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9 HR AI Tools for Streamlining People Management in Small Firms

Discover nine HR AI tools that can supercharge your business’s hiring, leading, and people development processes.

Jared Posey
Writer at Motion
Aug 6, 2024
Table of contents

When you’re running a small business, it can be hard to keep track of everyone’s data, progress, and day-to-day needs.

Most small businesses aren’t equipped with big HR departments. Maybe you, as a small business owner, find yourself taking on this role. Not only are you likely not an HR expert, but these extra tasks also eat into the time you should be spending on core business development.

So, why not try an AI-powered HR tool to automate and streamline people management processes for you?

Let’s dive into the types of tools on offer and what they do so that you can determine which one would be best for you.

The 9 best HR AI tools

  1. Motion - Best for team scheduling
  2. Beamery - Best for finding talent
  3. Talkpush - Best for automating recruitment
  4. Leena AI - Best for employee onboarding
  5. Totara Learn - Best for employee self-learning
  6. Lingio - Best for training frontline workers
  7. Personio - Best for centralizing employee data and processes
  8. Benify - Best for benefits administration
  9. Lattice - Best for performance reviews

What types of AI HR tools exist?

HR workflows are varied and complex. From recruitment to employee management, HR departments need the right tools to juggle everything at once.

Types of HR AI tools

‎Choosing platforms that align with your specific needs is vital. Here’s a breakdown of the different types of HR AI software that can enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of your HR functions:

1. Recruitment

AI-powered recruitment platforms are designed to streamline the hiring process. They automate and enhance candidate screening to match best-fit candidates with roles.

These tools can also help you with scheduling interviews and assessing skills, while their AI-driven chatbots answer various applicant queries.

2. Employee onboarding

Manual onboarding is cumbersome. Even traditional onboarding tools require lots of data entry and document personalization.

AI HR tools simplify the onboarding process. They automate initial paperwork, craft personalized onboarding plans, and deliver new hire training.

Onboarding assistants powered by AI chatbots answer questions and collect real-time feedback to gauge new employee engagement.

3. Workforce planning

On the strategic side of HR, workforce planning tools help you determine your needs when it comes to future labor. These tools use AI-driven predictive analytics to aid with demand and scenario planning. They can analyze skills gaps and optimize workforce allocations to develop efficient and effective teams that cover all essential work.

4. Training and development

AI enhances development with personalized learning experiences and adaptive training content. Specifically, AI-powered HR tools track performance and adjust training programs in real time to support continuous learning and talent development.

5. People processes

AI HR tools handle repetitive tasks associated with admin, like benefits administration and compliance management.

You’ll also find AI employee self-service portals with HR inquiry chatbots. These tools facilitate smoother employee interactions and keep everyday HR tasks going without the need for lots of human intervention.

6. Performance and engagement

There are also HR tools to track employee performance and measure engagement. Software like this analyzes feedback from multiple sources, such as 360-degree reviews.

By tracking productivity and collecting feedback, these systems give you actionable insights into how you can enhance employee engagement.

You can also use these tools to manage recognition programs, predict turnover, and identify areas for employee development.

How can AI HR tools help streamline people management in small businesses?

AI-powered tools are transforming small business operations — especially for firms that don’t have large HR departments.

These systems automate time-consuming tasks, which reduces the need for big administrative teams. This cuts costs and allows frontline workers to focus on more important work.

In the recruitment process, for example, these tools accelerate hiring. Not only do they speed up admin processes, but they also use machine learning algorithms to match the best candidates to the job — ultimately improving your talent pool.

Once hired, new employees benefit from AI-driven onboarding processes.

These tools improve onboarding efficiency by delivering documentation faster and tailoring training to each candidate.

But training doesn't stop there.

AI-powered systems can also offer ongoing learning and development to build stronger teams. They adapt training materials based on individual performance and needs so that everyone on your team receives the right support for them.

Instead of spending hours on performance reviews and one-on-one training, AI tools can do these things for you.

And this personalized approach doesn't just improve employee performance. It also enhances employee satisfaction, helping you boost retention by ensuring everyone has what they need to succeed.

Plus, AI platforms enable you to offer 24/7 support to your employees — something that’s traditionally hard to do without a big HR department. Chatbots handle most HR-related queries, offering actionable feedback when needed.

This is particularly useful for globally distributed teams operating in various time zones or after hours.

In terms of improving overall efficiency and driving growth, HR AI tools help identify skills gaps. This helps small businesses focus future their hiring where it’s needed or develop more specific training to close this gap.

In short, AI can handle routine tasks and deliver valuable insights to supercharge your team’s productivity and improve the employee experience.

Top 9 AI HR tools for managing your team more efficiently

With so many AI HR tools cropping up, it can be tough to decide what you need.

Here are our best picks to help streamline your people processes and improve your everyday operations.

1. Motion - Be‎st for team scheduling

Motion is the perfect executive assistant to HR teams that manage multiple team schedules at once.

Motion team scheduling

Whether you’re planning shift patterns or scheduling performance reviews and training, Motion automatically organizes and optimizes your team members’ calendars based on urgency and availability.

Motion’s advanced AI algorithms integrate all calendars into one central place, dynamically adjusting schedules in real time to accommodate changes and unexpected circumstances. That way, every shift gets covered, all tasks fit in, and meetings happen at times that suit everyone.

Plus, with automated notifications and updates, everyone’s on the same page, and nobody’s over-committed.

Key features:

  • AI-powered scheduling
  • Intelligent calendar integration
  • Meeting assistant tool
  • Over-commitment alerts
  • Automated updates 

Pros:

  • Intelligent scheduling organizes time by availability and urgency
  • Side-by-side team calendar views to compare schedules
  • Over-commitment alerts keep schedules realistic
  • Automated notifications and updates keep everyone informed

Cons:

  • Much better suited for SMBs than large enterprises


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Pricing: Available for $12 per month per team member and $19 per month for individual users

What users think about Motion: Rated 4.1 out of 5 on G2 (89 reviews). One user says, “It has been the most helpful - and I'm not exaggerating - thing that ever happened to me in my creative career regarding project management and work-life balance.”

2. Beamery - Be‎st for finding talent

Beamery is an AI-powered talent acquisition platform.

‎It's designed for companies that want to streamline talent management to accelerate and enlarge candidate sourcing and interviewing.

Beamery doesn’t just help with acquisition, though. It also assists in managing the entire talent lifecycle, from attracting to retaining qualified candidates.

Key features:

  • AI talent acquisition
  • Talent management tools
  • Workforce planning
  • AI-powered assessments for skills
  • Talent recommendations

Pros:

  • Speeds up hiring cycles and reduces recruiting costs by 20%
  • Reduces candidate sourcing time by 75%
  • Increases total number of applicants by 34%

Cons:

  • Some users report challenges with the integration of existing HR systems
  • Lacks training documentation to learn the tool

Pricing: Custom pricing tailored to the specific needs and scale of your organization

What users say about Beamery: Rated 4.1 out of 5 on G2 (150 reviews). One user says, “Beamery offers comprehensive solutions to enhance candidate engagement, resulting in better hiring results. The tool has vast potential to create a strong brand image.”

3. Talkpush - Be‎st for automating recruitment

Talkpush automates recruitment, streamlining and accelerating the process with the help of conversational AI.

‎The platform helps HR departments engage, nurture, and hire talent faster. Using skills assessments and candidate sourcing tools, it identifies top talent and moves them swiftly through the hiring funnel.

Key features:

  • Recruitment automation
  • Conversational AI and omnichannel communications
  • Assessment and scoring
  • Social media advertising
  • Automated onboarding

Pros:

  • 80% reduction in cost per hire
  • 3X more hires per recruiter
  • 70% shorter time to fill positions

Cons:

  • Users report occasional bugs that cause latency
  • Not geared up well for mass hiring

Pricing: Custom pricing based on needs

What users say about Talkpush: Rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 (21 reviews). One user says, “Talkpush has been a tremendous asset to our recruiting team. Handling a high volume of applicants, I've constantly looked for ways to optimize our processes. Talkpush has done precisely that and then some.”

4. Leena AI - Be‎st for employee onboarding

Leena AI revolutionizes employee onboarding with its autonomous Gen AI agent.

‎It’s designed ‌to streamline IT, HR, and finance processes to accelerate hiring and improve candidate sourcing. With a 70% self-service ratio, it dramatically reduces manual admin.

Key features:

  • Autonomous AI for automated onboarding tasks
  • Automatic onboarding workflows
  • Integration capabilities across knowledge base systems
  • Onboarding documentation management
  • Helpdesk insights

Pros:

  • Significantly reduces time spent on onboarding tickets
  • Provides instant support and continuous learning
  • Personalizes documentation to reduce admin

Cons:

  • Some users experience integration challenges during the initial setup
  • Needs regular updates to maintain performance

Pricing: Custom pricing tailored to your needs

What users say about Leena AI: Rated 4.5 out of 5 on G2 (114 reviews). One user says, “Leena AI is a game changer. Its elegant UI and easy UX reinvent the user experience, while extensive customization possibilities accommodate a wide range of requirements smoothly.”

5. Totara Learn - Be‎st for employee self-learning

Totara empowers businesses with a robust AI-powered solution for flexible talent development.

‎This learning management system (LMS) enables you to build self-service training courses and deliver them on a centralized platform. Analytics provide actionable insights to help you align performance growth with business goals.

Key features:

  • AI-powered virtual assistants
  • Automated learning management and performance evaluations
  • Easy-to-use course builder
  • Personalized learning paths
  • Centralized content library

Pros:

  • Tailored learning and development
  • Real-time insights into employee performance and development needs
  • Automates learning admin to save time

Cons:

  • Course setup is time-consuming
  • Mobile app can feel a little clunky

Pricing: Custom pricing based on organizational needs and scale

What users say about Totara Learn: Rated 4.3 out of 5 on G2 (53 reviews). One user says, “Totara LMS has carved a niche for itself in the competitive market of e-learning solutions. Totara stands out as a versatile and robust platform.”

6. Lingio - Be‎st for training frontline workers

Lingio ‌focuses on delivering AI tools to help train frontline workers. Its mobile-based employee training software uses gamification to encourage higher engagement and completion rates.

‎Plus, Lingio’s simple course builder and multilingual support make it easy to create courses in seconds in over 100 languages.

Key features:

  • Mobile-based learning
  • AI course creators
  • Gamified learning app
  • Employee coaching portal
  • Real-time analytics

Pros:

  • Achieves up to 12x higher course completion rates
  • Available in over 100 languages
  • Interactive elements encourage engagement

Cons:

  • Initial setup and customization are complex
  • Dependent on mobile connectivity

Pricing: Custom pricing based on company size and specific training needs

What users say about Lingio: Not enough information on G2.

7. Personio - Be‎st for centralizing employee data and processes

Personio simplifies HR management by centralizing all employee data and processes in a single platform.

‎This all-in-one software enhances the employee experience from recruitment to offboarding by automating HR processes and being a go-to platform for all HR needs.

Key features:

  • Full suite of HR management tools
  • Data centralization
  • Automated HR tasks
  • Advanced reporting and analytics
  • Huge integration library

Pros:

  • 80% fewer HR admin tasks
  • Automates 90% of reporting
  • Compliant with EU, UK, and US

Cons:

  • Limited customization options
  • Some users report long loading times

Pricing: Custom pricing tailored to the needs of the organization

What users say about Personio: Rated 4.4 out of 5 on G2 (561 reviews). One user says, “Having a centralized database for all employee information has enhanced our ability to track performance, manage leave, and maintain compliance with ease.”

8. Benify - Be‎st for benefits administration

Benify offers a comprehensive global employee benefits and rewards platform that aims to enhance engagement and improve the benefits experience across the employee life cycle.

‎This platform allows employers to communicate the value of employment packages so that employees fully understand their benefits.

Key features:

  • Rewards and compensation overviews
  • Communication tool and app
  • Employee lifecycle management tools
  • People insights
  • Global accessibility

Pros:

  • Enhances employee engagement and satisfaction
  • Reduces administrative time and costs of benefits management
  • Offers a high degree of customization and branding

Cons:

  • Initial setup and integration require detailed coordination
  • Some users report that the platform feels cluttered

Pricing: Customized pricing based on the organization’s specific needs and size

What users say about Benify: One user says, “The whole system is web-based with good interactivity and logical flow. Good customization and easy to use.”

9. Lattice - Be‎st for performance reviews

Lattice offers a dynamic platform designed to align performance with company objectives and key results (OKRs) to encourage a seamless connection between personal success and business outcomes.

‎The platform enables you to create and track OKRs and employee performance and provide personalized growth plans to meet development goals.

Key features:

  • OKRs and goals
  • Performance management tools
  • Engagement and performance insights
  • Personalized growth plans

Pros:

  • Enhances performance alignment with strategic business objectives through integrated OKRs
  • Streamlines the performance review process with AI-generated insights and writing assistance
  • Fosters a culture of continuous feedback and development with easy-to-use tools for employees and managers

Cons:

  • Some users find the platform's navigation confusing
  • Integration with other data tools is a little tricky

Pricing: Packages starting at $11 per month

What users say about Lattice: 4.7 out of 5 (3,837 reviews). One user says, “We love that usability and how much we can do with lattice. Previously we used spreadsheets and other programs to manage many things, but now we can do it all in Lattice.”

Manage your teams with ease

Don’t let HR admin overwhelm your day-to-day operations.

With the right HR AI tools, you can automate repetitive tasks and predict future demands, helping you plan and manage your teams.

If you’re looking for an easy way to manage your team’s time, try Motion. Motion’s AI-powered algorithms optimize team scheduling so that every shift is covered and every meeting fits in. Try it for free now.

Jared Posey
Jared Posey is a business, SaaS, and productivity freelance writer with a passion for conencting readers with high-quality content. When he's not polishing up a sentence or conducting SERP research, you'll find him making his kids laugh and his wife shake her head.
Written by Jared Posey