What is BambooHR? Reviews and Pricing
Your employees are your greatest asset. How are you managing yours? Are you using an HR software suite like BambooHR?
Gone are the days when your entire staff worked within your brick and mortar walls. When you maintained a cardboard file in a metal cabinet on each of them. A file stuffed with documents like their resume and employment history, emergency contact information, disciplinary actions, performance appraisals, and so forth.
At least we hope those days are gone, and you’re efficiently managing your workforce.
Today’s workforce is diverse in multiple ways. Many employees work remotely, and many teams are decentralized.
As Human Resource professionals are you meeting the needs of your staff by making best use of the tools and software the 21st-century offers?
There are many available options, but let’s talk about one of the best services available—at least in the mind of many industry experts and reviewers, including us.
What is BambooHR? And Why Should You Use It?
Since the workforce of today is much more complex and diverse than the 20th-century workforce, it makes sense that our methods of managing it have evolved as well. Having an online tool that provides you with a complete, all-encompassing solution to workforce management just makes sense.
Bamboo HR is that tool.
If you manage human resources for small to mid-sized companies—even companies experiencing a growth spurt—BambooHR gives you a platform which enables you to migrate data that may have been stored in spreadsheets to today’s modern Human Resource Information System (HRIS). A platform that allows you to customize it to meet and fit the specific needs of your company.
If you’d prefer to see what it can do for yourself, you can schedule a free demo and give it a test drive. And since you may be wondering, BambooHR pricing is quote-based.
As an HR manager or HR coordinator, you likely know a lot of your time can be used up managing tasks that while not trivial, may be time-consuming. Using a service like Bamboo HR can free up some of that time and allow you to focus on your people a bit more.
Key takeaways:
- You can migrate data from spreadsheets into BambooHR
- There is a free demo available
- BambooHR is a tool which can save you valuable time
| BambooHR Key Features |
| Centralized Employee Database |
| Automated Time Off |
| Employee Self-Service |
| HR Reporting |
| Applicant Management |
What is BambooHR: An Overview
For example, one of the components of BambooHR is an Applicant Tracking System (ATS). Using this will not only allow you to administer and track the life cycle of each employee, but it will also provide you with a complete picture of the state of your personnel. This means that—at a glance—you can access important data, such as the current health of your workforce. Employee turnover and retention are typically indicative of the health of your organization.
A quick glance at BambooHR’s interface highlights its modern look and feel. Looking past that is an impressive suite of features that include all of the necessary Human Resource functions plus the ability to manage data on individual employees, and its ability to track and create reports.
The target audience of BambooHR is small to mid-sized companies, but that doesn’t mean its completely restricted to them. Regardless of size, HR professionals have access to a system that provides the fundamental means to follow employee performance.
This is just one of the features that make BambooHR a wise choice for companies whose dynamics are constantly in a state of flux. The program is also particularly good for any companies who have a decentralized workforce since it has apps for all operational systems.
The above mentioned ATS—Applicant Tracking System—is a powerful operational system on its own, but you also have the ability to integrate it with a wide range of other HR and business management apps. 20 of them, to be precise.
Another key feature is the Open Application Programming Interface. This feature provides you will the means to expand some of the above-mentioned systems, including benefits administration and expense tracking.
Key takeaways:
- The Applicant Tracking System allows you to track the health of your organization
- Bamboo HR includes all the necessary HR functions, plus the ability to manage data
- This program is perfect for small to mid-size companies, and also growing companies
- The Open Application Programming Interface allows you to expand several systems
A Few of BambooHR’s Top Benefits
While Bamboo HR is packed with a variety of user benefits, let’s highlight just a few of them:
1. Applicant Tracking System
The hiring process is fraught with many different steps and hurdles. Keeping everything systematic without using a program can be challenging.
Bamboo HR removes the challenges and does so in a much better fashion than a lot of other HR systems since its built-in Applicant Tracking System is there for just this reason.
As you have new job openings, you can add them to the system along with all the pertinent information such as job title, contract type, salary, and job duration.
You also have a few options on how to complete this step: you can either use a filtered drop down or use the embedded text editor to create more specific and detailed descriptions. When the job opening is created, you can then share the job on job boards and social media networks of your choice.
At a glance, you can access and see job openings in one tab, with all the corresponding applicants and applicant leads. And you have the ability to select or reject applications as they come in and you vet them.
Key takeaways:
- Applicant tracking makes the hiring process easier
- Add new job postings
- Use a drop-down or text editor to add job descriptions
- Select or reject applicants and they come in
2. Onboarding
You’ve chosen your applicant(s) and it’s time to onboard them.
Your selected new hire will receive an email with any necessary and relevant information such as training documentation, or access grants to corporate files.
We’ve previously mentioned some of the time-saving features of BambooHR, and Onboarding is another. Thanks to this tool, managers don’t need to input personal information, as new hires can do this themselves. And if necessary, they can establish their own connections with other staff members.
From the moment you officially hire them, your new employees are set up to be active participants in training and any other necessary objectives.
Key takeaways:
- New hires receive an email with relevant information
- Save time by allowing new hires to add personal information to the system themselves
3. Role-Based Access
No business gives complete access to all employees.
BambooHR handles this beautifully by allowing users to create role-based access to information.
HR Administrators and Managers that are in charge of the system and have full access are the ones to provide access levels to other uses. These administrators are responsible for the creation of each and every employee profile, and the addition of all of their portfolio information.
Key takeaways:
- Administrators set up user profiles and grant access accordingly
4. Employee Benefits Administration
Many organizations don’t simply have a one size fits all sort of benefit package. They’ll have customized benefits and incentive programs—often for different levels of employees.
Managing and organizing those unique packages could be a challenge, but not with BambooHR. It allows users to track custom packages and even 12 different benefit types.
This feature also allows you to set future dates for changes to benefits. For example, if an employee is getting married, you can make the change in advance, and the system will add the spouse effective the date of their marriage.
Key takeaways:
- Track custom benefit packages
- Bamboo HR includes 12 different benefit types
- There is a set future dates feature
5. Performance Management Administration
Unlike many Human Resource Information Systems, Bamboo HR doesn’t simply track performance on an annual or 6-month basis. It’s much more dynamic than that.
With BambooHR your employee performance is being tracked and analyzed at all times, with everyday actions and goals constantly compared.
Additionally, a matrix plot will compare individual employee’s performance, allowing you to not only reward where a reward is due but also point out the need for further training if necessary.
Key takeaways:
- Employee performance is tracked continuously
- Compare individual employee performance
BambooHR Complete Feature Set
Prefer to see all that Bamboo HR has to offer at a glance?
- Absence Management
- Alerts
- Applicant Tracking System
- Applications Management
- Benefit and Payroll Administration
- Bonus Management
- Centralized Employee Database
- Controlled Access
- Data Import/Export
- Document Storage and Management
- eSignature
- Easy to Use System
- Employee Lifecycle
- Employee Onboarding
- Employee Portal
- G Suite
- Goal Management
- Goal Setting / Tracking
- Global Capabilities
- Mobile App
- Multi-Language (English, French Canadian, German, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Dutch)
- No Long-Term Contract
- Open API
- Phone and Email Support
- Performance Management
- Report Generation
- SSL Security
- Secure Data Storage
- Smart Reminders
- Time and Attendance Tracking
- Web-Based
BambooHR Pricing
Since we’ve thoroughly—we hope—answered the question What is BambooHR, have you decided it’s something you might want to implement in your own organization?
BambooHR pricing is quote-based, meaning the cost to use the platform is a variety of criteria including your current and future needs and users. Each package is specifically tailored to the needs of your induvial company.
Insider Reviews
So what do the everyday users of BambooHR have to say about it?
If you’re someone who likes to make your decisions based on the positive reviews of others, I’ve categorized some of the features and put together a compilation of what others have to say about them.
1. Overall User Experience: User Interface
According to user reviews, BambooHR’s user interface is firmly on the plus side. They like the simplicity of the tool and how the platform has the ability to organize databases in such a clear way.
2. Role-Based Access
Another recurring theme amongst users is how helpful the ability to create user access roles or administrative privileges is.
BambooHR allows 5 extra team members to be added, and each of them is granted customized access roles. Users note this is especially helpful since in many cases the main administrator may have to deal with other issues. Being able to delegate to other team members who have the necessary access is integral to being able to run their departments efficiently.
3. Applicant Tracking System (ATS)
Whether hiring for full-time or contract positions, users are happy with the ease with which the ATS feature allows them to manage the process. Especially those who hire a large number of seasonal or contract workers, since ATS handles this quickly and efficiently.
4. Document Storage and Management
Remember the metal file cabinet mentioned at the outset? The chances you need one are significantly lowered with BambooHR.
Users love the ability to securely store and manage reports and confidential information. However, while some feel that the storage capacity is sufficient, if not abundant, others find it lacking. Of course, this is completely relative. But extra storage can be acquired from third-party vendors if necessary.
What is BambooHR? Is it Right for You?
By now we the answer to the first should have been completely answered. BambooHR is a full-featured HRIS suite that is great for small to mid-sized companies.
Is it right for you?
Only you can answer that.
But if you would like to save time—and you know that saving time ultimately means saving money—then you should explore this further and take advantage of their free trial.
Because the truth is, this software can save you time with the complete process of finding, hiring, and retaining great employees.
If you are new to Human Resources and are looking to break into a HR role, we recommend taking our HR Certification Courses, where you will learn how to build your skillset in human resources, build your human resources network, craft a great HR resume, and create a successful job search strategy.
