40 Best Employee Engagement Software Reviewed in 2024
10 Best Employee Engagement Software Shortlist
Here's my pick of the 10 best software from the 40 tools reviewed.
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Are you having a hard time engaging your employees and worried about low morale? Employee engagement software is a great way to create a positive work environment while using automation to make the process easier.
These tools can help you gather feedback from your employees and use sentiment analysis to identify areas for improvement. However, with so many options available, finding the best one for your needs sure is time-consuming — right?
In this article, I'll share my thoughts on the best employee engagement software available based on my own HR experiences. I'll help you simplify your selection process so you can find the best employee engagement option that fits your unique needs.
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Best Employee Engagement Software Comparison Chart
This comparison chart summarizes pricing details for my top employee engagement software selections to help you find the best option for your budget and business needs.
| Tools | Price | |
|---|---|---|
| Eletive | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Nectar | From $3/user/month | Website |
| Awardco | Pricing upon request | Website |
| ThriveSparrow | From $2/employee/month | Website |
| WorkTango | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Mitratech Trakstar | Pricing upon request | Website |
| Workleap | From $5/user/month | Website |
| PerformYard | From $5-$10/user/month | Website |
| Motivosity | From $3,000/year | Website |
| Sogolytics | From $25/month (billed annually) | Website |
Compare Software Specs Side by Side
Use our comparison chart to review and evaluate software specs side-by-side.
Compare SoftwareHow to Choose Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software can help you form closer connections between your employees to improve teamwork, job satisfaction, and morale. To help you figure out which employee engagement software best fits 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,
- Disengaged employees who feel undervalued and unrecognized,
- Difficulty measuring engagement metrics making it challenging to understand the root causes or low morale, or
- Communication gaps due to unstructured feedback systems and dispersed team structures (e.g., remote and hybrid teams).
By identifying these challenges and aligning them with specific software features, you'll set a strong foundation for defining your engagement KPIs (e.g., eNPS levels, turnover rates, etc.), making it easier to track the success of your new software.
What outcomes are important and how will you measure success? Being clear on your desired outcomes upfront is crucial to avoid wasting valuable time. Key outcomes you may want to measure include:
- A lower turnover rate,
- Improved quarterly employee net promoter score (eNPS),
- Regular and bi-directional opportunities to collect and receive feedback thanks to better internal feedback mechanisms, or
- advanced analytics abilities, including sentiment analysis, to help gauge employee sentiment across feedback.
By focusing on your desired outcomes, you'll develop clear targets to measure the success of your new employee engagement solution against, proving its effectiveness.
Who are your main users? Consider your different user groups — power users, administrators, managers, employees, etc. — and their unique needs, to ensure they're all met.
- For employee engagement software, you'll want access for your entire workforce, with special role-based access for your HR administrators and managers.
What is your budget? Determining a realistic budget for your new employee recognition software up-front is crucial, so you don't waste time considering software that's too expensive.
- To evaluate cost, do a headcount of your existing workforce, plus your projections for the next few years. Since most employee engagement tools charge a monthly fee per employee, this will help you proactively estimate your monthly costs.
Do you require specific software integrations? Clarify whether your new software will replace existing employee engagement tools or need to integrate with them. You might be able to reduce your monthly SaaS costs by replacing multiple tools with an all-in-one employee development and engagement platform.
- Key integrations to note include HR management systems, performance management systems, and communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
- Are all the integrations you need available, or can they be custom-configured using an API?
Does the employee engagement platform satisfy your technical requirements? Consider the software selection alongside your existing workflows and systems.
- Does the software allow users to connect with each other via mobile devices or dedicated employee engagement apps?
- Does the new system integrate with your corporate workspace (Microsoft SharePoint, Google Workspace, etc.)?
- Does the new system offer security features that meet your needs (e.g., two-factor authentication (2FA), etc.)?
Remember, every business is different — don’t assume that an employee engagement system will work for your organization just because it's popular.
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Deel
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
Rippling
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8 -
Willo
Visit WebsiteThis is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.4.8
Best Employee Engagement Software Reviews
Below are my detailed reviews of the best employee engagement software to help you combat low morale, bridge communication gaps, collect feedback regularly, and recognize employee achievements. I’ve highlighted each system’s noteworthy features and integrations, and summarized the reasons I added them to this list to give you greater insight into my selection process.
Eletive
Best engagement platform for continuous employee engagement insights
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.
Awardco
Best employee engagement platform for incentivizing global teams
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.
Best employee engagement software for real-time analytics
ThriveSparrow is an employee engagement and recognition platform. While the engagement and recognition modules are well-established in the platform, additional features for performance management, goal setting, and one-on-one meeting tools are all coming soon.
Why I picked ThriveSparrow: It offers customizable surveys to measure employee engagement levels, and facilitates anonymous feedback to encourage employees to share their experience. Managers receive reports that offer an overview of engagement levels on their team. The reports make it easy to track trends over time, and notice your team's strong suits and areas for improvement.
ThriveSparrow Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include employee engagement heat maps, AI-powered sentiment analysis, real-time analytics, and in-depth engagement reports.
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 set up your organizational values in the system to tie recognition to the shared pillars of your company culture.
Integrations include Slack, Workday, HiBob, UKG Pro, Google Workspace, BambooHR, Gusto, Zoho People, ChartHop, Okta, ADP WorkforceNow, Paylocity, Paycor, and numerous other systems.
Best experience and engagement platform for creating a positive work culture
WorkTango revolutionizes how the world's most forward-thinking companies engage and inspire their people. Their Employee Experience Platform enables meaningful recognition and rewards and offers actionable insights through employee surveys. It’s designed for the modern workplace where priorities are clear, achievements are celebrated, and employees have a voice.
Why I picked WorkTango: To help create a better work culture, WorkTango allows unlimited survey creation to engage your workforce, like employee lifecycle surveys to collect feedback at every stage of the employment lifecycle, from onboarding to exit.
It also has employee engagement surveys so managers and HR teams can assess overall engagement levels within the company. These surveys offer insights so teams can better understand different themes and trends and create plans for improving overall culture and experience.
WorkTango Standout Features and Integrations:
Standout features that promote employee engagement include WorkTango's recognition and rewards solution which allows organizations to show appreciation, incentivize a culture of recognition, and reward employees for their actions. The system also uses predictive analytics to suggest actions that will make the biggest impact on your employee engagement program at large.
Integrations include many HRIS and HCM programs like ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, and Workday, and popular productivity tools like Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Slack. Their platform also includes an API for additional custom integrations, as well as multiple single sign-on (SSO) integrations.
Best for analyzing employee survey results by sub-groups
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:
Its reporting features allow you to 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, Mitratech Trakstar provides several built-in reports, including 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.
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. Other features include customizable 1-on-1 surveys, feedback templates, and reports that help you develop actionable retention and engagement strategies.
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. Officevibe now allows managers to 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.
Best for fostering engagement through continuous feedback and check-ins
PerformYard’s employee engagement and evaluation software provides flexible features that help HR teams create a simplified employee experience.
Why I picked PerformYard: Their platform includes continuous feedback tools like 360-degree reviews, project-based reviews, custom rating scales, and cascading goal structures to keep employees continuously engaged in their roles. Meanwhile, employees receive a streamlined experience focused on quality feedback and effective performance discussions.
PerformYard Standout Features and Integrations:
To further support employee engagement, PerformYard has modules for goal management and 1:1 check-ins as well.
PerformYard provides dedicated customer success managers to every customer. From onboarding, to employee training, to ongoing support, you’ll have someone at your side to help you get your system set up.
Integrations are available with most major HRIS and payroll systems, including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, Paycom, Paylocity, Rippling, UKG, and Workday.
Best employee experience software for affordability and scalability
Motivosity was the brainchild of Scott Johnson, founder and CEO of Workfront. The platform was developed to provide tools for fostering connection, recognition, leadership, and accountability within the workplace. To accomplish this, they offer everything from award systems, leaderboards, workforce surveys, and eNPS scoring.
Motivosity is a super affordable employee engagement solution that, with their basic plan, provides personality profiles, interest groups, visual org charts, peer-to-peer shoutouts, highlights and company news, and HRIS integration.
Motivosity costs from $2 to $5/user/month and offers a free demo.
Sogolytics
Best for enhancing employee engagement through insightful analytics and personalized strategies
Sogolytics is a SaaS product that's all about employee engagement. You can use it to monitor your employee experience, collect enterprise feedback, send regular engagement surveys, or even tap into your customer experience.
Why I picked Sogolytics: I included Sogolytics in this list because of its broad application, which makes it useful beyond simply measuring employee engagement. It's easy to use, provides actionable insights, and can handle the needs of a growing business. It has a user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate, and it's scalable so it can handle the needs of small businesses and large corporations alike.
Sogolytics Standout Features and Integrations:
Features include automatic pulse surveys, response tracking, a confidential feedback option, and real-time analytics, which means you can see how your employees are feeling and what they're thinking at any given moment. The predictive analytics feature uses AI to predict future trends in employee engagement so you can take proactive steps to improve.
Another great feature is the employee sentiment analysis. This tool uses natural language processing to understand how your employees are feeling. It can pick up on subtle cues in their communication and give you insights into their emotional state. This is helpful for identifying issues before they become major problems.
Integrations include HubSpot, Marketo, Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow, Reddit, Slack, Salesforce, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Workday, Zapier, 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
For enhancing employee engagement through a centralized employee intranet
- Leapsome
For linking employee engagement, performance & personal development
- Cooleaf
All-in-one engagement platform for virtual team recognition activities
- Workvivo
Engagement app for emotionally connecting your people to your company
- Bonusly
Platform for helping employees feel appreciated and valued
- Vantage Circle
Engagement software for real-time employee feedback with eNPS ratings
- Medallia
For combined employee experience (EX) and customer experience (CX) solutions
- Empuls
Engagement software for building a culture of appreciation
- Culture Amp
For tracking employee engagement against industry benchmarks
- AdvantageClub.ai
For digitized employee rewards
- Qualtrics Employee Experience
For real-time employee engagement insights
- Xoxoday Compass
For compensating your employees with unique rewards and perks
- Nailted
Employee engagement platform for remote and distributed tech teams
- Pingboard
Employee engagement system for visualization and rich staff profiles
- Workmates
Employee engagement software for public praise within an intranet-style user interface
- Trivie
Employee engagement gamification for ongoing learning and training goals
- HubStar
For fostering in-person connections
- Beams
For giving personalized recommendations to improve employee engagement
- Jenz
Employee engagement app for intuitive, mobile-friendly employee communication and engagement
- Assembly
For making employees feel appreciated, connected to their work, and aligned with company values
- Guusto
For promoting peer-to-peer recognition via an employee engagement app
- Lattice
For collecting employee feedback to support workplace policy changes
- Bucketlist Rewards
For unique, company-specific reward opportunities
- ClearCompany
For implementing a high-touch employee engagement strategy
- Mo
Employee engagement platform to build a positive culture people won't want to leave
- Peoplebox
Employee engagement tool for connecting employees with goals and OKRs
- SurveySparrow
For recurring surveys and monitoring your eNPS score
- Qooper
For engaging employees through mentorship initiatives
- Sideways 6
For engagement through listening, acting, and rewarding ideas
- PeopleOne
Engagement platform to inspire all your employees to connect and participate from wherever they are
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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.
Trends in Employee Engagement Software for 2024
As of 2024, the landscape of employee engagement software has continued to evolve with an emphasis on personalized experiences, holistic employee wellness, and data-driven insights. Here are the most important trends impacting the employee 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 designed to improve and track the level of engagement and satisfaction of employees within a company. It offers features like feedback collection, recognition systems, communication platforms, and engagement analytics. The purpose of employee engagement tools is to collectively work to enhance employee satisfaction, involvement, and productivity in the workplace.
Limitations of Traditional Methods for Managing Employee Engagement
Traditional methods for managing employee engagement (such as spreadsheets or manual tracking) are limited in scope and efficiency. Updating and analyzing data manually is time-consuming and prone to error. This lack of automation means tracking trends and responding to employee needs is slow and cumbersome. These methods also lack integration, often resulting in scattered data that offers a limited view of employee engagement.
Without real-time feedback tools, traditional methods miss valuable insights. Lacking features like pulse surveys and sentiment tracking, these approaches often fail to capture the full picture of employee satisfaction. As a result, HR teams struggle to spot issues early and miss opportunities to improve engagement.
Modern employee engagement software fills these gaps with integrated tools and real-time data collection. These platforms provide HR with a clear, data-driven view of engagement, making it easier to act quickly. This shift to software enables companies to build a more responsive, engaged workforce.
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 features I consider essential when reviewing 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.
- 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 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.).
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Benefits of Employee Engagement Software
Employee engagement software can play 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.
These employee engagement statistics highlight the significant impact of. 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 the investment cost against the value it brings to your organization. A simple formula you can use is:
ROI = (Gain from Investment – Cost of Investment) / Cost of Investment
To accurately measure, you’ll want to consider both direct financial gains and indirect benefits, like improved company culture and employee morale. Start by tracking key metrics before and after implementation, such as employee productivity levels, retention rates, satisfaction scores, recruiting, and training costs. Increased productivity, improved satisfaction, and reduced costs in these areas can indicate a positive ROI.
For more details on estimating ROI, this article offers more insights into HR software purchase factors to consider, including costs.
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.
To get a sense of how ready your business is to roll out new software, read through this article that explains how to assess your organization’s readiness for new HR technology.
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.
This article offers more details into data management best practices if you’re interested in learning more.
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%.
For a deeper dive into the impact of employee engagement, take a closer look at our roundup of employee engagement statistics.
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:
For more help with your employee engagement program, consider these 4 ways to measure the employee experience.
Other Resources to Support Employee Engagement
Here are a few other resources to help you engage your employees and create high-performing teams:
- How To Maximize Employee Engagement In This New World (a podcast)
- 35 Employee Engagement Ideas (Including Remote-Specific)
- 4 Fun Ways To Showcase Your Personality Through Employee Recognition
- How to Do Employee Recognition The Right Way (a podcast)
- Thinking About an Employee Intranet? Read This First
Our round-up of the best employee engagement podcasts is also worth considering if you'd like something relevant to listen to over your lunch break.
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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