As companies grow, HR teams may need to move beyond traditional processes and adopt more flexible systems to keep up with changing needs.
From navigating local compliance requirements to maintaining consistent HR processes across regions, traditional tools and manual systems can quickly become inefficient.
A Global Human Resources Information System (HRIS) that provides solutions to help companies streamline operations, ensure compliance, and make data-informed decisions at scale can help.
In this article, we’ll explore what an HRIS is, how it enables efficient global HR management, highlight leading platforms in the space, and clarify how HRIS systems differ from other global employment solutions like PEOs and EORs.
Key takeaways:
- Manual HR processes can quickly become inefficient and risky as companies scale, especially regarding compliance matters.
- An HRIS centralizes HR functions like onboarding, payroll, employee benefits, and reporting into one platform, reducing admin workload and improving accuracy.
- HRIS, EOR, and PEO solutions have key differences: HRIS is software for managing HR internally, EOR is a legal employer for global hiring, and PEO is a co-employment partner for domestic HR outsourcing.
What is an HRIS?
A Human Resources Information System is a term for software that helps HR departments manage workflows, employee data, and people processes. At its core, an HRIS consolidates key HR functions — handling everything from talent acquisition and onboarding to payroll processing and employee benefits administration — into a single, unified system.
Basic functionalities of an HRIS include:
- Talent acquisition and onboarding: Many HRIS platforms include an applicant tracking system (ATS) to streamline candidate sourcing, resume reviews, and more. They also aid with onboarding by automating paperwork, training checklists, and task assignments.
- Employee records and self‑service: HRIS acts as a comprehensive employee database, storing worker information, compensation, performance reviews, and more. Most HRIS software also includes self-service portals for employees so they can view pay stubs, submit leave requests, update personal details, and manage benefits independently.
- Payroll and benefits administration: Automated payroll modules calculate earnings, deductions, and tax withholdings, and an HRIS generates pay stubs, often with localized compliance built in. Benefits administration enables employees to enroll in or modify plans, while HR oversees eligibility and usage.
- Reporting, analytics, and data management: HRIS platforms generate customizable reports on metrics like cost per hire, turnover rates, attendance, labor costs, and more, with dashboards that support strategic HR planning and data-driven recruiting.
Benefits of Using an HRIS
- Efficiency: Automation and self‑service portals reduce HR admins’ manual workload. For example, 72% of HR generalists using self‑service HRIS report a lighter workload, and administrative tasks can be reduced by 40% to 60%, saving up to two hours per day.
- Improved accuracy: HRIS ensures more accurate payroll, benefits, and regulatory reporting by eliminating manual data entry and integrating systems.
- Data for strategic insights: With a unified platform, HR teams gain access to real-time workforce data, enabling data-driven decisions around hiring, retention, performance, and labor costs.
- Better employee experience: Employee self-service and automated workflows make HR interactions faster and more user-friendly, boosting employee engagement. And HRIS-enabled onboarding experiences can lead to five times higher engagement and reduce turnover by 30%.
- Scalability: HRIS systems evolve with your company, supporting growth without increasing HR headcount or complexity.
What’s the Difference Between an HRIS, EOR, and PEO?
HRIS
As we already covered, an HRIS is an HR software service provider that helps companies streamline day-to-day HR operations with various HR solutions, including enhanced employee management, onboarding and offboarding, data analytics, and payroll capabilities. While HRIS systems can simplify most HR tasks, some possible downsides include a potential steep learning curve for administrators, and pricing could be prohibitively costly for smaller companies.
EOR
While an HRIS is typically a standalone platform for managing HR tasks, an Employer of Record (EOR) enables employers to employ top talent in multiple countries without establishing a local entity in each country where they hire.
Companies that partner with an EOR may not need to purchase a separate HRIS system, since EOR services include creating employment contracts, general HR administration, global payroll processing, and more.
Most EORs also include an HRIS as part of their offering, bundling an HRIS (or HRIS-like functionality) into their platform so clients can manage employee data, onboarding, time off, and other HR tasks in one place.
The HRIS component complements the EOR’s core services, making it easier for companies to handle both administrative and legal aspects of employment through a single system.
When you partner with an EOR, the EOR assumes all legal liability, so you can rest assured that your company will be in full legal compliance with local employment laws, including any related data privacy and protection regulations in every country where you hire.
EORs also play a pivotal role in managing payroll across multiple countries and tax compliance laws, ensuring that companies pay their employees accurately, on time, and in their preferred currency.
An EOR also offers the ability to manage global benefits by designing localized compensation and benefits packages, including private health insurance.
PEO
A Professional Employer Organization (PEO) provides outsourced HR services for businesses that want to streamline operations and reduce the time and resources needed to manage HR in-house.
While an HRIS is a technology platform for managing HR tasks in-house, a PEO is an outsourcing partner that takes on both administrative and complex HR functions — such as payroll, benefits, and compliance — often providing HRIS tools as part of its services.
Companies enter a co-employment relationship agreement with the PEO provider, with clearly defined responsibilities on each side. Essentially, the PEO takes on all HR tasks, such as payroll and benefits, while the company handles the day-to-day management of employees.
One downside of PEO services is that they aren’t always the right fit for remote teams, especially those with international employees.
The scale of HR processes becomes more complex when employing staff in multiple countries. PEOs require business registration or establishing a legal entity in every country where a company hires, which is not feasible for many small businesses. A PEO also does not take on legal responsibilities or risk management.
Why Startups Can't Ignore HR Tech
These days, an HRIS solution is essential to helping companies operate more efficiently and scale more easily, especially startups, which often have limited resources.
In fact, 57% of organizations’ HR staff spend as much as 57% of their time on administrative tasks — many of which could be handled by an HRIS. So it’s no surprise that more than 90% of employers use a technology platform like an HRIS to manage aspects of their HR or benefits functions — up 70% from five years ago, according to Guardian’s 12th Annual Workplace Benefits Study.
Startups’ HR Pain Points
- Spreadsheet overload: Managing HR through manual spreadsheets quickly becomes unscalable. Updating employee information, leave balances, salaries, and performance records in real time becomes overwhelming, making it easy for mistakes to occur.
- Compliance risk: Labor laws, tax withholding rules, benefits regulations … startups are vulnerable. One missed deadline or misfiled form could trigger audits or penalties.
- Inefficiency: When small HR teams spend hours on paperwork, onboarding, payroll corrections, and more, that’s time they’re not spending on other essential tasks.
- Poor employee experience: Disorganized onboarding or benefits mistakes can contribute to low morale, and early employees can feel overlooked or undervalued, hurting the company culture that startups try to build.
How HR Tech Fixes These Problems
- Centralization and automation: Onboarding, payroll, PTO tracking, performance reviews, and more are all managed — and automated when possible — within one platform.
- Built-in compliance: Automated regulatory updates, reminders, and reports help safeguard against legal missteps.
- Efficiency gains: With an HRIS, tasks that used to take hours or even days now take minutes because onboarding is smoother, payroll is accurate, and HR can devote more time to important tasks like recruitment and employee engagement.
- Better employee experience: Clarity, consistency, and self-service options for employees help build trust and reinforce a strong company culture.
Top 5 HRIS Systems
There are multiple HRIS systems on the market. While they all perform necessary HR functions, many focus on a particular niche as their differentiator. For example, one HRIS might focus on employee engagement tools while another provides enhanced compliance functionality.
Here’s a look at some of the top global HRIS platforms currently on the market.
BambooHR
A good choice for small and medium-sized businesses, BambooHR automates operational tasks and frees HR’s time for big-picture projects. It has a user-friendly interface that allows organizations to migrate data from their existing system to a more robust option with enhanced capabilities, including:
- Applicant tracking system
- Employee onboarding
- Centralized employee database
- Performance management
- Payroll reporting services
- Report generation
HiBob
HiBob is a customizable platform offering a variety of features and integrations — like Slack, Jira, and Okta — to enhance HR processes efficiency. It includes solutions for:
- Onboarding
- Employee engagement
- Performance management
- HR analytics
- Compensation management
- Employee self-service
- Integrated DEI tracking and solutions
Namely
Focusing on compliance management, Namely simplifies basic HR tasks, such as payroll and benefits administration. Some of its essential functions include:
- Employee onboarding
- Benefits management & administration
- Payroll reporting
- Goal setting and tracking
- Custom report generation
- Employee feedback surveys
Workday
The Workday platform organizes user and administrative tools needed to manage HR, planning, talent, financials, payroll, and analytics into one comprehensive system, and it aids in the following:
- Recruitment
- Talent management
- Payroll
- Onboarding
- Compensation and benefits
- Time, attendance, and expenses
- Accounting and financial planning
- Reporting and analytics
RemoFirst
Ideal for businesses of all sizes, RemoFirst is an all-in-one platform that enables you to employ remote talent from anywhere in the world. Starting at $199 per person, per month, you can grow your team in 185+ countries without the need to establish local entities. As an Employer of Record (EOR), RemoFirst has its own HRIS platform for managing your global team’s HR and payroll functions, and its solution includes:
- Legal employment of global talent
- Onboarding international talent in accordance with local laws
- Global employee and contractor management
- International benefits administration, including localized options
- Contractor payments in local currencies
- Visas and work permits
- Reporting and analytics
“Do I Really Need an HRIS Yet?” — A Founder's Litmus Test
It depends on your business needs. How many of the following statements apply to you?
- You have more than five employees.
- You’re hiring or onboarding remotely.
- You spend more than five hours a week on payroll or HR admin.
- Your employees’ data is stored across multiple spreadsheets, folders, or emails.
- You have compliance requirements (tax filings, labor laws, benefits reporting) that you track manually.
- You’ve missed an important HR deadline, such as benefits enrollment or annual performance reviews, in the last year.
- New hires often ask for paperwork help or status updates during onboarding.
- You need to track PTO, sick days, and schedules in one place.
- You’ve had trouble finding or updating policy documents in a timely manner.
- You need to onboard multiple hires at once.
- You’d like employees to update their own personal information without involving HR.
Scoring:
- If you answered "yes" to zero to three of the above statements, you're probably okay with manual processes, at least for now.
- If you answered “yes” to four to seven, HR tasks are slowing you down, and it’s time to start exploring HRIS options.
- If you answered “yes” to eight or more, an HRIS solution will likely save you time, reduce errors, and improve compliance.
HRIS, EOR, PEO, or Spreadsheets: What’s Best for Startups?
Manage Employees Globally with an HRIS and EOR
By centralizing employee data, streamlining compliance across borders, and automating key processes, an HRIS solution enables HR teams to focus on people rather than paperwork. And for companies with globally distributed teams, pairing an HRIS with an EOR solution can further simplify the complexities of international employment.
An EOR like RemoFirst manages local compliance, payroll, and benefits so your team can easily hire and manage talent in 185+ countries.
Want to learn more about how an EOR and HRIS solution can make international hiring and employee management a breeze? Book a demo.
