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HRD Canada recognizes the 5-Star HR software and tech companies of 2024 as invaluable allies enabling people leaders to solve their most pressing challenges in the fast-evolving future of work.
The 26 award winners have earned a 5-Star rating based on reader feedback and comprehensive research by the HRD team, a testament to solutions that deliver unparalleled performance, customer support, and competitive pricing.
Across HRIS, rewards and recognition, payroll, and recruitment, the best HR software companies stand out in a fiercely competitive market by aligning their products with the uniqueness of Canada’s employment sector, according to members of the International Personnel Management Association-Canada (IPMA-Canada).
They emphasize that a market-leading HR software and technology provider in Canada offers:
robust employee data
ease of use for end users
decentralized data entry with an audit feature
customizable reporting
integration with the payroll system and benefits administrator
employee service portal
accurate time and attendance management
“There seems to be a lot of emphasis on recruitment modules and integration of employee career path/training and succession planning programs,” an IPMA-Canada member notes regarding where technology has positively impacted the HR sector nationally.
“The technology is addressing the administrative aspects of HR, reducing redundancy, creating efficiency, greater transparency and self-management, and accuracy of data/information for both the employer and employee.”
It’s evident that HR leaders face the pre-eminent challenge of balancing business benefits with cost optimization, and they are increasingly turning to technology to find that sweet spot, according to Gartner’s 2024 HR Technology Imperatives study.
That survey found 89 percent of HR leaders reporting they planned to increase or maintain their HR software and tech budgets, making it the top investment priority for three consecutive years.
For Fidelity Canada, one of the country’s leading financial services firms and HRD Canada’s two-time Best Places to Work winner, evaluating and selecting new software and technology must support at least one of these three goals:
creating a better client experience
improving operational efficiency
building a great place to work
The organization’s HR and corporate affairs department uses technology for payroll, social media, webcasts, benefits, learning and development, recruitment, and more.
“We also review the existing roster of software and technology being used to ensure each serves a unique purpose, brings value to the business, and provides our employees with the best possible user experience,” explains Chris Pepper, vice president of corporate affairs.
To meet consumer demand, the top HR software and tech companies have integrated robust features that help leaders manage all aspects of the employee lifecycle, often from one HRIS platform.
Many long-established industry leaders, such as BambooHR, SAP SuccessFactors, and Workday, retained the top title on HRD’s 5-Star list for recruitment software, while newcomers like Zoho Recruit emerged to round out the best of 2024.
The winners stand out for delivering positive candidate experiences, increasing HR professionals’ efficiency in tracking applicants, as well as:
customizable options and user-friendly interface
ease of integration and implementation
customer support
McLean & Company’s HR Trends 2024 report indicates that 63 percent of HR leaders leverage data for talent decisions.
More broadly, Fidelity Canada’s Pepper underscores the importance of using data and analytics to make informed decisions about the success and adoption of various technologies.
“Data can also uncover areas for improvement, where further education and awareness may be required to promote the benefits of a given platform,” he remarks. “Most of the metrics we collect are reported to senior executives, including benchmarks and comparisons to make additional observations and identify the next steps related to our larger corporate goals.”
Depending on the nature of the platform, the data it collects will differ to protect the privacy of its clients and employees but is often interpreted and visualized in dashboards.
“Visualization, computer-generated insights, and AI all serve a purpose,” notes Pepper. “Tools like Power BI are frequently used to define our progress and illustrate how our strategy is taking shape.”
By harnessing the power of HR software and technology, organizations are 1.2 times more likely to excel at supporting change and 1.3 times more likely to adapt quickly at scale to seize new opportunities, the McLean & Company study also shows.
Most of this year’s 5-Star HR software companies in the HRIS category are recurrent winners that have cemented their status as industry leaders, ADP, UKG, and HRdownloads being chief among them.
They have earned a reputation for agility, dedication to innovation, customizable platforms, and compliance with the country’s various legislative and regulatory requirements.
These trusted providers save HR professionals precious time when priorities change quickly and help to relieve various pain points, including:
process automation
employee self-service and engagement
on-demand support
performance and growth
documentation
talent management
But comparing, contrasting, and choosing the most appropriate operational platform is not a decision made lightly.
HRD survey respondents reported that on average:
five people within their organization are involved in the HR software purchasing decision
between three and five vendors are typically shortlisted
buying timelines run approximately seven months
Some survey participants offered testimonials on their preferred HRIS to help others in the market for such products:
“HRWize is far more robust and customizable than any other software we have researched by a landslide. The team are top-notch professionals and great to work with.”
“Ceridian Dayforce works well for us.”
Whether cloud-based or in-house, the top HRIS providers distinguish themselves with exceptional customer service and support and enhanced functionality that meets the changing needs of HR.
They excel at reducing the time HR professionals spend on routine tasks, enabling them to focus on strategic initiatives that drive operational excellence.
Recognizing and rewarding employees meaningfully is a powerful tool to provide an exceptional employee experience, which has been ranked the number two HR priority for two years straight in McLean & Company’s HR Trends 2024 report.
This year’s best HR software companies for rewards and recognition are enabling HR professionals to tackle the following:
an overreliance on rewards
high turnover
disengagement with solutions that alleviate the universal challenge of having the time and resources to focus on recognition
As some of the best HR software companies demonstrate, their key differentiator is not based on encouraging people to “redeem stuff”. Instead, the focus is on the recognition up front while the rewards sit quietly in the background.
“Most mainstream competitors in our industry have business models based on maximizing rewards and reward redemptions, which can negatively impact employee behaviour and drive diminishing returns over time,” states a a spokesperson for Kudos, an acclaimed 5-Star rewards and recognition winner. “Our platform ensures that employees focus on meaningful recognition, not on the points they earn, maximizing real, sustainable customer engagement.”
For awardee DayMaker, its rewards and recognition platform is touted as simple to navigate with its website design interface. A supersonic search makes it fast and fun to recognize accomplishments and easy for employees to find and connect with colleagues they know.
WorkTango, meanwhile, helps its clients build a culture of peer-to-peer recognition by automating their rewards and recognition programs. Unlike competitors that offer rewards with high markups, the company prioritizes meaningful rewards through a complete employee experience platform that also features employee surveys and performance management.
The quintessential HR software companies for payroll continue their reign among HR professionals, driven by their unwavering commitment to personalized service and customization. Ceridian Dayforce, ADP, and Payworks lead the pack.
The winners’ expertise and tech stack are helping clients to be compliant and pay their people on time. One 5-Star software and technology provider strives to make payroll what they call “downright delightful”.
Wagepoint, a self-described small-but-mighty fintech/HR software company, caters to like-minded small and medium-sized businesses. Its online software automates the more routine parts of payroll, such as calculating wages and reporting on taxes.
Its platform also offers features enabling HR professionals to take care of their people’s needs and track time and attendance for hourly employees, for example. An in-house customer service department of payroll experts is available with support.
“Our tech stack has everything small businesses need to run a happy workplace,” a spokesperson remarks.
No matter what specific features or functionality an HR leader requires to accomplish their business and people goals, streamlining daily tasks and accountability remain paramount.
For Fidelity Canada, protecting personal data and information is mandatory for the organization, its clients, and employees.
“Our information security team conducts a fulsome review of new tools, determines how data is stored and collected, and ensures these tools align with our privacy policies and are designed with privacy-protecting technologies in mind, such as end-to-end encryption,” Pepper adds.
The HRD Canada team conducted one-on-one interviews with HR professionals to select the best HR software and technology providers for 2024. The team surveyed thousands more within the HRD network to understand what these professionals think about current market offerings.
Respondents rated their overall satisfaction with the HR technology providers they had dealt with across four categories: payroll solutions, HRIS solutions, rewards and recognition, and recruitment software solutions.
From there, technology providers were invited to nominate their products, describe their benefits and explain why they believed their solutions were worthy of an HRD 5-Star award. At the end of the 15-week research period, 26 companies were named 5-Star award winners.
