Costless and Extendible HR Software Platform Air Launches
Birmingham, UK (PRWEB) March 23, 2017 -- HR software startup Air has announced its launch today, unveiling a new approach to HR software.
Air offers various HR features like a central employee directory, time off booking, smart notifications and native iOS and Android apps so businesses can manage HR on the go. But according to Air CEO Nick Holzherr, Air’s USP lies at the heart of the model. “Managing HR is too hard right now - most processes are manual and different processes or software usually don’t link together. Small business owners spend an average of four days each month battling internal admin (FSB) and even then, most business owners don’t have access to basic tools that can help them manage their people and culture better”.
Air is built around a “hub-and-spoke” model. Air’s simple core offers all the basic things that small businesses need, entirely free for an unlimited number of employees. Air’s App Store then allows businesses to extend the platform with additional features, including some by third-parties. “Air is an HR platform that grows as your business grows. Businesses can add additional HR features into their workflow, each time without setting up yet another software system. Key is that each app businesses add integrates seamlessly with every other app on Air“ explains Nick.
“Twenty years ago people used bloated enterprise software platforms that were hard to use. They had every feature one could want, but navigating to just the essential features was cumbersome. Then ten years ago the trend was that every feature became a separate app delivered by a different company. Each app was good, but business owners suddenly had to log into 5 or 10 different services -- an inefficient and tiresome process. With HR in particular, this problem is exacerbated because there’s such a big foundation of personnel data that’s necessary for most tasks. The Hub and Spoke model offers a better future, I think”.
Air launched their alpha in "stealth mode" two months ago and already have over 100 companies using their platform. They are now working on additional integrations. “We’ve already launched our second Air app for managing business expenses. Next, expect apps for managing things like payroll, pensions and to help build a great company culture”. Once businesses have Air set up, each app takes just a few clicks to get running.
On their website, Air customers vote for which apps get built next. According to Nick, there is strong interest in features that support culture in businesses: “On average, 7 out of 10 people in the UK aren’t fully engaged (Gallup). Companies that do HR well get higher workforce engagement which impacts revenue and growth. A recent large scale study found that if companies don't upgrade their HR tech, they risk losing their best people (PC Mag). Historically it’s the smaller companies that can’t attract and leverage talent as well as larger companies but we’re aiming to help change that.”
Air is available at http://www.joinair.com. The platform is free for unlimited employees with advanced features available in paid plans and through extensions.
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An image gallery has been made available here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8QgVZU1rSs_OEJIQ05kT3BtT2c?usp=sharing
References used in article:
FSB: http://www.fsb.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/small-firms-spend-four-days-per-month-battling-red-tape
PC Mag: http://uk.pcmag.com/bamboo-hr/84018/feature/if-you-dont-upgrade-your-hr-tech-your-employees-might-leave
Gallup: http://www.gallup.com/services/178517/state-global-workplace.aspx
Founders:
Nick Holzherr, CEO
Nick is 3x tech startup entrepreneur (Top 100 tech startup). Nick first pitched Whisk.com to Lord Sugar in the final of the BBC Apprentice 2012, after which he rasied $2m in funding for the business. Nick was recently awarded an honorary doctorate for services to enterprise from Aston University. Nick’s been featured in leading publications including Newsweek, The Guardian, The Telegraph, BBC.co.uk and The Next Web.
Rachel Maclean, COO
Rachel is an HR, people, and management expert with 25+ years experience in high growth businesses. She co-founded Packt Publishing, now the UK’s leading technology publisher; and has led HR and sales teams in many companies globally. She started Air to help small businesses and entrepreneurs build better workplaces with happier employees.
She’s a keynote speaker and thought leader on the future of work and has appeared at conferences including Disrupt HR, the Business Growth Show and Innovation Nation.
Viktor Taranenko, CTO
Viktor is a leading software engineer with an extensive background driving startup products and technology. He has varied technical knowledge in building distributed applications and applying AI and Machine Learning to scale company growth.
Viktor has spoken at various tech conferences (most recently at the 2016 London Deep Learning Summit) and contributes to number of open source software projects.
Nick Holzherr, Air HR, http://www.joinair.com, +44 789473491, [email protected]
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