For any company, Human Resource is the most valuable and important asset. Companies success or failure mainly depend on the Human Resource, everyone knows that. Many ERP Software Tools have a sub module on HR Management. But, OrangeHRM stands tall because of its totally flexible, Free and Open Source software solution for managing Human Resource for Small and Medium companies. OrangeHRM is simple but comprehensive and best of all, it is available absolutely Free of Cost. However, you will not get any support from OrangeHRM team if you got it for free. They do offer Customer Support, Online Hosting Service if you didn’t want to maintain it in-house, Updates and more for a very reasonable price.

OrangeHRM helps by providing modules for personnel information management, employee self service, leave, time & attendance‚ benefits and recruitment companies are able to manage the crucial organization asset – people.

What are the major features of OrangeHRM?

OrangeHRM has various modules for solving HR management in a better way.

1. Admin Module - The part of the system where the HR Manager or other appointed personnel perform all system administration tasks. This include defining company structure‚ pay grades and other information that serves as the backbone for the rest of the system. Security issues are taken care of through this module as well by defining user rights etc.
2. Personal Information Module - This core module maintains all relevant employee related information‚ including different types of personal information‚ detailed qualifications and work experience‚ job related information etc. Picture of employee is included as well. Information captured in this module is utilized by all other modules‚ thus eliminating data redundancy.
3. Employee Self Service - Employee self service is a powerful tool providing employees of the company with the ability to view relevant information such as personal information‚ updating personal information with web - enabled PC without having to hassle the HR staff. The functionality of this module spans through the entire system‚ making information available anywhere‚ anytime. Of course all information is subject to company defined security policy‚ where everyone can only view the information he / she is authorized to. Time and cost saving effects from this solution are tremendous.
4. Report Module - This feature produces customized reports according to your needs. Any number of reports can be defined by selecting from a range of search criteria and report fields. Report definitions can be saved to avoid repeating this task. Once the report definition is saved‚ the report can be generated by providing the required criteria data.
5. Leave Module - A comprehensive leave management module‚ with extensive possibilities of defining leave types and more. It caters for all application and approval processes and is able to display information on leave entitlement‚ balance‚ history etc. Thanks to the web-enabled and self-service concepts‚ it significantly streamlines all leave related procedures‚ eliminates paperwork and saves costs.
6. Time and Attendance Module - The module automates time tracking related processes. The offered functionality enhances the organization’s performance by eliminating paperwork and manual processes associated with time and attendance needs. The sophisticated module helps to efficiently organize labor data‚ improve the workforce management and minimize errors in enforcement of company’s attendance policies.
7. Benefit Module - Integrated platform to manage benefit-related tasks. Covers medical and welfare benefits‚ with possibilities to define new benefits‚ by type‚ provider and several other areas. Assigning benefits to employees happens in a variety of ways‚ individually‚ designation-wise or other. Benefits history and other information can be displayed through rich reporting capabilities.
8. Recruitment Module - Comprehensive solution for the entire recruitment process‚ including requests for staff‚ approval of vacancies‚ entering requirements‚ capturing candidates information‚ short-listing‚ interview notes and other features. The module also allows HR professionals to generate templates and documentation to streamline the whole recruitment process.

How do you install OrangeHRM?

Installing OranegHRM is very simple. You can install it in LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). You can even use XAMPP (Windows, Linux, Solaris, Mac OS etc) that has the Apache web server, MySQL, PHP, Perl, a FTP server and phpMyAdmin. This is needed because OranegHRM is developed using PHP and it needs MySQL to store database.

However, it should be noted that OranegHRM installation is simple and if you are concerned about setting up the right environment, dont worry, OrangeHRM comes with a One Click installer (around 70MB) and it will make your life a lot simpler :).

A note on Commercial OrangeHRM

• For a nominal fee, you can get expert help from trained OrangeHRM support staff on Installation, Maintenance as well as Customization as per your requirements. That is really helpful for larger companies.
• If you want S-a-a-S (Software as a service) or no installation/maintenance way, then you can try their Hosted On Demand HRIS which will be a Web 2.0 style Application.

Verdict

A very stable, cross platform HR management software and a must for HR department! Lots of customizations are possible. Very detailed reports and a lot more other features that will make HR management a breeze!

Download OrangeHRM

Download OranegHRM here. Download page contains a very detailed Video Tutorial on how to Install OrangeHRM. OrangeHRM-Appliance for Windows (Includes Apache, MySQL, PHP,OrangeHRM) one click installation is also available on the Download page.