40 Best Employee Engagement Software Reviewed in 2025
10 Best Employee Engagement Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 40 tools reviewed.
Get free help from our HR software advisors to find your match.
Looking for the best employee engagement software to boost morale, reduce turnover, and build a thriving company culture, without getting lost in a sea of options? This guide is here to help.
Whether you're already using software that’s falling short or managing engagement manually through surveys and spreadsheets, the right solution can streamline how you collect feedback, recognize achievements, track engagement trends, and take timely action to improve employee satisfaction.
Employee engagement tools help you run pulse surveys, measure sentiment in real time, spotlight disengaged teams before issues escalate, and provide leaders with actionable insights—all in one place. The result? More connected teams, higher retention, and a stronger workplace culture.
As someone who’s reviewed hundreds of HR tools, I’ve evaluated today’s top employee engagement platforms to help HR professionals like you find solutions that are effective, easy to use, and designed to meet real-world people challenges.
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Best Employee Engagement Software: Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes pricing, trial, and demo details for my top employee engagement software selections to help you find the best option for your budget and business needs.
| Tool | Best For | Trial Info | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Best for recognition to boost engagement | Free demo available | From $2 to $5/user/month ($3,000/year minimum) | Website | |
| 2 | Best for real-time pulse surveys | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 3 | Best for peer-to-peer recognition | Free demo available | From $3/user/month | Website | |
| 4 | Best for analyzing surveys by sub-groups | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 5 | Best for virtual team recognition activities | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 6 | Best for ease of use | 14-day free trial + free plan available | From $5/user/month | Website | |
| 7 | Best for incentivizing global teams | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 8 | Best for real-time engagement analytics | 14-day free trial | From $2/employee/month | Website | |
| 9 | Best for recognition and included surveys | Free demo available | Pricing upon request | Website | |
| 10 | Best for linking performance and development | 14-day free trial | From $8/user/month | Website |
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Rippling
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
Paycor
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.1 -
edays
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.3
Best Employee Engagement Software Reviews
Explore the best employee engagement software to boost morale, strengthen communication, and celebrate your team’s success.
I’ve handpicked and reviewed top tools—highlighting standout features, key integrations, and why each one made the list—so you can quickly find the right fit for your workplace.
Motivosity is a rewards and recognition platform designed to help organizations build and maintain a strong workplace culture by fostering peer-to-peer recognition, feedback, and meaningful connections among employees. It’s widely used by businesses of all sizes that want to improve employee engagement and create a more positive work environment.
Why I picked Motivosity: It empowers teams to give and receive feedback in real-time, creating a transparent culture of appreciation. One key differentiator is its affordability and scalability, making it accessible for small businesses while also robust enough for larger enterprises.
With tools for goal tracking, surveys, and personal rewards, it provides a balanced mix of functionality to enhance team dynamics. You can easily align employee recognition with your company values without worrying about complex setups or steep costs.
Motivosity Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include peer-to-peer shoutouts, a customizable rewards system, and built-in goal tracking to keep your team motivated and aligned. You can create surveys (including eNPS surveys) to gather employee feedback quickly and ensure their voices are heard.
Other notable features include leaderboards, personality profiles, interest groups, visual org charts, peer-to-peer shoutouts, highlights and company news, and HRIS integration.
Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Okta, BambooHR, ADP, Workday, Paylocity, and UKG Pro.
Eletive is a human resources software tool designed to enhance employee engagement, performance management, and self-leadership within organizations. It offers features such as real-time pulse surveys, OKR goal-setting, 360-degree feedback, and 1:1 communication tools, all integrated into a user-friendly platform.
Why I picked Eletive: I picked Eletive for its ability to provide continuous employee engagement insights. Unlike traditional survey tools that offer sporadic feedback, Eletive's real-time pulse surveys allow for constant monitoring of employee sentiment. This feature ensures that organizations can detect changes in engagement levels promptly and respond with appropriate interventions.
Eletive Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include intuitive dashboards and heatmaps for visualizing engagement data, customizable survey templates that allow organizations to tailor questions to their specific needs, goal-setting and performance-tracking tools, and employee dashboards designed to empower employees in their own growth journey.
Integrations include Deel, BambooHR, Google Workspace, Gusto, ADP Workforce Now, CatalystOne, Employment Hero, Humaans, Sage HR, Workday, Zoho People, Paychex, Slack, Microsoft Teams, Okta, Personio, and more.
Nectar is an employee recognition software designed to enhance workplace morale and engagement by simplifying the recognition process. It offers a user-friendly interface, customizable rewards, and robust reporting capabilities.
Why I picked Nectar: I picked Nectar for its robust peer-to-peer recognition system. This feature allows employees to easily acknowledge and appreciate each other's contributions, which helps build a positive team environment and promotes a culture of appreciation.
The platform's social recognition feed further enhances this by allowing achievements and recognitions to be shared company-wide, increasing visibility and promoting a positive workplace culture. This is particularly beneficial for remote teams.
Nectar Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include five reward options, such as products from the Amazon Business catalog, gift cards, company-branded swag, donations, and custom rewards.
Other features include shoutouts, anniversary and birthday milestone notifications, challenges to incentivize employees, and a drag-and-drop interface for designing communications like newsletters and announcements.
Integrations include BambooHR, ADP, Namely, Paylocity, Zenefits, Workday, Rippling, Gusto, Netsuite, G Suite, Okta, OneLogin, and Azure AD.
Mitratech Trakstar is an HR performance software that helps businesses track, measure, and improve employee engagement.
Why I picked Mitratech Trakstar: The software provides various tools to help managers identify engaged employees, understand the factors contributing to employee engagement, and take action to improve engagement levels.
Mitratech Trakstar also offers a suite of HR analytics tools to help businesses understand the impact of employee engagement on key business outcomes such as productivity, retention, and profitability.
Mitratech Trakstar Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include reporting tools that help you segment your engagement survey results in various ways. Data can be filtered by department, location, or any other custom criteria you may want to analyze. Results can be filtered by period, allowing you to track how responses have changed over time.
Moreover, the platform offers several built-in reports, including those for tracking satisfaction scores, response rates, and detailed responses to open-ended questions.
Its real-time dashboard provides a bird's eye view of the survey process, allowing you to see how many employees have completed the survey, what percentage of employees have provided positive or negative responses, and which questions are causing the most difficulty.
Integrations are available with 25+ popular software systems including ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Google Workspace, Namely, Office365, Okta, OneLogin, Salesforce, Slack, UKG Pro, and Zoom.
Cooleaf helps companies empower and celebrate their employees by supporting a powerful engagement strategy. Whether your team is remote, hybrid, or fully in-person, you need a way to build team connections.
To help you get set up, Cooleaf’s engagement experts will partner with you to create meaningful experiences, from step challenges to virtual recipe swaps.
Why I picked Cooleaf: From employee onboarding to ongoing engagement, Cooleaf provides a strategy to help your people feel heard, valued, and understood. You can use their platform to foster DEI, improve learning and development, and promote health and wellness, all while recognizing and rewarding team wins.
By participating in your virtual team community, your people will earn reward points that they can redeem for charitable donations, gift cards, team swag, and more through their customizable global rewards catalog.
Cooleaf Standout Features and Integrations:
Cooleaf also empowers companies to capture employee sentiment through pulse surveys and measure their employee experience through powerful dashboards and analytics.
Employees will also appreciate how easy it is to recognize their co-workers' achievements thanks to their popular integrations with Slack and Microsoft Teams.
Integrations are available with many other platforms including popular HRIS providers, single sign-on platforms, and learning & development systems.
Workleap Officevibe is an intuitive employee experience tool that helps leaders engage and build trust with their team members — regardless of where they're located. The platform is used by over 20,000 customers worldwide, including Dyson, Trivago, and Bose.
Why I picked Officevibe: With a science-backed approach, Workleap Officevibe helps get to the heart of what matters most to your people with features like Pulse Surveys. Team members can answer questions anonymously, creating a safe space to share genuine feedback you can act on.
Officevibe Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include the ability to use the platform to set your agenda ahead of time so that everyone can come prepared. Afterward, you can share your notes and collaborate to achieve your desired results.
Other features include customizable 1-on-1 surveys, feedback templates, and reports that help you develop actionable retention and engagement strategies. Managers using Officevibe can now design their own performance management cycles to drive continuous employee development and growth.
Integrations are available with Microsoft Teams, Slack, Office 365, Google Workspace, and BambooHR.
Awardco is an employee recognition and rewards platform designed to support companies in acknowledging and incentivizing their workforce. The platform provides a comprehensive rewards marketplace, which includes a variety of options such as Amazon Business, gift cards, hotels, swag, and experiences.
Why I picked Awardco: This employee engagement software is suitable for companies of any size, from small businesses to large enterprises, and operates globally in over 100 countries, making it perfect for those looking to cultivate engagement and culture with teams operating worldwide.
Awardco is particularly beneficial for organizations that value detailed reporting and budget management in their recognition programs.
Awardco Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include service awards to acknowledge employee loyalty and tenure, gifts to show your employees appreciation, and custom incentive programs to encourage employees to engage with one another while driving overall company goals.
Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, Sage, ADP, Notion, and much more.
ThriveSparrow is an employee engagement and recognition platform. While the engagement and recognition modules are well-established in the platform, additional modules for performance management, goal setting, and one-on-one meeting tools are also available.
Why I picked ThriveSparrow: It offers customizable surveys to measure employee engagement levels, and facilitates anonymous feedback to encourage employees to share their experience.
In addition to monitoring engagement levels, the software also helps improve your culture of recognition. Employees can send recognition messages out to their colleagues, and they appear in a social feed-style layout. Team members can react with emojis, comment, and tag one another to encourage engagement.
You can also set up your organizational values in the system to tie recognition to the shared pillars of your company culture.
ThriveSparrow Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include employee engagement heat maps, employee survey tools with a large volume of researched-backed questions, AI-powered sentiment analysis, real-time analytics, and in-depth engagement reports.
Managers using ThriveSparrow receive reports that provide an overview of engagement levels on their entire team. The reports make it easy to track trends over time, and highlight your team's strong suits and areas for improvement.
The software can also transform engagement reports into targeted action plans, helping HR teams build strategies to address any weak areas.
Integrations include Slack, Workday, HiBob, UKG Pro, Google Workspace, BambooHR, Gusto, Zoho People, ChartHop, Okta, ADP WorkforceNow, Paylocity, Paycor, and numerous other systems.
Terryberry is an employee recognition and engagement platform tailored to mid-sized organizations aiming to foster a culture of appreciation. It combines personalized recognition tools with modern digital experiences to enhance employee morale and connection.
Why I picked Terryberry: It automates employee milestone recognition with its service awards program, allowing for personalized acknowledgments of anniversaries and achievements. Plus, its social recognition feature encourages collaboration and peer-to-peer support through an engaging, social media-style interface, complete with reactions, GIFs, and value tagging.
The platform’s rewards catalog offers diverse options, from merchandise and gift cards to custom-crafted awards made by skilled artisans, ensuring every employee feels uniquely appreciated. With support for multiple languages and global fulfillment, Terryberry simplifies recognition for organizations with a distributed workforce.
Terryberry Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features include a wellness program covering mental and physical health, with activity tracking and social challenges linked to rewards for healthy behaviors. It also offers built-in survey tools that provide valuable insights into employee sentiments and tie feedback directly to recognition efforts.
Additionally, its value-tagging feature reinforces company culture by linking recognition moments to organizational values.
Integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams, SSO compatibility, and various HRIS/HCM platforms.
Leapsome is the all-in-one tool that helps organizations maximize their employee engagement and is trusted by companies like Spotify, Northvolt, and monday.com. It enables a continuous cycle of engagement, feedback and personalized learning that powers the growth of your people and business.
Why I picked Leapsome: With Leapsome you can share and request peer feedback from anyone, at any time, and control settings such as public, private or mentor visibility. This feature makes it easier to tie your actions to the company values or competencies.
Leapsome’s learning module lets you assemble the conducive learning paths to assist your employees’ professional development and help them further their career.
Lastly, Leapsome's performance and 360° reviews are also fully customizable and easy to set up, and help you establish a company culture that thrives on continuous feedback.
Leapsome Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include employee engagement surveys that help you identify engagement drivers and measure your employees‘ satisfaction over time, and the option to request anonymous feedback when appropriate.
Whether through custom questions or Leapsome's expert templates, the tool helps you turn company sentiment into action. These surveys are fully customizable from questions, frequency, participants; segmentation by department, performance, and more.
Other features include expert templates, skill frameworks, development paths, automations, and powerful analytics.
Integrations are available with HRIS tools, SSO, and many popular communication and collaboration tools, including HiBob, BambooHR, Lucca, Rippling, PayFit, Personio, Workday, Slack, Microsoft Teams, and others.
Other Employee Engagement Software Options
Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the list of the best employee engagement software:
- Hub
Employee engagement intranet for SMEs
- Workvivo
For connection with company culture
- Vantage Circle
Real-time employee feedback with eNPS
- Medallia
For employee and customer engagement
- Empuls
For reducing team silos
- Culture Amp
For aligning with industry benchmarks
- Qualtrics Employee Experience
For real-time engagement insights
- Xoxoday Compass
For unique rewards and perks
- Nailted
For distributed tech teams
- Pingboard
For rich staff profiles
- Workmates
Intranet-style system for engagement
- Trivie
For ongoing learning goals
- HubStar
For fostering in-person connections
- Beams
For personalized engagement recommendations
- Jenz
For mobile-friendly employee engagement
- Assembly
For aligning with company values
- WorkTango
For creating a positive work culture
- Bonusly
For team growth and performance
- Lattice
For feedback on workplace changes
- Guusto
For employee nominations
- PerformYard
For continuous engagement with feedback
- ClearCompany
For high-touch employee engagement strategies
- Bucketlist Rewards
For company-specific reward opportunities
- Wellable
Unified wellness, rewards, and recognition
- Sogolytics
For personalized strategies using analytics
- AdvantageClub.ai
For digitized employee rewards
- Peoplebox.ai
For connecting employees with goals
- SurveySparrow
For recurring surveys
- Qooper
For mentorship initiatives
- Mo
For hybrid teams
Related HR Software Reviews
If you still haven't found what you're looking for here, check out these other related tools that we've tested and evaluated:
- HR Software
- Payroll Software
- Recruiting Software
- Employer of Record Services
- Applicant Tracking Systems
- Workforce Management Software
Selection Criteria for Employee Engagement Software
Selecting the right employee engagement tool hinges on understanding the core principles of employee engagement and how software can solve common challenges and satisfy organizational needs.
My approach to choosing the best employee engagement software is grounded in thorough research into recent market data on employee engagement systems and how these tools can strengthen bonds between employees and managers, and ultimately boost company morale. Here are the details I evaluated to decide on my final picks:
Core Employee Engagement Software Functionalities (25% of total score): To be considered for inclusion in my list of the best employee engagement software, each solution had to offer the following basic functionalities first:
- Social engagement features such as activity feeds, chat channels, discussion boards, @tagging colleagues, and knowledge-sharing tools to boost engagement
- Tools to monitor employee satisfaction, including pulse surveys or eNPS surveys
- Employee recognition features with optional rewards and incentives
- Integrated employee performance and goal-tracking features
- Tools to facilitate better internal communication and create feedback loops, including polls or a digital suggestion box
- Data-driven insights that highlight company strengths and areas for future improvement
Additional Standout Features (25% of total score): To help me narrow in on the best employee engagement software out of the numerous options available, I also took note of any unique features, including:
- Unique employee wellness and mental health support features
- Advanced analytics and predictive modeling for engagement forecasting and uncovering actionable insights
- Benchmarking metrics to put engagement levels into perspective
- Innovative use of AI for personalized feedback, sentiment analysis, trend analysis, or strategic engagement-focused recommendations
- Customizable engagement campaign tools to enhance your workplace culture
- Integration with broader HR systems and corporate social media platforms for a unified employee experience
It's important to note that there are different sub-types of employee engagement solutions in this list. Some are designed to act as employee survey tools to help you collect feedback, while others are built to help improve internal communication, or are designed to address employee recognition as well as engagement.
Usability (10% of total score): To evaluate the usability of each employee engagement tool, I considered the following:
- An intuitive design and user interface, with a minimal learning curve to master
- A good balance between powerful features and ease of use to accommodate all skill levels and create a positive user experience
- Dedicated mobile apps or a mobile-friendly user interface that supports use on both Android and iOS mobile devices
- Role-based access controls that are straightforward to configure
Onboarding (10% of total score): To get a sense of each software provider's customer onboarding process, I considered the following factors:
- A streamlined setup process and clear configuration guidelines
- The availability of training materials such as videos or interactive tutorials
- Customizable templates to speed up the onboarding process
- Support for migrating employee data into the new platform
Customer Support (10% of total score): To evaluate the level of customer support each vendor offered, I considered the following:
- The availability of multiple support channels, including email, phone, and chat
- The existence of a self-service knowledge base or other self-help resources to speed up troubleshooting
- The overall quality, responsiveness, and helpfulness of the support team during customer onboarding and post-purchase, as inferred from customer reviews
- Evidence of customer satisfaction regarding technical or support issues
Value for Price (10% of total score): To gauge the value of each software, I considered the following factors:
- The availability of free trials or demos to test the software before purchasing
- Competitive and transparent pricing models that reflect the software's feature depth and explain which features are included at each level
- Tiered pricing plans that cater to different business sizes, from small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) up to enterprise-level organizations
Customer Reviews (10% of total score): Evaluating customer reviews is the final element of my selection process, which helps me understand how well a product performs in the hands of real users. Here are the factors I considered:
- Whether a product has consistently high ratings across multiple review platforms, indicating a broad level of user satisfaction
- Specific praises, criticisms, or trends in customer feedback that indicate the software's strengths or areas for improvement
- Whether customer feedback specifically mentions issues with ease of use, customer support responsiveness, or lacking features
By using this assessment framework, I was able to identify the employee engagement software systems that go beyond basic requirements to offer additional value through unique features, intuitive usability, smooth onboarding, effective support, and overall value for price.
How to Choose Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software can help you foster stronger connections among employees, driving better teamwork, higher job satisfaction, and stronger morale. To help you choose the best tool for your needs, keep the following points in mind:
What engagement challenges are you trying to solve? Identifying your current challenges will help guide your selection process by highlighting the specific features and functionalities you need. These challenges may include:
- Emotionally disconnected teams leading to lower productivity and poor collaboration
- Employees who feel undervalued, unrecognized, and disengaged
- Difficulty measuring engagement metrics, making it hard to diagnose the root causes of low morale
- Communication gaps due to unstructured feedback systems and dispersed team structures (like remote and hybrid workforces)
By identifying your challenges early, you’ll align them with the software features that matter most. This also lays a foundation for setting engagement KPIs (like employee net promoter score (eNPS) levels or turnover rates) so you can measure success effectively.
What outcomes are important and how will you measure success? Being clear on your desired outcomes upfront is crucial to avoid wasting valuable time — and budget — on the wrong tool. Key outcomes you may want to measure include:
- Reduced turnover rates
- Improved quarterly eNPS scores
- More frequent, bi-directional feedback opportunities across the company
- Access to advanced analytics and sentiment analysis to track engagement trends
Having clear outcome goals will help you set specific targets and demonstrate the ROI of your new employee engagement platform.
Who are your main users? Think about the different groups who will interact with the software: employees, managers, HR administrators, and leadership. Each group will have unique needs that the platform must support.
For most organizations, you’ll want broad access for employees combined with role-based permissions for managers and administrators to manage workflows, review analytics, and act on feedback.
What is your budget? Setting a realistic budget early on is essential to avoid wasting time considering options outside your price range. Most engagement platforms are priced on a per-employee-per-month basis, so you’ll want to calculate your current headcount plus future growth projections.
Do you require specific software integrations? Decide whether your new platform will need to integrate with your existing systems — or potentially replace them. In some cases, an all-in-one engagement platform can consolidate several tools and reduce your overall software costs.
Key integrations to consider include:
- Communication tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Zoom
- HR management systems (HRIS)
- Performance management systems
Does the employee engagement platform satisfy your technical requirements? Beyond features, make sure the software fits your organization's technical needs and security requirements. Ask yourself:
- Does it meet our data security standards (e.g., two-factor authentication, SOC 2 compliance)?
- Can employees access the platform through mobile apps or mobile browsers?
- Does it integrate with our workplace productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft 365, Google Workspace)?
Final Tip! Every organization is different — don’t assume that just because a tool is popular, it’s the right fit for your team. Always match the platform’s strengths to your specific needs and goals.
In a previous role, I helped implement an AI-powered tool to measure employee engagement across multiple locations. By integrating sentiment analysis with performance metrics, the tool allowed leaders to identify early signs of disengagement and address issues proactively.
Trends in Employee Engagement Software for 2025
Employee engagement software continues to evolve with an emphasis on personalized experiences, holistic employee wellness, and data-driven insights.
Here are the most important trends impacting engagement technology currently:
- Advanced Analytics and Predictive Insights: The most rapidly evolving feature is the use of sophisticated analytics to provide actionable insights into employee morale and engagement levels. Software now often includes predictive analytics capabilities, allowing organizations to anticipate engagement dips and proactively address issues before they impact morale.
- Personalization and AI Integration: There's a clear trend toward leveraging AI to tailor engagement strategies to individual employee needs. Tools are increasingly incorporating machine learning algorithms to analyze feedback and performance data, enabling managers to offer personalized support and recognition.
- Holistic Wellness Features: An unusual yet increasingly popular functionality is the integration of wellness and mental health resources within employee engagement platforms. This includes access to meditation apps, wellness challenges, and mental health days. Such features reflect a growing recognition of the importance of supporting employees' overall well-being as a key component of engagement.
- Gamification and Rewards: Incorporating game-like elements and rewards into the employee experience is becoming more popular, serving to motivate employees through achievements and milestones with engaging, rewarding experiences.
- Automated Surveys and Smart Algorithms: The adoption of automated surveys and intelligent algorithms has risen in response to the need for more efficient and insightful feedback mechanisms. These enhanced feedback collection processes allow companies to quickly gather and analyze employee sentiment, thereby enabling more responsive and informed decision-making.
These trends highlight a move towards more nuanced, data-informed, and holistic strategies to employee engagement that underscore how employee engagement is not just about measuring satisfaction, but about actively enhancing the work experience to create a happier and more productive workforce.
By focusing on predictive analytics, personalization, wellness integration, gamification, and other intelligent tools, software developers aim to address the changing needs of modern organizations to help them stay more competitive in the talent market.
What is Employee Engagement Software?
Employee engagement software is a digital tool that helps HR teams boost morale, reduce turnover, and improve workplace culture by measuring and enhancing employee satisfaction.
Used by HR professionals and team leaders, it solves challenges like disengagement and communication gaps by enabling pulse surveys, real-time feedback, and recognition—all in one centralized platform.
Hybrid workplace culture requires intentionality… You need to create opportunities for remote workers to feel included, whether it’s through virtual team-building activities or regular check-ins to make sure they’re engaged.
Limitations of Traditional Methods for Managing Employee Engagement
Traditional approaches to employee engagement—like spreadsheets or manual tracking—often fall short in today’s fast-paced workplaces. Without automation and data-backed insights, HR teams struggle to keep up with shifting employee needs. Common challenges include:
- Time-Consuming & Error-Prone Processes – Manually updating and analyzing data is slow and increases the risk of mistakes, leading to inaccurate insights.
- Delayed Responses to Engagement Issues – Without real-time feedback tools, spotting disengagement early becomes difficult, resulting in missed opportunities to improve morale.
- Limited Visibility into Employee Sentiment – Traditional methods lack features like pulse surveys and sentiment tracking, making it harder to understand the full employee experience.
- Fragmented Data & Lack of Integration – Disconnected systems create scattered information, preventing HR teams from getting a complete, data-driven view of engagement.
Modern employee engagement software solves these challenges by automating data collection, providing real-time insights, and equipping HR teams with the tools they need to foster a more engaged and motivated workforce.
Founding an employee engagement software ten years ago taught me the value of using psychology and data to influence hearts and minds during tough transitions.
Features of Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software can do a lot of heavy lifting when it comes to improving job satisfaction, strengthening retention, and fostering a positive work environment and company culture.
Here are the most important features to consider in employee engagement tools:
- Communication Tools: The best systems include company-wide communication tools to ensure everyone's on the same page and receiving the same information. This includes features like activity feeds, company announcements, news updates, newsletters, and event notifications.
- Employee Recognition Tools: With many systems spanning engagement and recognition, I took special note of any systems that included peer-based recognition tools. That includes features like public shout-outs for key achievements and recognition for important milestones across the employee lifecycle (e.g., work anniversaries, birthdays, a new employee's first day, etc.).
- Rewards and Incentives: Some systems take engagement and recognition one step further, making it possible to offer employees tangible rewards and perks for reaching their goals or key milestones.
- Customizable Surveys & Pulse Surveys: Having the ability to customize surveys is important, so you can tailor the questions to your needs and gain more accurate and actionable insights. In addition, short, frequent pulse surveys give a quick insight into the mood and engagement levels of employees, helping to uncover trends to further enhance workplace satisfaction.
- Employee Performance Tools: This includes tools that link engagement and performance, such as 1:1 check-in details that are fed into performance review reports, and tools that collect 360-degree feedback from other colleagues.
- Gamification Features: Some systems allow employees to earn points for key activities like recognizing colleagues or digital badges or awards for achieving certain goals. These features help to boost engagement by incentivizing these activities to increase employee participation.
- Goal Setting & Tracking Tools: These features are often linked with performance management, but I paid special attention to any systems that included goal-tracking tools that make monitoring productivity intuitive. Many systems also allow you to track KPIs (key performance indicators) or OKRs (objectives and key results) too.
- Mobile Accessibility: With the increasing prevalence of remote work, having a mobile-accessible platform ensures that all employees can engage and provide feedback, regardless of their location. (When considering mobile accessibility, make sure the software supports both Android and iOS mobile devices.)
- Insightful Analytics: There's little point in collecting loads of employee engagement metrics if you're not going to do anything with them. I took a closer look at the analytics each system covered, including any tools that help monitor employee sentiment, identify problem areas, and any insights to boost employee retention.
- Action Planning Tools: Beyond gathering data, the software should offer tools to help managers create and implement action plans based on the feedback received, closing the loop on engagement initiatives.
By prioritizing software with customizable surveys, comprehensive analytics, and these other key functionalities, you'll gain the tools you need to foster a culture of continuous improvement and engagement.
I recently coached a leader through identifying the ‘hidden languishers’ on their team—those who seem productive but are emotionally checked out. We used tools like individualized check-ins to rebuild connection and engagement, and within weeks, team morale visibly improved.
Benefits of Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software plays a critical role in maintaining a positive workplace culture, giving managers the tools they need to communicate effectively, collect feedback, recognize achievements, and improve job satisfaction and morale.
By investing in the best employee engagement software for you, you can expect to gain the following benefits:
- Improved Internal Communication: By breaking down communication barriers, employee engagement software ensures that every team member is on the same page, fostering a more collaborative and inclusive work environment.
- Increased Employee Satisfaction: By giving employees a platform to voice their opinions and receive acknowledgment, companies can boost morale and job satisfaction, leading to a more content and motivated workforce.
- Enhanced Productivity and Performance: By aligning employee goals with organizational objectives, the software helps in tracking progress and providing the necessary support, leading to enhanced overall performance and productivity.
- Reduced Turnover Rates: It's no secret that engaged employees are more likely to stay with their employer. By using employee engagement technology to make employees feel more valued and connected, businesses can significantly reduce turnover rates, saving on the costs associated with hiring and training new staff.
- Data-Driven Insights for Better Decision Making: Employee engagement tools provides valuable data on employee satisfaction, engagement levels, and feedback, helping management teams identify areas of improvement, strategize better HR policies, and make data-backed decisions.
As you can see, investing in employee engagement software is not just about adopting new technology; it's about committing to a culture that values feedback, promotes collaboration, and recognizes the contributions of every team member.
By investing in software to prioritize employee engagement, businesses can unlock the full potential of their workforce and drive operational success.
Costs & Pricing for Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software pricing varies based on features, scalability, and support. Typically, prices range from $3 to $30 per user, per month, with some vendors offering custom quotes due to modular systems. This flexibility allows you to pay only for the features you need.
To compare pricing, check our table of average plan costs. Be sure to explore free demos or trials before committing.
Plan Comparison Table for Employee Engagement Software
| Plan Type | Average Price | Common Features |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | Basic surveys, limited analytics, and community support |
| Basic | $2-5 per user/month | Surveys and feedback, basic analytics, and email support |
| Standard | $5-10 per user/month | Enhanced surveys, full analytics suite, performance tracking, and email and chat support |
| Premium | $10-30 per user/month | Custom surveys, advanced analytics, integration capabilities, performance management, and 24/7 support |
| Enterprise | Custom pricing | All Premium features plus custom integrations, a dedicated account manager, and tailored training and customer support |
When considering which plan is right for your organization, weigh the balance between the features you need and the budget you have available. A free option may be a good starting point to test the waters, while Premium and Enterprise plans offer comprehensive tools for larger or more complex organizations needing detailed insights and support.
While it's understandable that you may want to start with a free or basic plan initially, there are several reasons why you may want to opt for a more advanced plan, including:
- Integration with Other Systems: Most free and basic plans don't offer software integrations, making this the most common reason to upgrade your plan. If you integrate it with your HR software, you can easily automate milestone announcements like staff birthdays and work anniversary dates, letting the system do the work for you.
- Customizable Engagement Strategies: Free and Basic plans often limit customization options. Instead, advanced plans allow you to tailor engagement initiatives to fit your unique company culture, making it more meaningful.
- Employee Surveys with Sentiment Analysis: Many advanced plans offer integrated tools to conduct employee surveys or eNPS check-ins, including sentiment analysis tools to help you gauge the emotion behind your employee's feedback. Though these features cost a bit extra, they'll help you gather comprehensive insights and respond more effectively to employee concerns.
- Advanced Communication Tools: If your company requires more sophisticated communication channels, such as custom newsletters or targeted messaging, an upgrade may be necessary to unlock these advanced features.
- Enhanced Analytics and Reporting: If you want more in-depth insights into your employee engagement trends, upgrading your plan may be necessary. Advanced plans typically offer more robust analytics to help you make data-driven decisions to improve workplace satisfaction.
Ultimately, it's important to secure a plan that offers the features you require to satisfy your current needs and solve your challenges without exceeding your budget.
Employee Engagement Software: Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some answers to questions people often have about employee engagement software and how it works:
What is an employee engagement program?
An employee engagement program improves relationships within a company by giving employees a voice, recognizing achievements, and fostering continuous feedback. This leads to higher morale, better productivity, and lower turnover. Your employee engagement strategy may include anonymous feedback channels, peer recognition, and a focus on improving the work environment.
Why is employee engagement important?
Employee engagement is crucial for several reasons. According to Gallup surveys, business units with high engagement levels experience:
- A 14% increase in productivity,
- A 10% increase in customer ratings,
- An 18% increase in sales,
- A 23% increase in profitability,
- A 13% increase in organizational participation,
- And most notably, a 66% boost in employee wellbeing.
Gallup has also found that 2 in 3 employees feel disengaged at work, which is a concerning statistic. With only 1 in 3 employees feeling feeling truly engaged, it it underscores the value of investing in employee engagement tools, rewards programs, and other initiatives.
Engaged employees are less likely to leave, improving retention and boosting your eNPS (employee net promoter score). Just as customer experience drives business success, so does employee experience. High turnover negatively affects morale, your employer brand, and ultimately your bottom line.
How do I choose an employee engagement software?
Selecting the right employee engagement software will depend on the needs of your business, the other tools your HR team relies on, and ultimately what you want the software to do. You might be looking specifically for an employee survey tool, or you might want a more comprehensive employee experience platform. Here are a few tips to help you find the best tool for your needs:
- Outline your goals: do you want to streamline your upward feedback process, or implement an employee rewards program to distribute gift cards and cash bonuses?
- Consider the other employee management software you’re using, and which ones you need to integrate with the new platform.
- Think about how the new tool will fit into your employees’ workflows. You want something that will cause little disruption and won’t slow people down.
- Contemplate which type of employee engagement platform you want. There are employee engagement survey software, employee performance management software, employee communication tools, people analytics tools, and more!
Keep in mind, it’s unlikely that any one platform will do everything well. You might still need a dedicated HR case management software for handling specific complaints or concerns. And you might need a separate employee onboarding platform to get new employees up and running. So narrow down your exact needs, and go from there.
How do you measure employee satisfaction?
Employee satisfaction is a key aspect of engagement, focusing on whether employees feel valued, respected, and fairly treated. Key factors include:
- Pay and benefits: Competitive compensation and benefits packages show employees that they’re valued.
- Recognition and rewards: Acknowledging achievements and hard work boosts morale and makes employees feel appreciated.
- Growth opportunities: The chance to develop skills and grow within your role shows employees that you’re as invested in them as they are in your business.
- Autonomy and trust: Empowering employees with the freedom to make decisions and manage their work is a sign of respect.
- Company culture: A positive, inclusive culture where employees feel valued and part of a community fosters belonging.
- Work-life balance: Ensuring employees have a healthy balance between work and personal life is non-negotiable.
Measuring both employee engagement and satisfaction is crucial for retention and productivity. Here’s how to gauge employee satisfaction:
- Surveys and questionnaires: Regular, anonymous surveys can provide insights into how employees feel about their work, environment, and management. Include questions about pay, work-life balance, recognition, and opportunities for growth.
- One-on-one meetings: Personal interactions can reveal a lot. Encourage managers to have frequent, informal discussions with their team members to understand their concerns and aspirations.
- Exit and stay interviews: Exit interviews reveal why employees leave, while stay interviews help you keep your best talent by addressing their needs and potential concerns.
How can you boost employee engagement? What are some examples of activities and initiatives?
If you’d like to boost engagement levels at your business, here are a few examples of initiatives and activities you can implement:
- Mentorship programs: Pairing employees with mentors within (or outside of) the organization shows that you’re invested in their professional development. Mentorship programs can help foster personal and professional growth, enhance skills, and build meaningful connections across departments.
- Team building retreats and workshops: Organizing off-site retreats or workshops focused on team-building can strengthen relationships among team members. It can also encourage collaboration and help break down communication barriers. And most importantly, it can create alignment across the organization.
- Flexible working arrangements: Implementing flexible work schedules or remote working options where feasible can improve work-life balance for employees. This leads to increased job satisfaction, a sense of autonomy, and feelings of trust.
- Recognition and rewards systems: Establish a system to regularly recognize and reward employees for their achievements and contributions. This could include monthly awards, public acknowledgements, or small bonuses.
- Employee feedback forums: Create regular opportunities for employees to voice their ideas, ask questions, and provide feedback about the workplace. This could be through town hall meetings, suggestion boxes, or feedback sessions. Soliciting employee feedback promotes a sense of inclusion, and gives staff a voice in company decisions.
Are there any free employee engagement software systems?
There are many free employee engagement software tools on the market. These open-source options are helpful for small teams or organizations on a tight budget. Although they have the place, they typically cannot match the full range of features offered with paid alternatives.
If you really need to go with something free, here are a few employee engagement tools you can check out:
- Teamphoria: free for up to 5 employees
- Officevibe: free with feature limitations
What integrations are important for employee engagement software?
It’s always important to pick software that works with the HR software and other tools your organization is already using. For employee engagement software, key systems you’ll want it to integrate with include:
- performance management systems
- HR management systems (HRIS, HCM, HRMS)
- messaging tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams
- cloud-based work operating systems (e.g., Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Google Workspace, etc.)
How do you calculate the ROI for employee engagement software?
Calculating the ROI of employee engagement software involves comparing its cost to the measurable benefits it brings to your organization. A simple formula to use is:
ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment
To accurately assess ROI, track key metrics before and after implementation, including:
- Employee retention rates – Reduced turnover lowers hiring and training costs.
- Productivity levels – Engaged employees tend to be more efficient and contribute more effectively.
- Satisfaction and engagement scores – Higher engagement is often linked to better performance and morale.
- Absenteeism and burnout rates – Lower absenteeism reduces productivity losses.
- Recruitment and training costs – Engaged employees stay longer, decreasing hiring and onboarding expenses.
While some benefits, like improved company culture, may be harder to quantify, tracking tangible improvements in these areas can help demonstrate a positive ROI.
What is the average implementation time for employee engagement software?
The implementation time for employee engagement tools can vary depending on the complexity of the software, the size of your organization, and how integrated the solution is with your existing systems. Generally, a simple system can be set up quickly, in a matter of days, whereas more complicated systems may take a few weeks to several months to fully implement.
Key steps in the implementation process include planning, customization, data migration, and training for users. Ensuring a smooth transition involves careful project management and may require ongoing adjustments and support. A comprehensive plan and clear communication are essential to minimize disruptions and maximize the benefits of your new system.
What security features do engagement platforms offer?
Employee engagement platforms typically offer data encryption, access controls, regular security audits, compliance with data protection regulations (such as GDPR or CCPA), and secure data storage and transmission methods. These features are crucial for protecting sensitive employee information from unauthorized access or breaches.
It’s important for organizations to inquire about a platform’s security certifications, privacy policies, and any previous security incidents to ensure the protection of their data.
What are some common mistakes regarding employee engagement software implementation and how can you avoid them?
Unrealistic expectations: The most common mistake when implementing employee engagement software is setting unrealistic expectations about immediate results. It’s easy to assume that engagement levels will instantly improve once the new software is in place, but true engagement requires consistent, thoughtful effort and continuous adjustment based on feedback.
To avoid this pitfall:
- Set achievable short-term goals and track gradual progress over time,
- Communicate to employees that the software is a tool to support engagement efforts, not a quick fix, and
- Emphasize a collaborative approach to measuring success.
Rushed implementation: Another common misstep is rushing the deployment process, which can lead to incomplete training and low adoption rates. When new software is rolled out too quickly, employees may feel unprepared to use it effectively, leading to frustration and lower engagement.
For a smoother implementation:
- Involve individuals from all your different user groups in the implementation process,
- Invest time in a structured onboarding process that includes thorough training and support, and
- Encourage employees to share feedback early on, which can help you refine your approach and truly enhance your experience.
How can software integrations improve the implementation process for employee engagement software?
When engagement software integrates directly with key systems you're already using, it reduces manual data entry and ensures that employee information, feedback, and performance metrics are automatically synced. This consolidation of data provides a more holistic view of employee engagement, making it easier to identify trends and take proactive steps to improve workplace satisfaction.
Additionally, integrations improve user experience by allowing employees to engage with the software directly from familiar platforms, which boosts adoption and engagement rates. For instance, integrating with a communication tool like Slack or Microsoft Teams allows employees to interact with engagement features without switching applications, fostering consistent use and meaningful feedback.
By minimizing disruption to established workflows, integrations help ensure a smoother transition and increase the software's overall impact on engagement.
Why Employee Engagement Matters
Employee engagement is more than just a buzzword. It's a strategic approach to creating meaningful connections between your employees and your organization. It involves creating an emotional commitment between both parties, and it promotes passion and enthusiasm for employees to complete their work.
But that's not all. It can also make a big impact on your organization's bottom line.
Every time we think about engaged versus disengaged, we think of them as words and numbers, but we need to think of them as real life examples.
Cost Savings Through Reduced Turnover
Employees who are engaged in their roles are more likely to stay with the company. Research by Gallup has shown that the cost of replacing an employee can range as high as one-half to two times their annual salary. By keeping your employees engaged, you'll reduce your turnover rates and save money in the long run.
Productivity Gains & Revenue Growth
It's well documented that organizations with engaged employees do better financially. Results from Gallup's Q12 Employee Engagement Survey revealed that engaged employees:
- increase productivity by 14%,
- increase sales by 18%, and
- increase profitability by 23%.
Compliance and Risk Mitigation
Having more engaged employees can also impact compliance within your organization. Engaged employees are more likely to actively uphold company policies and follow important compliance procedures compared to disengaged employees. This can help reduce corporate risk while promoting more ethical behavior among your workforce.
ROI Metrics for Employee Engagement Software
Here are some key metrics that can help you measure the return on investment (ROI) for your employee engagement software based on your pre- and post-implementation values:
- An increase in employee productivity levels
- An increase in employee retention levels (i.e., a decreased turnover rate)
- A decrease in recruitment costs (due to less turnover)
- An improved employee satisfaction score (e.g., via engagement surveys)
- A decrease in training and development costs (due to less turnover)
- Improved collaboration and communication levels
To calculate these metrics, subtract your pre-implementation value from your post-implementation value. Next, divide that value by your pre-implementation value, then multiply it by 100, as shown here:
Other Employee Experience Software Reviews
Looking for another style of software to boost engagement and employee satisfaction? Take a look at these other options I've already curated for you:
- Employee Experience Software for Engagement & Performance
- Employee Evaluation Software for Performance Reviews & Recognition
- Employee Wellness Platforms for Employee Health & Well-Being
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