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With so many different employee experience software available, figuring out which is right for your company is tough. You know you want software to monitor how satisfied and engaged your employees are, as well as tools to monitor their performance and increase their motivation and productivity, but you need to figure out which tool is best. In this post, I'll help you make your choice easy by sharing my insights on the best employee experience tools to connect the dots between employee engagement, performance, and development and create a positive workplace culture.

What is Employee Experience Software?

Employee experience software are digital tools designed to help companies retain staff, increase productivity, and improve overall business performance. They aim to make team members feel valued and important, while also ensuring that concerns and ideas are noted. They typically include tools for communication, feedback, performance tracking, goal setting, personal development, and analytics.

By investing in software focused on improving your employee experience, you can expect to see additional improvements in employee satisfaction, morale, performance, communication, collaboration, and productivity. Employee experience tools also gather data on employee trends and needs to inform future HR initiatives and support continuous organizational improvements.

Overviews of the 10 Best Employee Experience Software

Here’s a brief description of each employee experience software system that showcases each system’s best use case, and their noteworthy features. I’ve also included screenshots to give you a snapshot of their user interface too.

1

Trakstar

Best employee experience software for linking employee engagement and performance

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3
188 reviews

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Trakstar is a cloud-based talent development platform for HR professionals. It's equipped with a variety of tools and features designed to help attract and retain top talent, as well as engage with and develop the entire workforce. Trakstar is comprised of different modules, including performance management (Trakstar Perform), applicant tracking (Trakstar Hire), learning management (Trakstar Learn), and workforce analytics (Trakstar Insights).

Trakstar’s performance management software has the required features to serve multiple purposes, including managing performance and engagement. With Perform, HR teams and managers can use tools like performance reviews, 360-degree online feedback, employee surveys, and goal setting tools to measure engagement, evaluate performance, and find solutions to improve their employee experience in general. Other key features include self-reviews, tracking with real-time reporting, and flexible reporting stacked with rich data to help determine the top performers. The software also comes with automated email notifications, check-ins, and note taking features.

Their 360-degree performance review module allows managers to pre-select who will have access to 360-degree feedback by incorporating it directly into the performance review workflow. With this tool, managers are able to set and update goals while keeping track of the progress and performance of employees throughout the year.

Trakstar’s employee survey software is another tool that plays a significant role in measuring and improving employee engagement and performance. It offers a library that contains a broad range of survey questions that are ready to use. HR managers can create and automatically send surveys on various topics or they can choose to create custom surveys to fulfill a specific data requirement.

Trakstar integrates with 25+ popular software systems including ADP Workforce Now, BambooHR, Google Workspace, Namely, Office365, Okta, OneLogin, Salesforce, Slack, UKG Pro, and Zoom.

Trakstar offers customized pricing details and a free demo upon request.

2

Connecteam

Best for employee feedback surveys, recognition and rewards, and task management

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.3
34 reviews

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually)

Connecteam is a workplace software provider with communication, operations, and HR platforms for businesses of all sizes. You can select which of the three platforms you need, or opt for an all-in-one solution. All three of the platforms offer various features that can contribute to employee experience, engagement, and performance.

The communication software allows you to send out updates and announcements and create team chats and company channels for live messaging. It also has an employee survey tool (with templates) that you can use to collect feedback from your staff on anything from their engagement levels to elements of their employee experience. You can also create a knowledge base with employee policies, handbooks, and training material.

You can give out employee recognition and rewards using the HR and training software. It also has document management and training workflows you can use to keep everyone up-to-date and facilitate on-the-job learning. You can even craft quizzes to evaluate employee skills as they progress in the training modules. The software also has an employee timeline builder, to help you map out career trajectories for your staff members.

As for the operational software, you can improve employee performance with its task management tool. It allows you to assign tasks to team members and create checklists and forms to help ensure all important steps are taken. This way, tasks are accomplished effectively and employees have reference material to make sure they don't miss anything.

Integrations include Google Calendar, Gusto, QuickBooks Payroll, and others.

3

Workvivo

Best for creating a social environment to foster employee recognition

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.9
242 reviews

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

Workvivo is an Employee Experience Software that helps users boost engagement and performance. It functions as a social network for your workplace to share updates, recognize colleagues, and stay in the loop with what's happening in your company.

The platform's interface is clean and intuitive. Users can personalize their activity feed to see more content from colleagues or departments. Managers can communicate with their teams across the platform through multimedia messages and have access to other engagement tools, such as surveys and engagement analytics, to keep tabs on team morale. 

One of the standout features is the 'shout-outs.' It's a simple way to recognize employees for their hard work and achievements. Another feature is the 'spaces,' which lets users create groups for different projects or teams. It's a great way to keep everything organized and everyone on the same page.

Workvivo integrates with many commonly used HR tools, including payroll software, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, and more.

Workvivo offers customized pricing details upon request, and you can request a free demo through their website.

4

Motivosity

Best employee experience software for linking employee recognition to company culture

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7
1154 reviews

Free demo available

From $2 to $5/user/month depending on product chosen

Motivosity is a cloud-based employee experience tool that offers various recognition and evaluation features to help improve engagement, overall performance, and satisfaction.

The cloud-based solution provides users access to staff engagement, P2P recognition, incentives, and rewards within a unified platform. There is an intuitive dashboard that can be customized to track multiple teams' and individuals' performance and progress. With peer-to-peer recognition, the software provides a social platform for employees to recognize each other’s efforts and performance, enabling organizations to increase employee engagement and satisfaction.

There is a mobile app and Slack/Teams integration that is easy to use and equipped with a user interface that works similarly to most enterprise software solutions and/or social networks. It adds to the overall user experience, which impacts engagement and satisfaction. It also means employees are getting recognized and rewarded monetarily by their colleagues.

Core features include employee feedback collection, peer-to-peer social recognition, gift card management, and monetary reward management.

Motivosity has four main products: Connect is free, Recognize starts from $4, Lead at $5, and Listen at $2 per person/month, all billed annually.

5

Mo

Best employee experience software for enabling peer-to-peer recognition

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5
405 reviews

Free demo available

From $3/user/month

Mo, which is short for Moments, is an employee experience platform that helps organizations bring people together, improve their engagement levels, recognize their top performers, and build high-performing teams. Their core features include peer-to-peer recognition, a wide variety of rewards, and tools to help managers promote team-wide engagement. It's also available across 26 countries and in 12 languages, making them a great choice for multi-national organizations. 

Busy managers will appreciate their performance-enhancing automation called Boosts, which prompts them to post wins, recognition, and key results, on a regular basis. This works in tandem with their Assistant tool, which reminds leaders of upcoming employee occasions like birthdays and work anniversaries. Together, these features help your leaders create a more consistent employee experience across your company.

Staff at any level can create and share a Moment to celebrate peer or team achievements or communicate important company updates. You can also tag each Moment with your company's core values to help celebrate your corporate culture and incentivize positive behaviors with on-the-spot rewards.

An optional add-on is their rewards offering, which you can use to create a customizable rewards & recognition program internally. Mo offers rewards from a wide variety of top brands, including Amazon, Doordash, Uber, Starbucks, and ASOS, which are easily redeemable online.

Other features include sophisticated budget management functionalities and analytics, so you can control your spending, run reports, keep your accounting team happy, and analyze the success of your employee engagement efforts. Employees can also create vibrant personal profiles where they can share their working preferences, hobbies, and interests, enabling employees to connect over common ground.

Integrations are available with popular communication tools and email systems, as well as with Microsoft Teams, Slack, and single sign-on providers. Mo is also GDPR compliant and secure (ISO 27001 accredited).

Pricing for Mo Work starts at $3/user/month. You can also request a free demo through their website.

6

Sogolytics

Best for enhancing employee engagement and performance through data-driven insights

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.5
63 reviews

10-day free trial + free plan available

From $25/month (billed annually)

Sogolytics is a tool designed to enhance employee experience, engagement, and performance. It's easy to use, comprehensive, and offers real-time insights.

The platform's real-time analytics give you a bird's eye view of your team's performance, engagement, and overall experience. You can see who's smashing their targets, who might need a little extra support, and everything in between. Plus, the tool's predictive analytics feature helps you forecast future performance trends so you can plan and strategize accordingly.

Another feature that I really like is the personalized employee experience. Sogolytics allows you to tailor the tool to each employee's needs and preferences. This means you can create a unique experience for each team member, which can really help boost engagement and productivity.

Integrations include Delicious, Digg, Pinterest, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Tumblr.

Pricing starts at $25/month (billed annually) and they offer both a free plan and a 10-day free trial.

7

ClearCompany

Best employee experience software for engagement surveys and performance-based rewards

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.6
247 reviews

Free demo available

Pricing upon request

ClearCompany is a talent management platform that helps organizations engage employees and improve their performance. It includes tools to help create better workplace experiences, enhance employee morale, measure goals and objectives more accurately, facilitate weekly check-ins, gather employee feedback, and maintain a workforce that is simultaneously cohesive and productive.

Their comprehensive software allows employers to have full visibility over the employee engagement cycle, while also streamlining data collection processes surrounding performance metrics. ClearCompany helps managers evaluate employees’ performance on an ongoing basis. Performance reviews are conducted within an easy-to-use interface, making it simple to provide feedback to each employee quickly and efficiently. Additionally, managers can use these tools to track key performance indicators (KPIs) across the organization, allowing them to gain valuable insights into how their teams perform over time.

ClearCompany includes powerful engagement and feedback surveys that help users measure how engaged employees are in the workplace. These surveys provide valuable insight into areas where changes need to be made so that businesses can create a more positive work environment for everyone. These surveys can help identify potential issues before they become major problems, saving an organization time and money in the long run.

ClearCompany's onboarding feature makes it easy for employers to create training materials tailored specifically to new hires to ensure they understand the company's processes from day one.

The software also offers recognition and reward programs that help companies celebrate their employees' successes, while incentivizing them to continue performing well in the future. Users can reward individuals or entire teams with bonuses or other incentives when they exceed expectations or achieve certain goals. This type of recognition shows employees that their hard work is appreciated and valued within the organization, which goes a long way toward improving morale and motivation levels across the board.

ClearCompany integrates with 100+ popular HR software solutions, including ADP, Absorb LMS, BambooHR, Ceridian, eSkill, HR Avatar, Microsoft Office 365, Okta, PeopleFacts, Ping Identity, Predictive Index, Skill Check, UKG, and many others.

Pricing details for ClearCompany are available upon request. You can also request a free demo through their website.

8

Lattice

Best employee experience software for developing high-performance teams

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.7
3717 reviews

Free demo available

From $11/user/month

Lattice is a cloud-based employee performance tool that helps HR teams get the most from staff. Accessible on both desktop and mobile, it is focused primarily on performance review and goal management.

Managers can set up tasks for employees then track these through to completion. They can view tasks in progress through a range of productivity graphs. Using the admin dashboard, they can also create custom questions for performance reviews and analysis.

The included reporting features allow managers to analyze review status for individuals and teams. All reports are stored to enable future study and comparison.

This tool integrates with various HR tools, including BambooHR, Personio, and Gusto.

Lattice costs from $11/user/month. There is no free trial, but a demo is available on request.

9

Bonusly

Best for incentivizing employees with recognition and rewards

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8
2477 reviews

60-day free trial

From $2.70/user/month

Bonusly is an employee recognition and rewards software that's built around a peer-to-peer recognition model. It allows employees to exchange rewards credits and cash out their points for different types of rewards. It can also automate celebratory messages for employee milestones, and facilitate incentive programs. The platform has an analytics dashboard to track your of your rewards and incentives programs' success.

Rather than rely on a top-down recognition model, the software encourages employees to share peer recognition through the exchange of points. Each team member has a points budget that they can use to send recognition to their colleagues alongside a personalized message. Rewards points can be redeemed in the form of gift cards, charitable donations, cash out options, or custom rewards implemented by the organization.

The software works a bit like a social media feed, and employees can add comments and additional points to public recognition messages. This promotes a culture of recognition and celebrating high performance among peers. You can add company values hashtags to the system to make recognition more meaningful and related to your company culture.

The software integrates with workplace communication tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack, as well as various HR platforms like SAP, ADP, and BambooHR. Plans start from $2.70 per user per month, and a 60-day free trial is available.

10

PerformYard

Best employee experience software for fostering quality feedback and conversations

This is an aggregated rating for this tool including ratings from Crozdesk users and ratings from other sites.
4.8
768 reviews

Free demo available

From $5-$10/user/month

PerformYard’s employee experience and evaluation software provides flexible features that help HR teams create a simple employee experience. With PerformYard, your HR team will get the tools they need to build out their employee evaluation strategies 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 that you can customize to fit the strategy that’s right for your organization: 360s, project-based reviews, ratings scales, continuous feedback, and/or cascading goals.

PerformYard facilitates feedback and quality conversations and 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 training, to ongoing support, you’ll have someone at your side to help.

PerformYard integrates with most major HRIS/payroll systems including ADP, BambooHR, Gusto, Rippling, UKG, Paycom, Workday, and Paylocity.

PerformYard costs from $5-$10/user/month.

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The 10 Best Employee Experience Software Systems Comparison Chart

This comparison chart summarizes basic details about each of my top employee experience software selections. You can view pricing details and the availability of free trials or demos side-by-side to help you find the best software for your budget.

Tool Trial Info Price
1
Trakstar

Best employee experience software for linking employee engagement and performance

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Website
2
Connecteam

Best for employee feedback surveys, recognition and rewards, and task management

14-day free trial + free plan available

From $29/month for 30 users (paid annually) Website
3
Workvivo

Best for creating a social environment to foster employee recognition

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Website
4
Motivosity

Best employee experience software for linking employee recognition to company culture

Free demo available

From $2 to $5/user/month depending on product chosen Website
5
Mo

Best employee experience software for enabling peer-to-peer recognition

Free demo available

From $3/user/month Website
6
Sogolytics

Best for enhancing employee engagement and performance through data-driven insights

10-day free trial + free plan available

From $25/month (billed annually) Website
7
ClearCompany

Best employee experience software for engagement surveys and performance-based rewards

Free demo available

Pricing upon request Website
8
Lattice

Best employee experience software for developing high-performance teams

Free demo available

From $11/user/month Website
9
Bonusly

Best for incentivizing employees with recognition and rewards

60-day free trial

From $2.70/user/month Website
10
PerformYard

Best employee experience software for fostering quality feedback and conversations

Free demo available

From $5-$10/user/month Website

Other Options

Here are a few more worthwhile options that didn’t make the best employee experience software shortlist:

  1. Trinet

    Best for its robust mobile app

  2. Leapsome

    Best employee experience software for employee surveys on job satisfaction topics

  3. PeopleOne

    Best for communications, knowledge management, and employee engagement

  4. Hub

    Best for employee engagement within an intranet system

  5. Kudos

    Best employee experience software for multiple levels of employee recognition

  6. Workday Peakon

    Best employee experience software for intelligent employee listening

  7. 15Five

    Best employee experience software for a holistic, growth-focused approach

  8. Enboarder

    Best for experience driven communication workflows

  9. Awardco

    Best employee experience software for recognizing employees with a point-based reward system

  10. Qualtrics Employee Experience

    Best employee experience software for gathering continuous feedback from employees

Selection Criteria for the Best Employee Experience Software

Wondering what I looked for when selecting the best employee experience platforms for this list? Here’s a summary of my evaluation and selection criteria:

Key Features

Employee Experience Software is still an emerging category on the market, so these platforms vary a bit in their core functionality. Keeping that in mind, here are some of the key features I saw coming up frequently in my research:

  1. Employee surveys: Engagement survey tools to collect employee feedback and measure employee engagement metrics like wellbeing and peer relationships.
  2. Real-time feedback: Rapid two-way communication to dig deeper into feedback and derive actionable insights for improving company culture.
  3. 360-degree feedback: The ability to collect feedback about employee performance from peers, to help inform performance reviews and goal-setting.
  4. Performance management: Some platforms offer goal tracking tools, performance evaluation structures, and other performance-related features.
  5. Recognition tools: Forums to facilitate peer recognition, kudos boards, and automated anniversary and milestone recognition are sometimes available.
  6. Employee rewards: The ability to distribute rewards like cash bonuses, gift cards, company swag, and other incentives.
  7. Employee lifecycle management: Some tools help you manage things like pre-employment testing, new hire onboarding, and offboarding. This includes tracking employee retention and turnover.
  8. Reporting tools: Analytics dashboards are typically included to help you measure and track engagement levels, employee satisfaction rates, eNPS scores, and other key employee experience metrics.

Usability

Whenever I’m testing a new software, I always take the user experience into consideration. I look for user-friendly, intuitive platforms that don’t come with too steep of a learning curve. This is particularly important with employee engagement tools because you want your HR team, your management team, and your employees to all use it effectively. Usability features like customizable templates, workflow automation, a mobile app, and high-quality customer support are all taken into account in my evaluations.

Integrations

It’s important that your employee experience solution connects with your other HR tools. I looked for integrations with human resource information systems (HRIS), employee engagement software, employee evaluation software, employee rewards platforms, employee management systems, and other common HR tools.

I also kept an eye out for integrations with popular communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Many employee experience and engagement platforms also integrate with project management platforms like Jira and Asana, and intranet tools like Confluence and Notion.

Pricing

HR software can vary in price. The digital employee experience tools on this list range from as little as $2 per user per month up to $11 per use per month and more. Some also have a flat-rate structure with set user amounts. I’ve noted pricing information for each tool in my shortlist, as well as information about free plans and free trials.

FAQ: Answering Questions About Employee Experience (EX)

Here are some questions that often come up when it comes to employee experience:

Creating an Exceptional Employee Experience

Crafting the experience employees will have with your organization takes time. Using a software can help you understand what kind of employee experience you’re currently offering. From there, you can double down on what’s working really well — and address what isn’t. Hopefully you now have a better understanding of what kind of employee experience software you’re looking for, and how you’ll use it.

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By Kim Behnke

Kim Behnke is an HR Tool Expert & Writer for People Managing People. She draws on her 9 years of human resources experience and her keen eye for systematic processes to support her analyses of the top HR tools on the market. She is passionate about maximizing efficiencies and streamlining workflows to ensure internal systems run smoothly. Kim's HR experience includes recruitment, onboarding, performance management, training and development, policy development and enforcement, and HR analytics. She also has degrees in psychology, writing, publishing, and technical communication, and recently completed a Certified Digital HR Specialist program through the Academy to Innovate HR. When away from her desk, she can usually be found outside tending to her ever-expanding garden.