I have a confession to make: up until last year I used an offline HR process. It was effective when I first started using it, but as these things do, it deteriorated over time, until, with the help of my new HR consultant, I realized that it had become completely ineffective. Collaborating was difficult, tracking candidates was hard, and the process was choppy, to say the very least. At the same time, we were working with a client who uses JazzHR for recruitment management. With Jazz we could track candidates, both stay aware of a candidate's status, communicate with each other, with hiring managers and candidates.

What a difference! I've tried various recruitment systems throughout my career and this one is simple, intuitive and truly streamlines the process and perfectly sized for small and medium-sized businesses, which is why we switched over to it almost immediately.

All that got me thinking about some of the other HR tools we use to keep everything running smoothly.

While new, shiny systems don’t always help, the right ones can do a lot to simplify your recruitment process, not to mention advance your capabilities, organization, communication, and efficiency.

Here’s a list of some of our favorites:

Asana

Asana is great for project management, and it’s a lifesaver when it comes to delegation. Plus, it’s free to get started (although there is some advanced functionality with the paid version, and you can easily customize it to work with the way your brain works with both project list and project board options.

Evernote

I always tell people that Evernote is my brain’s external hard drive. It’s my favorite tool to keep notes from one on one meetings, but it’s much more than a note app. With functionality coming out its (elephant) ears, Evernote is a must.

Kantola

Kantola is what we use for online training, and it has everything from everything from non-harassment and non-discrimination training right through to HIPAA training, language training, and customer service training. Well worth checking out.

CoachingQ’s

And finally, in a rare plug for our own tool, CoachingQ’s. CoachingQ’s is a collection of cards created specifically for team building and training. They’re regularly updated (so you never have to worry about accidentally using the same questions over and over again), and they’re seriously effective for building a great team. Order your set of CoachingQ's here.