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According to a FICCI survey, 60% of Indian SMEs have virtual teams to automate their HR operations.
Keka’s cloud-based HRMS responses are quick to set up, load IT work, and offer simple scalability.
The startup targets SMEs/startups and enterprises and works with global and local brands such as ICM Capital, iion, Unibox, Noise, Bikanervala, and many more.
HR operations may not be overly complicated, especially regime responsibilities such as timesheets and onboarding/offboarding, or managing time off and benefits. But performing them manually, or even employing classic spreadsheets, requires time and resources that expanding Indian organizations can afford. Even large enterprises rely on their IT groups to extend local HR workflows, which are disparate and obstruct smooth operations across the organization.
The crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic has further forced a paradigm shift. As hybrid/remote workplaces and geographically dispersed groups face the new reality, there has been a growing focus on automating HR processes to free up valuable resources. In turn, you can simply help HR professionals work on strategic projects to drive painter engagement and ensure sustainable growth, while improving the painter experience and ensuring wear and tear is kept low.
According to a recent survey conducted by industry lobby FICCI, 60% of Indian SMEs use virtual teams for HR, 51% for sales and marketing, and 48% for finance. Essentially, the concept of e-HR and technology-based human resource control systems (HRMS) are becoming increasingly popular due to their ease of use, cost-effectiveness, and accuracy.
However, the situation is different in 2016.
While running his third company, a Texas-based IT consulting firm called Technovert (now Tezo), serial entrepreneur Vijay Yalamanchili discovered how small and medium-sized business groups struggled to manually carry out critical HR operations. To be sure, it was already a crowded market, with industry giants like SAP taking over giant companies. In addition, mid-market players, despite offering various roles, did not perceive the disruptions of HR professionals, Yalamanchili believes.
Sensing a niche in the market, he first focused on SMBs and startups and created Keka (that “awesome” in Telugu), a cloud-based payroll and HR control platform hosted on Microsoft Azure.
Unlike many HRtech SaaS corporations with some HR offerings, the software developed through Keka offers a full suite of services. Automate all must-have functions, adding recruitment, onboarding, attendance and time off, payroll, worker performance, and worker knowledge management. and expense processing. Employee self-service (ESS) is also made less difficult as Keka can be accessed through an internet interface and a mobile app from anywhere in the world.
Keka’s HRMS has been strategically designed for recruitment, as recruitment takes 1-4 months and 8-10 processes for up to corporations. The longer the hiring process, the worse a company will be, as the right applicants are attracted to the festival and the profits are lower. lost due to vacancies. To help companies rent smartly and quickly, its Applicant Tracking System (ATS) generates KPIs to measure hiring procedures, evaluates applicants, and analyzes the effectiveness of candidate sources.
Because Keka is in the cloud, this translates to faster setup, reduced IT workload, and simple scalability for enterprise consumers. It serves corporations in all industry segments and has divided its target consumers into two groups: those with fewer than 1000 workers (typically SMEs and startups) and giant companies that exceed that workforce.
He has worked with national and global brands Boult Audio, Sleepy Owl, Bakingo, Shaadi. com, OnePlus, Noise, Bikanervala, fintech corporations such as UK-based Easypolicy and ICM Capital, logistics robot manufacturer Unbox Robotics, and Australian gaming advertising platform. IIn, among others. Keka’s clientele also includes companies in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and hospitality sectors.
The startup is present in 150 countries and has incorporated 10,000 companies. It raised $57 million in a Series A investment from WestBridge Capital in 2022, the largest Series A investment ever raised in India’s SaaS history.
Entering the busy HRMS area was the first litmus test for Keka. At the time of its launch, corporations such as Darwinbox (launched in 2015, the 2022 unicorn counted MakeMyTrip, Swiggy, and Adani Group among its clients), Zoho People, and foreign players such as BambooHR dominated the market. In addition, many corporations were already hiring HRIS solutions for retirement, which automate the entire lifecycle of workers. But Yalamanchili believed that, as a newcomer, Keka could bring a new vision.
To meet this challenge, the startup took a personalized approach. Their sales team began visiting potential consumers and offering product demos to showcase Keka’s price proposition. This strategy proved to be very effective at first, and Keka was able to integrate several corporate and small business clients. Among them were early adopters, such as ClearTax and Mouri Tech.
Keka has also built a strong visitor team to help the B2B visitor base it has onboarded. The focus was on physically powerful visitors via email, live chat with HR groups in consumer corporations via Keka’s internet portal, and engaged remote control.
Then came the pandemic, which slowed growth and disrupted visitor acquisitions and revenue.
“The pandemic has reduced the influx of new consumers, while existing consumers have laid off 30-35% of their employees, impacting Keka’s turnover and revenue. We lost 60-70% of our annual turnover because no new consumers arrived. Yalamillii said.
After India imposed a months-long lockdown in March 2020, the startup, like most businesses, faced a difficult time over the next three months, with a steady drop in the number of customers. However, Keka was self-assured in a post-pandemic era. recovery and took advantage of the lean era to upskill their sales team through internal training.
In fact, this was a sensible strategic solution to the economic crisis, helping the startup put in place differentiated methods for its visitor categories.
For companies, the sales team acted as a sales representative, as they were trained to advise potential customers on optimizing HR operations. In this scenario, conversations with companies were about achieving conversions.
For small businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees, Keka has opted for a more hands-on technique and familiarization programs. Aware of its initial skepticism towards HRtech, the startup made the decision to inform customers about the platform through targeted classified ads on virtual channels in 2019. La promotion played a major role in boosting the startup’s presence.
Although development issues persisted during the pandemic years, businesses normalized to some extent after the initial shockwaves. However, a new format has emerged (remote work, to be precise), which puts more emphasis on HRIS adoption. By mid-June 2020, things started to look up and Keka saw a significant increase in visitor acquisition. By the end of FY21 (end of March 2021), its profits had doubled compared to last year, according to Yalamanchili.
When asked what sets Keka HR apart from other HR control systems available in the industry, Yalamanchili replied that the logo sums up the company’s purpose. “Keka means amazing and our goal is to provide exceptional and effective HRIS responses for all businesses. “” he added.
The way Keka’s all-in-one HRIS platform supports each and every HR serviceand adds price to the procurement procedure justifies what it claims. Here’s a quick review of their key services.
An ATS designed to monitor and improve recruiting systems: The platform’s ATS does more than initial resume research to track candidate relevance and save time. For starters, it has a centralized dashboard to help HR. to manage candidate profiles and track their application progress. interviews and onboarding (in case they get assignment posts). Companies can conduct pre-employment tests to evaluate applicants and verify their functionality and score through the dashboard. Another recruiting tool is Scorecard, which evaluates beyond functionality and retention rates of potential recruits. improving the quality of recruitment.
Most importantly, Keka’s ATS uses knowledge analytics to provide KPIs to measure the effectiveness of an organization’s recruitment formula, and if necessary, a very important metric in this regard is busy time, which measures the length of time between the task being offered and acceptance. of the position.
In addition, HR groups can compare the effectiveness of sourcing to optimize return on investment. As you are looking for the maximum number of applicants through resources such as task boards, social media, referrals, etc. , it is very important to have a transparent concept of the quality of each channel. important for the successful recruitment of the most sensible talent.
“Our equipment doesn’t interfere with traditional measures. They can track offer acceptance rates, interview-to-offer ratio, and diversity metrics to ensure a comprehensive skills acquisition strategy. Keka also seeks feedback from candidates. After all, the most productive functionality is the result of continuous improvement,” Yalamanchili explained.
Simplified payroll, tax, and expense processing: Keka has developed payroll software to automate complex payroll processing, aggregating payroll calculations, sources of income tax deductions, and expense reimbursements, in accordance with local regulations. In addition, it can be incorporated with popular accounting software such as Tally and QuickBooks.
Payroll software is also connected to license and timesheet control to perform accurate calculations without manual effort. Keka’s timesheet control formula integrates biometric knowledge to measure clocks in and out and provides data on patterns of attendance, absences, and time off.
Individuals can account for all monetary elements (payroll, investments, and more) along with tax legislation and tax-saving measures to make informed decisions and collect their tax liabilities in a tax year.
Performance Management & Streamlined Workflow: Keka’s highly intuitive, built-in functionality control platform compares workers by setting up purposes, normal reviews, feedback, and functionality reviews. In addition, Keka analyzes knowledge trends, such as worker gender, task type, etc. , for companies to make knowledge-based decisions.
Keka users can also access all tasks, workflows, and comments from one place, while HR groups can scan and store all knowledge and documents for easy-to-use feature reviews, reviews, and more.
Data Security: Keka ensures secure storage of employee data in accordance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In addition, it comes with a web application firewall (WAF) and a network-level firewall to protect private data from hacking. In addition, it has installed DDoS prevention techniques to protect against malicious activities.
Keka has implemented a subscription-based revenue model. It had a monthly pricing plan, starting from INR 6,999 for up to a hundred workers (basic plan). Companies may offer other packages based on modules and add-ons. For larger organizations, corporations can choose between the “Strength” or “Growth” plan, offering a variety of prices.
“We work with startups and small businesses and offer them special rates on their expansion journey,” Yalamanchili said.
Yalamanchili aims to increase Keka’s visitor base from 10,000 to 15,000 by 2024.
This may not be too complicated to achieve, as companies of all sizes will adopt core HR software on a global scale. However, the integration of AI and the analysis of great insights should be considered to gain valuable insights into force control and paint. A better painter’s experience. In addition, the use of AI in recruitment is now a no-brainer for companies, especially those operating in hybrid mode, with the aim of integrating a varied workforce and seeking to foster an inclusive painting culture. Therefore, HRtech/HRMS and its many variants not only meet all automation requirements, but also bring a higher price beyond the regime’s HR operations.
The pandemic has given the HR industry an initial push towards digitalization and automation, reducing hiring costs and making it possible to better match applicants to job profiles. But the future of the market will continue to evolve, with the need for more dynamic responses. to meet the demands of hybrid/remote work, diversity, and customization across the board.
Although India-specific knowledge is not yet available, business analytics firm CB Insights predicts that the HR software market will reach $43 billion by 2026. A report via SNS Insider also estimates that the global HRIS market will grow from $17. 78 billion in 2022 to $43. 41. billion by 2030, developing at a CAGR of 11. 8%. As Keka already has a presence in mature markets such as the UK and Australia, it can evolve from a local startup to a global HRIS player, as long as it meets the multifaceted demands of technology-driven workplaces. Again, the startup’s cloud features and the convenience of mobile apps will facilitate accessibility.
Keka and his ilk will also face a challenge closer to home. The SMB segment presents a significant opportunity for HRIS providers like Keka to expand their user base. -Based solutions, creates a promising market for HRMS services.