Human Resources is often touted as a people business. From culture to engagement to leadership, their responsibilities—the hiring, administration, and training of employees—can be difficult to track and analyse. According to Pulsifi, 86% of employers do not have data to justify their hiring assessment strategy and 95% of employers make hiring mistakes every year.
In the modern world of measurable business practices, however, things are starting to change. A 2016 Deloitte report on global human capital trends suggested HR departments in Southeast Asia are facing greater expectations to develop new talent recruitment and management techniques supported by digital platforms and employee analytics. And with half of Southeast Asian human resource leaders projecting their workforce will expand over the next 12 months, the need for technological advancement in the industry has never been greater.
Responding to the needs of these companies are a variety of innovative tech startups with comprehensive software, artificial intelligence platforms, and intuitive applications. Especially for small- and medium-sized companies, these platforms offer the ability to leverage employee data in a way that was previously available only to large corporations. Here are the top HR startups changing the landscape in Southeast Asia.
Swingvy serves over 3,000 companies and 70,000 users in three countries, maintaining offices in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and Seoul. The company advertises its products as reducing 80% of the paperwork associated with manual HR practices and saving companies thousands of dollars annually compared to outdated software.
Their platform is focused on creating an experience, in which the users forget that they are using the software. Swingvy’s digital offerings include:
- A comprehensive database of employee records
- Intuitive, web-based interfaces for employees to create profiles and update their information, even on mobile devices
- Automated hiring and termination processes
- Organisation chart development
- Custom real-time analytics on employee performance
- Seamless management of leave applications and reports
- Centralised calendar functions
- Distribution mechanism for company announcements
For many businesses, the process of hiring a candidate can be tedious and labour-intensive. Even after meticulously reviewing resumes and CVs for necessary skills, experience, and education, a hiring committee may find that a certain candidate still wouldn’t be the best decision. This discrepancy often boils down to differences in culture, attitude, or beliefs. In short, it just isn’t a right fit.
Find out how Jay Huang, CEO and Co-Founder of Pulsifi built his company
Pulsifi—a Singaporean and Malaysian HR startup with offices in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore—seeks to help companies understand a candidate’s potential fit earlier in the recruitment process, thereby saving everyone time, money, and effort. Partnering with IBM, SAP, and Amazon, their unique platform applies artificial intelligence technology to understand the soft traits of both employees and companies.
First, Pulsifi collects data on employees within the company, using internal profiles and training and performance records. They also mine general industry data from resumes and CVs, social media, relevant research reports, and internet searches.
Next, the platform utilises AI technology and predictive models—a combination of organisational psychology and data science—to quickly generate specific portraits of each candidate. This process will help to determine candidate’s competencies and experience, which can be learned through typical recruitment methods, and their interests, personalities, and values.
Based upon these portraits, Pulsifi can become a human resources partner and make recommendations for talent acquisition, development, and management. Over time and repeated business, the platform can also learn from experience to assess candidates more accurately. When it comes to the performance and retention of key personnel, this startup offers actionable, differentiated insights.
Sleekr designs human resource and accounting software that has helped hundreds of Indonesian small- and medium-sized businesses. The company is focused on creating an inexpensive and easy-to-use platform that can help companies capitalise on outsized growth opportunities.
Their human resources development software can handle salaries, claims, leaves, and taxes. In addition, the platform can manage employee directories, promotions and transfers, and changes to organisational structures. For HR departments trying to streamline standard operating procedures, their web tools can also create electronic documents that can be distributed to all employees.
Headquartered in Jakarta, Urbanhire simplifies the recruitment process in Indonesia and throughout the rest of Asia by cross-posting open positions to over 15 platforms simultaneously. With this startup’s intuitive software, job seekers and employers alike can manage postings from various channels through a single account.
Their database includes over 150,000 active job applicant resumes and profiles who have filled out pre-assessment questionnaires. For hirers, downloadable reports and analytics can assist in designing data-driven recruitment practices. The company also incorporates the EF Standard English Test into their platform and offers non-native English speakers the ability to obtain their EF SET English Certificate.
Based in Singapore, this startup utilises its AI and data analytics platform to provide automated talent sourcing and screening services for employers. Their clients range over 30 sectors and include major companies, such as Shopee, Grab, Keppel Group, and Temasek.
Find out JobTech co-founder, Charlotte Lim’s story
Their technology is based upon 10 years of R&D by machine learning experts and data scientists. Evaluating more than one million job postings daily, JobTech offers labour market information to financial institutions, consultancy firms, and governments, which helps inform business decisions and policy-making.