HUMAN resource is probably the least liked department in most organisations by virtue of the work and the opaque nature of policies at large. The bureaucratic red tape with paperwork circulating across departments and the resulting delays make up for an image problem. And that’s something a local startup is trying to change by streamlining the way HR works.

Flowhcm is a Karachi-born startup that offers a 360-degree human capital management software. From recruitment to pensions, it streamlines everything and can be either accessed via cloud or deployed at local servers.

The portal has nine modules encompassing almost all of the department’s functionalities, starting with employee management, attendance, leaves, recruitment, payroll, expense, HR letters, performance appraisals and scheduled reports. Then obviously are the dashboards that let the relevant people analyse all concerned performance metrics, from the number of late entries of a worker to the monthly salary trends.

Employees also get their own unique profile, which can be accessed from either the web or mobile application, from where they can apply for leaves or even download the company’s HR policies. The startup has amassed quite a few clients including names like Foodpanda and Liberty Books.

Flowhcm was launched in 2018 by Muhammad Ammar Munaf and Naveed Muneer – two software engineers who go all the way back to school.

“After graduating, we worked for a couple of years full-time in tech and started projects on the side. Then my employer found out about the product and showed interest in investing. So together – the two of us and Spursol – founded another company called Impetus Systems,” Munaf, the CE recalls.

“We did our research and HCM came out to be the top choice. The existing local products in this arena lagged quite a bit, especially with regards to the analytics. Plus this line of work not bound by sectors: it was limitless,” he adds.

And what about the competitive landscape? For most part, the industry is full of solutions offered by small software companies spread across major urban centres, but there are hardly any brands as such. “Most of the products available in the market are limited to only payroll, which by the way comprises only a quarter of the overall HR requirements,” says the CEO.

Now coming to the more broad-based HR solutions, there aren’t too many players to begin with. But one, by the name of Timetrax – owned by a Karachi-based software company Efrotech – has been in the market for close to two decades and boasts an impressive clientele including the likes of KFC, Haier and PTCL. What sets a relatively new entrant apart from an incumbent that has been in the game for ages?

“First of all, they haven’t brought much innovation to the market, which has been our objective from the beginning. Plus, Timetrax has lately evolved into more than just an HR software as their modules include other functionalities too,” replies Munaf.

Then obviously there is the endless universe beyond Pakistan, which includes big names like BambooHR or Workday HCM but the duo feels their rupee-based local pricing and an international standard product makes them competitive.

Unlike the per-employee pricing model of most softwares in the (global) market, the startup duo has bucket-wise rates based on the number of workers and modules required. The charges are paid annually with the most basic plan starting from Rs130,000 and can go high in line with the staff size, of which there is no cap. And finally there is also a one-time set-up fee.

Other than the initial money poured in by Spursol, the startup hasn’t yet raised any external round. However, the duo is considering one if it offers an opportunity to expand wings beyond Pakistan.

“From the very beginning, we built a product that was suitable for the international market and are eyeing like the Middle East and the US (where Flowhcm even has a client). But that requires local partnerships or our representatives there for which we would need funds,” says Muneer, the chief operating officer of the company.

All sounds good up till now but isn’t HR too fragmented a department to have one product that fits all? Not only do the companies have unique policies – whether about holidays or payroll structure – but there are also differences across geographies due to labour law practices. How does a standardised software plan to solve all of these intricacies then?

“Over the past few years, we have been working with clients from diverse sectors – including textiles and restaurants which have very complex HR requirements – so our product has matured over time and encompasses these differences. Plus, there is always the possibility to customise it according to one’s own needs,” says Munaf.

The writer is member of staff: m.mutaherkhan@gmail.com Twitter: @MutaherKhan

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020