Searching for the best HRMS software features?
You’re in the right place.
Because today you’ll get a complete checklist of the 25 most critical HRMS modules & features you can’t skip today.
The best part?
We split them into four clear sections – this way, you’ll quickly spot what matters most versus what’s just a bonus.
Jump straight in.
Core HRMS Software Features
This is the foundation. If an HRMS can’t handle these basics, it’s not an HRMS. It’s just a glorified spreadsheet.
These HRMS software features handle your day-to-day HR operations on a centralised platform while keeping legal safety in mind.
1. Centralised HR Database
Every HRMS starts with a centralised employee database, often called HR Database. Think of this as the “brain” of your system. This database is a centralised repository for all employee data. No more jumping between five different Excel sheets to find an employee’s emergency contact.
The employee database is further helpful for a company which has teams working across locations. Whether they are working in Gurugram or Bengaluru, HR can access all employees’s data in seconds.
Why it matters: It creates a “Single Source of Truth”. When you update data here, it updates everywhere.
2. Employee Records and Document Management
Paper files are dead. This HRMS software feature allows you to digitally store contracts, IDs, offer letters, and NDAs. It replaces physical folders that often get misplaced. So it’s not just about storage. It’s about retrieval.
This is where an authorised person can upload, track, sign and access documents instantly. For audits or compliance checks, HR can pull up documents in seconds. It is solid, simple, fast and reliable.
3. Payroll and Expense
Let’s be real: if you mess up payroll, nothing else matters. Therefore, the payroll module is probably the most important HRMS software feature in this list.
The payroll module automates salary processing, handles tax deductions, and manages expenses & reimbursements. This module is also responsible for managing PF, ESI, and other benefits deductions automatically.
The key here is integration. Your payroll module should talk directly to your attendance data (more on that later) to calculate Leave Without Pay (LWP) without manual intervention.
4. Statutory Compliance
Indian labour compliance is tricky, especially if you are operating in multiple states. This HRMS software feature knows about state-wise labour laws, professional tax (PT), Labour Welfare Funds (LWF) and other statutory requirements to make necessary adjustments to salary structures automatically.
Additionally, a good compliance module helps HR generate accurate reports, maintain statutory registers and create filings with minimal effort. All this is important for audits and makes you compliant with the newest labour laws.
In short, this HRMS software feature keeps you out of legal trouble. Automatically.
5. Compensation Management
This goes beyond just “Payroll”. The compensation management HRMS software feature helps you handle:
- Salary structures
- Bonus schemes
- Annual hike calculations
- Arrears and salary revisions
It allows you to model different salary structures to see how they impact your bottom line before you roll them out.
6. HR Helpdesk
The HR helpdesk feature replaces email chaos with structured ticketing. Employees raise queries like “PF withdrawal”, “policy clarification”, or “technical issue”. Then HR responds within set timelines.
This keeps every query on track and visible, which ensures nothing slips through the cracks. And of course, the Helpdesk HRMS Software feature builds accountability and improves the employee experience.
7. Employee Self-Service (HRMS in your pocket)
Here is a crazy stat: HR professionals spend up to 40% of their time answering repetitive questions like:
- “Can I get my payslip?”
- “How many leaves do I have left?”
The Employee Self-Service (ESS) portal solves this. It empowers employees to access their own data, download slips, apply for leave, see how many days’ leave are left, and upload essential IT documents.
The ESS HRMS software feature is not only helpful for employees but also for HR. They don’t have to go from desk to desk to inform employees about necessary updates from companies. Most ESS comes with a “Broadcast” feature so that HR can send important updates and make announcements with a few clicks, and employees receive them on their HRMS ESS portal.
The result? HR gets their time back for “peoplework” instead of paperwork.
Workforce Management HRMS Software Features
Now that we have the basics covered, let’s talk about efficiency. These HRMS modules and features are all about tracking the “Where” and “When” of your workforce.
8. Time and Attendance (Timesheets)
Gone are the days of the manual punch cards. Or entering in the registers.
Modern time and attendance modules work on biometric integration, geo-tagging (for the field sales) and AI to track clock-in and clock-out times.
Managers are able to see who is present, late or on leave in real time. It reduces buddy-punching and manual errors.
Suggestion: Make sure the module supports “geofencing“. This ensures employees can only mark attendance along with a time and location stamp.
9. Absence and Leave Management
Managing leave via email is a recipe for disaster.
The absence and leave management features in HRMS create a transparent workflow. An employee applies -> The manager gets notified -> Leave is approved -> Leave balance updates.
It prevents understaffing issues during holiday seasons. Additionally, this HRMS software features every policy, from casual leave to maternity leave, handled without confusion.
10. Shift Management
Do you run a round-the-clock active business?
Then you know how hard rotational shifts are.
This Shift Management module helps you plan shifts, manage rotations, handle shift allowances, and make weekly changes automatically. It ensures you don’t accidentally schedule an employee for a double shift without a break. A must-have HRMS software feature for the manufacturing, healthcare, hospitality and BPO sectors.
11. Roster Management
Roster management is the big brother of shift management.
It encompasses the task of assigning individuals to roles depending on their skill set and availability, in addition to workload.
Roster management is your eagle’s eye view of who is working on what project and how many at a time.
This HRMS software function also prevents overstaffing and understaffing and is especially sought after in retail and service industries.
12. Workforce Management (inc. Multi-territory)
Managing a team in one office is hard. Managing teams across three locations is harder.
This feature creates a unified view of your global workforce.
This broader HRMS software feature allows HR to track productivity, performance alignment, compliance and resource availability. It gives you a unified view of your multi-territory workforce.
And of course, when your workforce is spread across different time zones, multi-territory workforce management helps handle different currencies, different holiday calendars, and different workweek structures all in one dashboard.
Talent Lifecycle HRMS Software Features
This is where the magic happens. So far, we’ve discussed administrative tasks. Now, we are looking at growth. These HRMS modules & features cover the entire journey of an employee, from “Hello” to “Growth” to “Goodbye“.
13. Recruitment and ATS Software
Recruitment has become more than just sorting CVs manually.
An Applicant Tracking System (ATS) automates:
- Job postings
- Resume parsing
- Candidate screening
- Interview scheduling
- And many more benefits
So it’s recruiters’ bird’s-eye view of the complete hiring funnel. With filters, assessments and pipeline tracking, hiring becomes faster and much more efficient.
14. Onboarding
First impressions last. So a bad onboarding experience can lead to early attrition.
Therefore, you need an integrated onboarding module to personalise everything about onboarding for new hires.
This HRMS software feature automates welcome emails, asset (laptop/ID) allocation, and orientation scheduling before the new employee steps in.
15. Talent Management
This is the broad strategy for retaining your best people.
It involves mapping out career paths and identifying the “flight risks” in your organisation so you can intervene before they resign. Not just risks, this HRMS software feature also recognises high-potential employees to assign new leadership roles. This strengthens succession pipelines.
16. Performance Management
Annual reviews are outdated.
Modern HR tools like NYGGS HRMS Software focus on continuous performance management.
- Real-time feedback loops.
- Goal tracking (OKRs).
- 360-degree reviews.
It helps managers coach employees and reward fairly. Employees see what is expected. Managers see who needs support. HR sees organisational performance trends.
Consequently, this keeps employees aligned with company goals year-round, not just in March.
17. Learning and Development (L&D)
Upskilling is the new currency.
The L&D module of HRMS allows you to assign training courses, track completion rates, and manage certifications.
This module is also referred to as a training module that tracks employee courses, certifications and skill-building programmes.
The point to note here is: if you want to retain Gen Z talent, this feature is non-negotiable.
18. Succession Planning
What would you do if your sales leader left tomorrow?
Do you have a replacement ready?
Succession planning assists in identifying high-potential employees who you can nurture to transition into leadership roles. It enables organisations to maintain stability even in the event of unexpected exits or internal transitions.
Ensure there are no leadership gaps and you keep top talent by investing in succession planning.
19. Employee Wellness
There’s enough research on the internet to prove that burnout is at an all-time high. So, an employee wellness module is a “good-to-have” HRMS software feature.
This HRMS module tracks health events, organises health challenges (e.g., “Step Counts”), and sometimes even integrates with wearable tech. It helps you build perfect work-life balance initiatives that show your team that you care about them as people, not just as a resource.
20. Employee Surveys and Feedback
You can’t fix what you don’t measure.
Use this feature to send out Pulse Surveys or eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) questionnaires. These surveys capture employee sentiment and feedback through which HRs can understand morale, workload pressure, leadership quality and culture trends.
It gives you a current “vibe check” of the organisation.
Strategic and Technical HRMS Software Features
Finally, we have the features that bring it all together. These HRMS modules and feature tools turn raw data into actionable insights. Know them all to plan for the future!
21. HR Analytics
This is the game-changer. HR Analytics takes data from all the other modules and visualises it.
- What is our attrition rate?
- Which department has the most overtime?
- What is the cost per hire?
These analytics offer clarity, so it turns the HR department into a “data-driven” HR powerhouse.
It helps companies act before issues grow. For example, if data shows high attrition in a specific team, HR can intervene early. The power of AI makes this module even more worth it, as you get predictive analytics and not just real-time analytics.
22. MIS Reports
Management Information System (MIS) reports are for the leadership team. Attendance trends, leave patterns, hiring progress, attrition numbers and payroll summaries appear in clean dashboards.
This HRMS software feature gives detailed, structured reports required for audits, board meetings, and strategic planning. A good HRMS lets you generate these with one click.
23. HR Automation
The goal of technology is to reduce work.
Automation allows you to set “Triggers”.
- Employee birthday? Send an auto-email.
- Probation ending? Alert the manager 15 days prior.
- Daily task report pending? Notify the employees.
Now you don’t have to drain time and energy on those repetitive tasks. Once implemented, workflows run on autopilot while HR focuses on decision-making.
24. Integration Capabilities
Your HRMS does not live in a vacuum.
It needs to talk to your accounting software (like Tally), your ERP (like NYGGS), and your biometric devices.
API capability is one of the most overlooked HRMS software features, but it’s crucial for scalability.
25. Security and Access Control (Employee Records)
Data security is essential for the company.
You need granular access control. Because obviously, the marketing intern doesn’t get to view the manager’s pay check – it makes no sense otherwise.
Advanced role-based permissions and two-factor authentication to ensure people only see what they are supposed to see.
How Does NYGGS HRMS Software Help?
An HRMS reduces the biggest HR pain point is: manual data management.
Rather than chasing down spreadsheets, approvals and reminders, everything runs in one clean system when you have an HRMS where every module supports the other. Recruitment flows into onboarding. Onboarding connects to performance. Performance drives compensation. Attendance feeds payroll. Analytics ties everything together.
Alongside this, NYGGS is much more than these HRMS software features. It helps to add value with:
- Hybrid, mobile-friendly HRMS app.
- Single sign-on with role-based permissions.
- 2FA and MFA alongside audit trails for sensitive data access protection.
- Integration of Sales Force Automation (SFA) software for management of field sales reps.
- Broadcasting feature for communication, notifications and company news sharing in bulk.
- Also reflects the latest labour law updates, including those that took effect in November 2025.
The result is an HR system that keeps everyone aligned, protected and productive from anywhere.
Want to see these HRMS software features in action? Book a live demo today using our Contact Us page!