Workday is a pioneer in Software as a Service (SaaS) for enterprise software. Compared to on-premises financial management and human capital management (HCM) solutions, Workday software is easy to use and quick to implement. While the company does not officially classify itself as an ERP vendor, it is widely considered to be a direct competitor to well-known ERP companies, including SAP and Oracle. Here are 20 Workday competitors that offer a substitution with enough coherence to let you continue to engage your people, empower your leaders, and help you grow your business.
Workday Competitors: 20 Alternative Human Capital Management Tools
What is Workday human capital management?
Workday is a provider of cloud software for the areas of human resources and financial management. The company is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. Workday was founded in 2005 by Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri, who were previously executives at enterprise resource planning (ERP) software provider PeopleSoft, which was later acquired by Oracle. The company went public in New York in October 2012.
History and founders of Workday:
In 2006, Workday released its first product: Human Capital Management. Financial Management was added the following year. Originally, Workday focused on HR administration, but over the years it has continued to expand the financial management components to make them more competitive with the ERP systems. These included modules for budgeting, planning and analysis.
The Composite Reporting tool, released in 2014, creates multidimensional financial and business reports that can also be scaled in large companies. Workday Insight Applications, released in 2015, enable the use of predictive analytics and machine learning as part of HCM and the financial applications. Workday Planning, a budgeting, planning, and forecasting tool, helps unify HR and financial analysis and planning.
According to Workday, using a single, cloud-based database for HCM and finance provides better integration and embedded business intelligence across business functions than most ERP systems. In 2013, Workday introduced Big Data Analytics, which includes out-of-the-box analytics tools that can combine Workday data with data from third-party sources.
Over the years, Workday has expanded its portfolio to include additional components in HCM, talent management, and finance, and released versions for specialized markets such as higher education and government. Workday Student, aimed at higher education institutions, was released in 2013, while Workday Recruiting was released in 2014 and Workday Learning, a learning management system, became available in 2016.
In 2016, Workday also announced that it would use IBM Cloud for software development and testing. In the same year, the company announced a partnership with Microsoft to integrate its HCM and finance applications with Office 365.
Top 20 Alternatives Which Are Workday Competitors
1. Darwinbox
Based in India, Darwinbox is a human resource management software for the entire workforce. The fastidious company is a new-age, mobile first, cloud HCM platform built for large enterprises to cater to the evolving world of work. With 650+ enterprises and 1.5 million + employees on the platform, Darwinbox is the fastest growing HCM platform in the emerging markets.
2. BambooHR
BambooHR offers custom HR software for SMEs, by providing a solution for managers and employees, with employee profiles, leave requests and approvals, recruiting, applicant tracking and reporting.
3. Oorwin
Oorwin is an intelligent and integrated platform for managing people, talent, and sales and people don’t find themselves vacillating to other platforms because Oorwin is an AI-powered talent management, CRM and HR platform that enables companies to improve candidate experiences, boost recruiter productivity, and streamline HR processes to manage sales performance. The platform includes features for automation as well.
4. Happay
Happay is a cloud-based spend management software which helps businesses handle expenses, invoices, payments, claims, and more on a unified portal. The fastidious platform includes AI technology, which helps employees to automatically scan and capture receipt data from emails, text messages, credit card statements, invoices, and other sources.
5. Factorial
Factorial offers HR Software for Small and Medium Businesses and is a powerful human resources software for small and medium-sized businesses that allows them to automate administrative tasks like documents, leave, absences, etc. Manage payslips and securely store important documents. You can even manage compensation on Factorial.
6. ADP Workforce Now
ADP Workforce Now is known for being human capital management or a cloud-based human capital management, talent management, and benefits software designed for midsize businesses with 50+ employees.
7. Oracle PeopleSoft
Oracle PeopleSoft is an IT asset management solution that provides complete control over your IT assets throughout the asset life cycle.
8. ADP Vantage HCM
ADP Vantage HCM is a scalable HR system or in other words a human resources and talent management software that allows companies to manage all aspects of their HR process using a dashboard. Making it one of the best Workday Competitors is the fact that the company is completely web-based and optimized for mobile devices.
9. Patriot Payroll
Patriot Payroll helps you save time and money as you discover two options for small businesses in the United States: basic or complete payroll service. Payroll service (basic package): $10/month and $4 per employee. Payroll service (full package): $30/month and $4 per employee. Transfer money directly and for free or print salary checks.
10. Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne
JD Edwards EnterpriseOne is an ERP software database under Oracle. It is an integrated suite of comprehensive ERP software applications that combines business value, standards-based technologies, and deep industry experience into a low-cost-of-ownership enterprise solution. It is the first ERP solution to run all applications on an Apple iPad.
11. Workzoom
Workzoom is an all-in-one workforce management platform. It is a coherent talent, workforce, and payroll management solution that engages your people, empowers your leaders, and helps you grow your business.
12. Paycor
Paycor is a cohesive HR solution with HCM, payroll and time tracking. It is therefore considered an all-in-one cloud-based HR solution to manage recruiting, onboarding, benefits administration, payroll, time, attendance, and more.
13. Niikiis
Niikiis is a cloud-based employee onboarding and motivation platform, which is a configurable, all-in-one employee experience software for small and medium businesses.
14. Kronos Workforce Ready
Kronos Workforce Ready is a comprehensive HCM workforce management solution with an intuitive user interface and a single employee record. The cloud-based HRIS offers features for recruiting, onboarding, time tracking, payroll, absence management, scheduling, and more.
15. SutiHR
SutiHR is a complete HR solution for companies of all sizes. The venerated company will provide an intuitive user interface with mobile support that grows with your organization. SutiHR provides many tools: employee onboarding and self-service, ATS (applicant tracking) and staff, integrated electronic signatures, time tracking, performance reviews, benefits, project tracking and IT management.
16. Bizneo HR
Bizneo HR offers HR software used by SMEs and large companies. Bizneo HR is a cloud-based HR software suite of 10 modules designed to help users manage the entire employee lifecycle, from attraction and identification to development and engagement. Modules include portals for employees and managers, recruitment, document management,…
17. ELMO Software
ELMO Software is a cloud-based software for HR, payroll, and time and attendance. The organization happens to be a comprehensive suite of Australia and New Zealand’s leading human resources, payroll and time and attendance management solutions. The solutions can be used together or separately and are configurable to your organization’s processes and workflows.
18. PeopleForce
PeopleForce is a cloud-based recruitment & human resource management system designed to help businesses streamline hiring, onboarding, and employee engagement operations via a unified platform. It enables both the HR individual and the company to capture and store employees’ details in a centralized repository to effortlessly track applicants.
19. CakeHR
CakeHR claims to be HR Simplified! The company is now called Sage HR (formerly CakeHR).
It is a cloud-based HR and workforce management solution that streamlines and automates your HR processes across the entire career path, while creating truly engaging and rewarding experiences for your employees.
20. Rippling
Rippling is a modern system for payroll, benefits, HR and IT services which offers a great way for companies to manage their human resources and IT services, from payroll and benefits to employee computers and applications, all in one modern system.
Other Info/ FAQs About Workday Human Capital Management
Modern companies operate in highly competitive, complex and global environments. An organization must thoroughly understand its global workforce in order to make quick and meaningful business decisions and differentiate itself from the competition. Workday’s HCM suite, Workday Human Capital Management, is built for the way people work. It enables you to manage change by providing insight into the workforce and operations.
What is the Workday HCM Suite?
The suite consists of a total of 15 modules, which are also declared as sub-processes. The modules are highly integrated with each other and are a core part of the Workday suite. Workday is built on a single line of code. This means that all modules and programs have been developed with the same programming language. It can be deduced from this that applications that are integrated through company acquisitions are not simply connected, but are completely rebuilt in the software. This enables a particularly strong integration of the individual modules within the Workday suite.
Modules of Workday HCM:
What can Workday do? Let’s look into the modules.
1. Human Resource Management
newly developed from the ground up, The Human Resource Management module, covers all HR management requirements in a single HR management solution. It is compatible with any end device which also includes mobile devices.
The HR individual can use this tool to automatically create region-specific offers and employment contracts. In addition, the probationary periods, notice periods, collective agreements, and contract data of the employees can be managed.
2. Personnel analysis
A comprehensive view of the workforce and employee data helps both the HR individual and the company to identify risks, monitor trends, and spot opportunities.
The analysis module of Workday HCM serves this purpose and for example a typical application scenario would be the cross-generational and cross-location analyzes of the demographics of the workforce or the display of reliable figures on effectiveness of training, productivity, and staffing requirements.
3. Audits and internal controls
According to the manufacturer, the audits and internal controls module should significantly reduce the costs of internal and external audits with regard to compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Additional security solutions are no longer required thanks to this module and are therefore advantageously eliminated.
With built-in audit and control mechanisms, an organization can easily tailor security and management controls to meet its operational goals, compliance and reporting needs.
4. Workforce planning
The classic issues in the context of personnel planning include:
- Having trouble with the hiring process
- headcount targets being met
- The financial implications of a planned reorganization
At Workday, planning takes place in the already familiar table design with dimensions such as organization, job profile, employee category, skills and location. In it, the HR individual can create basic plans based on real-time Workday data and update them at any time.
5. Recruiting
The recruiting module maps the hiring process of applicants using the recruiting life cycle. As a seamless part of the Workday suite, the end-to-end software supports companies from strategic workforce planning to the onboarding of new employees. In addition, the software provides a complete overview of the entire talent pool of external and internal candidates. Time is money – so the manager can use a mobile device to check all candidate profiles, give feedback on job interviews, notify the next person in the process and initiate further measures.
6. Talent management
This module digitizes the processes related to talent promotion and development. The employees and feedback discussions can be mapped via the appraisal system. In addition, talent cards, reports and dashboards provide a comprehensive overview of team dynamics in the workforce. The tool serves the purpose of increasing the productivity of new employees before day one.
7. Learning
As a comprehensive system environment for learning management and further education, the learning module provides collaborative learning content (peer-to-peer) and interactive media. The range of functions extends from informal learning to compliance training. The learning content can also be accessed here on any device. The content can be personalized for specific roles, job changes or phases of the personnel life cycle.
8. Compensation
With the compensation module, compensation planning is organized in the company. It provides a quick overview of current employee compensation data and shows real-time adjustments to this data. Among other things, the module can also be used to handle the budget for salary negotiations.
9. Benefits
To manage employer benefits, the Workday HCM suite includes the sub-module Benefits, which provides employees with an overview of all employer benefits relevant to them. The module includes pre-built, bundled integrations for hundreds of service providers. If they change their specifications, the benefit system is updated automatically.
10. Payroll
With Workday Payroll, international companies can generate accurate payslips for all employees, regardless of their location. The software includes a powerful yet easy-to-use calculation engine for complex payroll accounting. Integrated analysis functions for report analysis and conducting audits complete the module.
Advantages of the Workday suite:
Apart from the product properties of the modules, the Workday suite offers a number of advantages from a higher perspective, which results from the integrative overall concept and the exclusive provision of the solution via the cloud. On the one hand, there are no release updates and no changes to subsequent versions. The reason is that the software is programmed on a single code line. Innovations in the applications or new functions are also made available with little effort, which leads to a faster innovation process.
The operating costs for Workday are also lower in the medium term than for the administration of possible on-premise solutions. Finally, thanks to the integration options for third-party systems, the HR personnel can relatively easily set up an even stronger system.
