A strong workforce empowers a strong business. Successful companies are made up of motivated and committed individual employees collaborating towards the achievement of common business goals. However, balancing individual employee needs with employer business goals is a complicated dance. There are more than enough processes, systems, and technologies for human resources management to go around. HRMS is going in the direction of a simpler, more efficient consolidated platform. 

Two popular brands in HRMS software are Kronos and Sage. This Kronos vs. Sage comparison will give you a better understanding of two available solutions you can take advantage of in managing your workforce and data in a consistent and consolidated way.

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Kronos vs. Sage overview

Kronos

Kronos Incorporated was founded in 1977 with headquarters in Lowell, MA. Since its early years, the company’s focus is on workforce management with its invention of the first microprocessor-based time clock in 1979. More than 4 decades later, it has established a strong presence both inside and outside the US. Kronos continues to innovate its products with heavy investment in cloud solutions and mobile. It has surpassed 35,000 customers worldwide, which includes Puma, Tesla, and Boba Tea Company among its clients.

Kronos offers products for many HR-related needs. It offers individual business software as well as integrated solutions for workforce management and human capital management. The company also has products to address specific industries that include:

  • Health systems
  • Manufacturing
  • Retail
  • State and local government
  • Distribution
  • Higher education
  • Contract services, and more.

Sage

Sage Group plc is a Newcastle, England company founded in 1981 that offers accounting software. It acquired desktop accounting software Peachtree in 1998 and established its presence in the US. It has continued to grow its customer base — now numbering 3M in 23 countries. After a couple more acquisitions, it launched its cloud solution in 2018.

Like many HRIS vendors, Sage continues to offer both on-premise software and cloud-based solutions. Sage HRMS is a complete system that has features for recruiting, benefits, payroll, paperless-HR, time and attendance, and others. Together with Sage Business Cloud solution, it provides HRMS solutions to industries that include:

  • Construction
  • Manufacturing
  • Wholesale distribution
  • Chemicals
  • Food and beverage
  • Professional services
  • Non-profit

Features comparison for Kronos vs. Sage

Human resources management

Kronos offers cloud-based HR product suites that help automate and simplify HRM administrative processes. The Workforce Dimension Suite includes a timekeeping application for efficient tracking, managing, and controlling of employee time and attendance. You can control every step of your payroll process and generate standard or ad-hoc reports. Make changes easily and empower employees with mobile apps and online self-service tools. It has a scheduling tool for optimized labor distribution with forecasting capabilities. The absence management feature helps identify absence trends and provide insights to lower costs. The system has easy-to-use smart forms for simple data entry. It also improves visibility so you can track standards, identify strong and weak performers, and adjust standards accordingly.

Sage HRMS gives you an automated time and attendance tracking software platform to improve payroll accuracy and efficiency. You can improve the time management of your entire workforce and use tools to cover all types of employee absences. With its payroll management and processing solution, you can manage all types of time-off tracking, including jury duty, medical leave, bereavement, and others. Online document management also helps automate paper-based processes, empowers employees to access their own personnel records, and lets HR officers access and review information online.

Read also: UltiPro vs. Workday: HCM Software For Global Companies

Talent acquisition

Kronos Workforce Ready Suite has talent acquisition features so you can let recruiters and hiring managers adopt a more candidate-driven recruitment process. You can simplify requisitions and sourcing by building your own searchable career site. The software lets you create and track internal and external job requisitions. Make use of heat maps to understand your existing workforce characteristics, like turnover, and integrate with job boards to extend your reach. Attract the best candidates by delivering a positive online experience to your applicants, track their status, and hire smarter with easy-to-use tools.

Sage Business Cloud People gives you automated advertising, screening, and onboarding tools to acquire the right talent. Your team can recruit efficiently with tools that simplify job requisition creation, approval and applicant screening and progressing. A built-in content editor lets you create your own branded job listing. You can allow candidates to create and save their own profiles in a secure portal. It has structured storage for easy search of resumes and reports and a skills library to match candidates with new vacancies. Keep new hires informed with self-serve, automated forms and personalized communications as they transition smoothly.

HR analytics

Kronos HR analytic tools let you gather, process, and share workforce data into visuals in real-time. Advanced artificial intelligence capabilities predict workforce trends that can give you insights to engage your employees. It monitors critical areas of concern and provides timely alerts so you can take strategic actions. You can integrate it with other products to produce maximum results and immediate impact.

Sage analytical tools include customizable dashboards where you can view multiple pre-built reports, and edit, update, or print them using drag-and-drop tools. You can customize them for different recipients and functions and generate scheduled reports to keep everyone updated. Get the latest management insights with drill-down capabilities. Scorecards can quickly give a business overview, while early warning system reporting can spot problems before they occur.

Integrations

Consolidated solutions like Kronos HR do not fence you in with only what you have. It can integrate with other business applications, so you can get the most value from your employee data. It easily shares data with other Kronos applications that use the same database. Configurable integration lets you share data between Kronos and third-party applications using industry-standard interfaces. SOAP API’s let you integrate with many ERP systems like Oracle and SAP.

Sage HR cloud solutions also allows you to integrate with existing systems and third-party applications through file transfer, programmable interfaces, synchronization, embedding, or linking. You can have two-way near real-time integration through REST API. The software lets you send and receive data from multiple payroll systems, while using single sign-on services.

Want more HR software options? Use our HR Software Buyers Guide.