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Best Talent Management Software Of 2024

Contributor
editor

Reviewed

Updated: Mar 18, 2024, 8:22pm

Editorial Note: We earn a commission from partner links on Forbes Advisor. Commissions do not affect our editors' opinions or evaluations.

Talent management software can help you attract, hire and develop your company’s most important assets: your employees. As long as you choose the right product, you’ll be able to streamline your human resource (HR) functions and achieve a productive, high-performing workforce. To help you choose the right solution for your business, Forbes Advisor analyzed 26 of the leading providers in the space across 34 metrics to find the best talent management software for small businesses.

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The Best Talent Management Software of 2024


Why You Can Trust Forbes Advisor Small Business

The Forbes Advisor Small Business team is committed to bringing you unbiased rankings and information with full editorial independence. We use product data, strategic methodologies and expert insights to inform all of our content to guide you in making the best decisions for your business journey.

Our ratings take into account factors such as transparent pricing, employee self-sufficiency, compatibility with third-party integrations, access to customer support and customer ratings. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.


Best for Industry-Specific Needs

Paycor

Paycor
5.0
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

Must contact for pricing

Free Trial

14 days

Standout Features

One-on-one conversation feature, predictive analytics for resignations

Paycor
Learn More Arrow

On Paycor's Website

Must contact for pricing

14 days

One-on-one conversation feature, predictive analytics for resignations

Editor's Take

While Paycor is known as a payroll service, it also acts as a quality talent management software. It offers custom solutions for industries, such as healthcare, manufacturing, restaurants, professional services, education, retail and nonprofits. You can use the customizable templates in the one-on-one tool to streamline conversations between managers and direct reports.

Paycor also offers predictive analytics for resignations to help you be proactive and determine the chances of employee turnover in the next 12 months. Other noteworthy features include video and scheduling integrations for remote hiring and candidate texting for faster communications.

Learn More: Read our full Paycor review.

Who should use it:

If you’re in an industry such as healthcare, manufacturing, restaurants, professional services, education, retail or nonprofit, you may benefit from Paycor’s industry-tailored talent management solutions.

Pros & Cons
  • Industry-specific talent management features
  • Powerful analytics for compensation, employee turnover and more
  • Remote hiring tool with video and scheduling integrations
  • Lacks transparent pricing
  • Many add-ons cost extra
  • Most plans come with setup fees

Best for Ease of Use

Rippling

Rippling
4.8
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

$8 per user

per month

Free Trial

14 days

Standout Features

Custom reporting, 90-second onboarding, pre-made courses

Rippling
Learn More Arrow

On Rippling's Website

$8 per user

per month

14 days

Custom reporting, 90-second onboarding, pre-made courses

Editor's Take

With Rippling, you can train employees across your company consistently, no matter their department, location, or position. The platform offers access to hundreds of pre-made courses to help support career growth. If you prefer, you can create your own courses too. There’s also a feature to keep your employees stay compliant via compliance courses, such as cyber security and sexual harassment.

Plus, Rippling lets you automatically post jobs and schedule interviews, eliminating a lot of extra manual work. We can’t forget the 90-second onboarding feature which enables you to set up a new employee’s payroll, benefits, devices, documents, and all within 90 seconds.

Learn More: Read our full Rippling review.

Who should use it:

If you’d like to simplify the process of giving your employees the same training experience across the board, Rippling is the way to go. Compared to other talent management tools, it’s quite affordable and customizable so it should be able to accommodate your unique needs.

Pros & Cons
  • Competitive pricing
  • Feature-rich talent management and HR tools
  • Ability to choose from pre-made training courses or create your own
  • 90-second onboarding that lets you seamlessly set up new hires within 90 seconds
  • Minimum one-year contract
  • No ability to track employee productivity
  • Slow customer support times

Best for Diversity and Inclusion

Workday

Workday
4.7
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

Must contact for pricing

Free Trial

No

Standout Features

Value inclusion belonging score, manager dashboards, career development planning

Workday
Learn More Arrow

Read Forbes' Review

Must contact for pricing

No

Value inclusion belonging score, manager dashboards, career development planning

Editor's Take

If building a diverse and inclusive workforce is important to you, Workday may be the ultimate choice. The VIBE Central dashboards and value inclusion belonging score will give you an idea of how you’re doing from a diversity and inclusion standpoint and what you can do to improve.

With this talent management software, you’ll find it easy to attract a diverse workforce and remove bias during your hiring process. In addition, you can support career development with the Career Hub tool and easily schedule reviews with any employees at any time to give them valuable feedback and promote informal conversations.

Learn More: Read our full Workday review.

Who should use it:

Workday is a solid pick if diversity and inclusion is your priority. It can help you recruit and maintain a diverse workforce with ease.

Pros & Cons
  • Focus on diversity and inclusion
  • Dashboards and analytics to measure success and improve performance
  • Career Hub tool to solicit feedback, connect with mentors, and establish goals
  • Lacks transparent pricing
  • No free trial
  • Outdated interface

Best for Benefits Administration

Zenefits

Zenefits
4.6
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

$8 per month per employee

(5 employee minimum)

Free Trial

14 days

Standout Features

Health insurance marketplace, compensation management, people analytics

Zenefits
Learn More Arrow

Read Forbes' Review

$8 per month per employee

(5 employee minimum)

14 days

Health insurance marketplace, compensation management, people analytics

Editor's Take

Zenefits is a robust talent management software that simplifies benefits management so you spend more time on high-priority tasks. With its health insurance marketplace, you can shop for group insurance policies from leading providers, such as UnitedHealthcare, Humana and Blue Cross Blue Shield.

With the compensation management tool, you’ll be able to analyze salary data from hundreds of similar companies and make smart decisions on employee pay. Zenefits also offers people analytics to help you understand employee trends, pinpoint employee discrepancies and more. Plus you can access its advisory services and get unlimited advice from a team of HR and payroll experts.

Learn More: Read our full Zenefits review.

Who should use it:

For a talent management software with a focus on benefits, Zenefits is worth considering.

Pros & Cons
  • Transparent pricing
  • Health insurance marketplace for support with benefits administration
  • People insights, which can enable you to make the most out of your workforce
  • Advisory services to assist with HR and payroll questions
  • Five-employee minimum requirement for all plans
  • No way to create and post open jobs directly from the platform
  • Can’t preview reports

Best for Customization

monday.com

monday.com
4.5
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

Free; $8 per user, per month

(three-user minimum)

Free Trial

14 days

Standout Features

Highly versatile with 200-plus customizable templates

monday.com
Learn More Arrow

On monday.com's website

Free; $8 per user, per month

(three-user minimum)

14 days

Highly versatile with 200-plus customizable templates

Editor's Take

The monday.com employee management system is designed for managers who would like to design personalized solutions to meet their team’s talent management needs. It’s loaded with a variety of easy-to-use HR templates for applicant tracking, employee information, recruitment pipeline, employee engagement, vacation tracking and more.

You can also use it to manage project workflows and automate repetitive tasks. Once you create a workflow, you’ll be able to notify team members, upload documents and add status updates so that everyone is on the same page. In addition, monday.com HR makes it a breeze to input data from popular tools such as Slack, Microsoft Outlook and LinkedIn.

Learn more: Read our full monday.com review.

Who should use it:

If customization is a top priority for your talent management initiatives, you can’t go wrong with monday.com HR.

Pros & Cons
  • Free forever plan available
  • Highly flexible to suit unique needs
  • 200-plus customizable templates, including the applicant tracker template and employee information template
  • Many ways to view data including timeline, map and Gantt views
  • Three-user minimum on paid plans
  • Must upgrade to a paid plan to access many key features
  • Involves a learning curve

Best for Performance Management

BambooHR

BambooHR
4.4
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

Contact for pricing

Free Trial

Yes, seven days

Standout Features

Goal setting and tracking, 360-degree feedback, performance assessments

BambooHR
Learn More Arrow

On BambooHR's Website

Contact for pricing

Yes, seven days

Goal setting and tracking, 360-degree feedback, performance assessments

Editor's Take

BambooHR is a comprehensive talent management solution with a full suite of performance management features. Its easy-to-use dashboards and reports make it a breeze for managers to keep tabs on their employees’ performance.

With the streamlined manager feedback process and templated questions, you can provide your employees with direct, easy-to-understand feedback. You have the option to create an automated schedule and send performance assessments every 30, 60 and/or 90 days to keep the performance discussions going. You can skip or reschedule assessments at any time.

Learn more: Read our full BambooHR review.

Who should use it:

If performance management is a priority, you can’t go wrong with BambooHR.

Pros & Cons
  • Advanced performance management features, such as goal setting and 360-degree feedback, and performance assessments
  • Robust employee directory
  • Many customizable reports
  • Lacks transparent pricing
  • No live chat support on Essentials plan
  • Recruitment functions are basic compared to other software

Best for People Analytics

UKG Pro

UKG Pro
4.3
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

Contact for pricing

Free Trial

No

Standout Features

People analytics, compensation management, benefits administration

UKG Pro
Learn More Arrow

Read Forbes' Review

Contact for pricing

No

People analytics, compensation management, benefits administration

Editor's Take

Formerly UltiPro, UKG Pro is a cloud-based, people-focused talent management software. Thanks to its people analytics feature, you can gather the workforce information you need to make smart, data-driven decisions. Speaking of people, UKG Pro offers UKG Talk, which you can use to engage with employees, promote inclusiveness, recognize accomplishments and more.

With its benefits administration features, your employees can take advantage of educational tools and personalized recommendations that steer them toward the right compensation plans. Additionally, you can manage your employees’ contact information, evaluations, benefits preferences and other data in one place.

Learn more: Read our full UKG Pro review.

Who should use it:

UKG can be a good option if you hope to improve employee retention and increase productivity through people analytics.

Pros & Cons
  • Focus on people and keeping employees productive
  • UKG Talk for employers to engage with employees on a deeper level
  • Personalized benefits recommendations for employees
  • Users claim customer support is slow to respond
  • No free trial
  • Can be overwhelming for businesses in need of basic features

Best for Recruitment Automation

Freshteam

Freshteam
4.3
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

$1 per employee, per month

(billed annually)

Free Trial

21 days

Standout Features

Applicant tracking system, auto résumé screening, 100-plus job description templates

Freshteam
Learn More Arrow

Read Forbes' Review

$1 per employee, per month

(billed annually)

21 days

Applicant tracking system, auto résumé screening, 100-plus job description templates

Editor's Take

Freshteam strives to reduce workload by up to 75% by automating recurring recruitment tasks. You can count on the software to reject candidates who lack certain criteria, advance those who do and send emails to schedule interviews. Its smart candidate sourcing tool lets you recruit employees through various sources, such as social media, employee referrals and job boards, including Indeed and ZipRecruiter.

With its 100-plus built-in job descriptions, you can quickly and easily create job postings. Once you do, Freshteam’s Chrome plugin will enable you to capture the details of the top candidates and attempt to convert them directly in the platform. Thanks to the mobile app, you can also source and recruit candidates on the go.

Editor’s note: As of August 2023, Freshteam is not available for new customers as the company is revamping its offerings. We will update this list when we learn more about what this will mean for Freshteam in the future.

Learn More: Read our full Freshteam review.

Who should use it:

Freshteam might make sense if your primary goal is to automate the recruitment process.

Pros & Cons
  • Free plan available and industry-low pricing for paid plans
  • User-friendly interface
  • Prebuilt and customizable offer letters
  • Candidate 360 to capture résumé info, interview scores and notes for every candidate
  • Only three job postings with free plan
  • Must invest in top-tier plans for unlimited job postings
  • No background checks

Best for Workforce Planning

ADP Workforce Now

ADP Workforce Now
4.3
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting price

Must contact for pricing

Free Trial

No

Standout Features

Robust workforce reporting, recruitment management, onboarding management

ADP Workforce Now
Learn More Arrow

On ADP's Website

Must contact for pricing

No

Robust workforce reporting, recruitment management, onboarding management

Editor's Take

With machine learning and the proprietary ADP DataCloud, ADP Workforce Now can help you learn more about your workforce. The software runs detailed reports to find anomalies and trends from your data.

You’ll be able to identify where you’re overspending and how you can make the most out of your employees. Plus you can integrate the solution with Slack, Microsoft Teams, and other productivity platforms so your employees can request time off and view their vacation balance without having to log into the ADP software.

ADP Workforce Now also offers workflows to automate everyday HR tasks, orientation tools to simplify the orientation process, recruitment tools to help you find and retain top talent, and more.

Learn more: Read our full ADP Workforce Now review.

Who should use it:

ADP Workforce Now should be on your radar if you want access to detailed reports that allow you to understand your workforce and determine what you can do to improve it.

Pros & Cons
  • Detailed workforce reporting and analytics
  • Customizable careers site for recruiting
  • Easy-to-use interface
  • No free trial
  • Can be confusing to use at first
  • Live chat support with a bot

Best for Employee Engagement

15Five

15Five
4.2
Our ratings take into account a product's cost, features, ease of use, customer service and other category-specific attributes. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.

Starting Price

$4 per user per month

(billed annually)

Free Trial

14 days

Standout Features

Engagement surveys, one-on-one performance reviews, high fives

15Five
Learn More Arrow

Read Forbes' Review

$4 per user per month

(billed annually)

14 days

Engagement surveys, one-on-one performance reviews, high fives

Editor's Take

15Five is a cloud-based talent management software with a focus on employee engagement. Its engagement surveys are designed to measure employee growth and satisfaction. You can choose from over 30 templates and design surveys that cater to your unique group of employees.

With the digital high five feature, managers and others may provide feedback and celebrate success for both remote and on-site employees. The software also makes it a breeze to organize one-on-one performance reviews, complete with talking points and action items. Plus there’s a handy coaching hub feature you can use to schedule coaching sessions and monitor the progress of your team.

Learn more: Read our full 15Five review.

Who should use it:

If you’re looking for a solution that emphasizes a positive work environment and culture, 15Five has you covered.

Pros & Cons
  • Affordably priced plans starting at $4 per month per user
  • Weekly check-ins for clear communication
  • Feedback surveys with Anonymous Feedback feature
  • High fives to motivate teams
  • Higher-level plans are expensive
  • No onboarding support
  • Managers to emails can be distracting

Forbes Advisor Ratings

Company Forbes Advisor Rating Starting price Free Trial Standout Features LEARN MORE
Paycor 5.0 5-removebg-preview Must contact for pricing 14 days One-on-one conversation feature, predictive analytics for resignations Learn More On Paycor's Website
Rippling 4.8 4.5-removebg-preview $4 per user, per month 14 days Custom reporting, 90-second onboarding, pre-made courses Learn More On Rippling's Website
Workday 4.7 4.5-removebg-preview Must contact for pricing No Value inclusion belonging score, manager dashboards, career development planning Learn More Read Forbes' Review
Zenefits 4.6 4.5-removebg-preview $8 per month, per employee 14 days Health insurance marketplace, compensation management, people analytics Learn More Read Forbes' Review
monday.com HR 4.5 4.5-removebg-preview-1 Free; $8 per user, per month (three-user minimum) 14 days Highly versatile with 200-plus customizable templates Learn More On monday.com's Website
BambooHR 4.4 4.5-removebg-preview-1 Contact for pricing Yes, seven days Goal setting and tracking, 360-degree feedback, performance assessments Learn More On BambooHR's Website
UKG Pro 4.3 4.5-removebg-preview-1 Contact for pricing No People analytics, compensation management, benefits administration Learn More Read Forbes' Review
Freshteam 4.3 4.0 star $1 per employee, per month (billed annually) 21 days Applicant tracking system, auto résumé screening, 100-plus job description templates Learn More Read Forbes' Review
ADP Workforce Now 4.3 4.5-removebg-preview Must contact for pricing No Robust workforce reporting, recruitment management, onboarding management Learn More On ADP's Website
15Five 4.2 4.0 star $4 per user, per month (billed annually) 14 days Engagement surveys, one-on-one performance reviews, high fives Learn More Read Forbes' Review

What Is Talent Management Software?

Talent management software is intended to help employers attract, hire, develop and retain employees. It simplifies various aspects of human resources, including recruitment, onboarding, performance management, professional development, compensation and benefits management, and succession planning.

Most talent management software can automate and streamline different processes, saving businesses with both in-person and remote workforces time and money. It usually includes specialized modules that each support a unique function. Some solutions come with a variety of modules while others only focus on a few.


Benefits of Talent Management Software

The most noteworthy benefits of talent management software, include:

  • Smarter hiring decisions: You’ll have the resources you need to attract and retain the right types of employees. Most solutions let you post job descriptions, schedule interviews, score candidates and more.
  • Simplified onboarding: A manual onboarding process can cost you a lot of time and hassle. You can eliminate this issue with software that automates many onboarding tasks.
  • Improved training: The key to employee success is a thoughtful training program. Talent management software can help you train your employees and monitor their progress so they can advance in their careers.
  • Competitive edge: In today’s increasingly competitive marketplace, it’s important to keep your workforce happy and stand out from your competitors. Through talent management software, you can strengthen your organization and do just that.

Talent management software can be used in a number of ways, providing a number of various benefits. Many businesses also choose an HR software system that includes talent management to further centralize and streamline their HR processes and functions. Learn more about the best HR software.


How To Choose Talent Management Software

There are many options for talent management software. To choose the ideal one for your company, you must ascertain your priorities. Maybe you hope to simplify the recruitment and onboarding process. Or perhaps your focus is employee performance and recognition. Once you hone in on exactly what you’re looking for, search for options that meet your needs.

If you find a few that pique your interest, check out reviews from existing customers and consider pricing. Ideally, you’d go with an affordable option that checks off all your boxes and doesn’t include any extra fees or surprise charges. Before you commit to a talent management software, meet with your team to get their feedback and approval.

Essential Features

Some of the key features you should look for as you shop for talent management software include:

  • Recruiting: With the recruiting feature, you can post jobs on popular job boards, identify strong candidates, distribute offer letters and more.
  • Onboarding: Onboarding makes it easier for new hires to fill out employment forms and sign documents digitally.
  • Performance management: Performance management is ideal if you’d like to provide ongoing feedback to your employees and improve their performance with ease.
  • Compensation management: Compensation management can allow you to oversee employee pay and make adjustments for promotions, commissions, stocks and bonuses.
  • Benefits management: If you offer benefits, such as health insurance and 401(k) retirement plans, the benefits management feature may come in handy for you and your employees.
  • Reporting and analytics: The reporting and analytics feature typically combines data from different modules to create custom reports you can use to make smart decisions.

Pricing

The cost of talent management software varies and depends on the number and types of features included. In most cases, however, you’ll pay a flat rate per month and per user. This may be anywhere from $4 per user, per month, to $8 per user, per month.

Sometimes, you’ll be able to get away with a free plan, especially if your business is fairly new and you don’t need many features. You’ll find that some platforms are transparent about their pricing and make it easily accessible on their websites while others require you to contact them directly for a custom quote.


Methodology

When assessing the best talent management software, our team evaluated 26 of the leading talent management providers across 34 metrics to score and rank the overall best. We looked for reputable solutions that offer a comprehensive suite of features for common human resource functions, including recruitment, onboarding and performance management.

Here are the primary categories that we used to determine the best talent management software:

Pricing – 10%

Affordability matters to small businesses, so we reviewed pricing and plans. In addition to the cost of each plan, we also considered the availability of free trials, contract lengths, long-term discounts, and money-back guarantees.

Key Features – 30%

There are certain features every talent management software system should have to provide the best solution to businesses. For example, the inclusion of applicant tracking, benefits administration, time and attendance tracking, e-signatures and e-verify, learning management tools, employee reviews and feedback, org charts and peer reviews.

Extras and Inclusions – 20%

On top of the key features, many of the leading talent management solutions offer unique features that some businesses will find very useful. For example, we looked at whether each provider offers shift scheduling, PTO tracking, tax tools, software integrations, custom branding, engagement tools and live customer support.

Ratings and Reviews – 10%

To get a better sense of how users feel about the providers, we look at ratings and user reviews. This gave consideration to each provider’s rating, as well as the number of reviews that each provider had.

Expert Score – 30%

First-hand experience makes all the difference when it comes to determining the best talent management software. So we included our own expertise with consideration to factors such as ease of use, value for price, and the quality of the features.


Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does talent management software do?

Talent management software automates and simplifies the various aspects of talent management. These include recruitment, onboarding, performance management, compensation management, benefits management and succession planning.

How does talent management software work?

Talent management software usually consists of various modules that each focus on a different aspect of talent management. You may take full advantage of every module or only use the ones that apply to and support your business.

How much does talent management software cost?

Pricing for talent management software varies but is usually between $4 per user, per month, to $8 per user, per month, or more. Some solutions are transparent about their fees while others require you to reach out for a custom quote.

Who is talent management software for?

Talent management software is for business owners and HR departments. It can also be used by anyone involved in recruiting, onboarding, performance management and offboarding.


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