--- title: Choosing talent management software description: Choosing the right talent management software supplier is essential. But what are the questions you need to ask and check out the answers? Find out here. --- [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About Us](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) ### [Our Clients Our clients come from industry, justice, government and not for profit sectors.](https://head-light.co.uk/our-clients/) ### [Case Studies Find out what people have said about Head Light and how we have helped.](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/case-studies) ### [Client Charter We like to be clear and upfront in how we work – and how we won’t work. 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We are recognised in the Fosway 9-Grid™ for Talent & People Success and have supported customers for 20 years.](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Workforce Signals Surfacing the evidence layer that turns workforce data into intelligence.  ](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### [Capability Intelligence Understanding workforce capability across your organisation.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/capability-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Readiness Tracking organisational readiness in real time.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-readiness/) ### [Succession Intelligence Understanding leadership continuity and succession risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/succession-intelligence/) ### [Workforce Risk Identifying workforce capability risk before it becomes operational risk.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-risk/) ### [Organisational Insight Understanding workforce sentiment and organisational confidence.](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### [Talent 360 360-degree feedback software - spot potential, pinpoint development focus, embed recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) ### [Talent Performance Embedding a culture of performance conversation and recognition.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) ### [Talent Navigator Individual career ownership through career path mapping.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) ### [Talent Successor Succession planning software: providing a strategic line of sight.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-successor/) ### [Talent SafeGuard Skills management: by the individual and for the individual.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-safeguard/) ### [Talent En-Gauge Plan and take action to strengthen employee engagement.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-en-gauge/) ### [Talent Advance Keep track of goal planning.](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-advance/) - [Consultancy & Training](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) ### [Design a Skills or Competency Framework Get a skills or competency framework right for your organisation and your talent management practices make a real and lasting contribution.](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) ### [360 and Performance Assessment Design We develop, test and validate bespoke assessments across all sectors, at every level of talent and every stage of talent management.](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### [Designing a Talent Management Strategy Do you have a Talent Management strategy? Do all your talent activities integrate, utilise the same language and align with your organisational strategy?](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-strategy/) ### [Talent Management for Managers Talent Management is not the sole domain of the HR or Learning & Development team. delivering your organisation’s people a strategy.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-managers/) ### [Feedback Facilitator Training Investing in 360-degree feedback delivers little benefit if the review and feedback conversation is not handled properly.](https://head-light.co.uk/facilitator-training/) ### [Administrator Training Deploying a talent management software system successfully is not about luck. It requires robust and secure software, solid processes and great administrators.](https://head-light.co.uk/administrator-training/) - [Our Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### [Blue Light User Group Sharing talent management best practice and collaborating on new features to the Talent platform.](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-user-group/) ### [Talent Management for Police 360, PDR and talent and succession planning for police officers and staff.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-police-forces/) ### [Talent Management for Fire and Rescue Services 360, PDR and succession planning for fire and rescue services.](https://head-light.co.uk/talent-management-for-fire-and-rescue-services/) [TELL ME MORE](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) # Choosing talent management software --- For those getting ready to go to HR Software or Learning Technologies Shows may find our thoughts useful to help direct some of the questions you’ll need to answer before you have for meetings with suppliers when choosing talent management software – and the logical steps to take. ***1. Build or buy?*** Is buying an off-the-shelf product a realistic proposition? To what extent would you have to customise it? Would it be better to commission bespoke talent management software? ***2. Single or multi-vendor approach?*** Can one supplier meet most or your needs, or do you need to integrate the best 'bits' from different specialist suppliers? ***3. Business implementation strategy?*** Do you implement employee self-service first, or payroll, or flexible benefits or performance management, ... ? Which strategy will you adopt and how would you explain your choice to your stakeholders? **The next steps** Establishing a robust buying process, which is more than just competitive tendering, provides the necessary insight for making these critical business decisions. In this article we describe the key steps of a proven process enabling buyers to select the right HR management system. ***Step 1 - Building the business case*** The most important first step is to prepare the business rationale for making the investment in a new or improved HR management system, starting with a stakeholder analysis to identify touch points of those relying on information or services from HR. Having identified these stakeholders, we recommend defining a process of engaging with these 'customers' to review their current level of satisfaction with the information and service they receive from HR, and to identify and quantify opportunities to deliver additional value. This will provide focus and priority to your improvement efforts. For more guidance on how to write a business case, take a look at our Guide to Writing a Business Case. [![Read the article Guide to writing a business case for Talent Management software](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2397834/296dc52e-9cfa-4ae5-8e37-e5cf37c2e471.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2397834/296dc52e-9cfa-4ae5-8e37-e5cf37c2e471) ***Step 2 - Improve HR business processes*** Based on your analysis of the above, identify how an HR management system would enable you to meet the expectations of your key stakeholders more efficiently. Which of the needs could you meet by implementing a better HR management system? If you haven't already done so, we recommend using a business process mapping technique such as ICOM (Input, Control, Output, Mechanisms) or RAMS (Requirements Analysis for Management Systems). This will help you identify how the different HR processes are interrelated and consequently identify the key building blocks essential to deliver the desired value to the business. ***Step 3 - Define and prioritise functional requirements*** Steps 1 and 2 will have identified the major functional requirements for a new HR management system. By taking a holistic view and defining the core information requirements to support all of your value-adding HR business processes, you can specify your requirements for a core HR database that will meet both your current and your expected needs, reducing the risk of replicating data unnecessarily between different systems in the future. You can also identify and prioritise the software functions that will deliver the greatest value to the business. ***Step 4 - Survey the market place*** Asking potential suppliers to state their capability against your requirements enables you to evaluate the relevance and capability of different suppliers' solutions and allows comparison for potential solutions on a like-for-like basis. By doing this, you exert control over the buying process rather than reacting to a sales process driven by software vendors. Keep your long list of vendors 'long' to ensure market coverage, use technology suited to scale (such as internet-based surveys) and focus on simple 'compliance-based' questions to make analysis of many responses swift. It will be clear from your analysis of the long-list whether you are in a build or buy situation. Using this technique we recently helped a client identify and qualify a single supplier solution from a supplier previously unknown to them, where they had expected to have to develop a bespoke solution. ***Step 5 - Qualify short-list suppliers*** To identify whether a single supplier solution meets all your needs well enough and to prepare a qualified short-list, we recommend repeating the survey process with a shorter list of pre-qualified suppliers and with more specific questions related to your prioritised functions. Ask the suppliers to state whether the desired outcome is achieved using standard features, through customisation or through integration with a third party. Ask for standard prices and, importantly, the price for customisation as it will reveal the true extent of the work to implement. Matching the responses to your prioritised needs reveals the suppliers' relative strengths and weaknesses providing an objective basis for preparing a short-list for final selection, demonstration, negotiation and contract. ***Step 6 - Make your final selection*** Base your final selection on a combination of structured supplier demonstrations, conducting a hands-on trial, taking up references, visiting other customer sites and performing a detailed comparison of costs. Ask the short-listed suppliers to demonstrate how they would use their software to perform specific tasks which you select from your list of prioritised needs. This will give you the best insight on how easy it will be to use the software to achieve the desired outcomes. It will focus the discussion on the most relevant features and enable a more objective comparison of solutions. The extra preparation required by the supplier to respond to this requirement will provide valuable insight into the supplier's willingness and ability to support you in achieving your objectives. ***Summary*** The application of this robust buying process when choosing talent management software will equip you to decide whether to build or buy, whether to adopt a single or multi-vendor strategy, and what features of the software will enable HR to deliver the best value to the business. The process delivers a: - list of stakeholders and a current view of the business' needs and wants - consolidated list of requirements that might only have partially existed - roadmap for implementing functions according to priority - clear, evidence-based rationale to support your decisions - short-list of vendors that can meet your requirements and an objective means with which to evaluate their offerings and value for money - set of vendor compliance statements that can form part of the basis on which you can contract, and hold them to deliver. You may also like to take a look at our list of questions to ask of potential Talent Management suppliers. [![Read the article Questions to ask of your Talent Management supplier](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2397834/fbd77554-83a5-4312-93fd-873a783b7f50.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2397834/fbd77554-83a5-4312-93fd-873a783b7f50) [Talent Management](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/talent-management) [Talent Management software](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/topic/talent-management-software) ## Related posts ### [The Police Leadership Commission Report: What It Means for Your Force](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/police-leadership-commission-report-what-it-means-for-your-force) The Police Leadership Commission report sets a clear direction for policing - and it has immediate i... 23 Jul 2026 ### [Organisational Insight: evidence that organisations fail to use](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/organisational-insight-evidence-not-used) Organisational insight is one of the most underestimated assets available to HR and business leaders... 13 Jul 2026 ### [How your Workforce Intelligence platform turns data into signals](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform-turns-data-into-signals) Every organisation generates data about its people continuously. Performance ratings, development ac... 13 Jul 2026 [![HeadLight-logo-from LF for website](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hubfs/HeadLight_Sep2016/HeadLight-logo-from%20LF%20for%20website.png)](https://head-light.co.uk/) [![Fosway-2025](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/hs-fs/hubfs/Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg?width=150&height=150&name=Fosway-2025-150x150.jpg)](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news/head-light-fosway-grid-2025)   ### Useful Links - [Home](https://head-light.co.uk/) - [About](https://head-light.co.uk/what-makes-head-light-different/) - [Workforce Signals](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) - [Products](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) - [Blue Light Services](https://head-light.co.uk/blue-light-services/) ### Workforce Signals - [Capability Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/workforce-mobility/) - [Organisational Insight](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [Succession Intelligence](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/organisational-insight/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/workforce-intelligence-platform/) ### Our Products - [Talent 360](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-360/) - [Talent Performance](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-performance/) - [Talent Navigator](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/talent-navigator/) - [View All](https://head-light.co.uk/products-overview/) ### Consultancy & Training - [Consultancy & Training Services](https://head-light.co.uk/consultancy-training/) - [Designing your competency framework](https://head-light.co.uk/designing-your-competency-framework/) - [360 and performance assessment design](https://head-light.co.uk/assessment-design/) ### Support - [Contact](https://head-light.co.uk/contact-us/) - [Blog](https://blog.head-light.co.uk) - [FAQs](https://head-light.co.uk/faqs/) - [Resources](https://head-light.co.uk/resources/) - [News](https://blog.head-light.co.uk/news)   Copyright © Head Light Ltd. 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