new hires.
Firstly, let’s look at what makes these platforms effective, as well as some of the best software for employee onboarding on the market today.
Key employee onboarding software features
While all roads may lead to Rome, some routes are definitely better than others. It’s possible to support new hires in all sorts of ways, but the best software for employee onboarding typically covers certain bases:
- Task automation: Chiefly, the less time new hires spend waiting for HR processes the better. Automating common onboarding admin tasks reduces turnaround and frees up time for HR to focus on other critical tasks.
- Personalized onboarding journeys: The right software allows you to tailor onboarding to the individual. Personalizing based on role type, existing skill sets or employee ambitions makes it that much more likely to engage new talent.
- Integrations: There’s no time for every new piece of software to reinvent the wheel. Good HR software for onboarding should integrate with the tools you already use to minimize disruption. For example, many SaaS providers include integrations for Microsoft Teams, HRIS, and other commonly used systems.
- Document management: Altogether, these features allow you to easily upload, share and sign any relevant paperwork for new hires to get the ball rolling quickly.
- Mobile accessibility: You can’t afford to ignore your deskless employees and frontline workers. A mobile app makes effective employee onboarding accessible to everyone, regardless of their role.
- Analytics and reporting: Despite having the best software for employee onboarding, you might not be using it perfectly. Analytics and reporting features spare you the headache of sifting through onboarding data manually for actionable improvements.
Now we’ve established the essential features for onboarding tools, let’s look at some of the most popular software providers. To kick things off, we’ll start with our own Human Success Platform.
1. Zensai’s Human Success Platform
The Human Success Platform is the only onboarding solution on this list 100% designed to work with Microsoft 365 as part of Teams. It’s made up of three connected pieces of software: Learn365, Engage365 and Perform365. Altogether, these systems offer a truly comprehensive employee onboarding experience.
Core features
Basically, our Human Success Platform offers a wide variety of features for your HR needs. For instance, here are some of the most important for employee onboarding:
- Customizable onboarding tracks to support individual needs
- Regular employee check-ins through Engage365
- Automated document workflows for greater efficiency
- AI-driven sentiment analysis for actionable insights
- Full platform access via the mobile app
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
Next up, here are some of the best qualities Zensai’s Human Success Platform brings to the table as a solution for modernized employee onboarding:
- User friendliness and familiarity with Microsoft 365
- Robust integrations for HRIS and HCM
- HR automation for scalable onboarding solutions
- Access to high-quality Go1 and LinkedIn learning course content
- Support for different user roles and permissions settings
- Accessible L&D for new hires
So whether it’s through automating HR admin or delivering an accessible learning platform for new hires, the Human Success Platform can enable onboarding on any scale.
Limitations
- It’s more of an investment for businesses that don’t use Microsoft 365
- You need the entire Human Success Platform for maximum onboarding success
- While user-friendly, our platform lacks some of the niche functionalities of more complicated HR platforms
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
As noted, the scalability of Zensai’s platform could make it the best software for employee onboarding in enterprise businesses, especially those using Microsoft 365. But its affordability and Freemium option also make it viable for start-ups and SMBs.
2. BambooHR
Additionally, another strong contender for the best employee onboarding software, BambooHR offers a great balance of tools for any HR team. Also, there’s a good balance of automation and customizability here.
Core features
BambooHR certainly doesn’t skimp on the features, which include:
- Customizable onboarding templates for easy onboarding correspondence
- Document management, storage and signature request automation
- Automated, pre-built HR reports with the latest analytic data
- A mobile app for hiring management
- A marketplace with hundreds of integrations
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
BambooHR has a lot to offer for improving employee onboarding. Its major strengths include:
- Great customization options like templates and workflows
- End-to-end hire tracking from recruitment to offboarding.
- Strong automation features like reporting and document management
- Bulk discounts and bundle options
Limitations
Of course, for everything BambooHR succeeds at, there are also a few areas for improvement. So if you really want the best software for employee onboarding, bear these drawbacks in mind:
- Functions gated behind add-ons which increase cost
- Opaque pricing makes it harder to decide
- No dedicated account manager for customer support
- Customization over feature complexity
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
BambooHR is best-suited for onboarding employees in small-to-mid-sized organizations. Although it’s extremely user-friendly, its simple customization may not be enough for enterprise businesses.
As noted, pricing is not available on BambooHR’s website, although they do offer a free trial. Specifically, they offer a bundle including their platform and add-ons for a 15% discount.
3. Workday
Workday is another platform covering a wide range of HR functions, making it a good general purpose platform. However, we’ll focus on the parts of their service relevant to onboarding.
Core features
Several of the tools offered by Workday make it useful HR software for onboarding. For example, these include:
- AI-assisted Human Capital Management (HCM) using Workday Skills Cloud
- Talent acquisition and management
- Payroll and workforce management automation
- Analytics and reporting using in-line context and transparent AI models
- Product extensions for a variety of other tools like Salesforce, and even support the integration of tools you develop
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
Like most platforms competing for the title of best software for employee onboarding, Workday does a lot right, such as:
- User-friendliness thanks to AI support and intuitive UI
- Custom employee journeys for new hires
- Talent gap analysis with Prism Analytics and Talent Optimization
- Good customer support with phone-based and online channels.
Limitations
With everything it does right, you might assume Workday is the best software for employee onboarding, but don’t get ahead of yourself. Markedly, here are its major drawbacks:
- No pricing transparency beyond direct quotes
- No trial version so you can’t try before you buy
- Not start-up friendly due feature complexity
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
Obviously with its sheer range of HR features, Workday is great for medium and large businesses. Especially if they’re trying to identify skills gaps, perform recruitment and conduct onboarding all in one place. But, Workday only offers quotes on request, meaning you’ll have to investigate pricing for yourself.
4. WorkBright
Following, WorkBright distinguishes itself from other employee onboarding tools by being a mobile-first solution. So let’s look at what they have to offer.
Core features
Firstly, the platform’s greater focus on remote onboarding means WorkBright offers a unique range of core features:
- A large digital form library
- Smart I-9 and integrated E-verify to guide new hires through documentation
- Applicant Tracking System (ATS) for identifying and processing top talent efficiently
- Admin automation functions like deadline tracking and reminders
- Text message delivery for onboarding forms and reminders
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
While it may not be as comprehensive as other employee onboarding software, WorkBright offers a few distinctive advantages:
- Third-party and electronic verification prevent errors and redundant data
- Automated ATS onboarding
- A mobile-focused design for frontline accessibility
- Industry-specific onboarding templates
Limitations
Surely, WorkBright is in the running for best software for employee onboarding because of its sheer accessibility. Even so, it misses the mark in a few areas:
- Lacks integrations for commonly used HRIS and HCM tools.
- Using Smart I-9 functions remotely requires a paid add-on
- Lacks granularity for sending onboarding documents to specific new hires
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
WorkBright lends itself best to organizations with a large amount of deskless or frontline workers, like retail chains or construction companies, but may not be the best software for employee onboarding in enterprise businesses.
They charge annually, but accept monthly payments with a 15% surcharge. This is another provider that requires you to get a quote for their pricing, although G2 prices two of WorkBright’s three modules on their page.
5. Paycor
Paycor is another popular example of the best software for employee onboarding in 2024. Chiefly, it’s a robust platform where newly hired staff can complete onboarding paperwork like W-4s and I-9s. Of course, it wouldn’t be so popular without a host of other features.
Core features
Moreover, as another multipurpose HR platform, Paycor has several important features, which include:
- Early Engage, for reaching out to new hires before they start
- Industry-specific onboarding tools
- Paycor Paths for employee training and development
- Paycor’s marketplace for integrations
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
For the most part, Paycor has some great selling points thanks to the variety of tools on offer. It’s a good option for all kinds of businesses, and its biggest strengths include:
- Early Engagement helps new hires put their best foot forward
- E-verification and payroll processing included in all plans
- A good range of HR management features
- Specific onboarding tools for different industries
Limitations
While Paycor’s features may make it some of the best software for employee onboarding, there are a few major issues hold it back:
- Its basic plan doesn’t even include its onboarding features
- No free trial access without a sales call
- Some history of customer service issues
- A somewhat clunky interface
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
Basically, Paycor is best-suited for small-to-mid-sized businesses in a variety of sectors. In particular, healthcare and hospitality businesses could benefit from using it.
With that, quotes are available through the company’s website, although no transparent pricing is available, although there is a free trial.
6. Eloomi
Eloomi is primarily a learning management system, although it comes with enough tools and features to be in the running for the best software for employee onboarding. Chiefly, here’s what it has to offer.
Core features
As an LMS first and foremost, Eloomi’s features primarily focus on learning and development,
- Skills intelligence reports to identify skills gaps and deliver training
- Social engagement platform for employee communication
- AI-powered content creation and playlists
- Real-time reporting and analytics
- Integrations with over 40 HRIS tools including MS Teams and LinkedIn Learning
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
Eloomi is a great LMS, with plenty that makes it a useful piece of employee onboarding software. Its biggest selling points include:
- Efficient preboarding to streamline new hire setup
- Intuitive L&D tools and gamification to motivate new employees
- A clean UI for user engagement
- Customizable thanks to integrations
Limitations
Eloomi may do a lot to facilitate learning for new employees, but with general onboarding being more of a secondary consideration, there are a few drawbacks to consider:
- Their platform sometimes experiences delays
- Somewhat limited course libraries
- Limited options for creating and editing content
- Lacks broader native HR functionality
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
Eloomi is a good fit for businesses looking to preboard employees as efficiently as possible. And, unlike many employee onboarding software options, they’re actually transparent about pricing.
Further, Eloomi offers three pricing packages, with the cost of each varying depending on the number of users.
7. Kallidus
Lastly, Kallidus (formerly Sapling) was a tool for onboarding and core HR. Specifically, it has since expanded into learning and development, which plays a major role in their services via the Kallidus Learning System.
Core features
At the present time, Kallidus offers a variety of features through its LMS that can be leveraged for effective employee onboarding:
- Pipeline analytics for employee onboarding
- A variety of core training modules plus content integrations
- Integration with the latest productivity and performance tools
- Automated reporting with compliance, performance and engagement data
- An elearning platform with SSO and API integration
Selling points and strengths of this employee onboarding software
Undoubtedly, Kallidus is a strong contender on this list for what it brings to the table as a tool for training new hires. Its major selling points include:
- A wide range of industry-specific training content
- Quick and easy pre-boarding via the employee portal
- Support for over 100 languages
- Automates tasks like training assignment to save time for HR
- Over 50 direct integrations including LinkedIn and Zapier
Limitations
Given that, here are the main limitations we’ve found with Kallidus:
- Complicated for behind-the-scenes users like HR
- There’s no free trial
- Their pricing lacks transparency
- The mobile app only covers access to learning content
Best fit and pricing of this employee onboarding software
Overall, Kallidus offers advanced L&D and onboarding tools which lend themselves well to organizations with complex needs. While it’s hard to say how much it’ll actually cost your organization, their Content Only package starts at $350 a month.
Choosing the best software for employee onboarding
Finally, let’s go over some key considerations when choosing the best software for employee onboarding:
- Budget and company size: Pricing and scalability are often the deciding factors for choosing the right onboarding software tools. Some services may be beyond the budget of a small start-up, while others can have great features while lacking enterprise scalability.
- The employee experience: Difficult user experiences can be off-putting. Besides making a bad impression, this can cause new hires to disengage and not complete their tasks.
- Your specific integration needs: Good software should integrate with your existing HRIS, HCM and other tools. For example, if you need to onboard remote employees, you’ll probably need Microsoft Teams integration.
- User support and admin onboarding: Service reps should provide a comprehensive overview of your chosen platform. They should also have accessible support channels and, ideally, dedicated account support.
Invest in the best software for employee onboarding
Altogether, the best software for employee onboarding provides user-friendliness for new hires and HR alike. Particularly, data-driven insights inform your onboarding policies, and task automation streamlines everything for quick turnaround.
Lastly, make sure to research your options, and take advantage of any demos or trials on offer. In fact, book a demo for Learn365 and or our whole Human Success Platform, to find out how Zensai can enhance your onboarding.
