Keeping track of employee performance can be difficult and time-consuming, especially for medium-sized and large organizations. But assessing the output of your employees is crucial for your company’s success.
Employee evaluation software helps HR professionals identify the top performers in your enterprise, keep records of employee performance, and makes it easier to provide meaningful feedback.
The following review examines the top 10 employee evaluation software for performance reviews and recognition, along with an explanation of why I chose these tools over their competitors. The review also includes short descriptions of the tools, screenshots, and a comparison chart to help you decide which tool would be the right fit for your organization.
Related Read: 10 Best Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Software Vendors of 2022
The Best Employee Evaluation Software
Here’s the list of the best employee evaluation platforms that I’ll cover in this article.
PerfomYard
Best for streamlining performance management processes
Workhuman
For showing your appreciation with real-life rewards
Workday
For simple employee strengths assessment
Culture Amp
For honest, anonymous surveys
BambooHR
For easy goal tracking
Lattice
For consistent 360-degree feedback
Cornerstone
For great performance reporting
Trakstar
For goal progression assessment
Small Improvements
For 1:1 mentoring
eloomi
For easy employee appraisal
Comparison Criteria
What do I look for when I select the best employee evaluation software solution? Here’s a summary of my evaluation criteria:
- User Interface (UI): I look for solutions that have simple, clean interfaces. Your HR team should be able to navigate the tool and find the right functionalities with ease.
- Usability: I look for tools that are easy to use. The HR professionals shouldn’t spend be able to use most of the software’s features with minimal training.
- Integrations: I look for solutions that integrate with other human resources software, project management, and communication tools.
- Value for $: I look for platforms that can help your team achieve multiple goals, so you get a great value for your investment.
Employee Evaluation Software: Key Features
- Consistent feedback structure – The employee evaluation tool should help your organization create a consistent feedback structure, making it easy for your employees to leave and receive performance reviews.
- Actionable reports – The software should collect and organize the data in actionable reports so your HR employees can present their findings to the management team.
- Goal tracking – It can be difficult to assess employee performance without tracking team and organization goals, so the software should help you set and track them.
- Assessment scheduling – The tool should offer some automation features, helping your HR team to schedule periodic check-ins at various time intervals.
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Overviews Of The 10 Best Employee Evaluation Software
Here’s a brief description of each employee evaluation solution to showcase each tool’s best use case, some noteworthy features, and screenshots to give a snapshot of the user interface.
PerfomYard - Best for streamlining performance management processes
PerformYard’s employee evaluation software provides flexible features for HR and a simple employee experience. With PerformYard, your HR team will get the tools they need to build out any employee evaluation strategy and employees get a streamlined experience so they can focus on quality feedback and effective performance discussions. PerformYard focuses on providing a flexible employee evaluation solution. With PerformYard you can customize the software to fit the strategy that’s right for your organization: 360s, project based reviews, ratings scales, continuous feedback, and/or cascading goals. PerformYard provides a simple employee experience that facilitates feedback and quality conversations. It doesn’t try to insert itself at every opportunity or replace important conversations. PerformYard provides dedicated customer success managers for every customer. From onboarding, to employee trainings, to ongoing support you’ll have someone at your side. PerformYard integrates with most major HRIS/payroll systems including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, UKG, Paycom, Workday, and Paylocity. PerformYard costs from $4/user/month.Workhuman - For showing your appreciation with real-life rewards
Workhuman is a complex HR software that’s great for small and medium-sized businesses. The platform has a clean interface that’s easy to learn and navigate, so it’s friendly toward users who are not tech-savvy.
Your team can accomplish a lot with this tool, but it excels at motivating your employees with awards that have a real, monetary value. Team members feel appreciated because they receive reviews from their team members and are happy to convert their award points into gifts or gift cards.
I recommend Workhuman to business managers who want to implement an appraisal system to motivate their team. Having the option to convert points into gifts can drive the team’s productivity to new heights.
Workhuman offers customized pricing upon request. You can also request a demo. You can try out some of Workhuman’s solutions for small and midsize businesses for free for up to 6 months.
Workday - For simple employee strengths assessment
Workday is a human capital management system that helps HR specialists gather data about what’s going on in their organization. The software is customizable and enables you to create dashboards so you can track employee performance at a glance.
I like that Workday enables managers and HR professionals to review and update the skills of their teams. The software helps managers to identify an employee’s strengths, identify skill gaps, and also suggests some similar skills that might the employee perform better.
Thanks to its customizable dashboards and straightforward skills evaluation processes, I chose Workday as an ideal tool for simple employee strengths assessment.
Workday offers customized pricing upon request. You can also request a demo.
Culture Amp - For honest, anonymous surveys
Culture Amp is a performance management software that excels at tracking employee engagement. The tool has a plain interface, it’s easy to navigate, and breaks down the information in different areas of focus.
One of the great things about this platform is that it protects the rater’s anonymity. This encourages your team members to provide honest feedback and can improve your organization’s culture.
Culture Amp provides excellent evaluation templates, but you can also customize your surveys to get the most out of your team’s answers. The reports and insights it produces are shareable and actionable, so the tool can help drive your organization’s performance.
Culture Amp offers customized pricing upon request. You can also request a demo.
BambooHR - For easy goal tracking
BambooHR is a popular HR management system. With comprehensive performance-tracking and reporting abilities, this tool is a great choice for businesses of all sizes.
The software is highly customizable, so you can adapt it to your needs without too much effort. You can manipulate the performance data to create reports that are easy to share and look well in a presentation.
BambooHR keeps all the performance-related information in one place. You can organize the data in charts, submit or request reviews, and track goals in a simple, organized manner. You don’t have to switch between multiple tabs or windows to complete a task.
Thanks to its goal tracking functionalities, BambooHR is great for managers who want to set up goals for their teams and organizations.
BambooHR offers customized pricing upon request. You can test the software for free for seven days.
Lattice - For consistent 360-degree feedback
Lattice is a people management platform that helps you set up goals, run surveys, track employee performance, and reward high-performing individuals.
The platform keeps all your data well organized, so you can find the information you need without difficulty. Lattice offers an extensive question library and you can also include custom questions in your surveys.
One of the best things about this software is that it makes it easy to schedule and distribute surveys and performance reviews. Lattice prompts employees to leave feedback, and you can set it up to ask about your team’s mood, concerns, achievements, and other criteria that are relevant to your business.
You can compare multiple reviews to assess performance, and you can also see at a glance how personal goals alight with those of the company.
Lattice enables managers to give praise to high-performing individuals in public or in private, and it helps them discover growth opportunities for team members.
Thanks to its ability to prompt employees to share their thoughts, Lattice is a great tool for businesses that want to improve their processes with 360-degree feedback.
Lattice costs from $9/employee/month. You can schedule a demo to see how it works.
Cornerstone - For great performance reporting
Cornerstone is a human resources management software that leverages automation features to help with onboarding, performance evaluation, team management, and continuous feedback.
This software comes with configurable dashboards and heat maps, so you can tailor it to your company’s needs. You can set up the tool to track various performance KPIs, and you can extract the data in detailed, actionable reports.
One of the things I like about Cornerstone is that it helps you identify your employees’ competencies and set goals that would help your team hone their skills. I also like that you can send out pulse surveys and get real-time feedback from your team, and organize the data in reports or heatmaps before presenting it to the management team.
Cornerstone offers customized pricing upon request. You can also request a demo.
Trakstar - For goal progression assessment
Trakstar is a flexible performance management system that helps you keep your employees on track with goals and continuous feedback. The software gives managers multiple survey options, so they can weigh different aspects of their team’s performance.
You can use Trakstar to set goals for your employees and organization. The goal section has a timeline, so each individual gets a visual representation of how their progress is going.
With Trakstar, sending and receiving reviews is easy. You can tie certain goals to reviews, add and share goal-related notes, and you can set up notifications to complete evaluations. Team managers receive reports on how their team is doing, and they can set up their dashboard to track department and team member goals at a glance.
Trakstar offers customized pricing upon request. You can also request a live demo.
Small Improvements - For 1:1 mentoring
Small Improvements helps managers learn more about their team with structured performance check-ins.
Small Improvements is a configurable performance management platform that helps managers improve company culture. The tool has a nice interface, and you can tailor its look to your brand with company avatars.
The software encourages employees to praise their peers and managers to reward team members who live out the organization’s values. You can also set it up to forward the praises via Slack or email for everyone to see.
Small Improvements makes it easy to set up 1:1 meetings, and its notifications system sends helpful reminders at scheduled intervals. You can also create and monitor milestones for individual projects, set goals, run pulse surveys, request and give feedback, and do 360 reviews.
Thanks to the software’s ability to track mentee goals and feedback, I chose it as the ideal platform for 1:1 mentoring.
Small Improvements costs from $5/user/month. You can try out the tool for free for 14 days. You can also watch a 10-minute product tour on the software’s website.
eloomi - For easy employee appraisal
eloomi is a complex cloud-based platform that integrates multiple modules, including a comprehensive Performance module. The tool has a nice, clean interface and has a fully functional mobile app.
This software solution helps managers set goals for their employees. They can also coach individuals and track their performance progress. But the tool’s highlight is its appraisal system. Managers get a visual representation of their employees’ progress toward goal completion, and they can use the collected data to prepare their one-on-one conversations.
Coaching someone with eloomi is not only easy, it’s also fun. The platform’s gamification features can motivate employees to achieve their goals faster, improve their engagement, and give managers an overview of individual needs and stats.
eloomi can help managers assess the progress of multiple employees with ease, which is why I recommend it for employee appraisals.
eloomi offers customized pricing upon request. You can also book a live demo.
Need Expert Help Selecting The Right Workforce Management Software?
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The 10 Best Employee Evaluation Software Summary
Software | USP | Free Option | Price | Site |
---|---|---|---|---|
PerfomYard ![]() | Best for streamlining performance management processes | Not Available | From $4-$8/employee/month | Check out PerfomYard |
Workhuman ![]() | For showing your appreciation with real-life rewards | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out Workhuman |
Workday ![]() | For simple employee strengths assessment | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out Workday |
Culture Amp ![]() | For honest, anonymous surveys | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out Culture Amp |
BambooHR ![]() | For easy goal tracking | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out BambooHR |
Lattice ![]() | For consistent 360-degree feedback | Not Available | From $9/employee/month | Check out Lattice |
Cornerstone ![]() | For great performance reporting | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out Cornerstone |
Trakstar ![]() | For goal progression assessment | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out Trakstar |
Small Improvements ![]() | For 1:1 mentoring | 14 days free trial | From $5/user/month | Check out Small Improvements |
eloomi ![]() | For easy employee appraisal | Not Available | Pricing upon request | Check out eloomi |
Other Employee Evaluation Platforms
Here’s a few more that didn’t make the top list.
- 15Five – Performance management platform that helps managers identify high-performing individuals and reward top employees.
- Engagedly – Complex HRIS that facilitates appraisals, 1:1 feedback, and employee performance management.
- Betterworks – HR software that helps managers set up and track organizational and personal goals.
- Clear Company – Human resources platform that helps with applicant tracking, onboarding, performance evaluation, employee recognition, and engagement tracking.
- intelliHR – People management and analytics software that enables managers to organize all employee data gathered from review cycles.
- WorkCompass – Human resource management system that makes it easy to distribute surveys, get real-time feedback, and carry out performance reviews.
- HubbubHR – Performance appraisal software that facilitates employee performance evaluation and generates actionable performance reports with in-depth metrics.
- Profit.co – Performance management tool that helps your HR department set employee goals and that simplifies the employee performance review process.
- Sage HR – HR solution that uses a good appraisal process and helps with continuous performance evaluation, talent management, succession planning, time tracking, workflows, and goal setting.
- StaffCircle – Performance management solution that keeps track of performance objectives and helps with internal communications, performance-related tasks, and employee engagement.
- Lanteria HR – Performance review software that creates insightful reports for individual assessments based on employee experience, goal management, and employee development.
- Weekly10 – Performance management tool with a flexible pricing model that provides actionable insights on employee engagement and performance.
Related Read: 10 Best Succession Planning Software To Develop Future Leaders In 2022
Improve Your Organization’s Culture With Employee Evaluation Software
Employee evaluations help your employees work better together. According to Sheila Heen, lecturer at Harvard Law School, feedback should communicate three things: “appreciation (I can see you — what you do matters), coaching (helping you get better through advice and mentoring), and evaluation (how you are rated or ranked against a set of standards).”
The software solutions I included on this list help you achieve these goals with ease. They enable you to run surveys, set goals, praise high-performing individuals, and coach team members who can improve different aspects of their work. I hope that, after reading this article, you found a tool that can help you improve your feedback processes so you can make your organization stronger.
You can find out more about performance management tools and how to manage your resources on our blog.
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For even more help on choosing the best HR software, check this out: The 10 Best HR Software Companies 2022
Related Read: Essential Performance Review Phrases And Best Practices