Last Reviewed: November 15th, 2024

Best Employee Recognition Software Of 2024

What is Employee Recognition Software?

Employee Recognition Software streamlines the acknowledgment of staff accomplishments, fostering a stronger corporate culture. By providing a platform for commendations, it addresses the problem of employees feeling underappreciated. The importance of recognizing excellence extends into improving morale, motivation, and productivity, boosting overall job satisfaction. The apparatus’s core functionalities typically offer digital recognition walls, milestone tracking, and reward programs. Emerging features include integration with common tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams for seamless recognition. Companies of varying industries can benefit, but those with large or remote teams stand to gain the most. However, its effectiveness depends on regular usage by both management and staff, and the genuine intent behind every recognition. Summarily, Employee Recognition Software is a powerful tool for creating a positive work atmosphere that fosters team cohesion. It delivers a solution to the prevalent issue of unnoticed effort, reaffirming employees' contributions and boosting employee engagement.

What Are The Key Benefits of Employee Recognition Software?

  • Boosts employee morale
  • Enhances job satisfaction
  • Improves team cohesion
  • Encourages peer recognition
  • Heightens productivity level
  • Facilitates remote recognition
  • Promotes positive behaviors
  • Rewards program management
  • Streamlines recognition process
  • Integrates with existing tools
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Overall

Based on the latest available data collected by SelectHub for 45 solutions, we determined the following solutions are the best Employee Recognition Software overall:

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Why We Picked Reflektive

Reviews of Reflektive highlight its user-friendly interface, flexibility, and effectiveness in streamlining performance reviews and fostering a feedback-rich culture. One user enthusiastically described Reflektive as a "game-changer," praising its ability to simplify performance reviews and cultivate a more feedback-oriented environment. Another user lauded Reflektive as the most user-friendly performance management software they've encountered, emphasizing its ease of setup and use, along with its significant contribution to improving their performance management processes.

While Reflektive receives accolades for its strengths, users also point out areas for improvement. Some users note the absence of a feature for comparing performance across quarters without opening multiple tabs, as well as the lack of an autosave function. Additionally, occasional bugs in the Outlook app and minor issues with single sign-on have been reported. Despite these drawbacks, the overall sentiment toward Reflektive remains positive, with users consistently praising its ease of use, customizability, and ability to enhance performance management practices. The software's integration with Outlook, allowing users to give and receive feedback, prepare for check-ins, and update goals directly within their email client, is a standout feature that sets Reflektive apart from competitors like BetterUp.

Reflektive is well-suited for organizations of all sizes seeking to improve their performance management processes. Its user-friendly interface, flexibility, and effectiveness in facilitating feedback and goal setting make it a valuable tool for both small businesses and large enterprises. However, it's important to note that software capabilities and user experiences can evolve, so it's always a good idea to check for the latest information and reviews before making a decision.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Interface: The solution has a straightforward and streamlined user interface, according to 61% of users. It’s intuitive and facilitates easy navigation.
  • Goal Management: According to 85% of users who reviewed this pro, it has advanced goal management features to align user goals with the organizational goals.
  • Performance Management: About 80% of users who mentioned this pro said the solution has excellent performance management capabilities to facilitate employee engagement.
  • Better Collaboration and Feedback Management: Regarding this feature, approximately 100% of users said it encourages better collaboration with co-workers. It enables unbiased feedback delivery within the team.
  • Calibration Tools: Users have expressed a desire for more robust features to facilitate calibration meetings, specifically the ability to view and compare employee performance ratings side-by-side.
  • Goal Management: The platform's goal-setting functionality has been noted as an area for improvement, with users finding it somewhat cumbersome and lacking the flexibility needed for effective goal management.
  • Performance Review Process: Some users have found the performance review process to be rigid and lacking in customization options, making it difficult to tailor the system to their specific needs and preferences.

Key Features

  • Feedback Tools:  Facilitate a culture of continuous feedback. Write feedback in Outlook, Slack or Gmail and post it on the recognition wall for the whole team to read and use. Filter to see the information relevant to the users. View historical feedback and plug data directly into performance reviews. 
  • Goal Management: Set goals as public or private, view goal reports, use check-ins to pull up goals and talk about progress, recall real-time feedback for visibility and adjust goals as needed. 
  • Check-Ins: The check-in feature allows managers to construct questions for their employees to answer. It facilitates light conversations between managers and employees. 
  • Analytics and Reporting: Access data and visual reports by department, location and other sub-groups. Uncover biases, pinpoint achievements and view compensation information. 
  • Performance Reviews: Create performance reviews with anonymity settings and the option to customize question types. The system autosaves reviews and displays them in an intuitive format. It integrates with technologies such as BambooHR and Workday. 
  • 1:1 Meetings: Talk through Slack, email, Reflektive or mobile devices to set 1:1 agendas. Track conversations by date, follow-up on past items, use the system’s conversation starters and mark topics as discussed. Users can tie 1:1s back to goals and feedback. 
  • Employee Engagement: The employee engagement module provides anonymous surveys for employees to submit feedback on your organization. Gain access to HR insights with year-round surveys and polls. 
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Why We Picked Betterworks

Betterworks receives praise for its user-friendly interface and intuitive goal-setting features. Users appreciate the platform's ability to align individual goals with broader company objectives, fostering a sense of purpose and direction. The software's feedback tools facilitate continuous performance conversations, promoting employee development and engagement. However, some users note that the mobile app's functionality is limited compared to the desktop version. Additionally, while Betterworks integrates with various HR systems, some users desire more extensive integration options.

Betterworks distinguishes itself through its emphasis on continuous performance management and employee engagement. The platform's features encourage regular feedback, goal setting, and progress tracking, creating a culture of ongoing development and improvement. This focus on employee-centric performance management sets Betterworks apart from traditional performance review systems that often rely on annual or bi-annual evaluations. Consequently, Betterworks is well-suited for organizations seeking to cultivate a culture of feedback, growth, and employee engagement. The platform's flexibility and customization options make it adaptable to various company sizes and industries, particularly those with a modern approach to performance management.

Pros & Cons

  • Goal Alignment: Aligns individual goals with broader company objectives, fostering a sense of purpose and direction among employees.
  • Continuous Feedback: Enables regular feedback exchanges between managers and employees, promoting ongoing development and improvement.
  • Performance Calibration: Facilitates objective performance assessments by mitigating bias through calibration sessions.
  • Development Plans: Supports the creation of personalized development plans to help employees enhance their skills and knowledge.
  • Calibration Issues: Some users have expressed concerns about potential biases during the calibration process, where managers discuss and adjust employee performance ratings to ensure fairness and consistency. Ensuring objectivity and mitigating bias in calibration sessions is crucial for maintaining trust and fairness in the performance management system.
  • Goal Management Challenges: Users have mentioned that setting and aligning goals within Betterworks can be cumbersome, particularly when dealing with intricate organizational structures or complex goal hierarchies. Streamlining the goal-setting process and providing clear guidance on goal alignment can enhance the user experience and promote effective goal management.
  • Limited Customization: Betterworks offers a range of features and functionalities, but some users have noted limitations in customizing the platform to meet their specific needs and preferences. Providing greater flexibility and customization options would empower organizations to tailor the platform to their unique performance management processes and requirements.

Key Features

  • Goals Alignment: Foster individual goal alignment with organization objectives and key results (OKRs) or the FAST goal methodology and quarterly progress reviews. It allows users to quickly view the most pertinent information and interact with goal progress on the activity stream. Integrations to Slack and other applications allow users to bring goal management into their workflow. 
  • Conversations, Feedback and Recognition: Automate goal alignment conversations, regular goal check-ins and career development conversations. Templates for each type of conversation are provided for managers and can be customized by department, job level and business objectives. Conversations can consist of free text and quantitative sources. Peer feedback may be requested or scheduled at any time.  
  • Calibration: Manage talent calibration and succession planning with an intuitive drag-and-drop box UI. Users can filter by department, level, job type, gender and more to provide up-to-date information concerning employee performance and development. 
  • Engagement: Betterworks acquired Hyphen, an employee voice and engagement platform, which has expanded system capabilities to provide automated surveys and polls. They can be configured to reach specific teams or the entire organization; time or event-based launch triggers allow you to customize frequency. The system enables users to create custom action plans based on real-time survey results. Polls help to identify emerging trends and create action plans quickly. 
  • Insights and Analytics: The system allows users to gather talent insights into engagement, career development and manager effectiveness. The input integrates with your HRIS to encourage a smooth flow of processes. 
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Why We Picked Performance Pro

Is Performance Pro a real performance "pro"? Performance Pro is a customizable and automated performance management platform that helps businesses manage talent. It offers features like performance reviews, compensation management, and succession planning. Users praise its user-friendliness and customizability, particularly the ability to tailor content libraries with competencies and tools for meaningful feedback and goal setting. This empowers employees to take ownership of their professional development and aligns goals with strategic objectives, boosting performance and achievement across the organization.

However, some users have pointed out limitations. They desire more robust reporting functionalities and integrations with other HR systems. Despite these drawbacks, Performance Pro stands out for its focus on driving employee development and aligning individual goals with organizational objectives. This makes it ideal for businesses prioritizing talent development and performance improvement. Its customizable features cater to various organizational needs and sizes, making it a versatile solution for businesses seeking to streamline performance management processes and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

Pros & Cons

  • Streamlined Goal Setting: Performance Pro simplifies the process of setting goals and aligning them with organizational objectives, making it easier for managers and employees to track progress and measure success.
  • Enhanced Performance Reviews: The platform offers tools for conducting more effective performance reviews, including customizable templates, 360-degree feedback, and performance analytics, enabling managers to provide more meaningful feedback and development opportunities.
  • Improved Employee Engagement: Performance Pro fosters a culture of continuous feedback and development, which can lead to increased employee engagement and motivation.
  • Data-Driven Insights: The platform provides valuable data and insights into employee performance, allowing organizations to make more informed decisions about talent management.
  • Difficult to Use: Users have reported that the platform is not intuitive and requires extensive training to use effectively. This can lead to frustration and wasted time for HR staff and employees.
  • Limited Functionality: Some users have expressed disappointment with the limited functionality of Performance Pro, particularly in areas such as compensation management and succession planning. This can make it difficult for organizations to fully leverage the platform for their talent management needs.
  • Poor Customer Support: Several users have cited poor customer support as a major drawback of Performance Pro. They have reported long wait times, unhelpful responses, and a lack of follow-up from the support team.

Key Features

  • Performance Management:  
    • Pay For Performance: Grant monetary rewards as employees reach their goals using tools such as merit budget allocation, competitive salary data and automated merit increase modeling. 
    • Automation: Create multiple workflows to orchestrate evaluations, employee development and check-ins, customize definitions for ratings, competency and weightings and use single sign-on capabilities. 
    • Goal Management: Set workplace performance goals and track progress by receiving updates. Store and view goals in the goal library and repository. 
    • Feedback: Provide timely evaluations in between annual reviews using real-time feedback tools and 360 views. Keep up to date with reviews by receiving check-in reminders and notifications. 
  • Compensation Management:  
    • Market Data: Attract top talent with credible salary data, salary grades and ranges and a step-by-step job evaluation process. 
    • Equal Pay: Capitalize on external market data, professional compensation consultants and internal salary range benchmarking to identify equal pay for equal work. Use market adjustments to structure compensation based on internal and external market factors. 
    • Merit Pay Modeling: Produce and compare merit paying models based on performances based on company budgets, allocations to managers and automated merit and bonus approvals. 
    • Pay For Performance: Classify top performers and potential flight risks using in-depth analytical tools. Create discretionary merit plans and plans that recognize head contributors. 
    • Automation: Automate job evaluation and benchmarking, merit scenario planning and annual salary updates to reduce the need for manual compensation processes. 
  • Learning Management:  
    • Career Development Plan: Develop employee skills along suitable learning paths based on current and future positions. Tailor training with specific courses and use knowledge retention tools to test and apply what employees have learned. 
    • Learning Program: Kickstart new hires into the business with customizable vision, mission and organizational culture lessons and learning paths to develop fundamental skills on products and services. Use assignment and tracking tools for required and role-based classes. 
    • Learning Content: Choose from over 1,000 courses from a library and select them based on skill areas such as HR, IT, sales and more. Personalize learning with the integrated course authoring system. 
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Why We Picked PerformYard

Stepping into the realm of performance management software, PerformYard emerges as a compelling contender, capturing the attention of users with its user-friendly interface and adaptable framework. Reviews highlight its intuitive design, making it accessible even for those with limited technical expertise. This ease of use is a significant advantage, as it allows teams to quickly adopt and utilize the software without a steep learning curve.

PerformYard's flexibility further distinguishes it from competitors. The software's ability to conform to the unique requirements of diverse organizations empowers users to tailor it to their specific workflows and performance evaluation processes. This adaptability ensures that PerformYard seamlessly integrates into existing systems, rather than forcing organizations to conform to rigid software structures. Additionally, PerformYard offers a comprehensive suite of features encompassing goal setting, performance reviews, and compensation management, providing a holistic solution for performance management needs. Users particularly appreciate the goal-setting functionality, which facilitates clear communication and alignment between employees and managers.

While PerformYard receives widespread acclaim, some users note that certain reporting functions could be more intuitive. However, these minor drawbacks are overshadowed by the software's overall strengths. PerformYard is an ideal choice for organizations seeking a user-friendly, adaptable, and feature-rich performance management solution. Its intuitive design, flexibility, and comprehensive features make it suitable for businesses of all sizes and across various industries.

Pros & Cons

  • Usability: The solution is easy to use, according to 100% of users. It’s easy to navigate with icons and a concise dashboard.
  • Customer Support: According to 100% of users who reviewed this pro, the customer support team is responsive and knowledgeable. The team provides excellent training and guidance to the users.
  • Performance Management: About 100% of users who mentioned this pro said it has excellent performance management capabilities. The ability to provide timely reviews and feedback about employee performance is outstanding.
  • Goal Management: Regarding this feature, approximately 84% of users said that creating, tracking and managing goals is straightforward. Users can produce measurable and consistent goals for the employees that can be customized and updated at any time according to the business needs.
  • Calibration: Users have expressed frustration with the calibration tools, finding them to be cumbersome and lacking the desired level of intuitiveness for effectively managing performance reviews.
  • Integrations: The platform's integration capabilities with other HR and business systems have been a point of contention for some users, as they may require additional configuration or customization to achieve seamless data flow.
  • Reporting: Users have noted limitations in the reporting functionality, particularly in generating customized reports or accessing granular data for in-depth performance analysis.

Key Features

  • Performance Reviews: Allows users to customize performance reviews with a variety of question types to choose from. Set a cadence for review cycles and enable email reminders. A live progress dashboard provides an overview so that users can track review progress and check on participation levels. Performance reviews may incorporate 360s, input from people across the organization, as well as external input.  
  • Goal Management: Break down goals based on their owner, expectation, timeline and contributions with the visual goal cascade feature. These classifications help with assigning responsibilities and breaking the goal into separate, actionable steps. Individual goals have a repository for updates, feedback and collaboration. Users can link goals to reviews. 
  • Continuous Feedback: Provide recognition for employees on the activity stream, provide 1:1 feedback that can be shared with employees’ managers and follow-up with them throughout their time at the organization. Users can inform managers about employee performance with a full track record of their team that can be filtered by date, contributor and type. Users can write private performance notes. 
  • Reporting: Automatically generate reports and visualizations for goals and review data. Reporting also includes review cycle dashboards, a stacked bar chart, performance values nine-box grid, segmented reports, performance trends and custom form reports. 
  • General HR: Access a couple of general HR features such as onboarding workflows, document storage, company directory, enterprise security, activity logs and employee data. 
  • Automation: Leverage automation for email reminders, single sign-on implementation, E-Signature capabilities and more. All employee data is automatically collected, encrypted and stored within the system. Managers can distribute reviews with one click as well as export them to PDF. 
  • Integrations: ntegrates with ADP, BambooHR, Slack, G Suite, Office 365, Okta and OneLogin. These integrations provide synchronicity of business processes, mitigating the need to log into several applications every morning. 
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Key Features

  • Performance Analysis: Employees can provide managers with a perspective of their performance review through self-assessment. Managers can access employee information in a centralized location to improve the quality of performance feedback. 
  • 360-Degree Feedback: Access valuable insights about management, teams and employee performance with both peer and external feedback. Summary reports for all types of feedback also available. 
  • Check-Ins: Adjust check-in cycles and access reports for check-ins to analyze the quality of check-ins. 
  • Recognition: Appreciate high-performing employees and share recognition on the organization dashboard. Access an employees’ recognition for the entire year on their performance review. 
  • Goals: Manage OKRs and monitor individual, team, department and organizational goals with activity logs and integrated check-ins. 
  • Reporting: Analyze performance reports for employees, teams and managers to recognize and reward high-performing employees, which helps improve employee engagement. Track at-risk or near completion goals as well. 
  • Surveys: Track employee engagement and analyze workplace satisfaction to increase retention with surveys and filtered reports. 
  • Content Library: Build and track learning processes while gaining efficiency with reminders and reporting. 
  • Integrations: Integrate seamlessly using API and SFTP with platforms like ADP, Kronos, BambooHR and more. 
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Why We Picked 15Five

Navigating the sea of performance management software can feel overwhelming, but 15Five emerges as a compelling option with a range of features designed to streamline the employee evaluation process. Let's dive into how users over the past year have weighed in on 15Five's strengths, weaknesses, and unique offerings.

15Five receives consistent praise for its user-friendly interface, making it accessible for both managers and employees. The platform's versatility shines through its ability to adapt to various organizational needs, whether it's setting goals, tracking OKRs, or facilitating regular check-ins. Users appreciate the seamless integration with popular HRIS tools like ADP and Workday, as well as productivity apps such as Slack and Microsoft Teams. Affordability is another advantage, with pricing plans that cater to businesses of all sizes. However, some users note that the initial setup can be time-consuming, and mastering all the features may require a learning curve.

In comparison to competitors like Lattice and BambooHR, 15Five stands out with its emphasis on continuous feedback and employee engagement. Features like "High Fives" for peer recognition and pulse surveys for gauging sentiment contribute to a culture of open communication and appreciation. The platform's focus on objectives and key results (OKRs) aligns individual goals with broader company objectives, fostering a sense of purpose and direction. 15Five is particularly well-suited for organizations that prioritize regular feedback, goal alignment, and employee engagement. Its intuitive design and comprehensive features make it a valuable tool for businesses seeking to cultivate a thriving and high-performing workforce.

Pros & Cons

  • Promotes Regular Feedback: The platform encourages consistent communication between managers and their team members through features like weekly check-ins and pulse surveys, which helps to identify and address issues promptly.
  • Streamlines Performance Reviews: 15Five simplifies the performance review process by providing tools for goal setting, progress tracking, and feedback delivery, making it more efficient and less time-consuming for both managers and employees.
  • Enhances Employee Engagement: The platform's focus on continuous feedback and recognition helps employees feel valued and connected to their work, leading to increased engagement and motivation.
  • Provides Valuable Insights: 15Five offers reporting and analytics features that give managers insights into team performance, engagement levels, and potential areas for improvement.
  • Supports Goal Alignment: The platform allows for clear goal setting and tracking, ensuring that individual and team goals are aligned with overall company objectives.
  • Limited Customization: The platform's rigid structure might not accommodate the diverse needs of all organizations, especially those with unique performance review processes or industry-specific requirements.
  • Learning Curve: Users accustomed to traditional performance management systems might find 15Five's approach and interface to be unfamiliar, requiring additional time and effort to adapt.
  • Integrations: The platform's compatibility with existing HR and payroll systems could be a concern for organizations seeking seamless data integration and workflow automation.

Key Features

  • Engagement Surveys: Measure employee growth, productivity and satisfaction with accurate quantitative surveys. Choose from 30 templates with more than 100 question options to craft a survey that fits any company or employee group. 
  • Science-Backed Performance Growth: Uncover insightful data-driven strategies with the platform’s Full Potential Index, a measurement of a maximized employee, group and company. Extrapolate trends and employee insights to create strategies for quantifiable growth on the Full Potential Index. 
  • Supportive Engagement: Offer feedback and celebration with digital High Fives. Establish a public or private recognition strategy for remote and on-site employees, or send an external High Five beyond company scope. 
    • Feedback Opportunities: Increase communication with check-ins and allow employees to raise concerns as well as celebrate successes. 
  • Improved Assessments: Bypass traditional self- and- manager assessments with the Best-Self Review. Focus on strengths and growth areas with quarterly or semi-annually distributed Competency Assessments. 
  • Feedback Initiation: Allow employees to send digital requests to administrators. Specify the type and timing of actionable feedback with positive, constructive and mixed prompts. 
  • Weekly Check-Ins: Schedule two-step, 15-minute check-ins to be completed weekly by employees. Take action with in-app follow-ups, performance reviews, future agendas and at-risk tracking. 
  • Individual Focus: Organize guided 1-on-1s between employees and administrators with templates, talking points and action items to be covered together. Record notes and create OKR action items as managers facilitate discussions. 
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Why We Picked Performly Talent

Reviews for Performly Talent over the past year reveal a user base that generally praises its ease of use and its effectiveness in fostering a culture of continuous feedback. Many users, particularly in fast-growing startups and SMBs, appreciate how Performly Talent streamlines the performance management process with features like automated reminders and goal tracking. This allows managers to ditch annual review dread and instead have more frequent, focused conversations with employees, which reviewers note leads to higher morale and engagement. Performly Talent's user-friendly interface is also a hit, with many comparing it favorably to competitors that can feel clunky and complex.

However, some reviewers highlight limitations that may be dealbreakers for certain companies. Performly Talent's customization options are somewhat limited, which can be frustrating for organizations with unique workflows or complex review processes. For instance, a company with a multi-layered review structure requiring input from various stakeholders might find Performly Talent inflexible. Additionally, while Performly Talent offers a mobile app, some users report it lacks the full functionality of the desktop version. This can be a pain point for employees or managers who prefer on-the-go access to performance management tools. Finally, Performly Talent seems to cater best to small and medium-sized businesses. Large enterprises with massive workforces may find its features and reporting capabilities inadequate for handling a high volume of employee data.

In conclusion, Performly Talent shines for startups, SMBs, and any organization seeking a user-friendly and affordable performance management solution. Its focus on continuous feedback and streamlined workflows fosters a more engaged workforce. However, companies with highly customized review processes or very large employee populations might be better suited for a more scalable and feature-rich enterprise solution.

Pros & Cons

  • Streamlines Performance Management: Performly Talent automates tasks like scheduling reviews and collecting feedback, freeing up valuable time for managers and employees. This allows for more frequent check-ins and focused development conversations, leading to a more engaged workforce.
  • Boosts Employee Engagement: Performly Talent facilitates a culture of continuous feedback through features like goal setting and recognition tools. Employees appreciate regular recognition and the ability to track their progress, resulting in higher morale and motivation.
  • Improves Data-Driven Decision Making: Performly Talent tracks performance metrics and generates reports that provide insights into strengths, weaknesses, and development areas. This data can be used to tailor training programs, adjust resource allocation, and make informed choices to benefit both employees and the company.
  • Limited Customization: While user-friendly, Performly Talent's customization options can feel restrictive. This may limit its effectiveness for organizations with unique workflows or complex performance review processes. Imagine a company with a multi-step review process requiring manager and peer approvals. Performly Talent might lack the flexibility to accommodate this specific structure.
  • Focus on SMB Needs: Performly Talent excels for small and medium-sized businesses. However, larger enterprises with extensive workforces may find its features insufficient to manage a high volume of employees. Think of a multinational corporation with thousands of employees spread across the globe. Performly Talent's reporting and data capabilities might struggle to handle such a large scale effectively.
  • Limited Mobile Functionality: While there is a mobile app, some users report it lacks full feature parity compared to the desktop version. This can be frustrating for employees or managers who prefer to access performance management tools on the go. Imagine a manager who wants to provide quick feedback during a client visit but finds the mobile app limited in functionality.

Key Features

  • Goal Setting & Tracking: Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) goals for individuals and teams. Track progress visually and receive automated reminders to ensure everyone stays on target. Imagine a marketing team setting a goal to increase website traffic by 20% in Q2 – Performly Talent can help them track their progress week-over-week and identify any adjustments needed.
  • 360-Degree Feedback: Gather feedback from managers, peers, subordinates, and even clients to get a holistic view of an employee's performance. This multi-source feedback approach provides a well-rounded perspective and fosters a culture of development.
  • Performance Reviews: Facilitate efficient performance reviews with customizable templates and automated workflows. Managers can easily document achievements, provide feedback, and set development goals – all within the Performly Talent platform.
  • Feedback Management: Encourage a continuous feedback loop by allowing employees to request and receive feedback anytime. This fosters a growth mindset and helps employees understand their strengths and weaknesses on an ongoing basis.
  • Development Plans: Create personalized development plans based on individual performance reviews and feedback. These plans can include specific training courses, mentorship opportunities, or stretch assignments to help employees reach their full potential.
  • Reporting & Analytics: Generate comprehensive reports that provide insights into individual and team performance. These reports can be used to identify trends, track progress towards goals, and make data-driven decisions about talent development.
  • Recognition & Rewards: Recognize and reward employee achievements to boost morale and keep them engaged. Performly Talent allows for public or private recognition, as well as integration with reward programs.
  • Mobile App: Access key Performly Talent features on the go with the mobile app. Employees can review their goals, provide feedback, and stay up-to-date on their performance anytime, anywhere.
  • Integrations: Integrate Performly Talent with your existing HRIS (Human Resource Information System) and other business tools to streamline workflows and centralize employee data.
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Why We Picked SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors provides full integration with all HR modules and can connect to other SAP solutions, such as finance to materials. With extensive customization, integration and analytics, it can be of great use for planning, developing and implementing HR strategies.

According to our analysts, SAP SuccessFactors scores a 79, leading in applicant tracking and recruiting, document management, and succession management.

It includes AI-assisted screening, LinkedIn applicant prospecting, automated tax documents, succession planning, offline course access and employee lifecycle tracking, helping HR cover core tasks today and plan for the future.

It’s gotten praise for its strong support team, which is responsive and customer-focused, although users sometimes experience delays in resolving issues. The platform excels as a comprehensive HR solution, integrating various functions into a single system that streamlines processes and reduces costs.

While there's a learning curve for most, the majority found it worth the work to centralize all things HR, especially with its AI capabilities. Recent updates have improved the UI design, though some users indicate growing pains with release-related glitches and complex integrations.

SAP SuccessFactors pricing starts at $10 per user per month with a free trial.

SuccessFactors makes recruitment easier with tools for job postings, tracking candidates, evaluating resumes and managing interviews. Its AI-assisted screening matches candidates to job requirements more efficiently.

The onboarding module speeds up the process for new hires by automating paperwork, setting up training and ensuring a smoother transition into the company. Overall, SuccessFactors helps identify and nurture internal talent for future leadership roles, creating a smooth succession plan and minimizing the impact of turnover.

Pros & Cons

  • Support Quality: The support team is highly regarded for its responsiveness and customer service. It’s praised for being helpful and treating customers well, although there can be occasional wait times for resolution.
  • One-Stop-Shop for HR: Most users appreciate the system's ability to integrate various HR functions into a single platform, which can streamline processes and reduce the total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • Goal Setting Flexibility: The learning module is seen as robust and flexible, making it easy to set and manage goals. Users can select from a library of goals or add their own, which facilitates effective goal setting and tracking.
  • Recruitment Management: According to most users, the recruitment module eases the entire process, including job postings, candidate selection, resume evaluation, interview scheduling and offer management. The applicant tracking and AI-assisted screening features were noted for improving time to hire.
  • Getting Started: Many find SAP SuccessFactors complex, especially for new users. The system is described as intricate and sophisticated, leading to a steep initial learning curve.
  • Reporting Woes: Users find the reporting options pretty restricted, with not much room to customize dashboards and reports. This lack of flexibility makes it tough to tailor reports to fit specific needs.
  • User Experience and Interface: The user interface (UI) has received mixed feedback. Some users feel it's outdated and clunky, with hiccups like confusing time-off calculations and cumbersome goal-setting processes.
  • Updates: While the support team is effective at troubleshooting integration issues, some users have experienced release-related breakdowns. On the flip side, other users noted recent updates have improved the UI, making it easier to navigate with new icons and better drill-downs.

Key Features

  • Joule: Use a virtual assistant to guide employees through the feedback process with easy-to-follow steps and prompts. Joule lets employees update their info right away (like location and working hours) without bouncing around multiple screens. It also streamlines promotion requests by guiding managers through the process and setting effective dates.
  • Automatic Tax Document Generation: Generate essential tax documents automatically, reducing administrative workload and ensuring compliance with tax regulations.
  • Payroll: Simplify payroll with automated pay calculations while ensuring compliance with both local and international rules to function globally. Plus, the self-service option lets employees easily access their information.
  • Time and Attendance Management: Automate time-consuming tasks like calculating hours worked and managing absences to make scheduling more efficient.
  • Recruiting and Onboarding: Create profiles, apply for jobs and track applications through a career portal. Employees can share openings and earn rewards for referrals. Recruiters can manage interviews based on candidate availability and location and provide a personalized onboarding experience.
  • Learning and Development: Use the earning management system (LMS) for all your learning needs, from succession planning to career development. It handles assessments, offline courses, training schedules, and tracking employee progress and course completion.
  • Performance and Compensation: Track employee performance to find top talent while providing feedback to help your team set and achieve goals. Reward employees with compensation programs and keep your numbers in line with budget modeling.
  • Workforce Planning: Modeling and analysis features provide insight into financials and scenario-based outcomes. Allocate resources effectively with budget planning, anticipate staffing requirements with workforce forecasting and reduce schedule conflicts with alerts.
  • Personalized Recommendations: The benefits plan recommendation tool offers a personalized ranking of benefits plans, providing employees with tailored recommendations to better meet their specific needs.
  • HR Analytics: Understand your company's data with insights on performance, turnover, diversity and more. Benchmark against peers and analyze HR data in detail. Use dashboards and reports to identify issues and spot trends.
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Why We Picked Oracle HCM Cloud

According to our data, Oracle HCM Cloud leads in succession management, reporting, applicant tracking, and recruiting and payroll management.

Oracle HCM Cloud is tailored to meet diverse human capital management needs across various industries for businesses of all sizes. Users commonly appreciate its seamless integration capabilities and user-friendly mobile access. The platform's robust management features ensure reliable maintenance and security for data privacy.

However, initial setup can be challenging, requiring a learning curve for new users. Feedback from users highlights areas such as referral tracking, interview feedback workflows and job offer processes that lack customization options.

Additionally, some users have noted limitations in the reporting functionality, suggesting room for improvement in data analysis capabilities.

Oracle HCM Cloud operates on a pricing model starting from $4 per employee per month, making it accessible for varying business sizes. It offers a free trial for prospective users to explore before committing.

Training resources include live online sessions, videos and webinars. It also has comprehensive support options such as email, phone, chat, FAQs, forums, a help desk, knowledge base and a ticketing system. 24/7 live support ensures assistance is available whenever needed.

Industries commonly leveraging Oracle HCM Cloud include technology, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, and retail sectors, benefiting from its scalable solutions and tailored industry-specific functionalities.

Oracle HCM is well-regarded for its user-friendly interface, effective integration of HR functions, and strong customer support. It provides significant benefits in streamlining HR processes and enhancing data reliability.

In contrast, it struggles with customization, mobile application robustness and user communication. The quarterly release cycle can also be a hurdle for some organizations, though it typically becomes more manageable over time.

Organizations with robust in-house IT capabilities are particularly well-positioned to deploy and manage Oracle HCM Cloud effectively, maximizing its potential benefits for their HR management needs.

Pros & Cons

  • Usability: Oracle HCM is praised for its intuitive and visually appealing user interface, which makes it easy for beginners to learn and navigate. The system’s workflows streamline processes, enhancing productivity and minimizing non-value-added work.
  • Functionality and Integration: The tool excels in integrating various HR functions into a single platform, offering good connectivity and the ability to define and execute global templates. This integration supports enhanced analytics, real-time reporting and a unified HR experience across different countries.
  • Customer Support: The sales and technical teams are noted for their people-oriented approach and strong support. Oracle HCM has improved its customer engagement model and actively works to understand and respond to customer feedback.
  • Flexibility and Adaptability: The product's extensible configuration allows it to adapt to an organization’s specific needs, making it easier to tailor the application.
  • Customization Limits: While the system is generally flexible, it has limitations in areas such as user rights management and the ability to introduce new ideas to Oracle Development. There’s room for improvement in how user rights and areas of responsibility are managed.
  • Communication Inconsistency: There is a noted inconsistency in user communication within the app. For example, email notifications and other communication features vary in sophistication, affecting the overall customer experience.
  • Quarterly Releases: The frequency of updates (four times a year) is viewed as too frequent by some users, creating challenges in managing and implementing these updates effectively. While initially challenging, users generally adapt over time.

Key Features

  • Global Human Resources: The software streamlines global, local, and industry-specific needs, driving efficiency across cultures and countries. It offers work-life solutions, an HR help desk, a workforce directory, strategic planning, modeling, predictions, and payroll and benefits management.
  • Employee Information: Employees can manage their personal information, benefit enrollments, absences and leaves, as well as view reimbursement slips and total compensation.
  • Worker Lifecycle: This feature supports end-to-end employee management — hiring, management and termination — keeping applicable legislation and global practices in view.
  • Rule-Driven Processing: The suite helps manage unions, collective labor, worker agreements and policies while staying compliant.
  • Talent Management: The talent management cloud empowers talent lifecycle stages so employers can hire the right people, nurture growth and employee development, manage succession, and more.
  • AI Apps: Artificial intelligence and data-driven functionalities improve the candidate pool quality, increase employee engagement, decrease time to hire and optimize organizational processes.
  • Advanced HCM Controls: This function helps control exception workflows, automate analysis to comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and prevent payroll errors.
  • Workforce Management: Workforce management solutions help talent managers build an agile workforce through effortless time and labor tracking, time calculation, cost control, and managed compliance risks.
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Why We Picked NEOGOV

Recent user reviews from the past year suggest that while not flawless, NEOGOV generally hits the mark. Customers rave about its user-friendly interface, making complex HR tasks like onboarding and performance management a breeze. One user, a Human Resources Assistant Director with over two years of experience using the software, praised NEOGOV for its intuitive design, stating that it streamlined their HR processes and eliminated the need for multiple platforms. This ease of use is a key differentiator for NEOGOV, as many competing products are often bogged down by clunky interfaces and convoluted workflows.

However, some users have voiced concerns about NEOGOV's customer support, citing inconsistent experiences and occasional delays in response times. Additionally, a few users have reported the need to find workarounds within the payroll module to ensure accurate information, which can be a pain point for organizations that rely on seamless payroll processing. Despite these hiccups, NEOGOV's strengths in user experience, comprehensive features, and focus on the public sector make it a solid choice for government HR departments looking to streamline their operations and improve efficiency.

Think of it like this: NEOGOV is like a well-organized filing cabinet that makes finding the right document a breeze, but occasionally, you might need to call a helpful colleague to locate a misplaced file. Overall, NEOGOV is best suited for government agencies and public sector organizations seeking a user-friendly and feature-rich HR solution tailored to their specific needs, particularly those who prioritize ease of use and streamlined workflows over lightning-fast customer support.

Pros & Cons

  • User-Friendly Interface: NEOGOV is recognized for its intuitive design, making it easy for HR professionals to navigate and perform tasks efficiently.
  • Streamlined HR Processes: The software centralizes and automates various HR functions, such as recruiting, onboarding, and performance management, reducing manual effort and improving overall efficiency.
  • Comprehensive Features: NEOGOV offers a wide range of features, including applicant tracking, payroll, time and attendance, and benefits administration, catering to the diverse needs of government HR departments.
  • Robust Analytics and Reporting: The software provides insightful data and reporting capabilities, enabling HR professionals to make data-driven decisions and track key metrics.
  • Public Sector Expertise: NEOGOV is specifically designed for the public sector, ensuring compliance with industry regulations and addressing the unique requirements of government organizations.
  • Customer Support Challenges: Some users have reported inconsistent experiences with the responsiveness and effectiveness of NEOGOV's customer support team.
  • Payroll Accuracy Issues: A subset of users have found it necessary to implement workarounds within the payroll module to ensure accurate calculation of wages and deductions.

Key Features

  • Candidate Scoring: Screens candidates automatically. After screening, testing and interview, it produces weighted scores based on customizable criteria to show hiring managers which applicants are the strongest. 
  • ATS Reporting: Offers over 90 reports, ranging from standard and advanced to ad-hoc. Dashboards provide real-time data to stay on top of metrics like job health. Also analyzes recruitment timelines. 
  • Background Checks: Integrates with vendors such as AssureHire, CIC Credit, Verified First, Alliance 2020, Checkr and others to run a variety of background checks. Includes EEOC and FCRA requirements to support compliant hiring. 
  • Integration With GovernmentJobs.com: Connect with the most-used job board for the public sector, gaining access to nearly 40 million candidate profiles. Integration with Insight helps manage the hiring pipeline from one location to easily manage job listings and let applicants self-schedule interviews. 
  • E-Forms: Build workflows with processes that can be started manually or automatically. Provides notifications and reminders. Employees can follow the status of their forms via the self-service portal. 
  • Document Management: Stores all forms created during each employee’s time with the company, making records accessible from a central, online location. 
  • Self-Service Portal: Allows employees to view pay stubs, request PTO and edit personal information. Actions requiring manager approval automatically trigger the approval process. 
  • Continuous Feedback: Includes: 
    •  Continuous communication, whether for goal-tracking, feedback or any other need. 
    •  Scheduled check-ins and tools like journal entries that make it easy to review performance and rate employees. 
    •  Performance improvement plans, which can be documented at every step. 
  • Sector-Specific Learning Courses: Offers a catalog of off-the-shelf courses specific to the public sector, including Human Capital, Health and Safety, Public Works, and Law Enforcement. 
  • Learning Management: Offers: 
    •  Several course options: build-your-own courses, over 400 premade courses from the library and third-party content thanks to SCORM compatibility. 
    •  A mobile-friendly interface, certifications and course grouping for organization. 
    •  Tools to monitor course completion and learner progress. 
    •  Reports for compliance purposes. 
  • Core HR: Provides an employee database for data management, along with benefits administration. Seamlessly connects with the payroll and time and attendance solutions. 
  • Payroll: Supports common requirements such as overtime, 9/80 time rules, retropays, meal penalty and future dating. Supports compliance with laws that impact payroll. Can be integrated with accounting software or any general ledger used at a company. 
  • Time and Attendance: Structure shifts and schedules based on business needs. Mobile time entry tools and time clocks connect with digital timesheets to easily record clock-in and clock-out data, eliminating manual errors to ensure accurate payroll. 

COMPARE THE BEST Employee Recognition Software

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All Employee Recognition Software (45 found)

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UKG Pro

by UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group)
UKG Pro
UKG Pro is a cloud-based suite designed to streamline global human capital management. It integrates essential features such as payroll, benefits administration, recruiting, onboarding and learning management.UKG Pro stands out in key areas like document management, payroll management, professional services and maintenance, earning it a spot as one of our top five HR products.UKG Pro incorporates advanced technologies like machine learning, AI, predictive analytics and business intelligence. These innovations optimize performance, automate tasks, enhance workforce understanding and foster employee retention.Notably, its advanced scheduling feature prioritizes workforce well-being by ensuring optimal staffing levels and controlling labor costs.Artificial intelligence (AI) plays a pivotal role in enhancing HR capabilities through schedule optimization, statistical forecasting, retention prediction, employee sentiment analysis and candidate matching.Starting at $100 per user per month, UKG Pro offers a per-user pricing model with a free trial available upon request. It features 24/7 live support, empowering employees through self-service portals, seamless integrations with payroll and benefits systems, and analytics capabilities for data-driven decision-making.As UKG Dimension is being sunsetted, some of its functionality is moving to the main system.Users appreciate UKG Pro's seamless integration with leading payroll, timekeeping, and benefits systems. However, some find the software's interface unintuitive and report limitations in its reporting functionality.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: great
Cost Breakdown
$10 - $100
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Oracle Talent Management

by Oracle America
Oracle Talent Management
Oracle Talent Management helps organizations streamline their talent lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding to performance management and succession planning. Its suite of tools facilitates sourcing, engagement, development, and retention of top talent through features like skills gap analysis, career development plans, social collaboration, and performance dashboards. This cloud-based solution is ideal for mid-sized to large organizations seeking a comprehensive and integrated talent management solution. Its modular approach caters to specific needs, offering scalability and adaptability. Benefits include improved efficiency in talent acquisition and development, increased employee engagement and productivity, and enhanced data-driven decision-making. User experiences highlight the intuitive interface, comprehensive functionality, and seamless integration with other HR solutions. Pricing varies depending on modules selected, user count, and deployment options. It typically falls within the range of $20-50 per user per month, and payment is usually annual or biannual. Pros Streamlined talent lifecycle Improved efficiency and productivity Enhanced data-driven decision-making Scalable and adaptable Intuitive interface and user experience Cons High cost for smaller organizations Implementation complexity Limited customization options Steep learning curve Potential integration challenges
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: good
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Deputy

by Deputy
Deputy
Deputy is a one-stop shop for hiring, training, scheduling, paying and managing time sheets of frontline and hourly workers. It offers an intuitive interface and various features to help manage employees, streamline scheduling operations and simplify internal communications.You can easily create, edit and manage schedules while ensuring optimal staffing levels. The platform's drag-and-drop functionality allows quick adjustments to accommodate changes in staffing or workload. Time clock features enable employees to clock in and out accurately, minimizing the risk of time theft and simplifying payroll processing.Also, Deputy provides a comprehensive suite of HR tools, including features for managing time off. Employees can easily request and track vacation, sick leave and other absences. A built-in messaging portal facilitates internal communication and records interactions to promote accountability.You can also post job openings on popular online channels and create a branded portal to accept applications. The system lets you design a new hire’s onboarding workflow with embedded training materials and tips. Additionally, customizable automation helps businesses comply with fair workweek regulations, break rules, maximum work hours, consecutive workdays and other labor regulations.One of the platform’s standout features is its pre-built integrations and extensibility with other third-party solutions. The vendor lets you add extra features such as payroll processing, business intelligence, demand forecasting, point of sale system and more.
User Sentiment User satisfaction level icon: excellent
Cost Breakdown
$10 or less
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Buyer's Guide

Employee Recognition Software Is All About Streamlining the Reward and Recognition Process

Employee Recognition BG Intro

Ever find yourself typing out a "congrats" email, only to realize it's as uninspired as a Monday morning meeting? Even that “you’re awesome!” post-it is no match to truly appreciate the time and energy your employees put into achieving great results. If you have the sentiment but fail to make it impactful, it’s time to turn to employee recognition software to add that much-needed personal touch to celebrating wins.

This guide covers everything you need to know before implementing this performance management tool. Keep reading to learn the essentials and get some free resources to support you from beginning to end.

Executive Summary

  • Employee recognition software lets managers create suitable reward and incentive programs to celebrate employee milestones and life events.
  • Built-in productivity tracking provides visibility into employee morale, value alignment and performance.
  • Key features include leaderboards, consolidated manager dashboards and reward catalogs.
  • Asking key questions internally and to potential vendors before committing to a purchase uncovers how certain feature sets can remedy internal processes.
What This Guide Covers:

What Is Employee Recognition Software?

Employee recognition software is an HR tool designed to track, communicate and celebrate employee wins and achievements to improve employee retention, attract top talent and foster positive work cultures. It automatically identifies top performers, notifies managers of milestones completions and initiates rewards and incentives. Real-time reporting allows companies to monitor employee engagement, morale and productivity.

Primary Benefits

Implementing employee recognition tools brings a bevy of advantages to the table. Here’s how software can help make your feedback fair, consistent and measurable.

Employee Recognition Software Benefits

Boost Morale

Acknowledging your employees shows them you value their contributions, laying the groundwork for a positive work culture that ties in morale with growth and development. Employee recognition software lets you identify the overachievers of your company and reward them for their hard work.

Encourage teams to do their best by offering support and celebrating wins collectively to increase motivation and job satisfaction.

Enhance Culture and Collaboration

According to a recent Achievers Workforce Institute report, recognition is the number one driver supporting connection in a dispersed workforce. Employees’ preference to work with people who trust and care for each other is apparent. Unsurprisingly, employee recognition can be the unsung hero to retain top talent across all work models, remote or not.

Employee recognition systems provide tools to inspire and engage workforces. Set realistic value-based goals and collectively celebrate wins to create a culture of appreciation in your company, all while providing personalized recognition and rewards that resonate with your teams.

Improve Productivity

It’s no secret that happy employees are more productive. According to the State of Recognition Report, employees recognized monthly are 36% to say they are engaged and productive. These engaged employees also tend to have 22% higher job commitment.

Employee recognition tools automate the recognition process and evaluate how employee sentiment and performance interact and influence each other. Arm your managers with actionable insights to nurture talent, improve operations and develop a strong and diverse workforce.

Key Features & Functionality

Employee recognition tools come in all shapes and sizes. Certain functions are common despite different depths and ranges of feature sets and services.

Employee Recognition

Support peer-to-peer and employee-to-manager recognition to acknowledge and celebrate each other's successes.

Cultivate a culture of appreciation by letting your team send should-outs to colleagues for their achievements.

Activity Dashboard

Track employee progress, rewards and interactions on an intuitive dashboard. Access employee profiles, reward history, analytics and shared resources in one place. Collectively celebrate milestones and achievements with options to send praise, messages and kudos.

Reward Customization and Management

Create personalized employee recognition programs to fit your talent needs. Set recognition criteria and suitable rewards for different roles, projects and events. Customize gifting options like e-cards, gift cards, badges, certificates, charity options, bonuses and incentives.

Certain vendors provide built-in reward catalogs that let employees choose their preferred rewards.

Branded Leaderboards

Foster healthy competition by displaying top performers in a leaderboard format. Customize the interface to align with your brand and showcase real-time updates. Use leaderboards to drive motivation, engagement and a sense of accomplishment.

Employee Profiles

Develop detailed employee cards highlighting key information like names, job roles, departments, reward history, badges and earned points. Allow employees to customize their profiles by adding headshots and bios.

Alerts and Notifications

Receive automated reminders and notifications for every change, update, message or action within the system. Improve internal communication and collaboration by ensuring everyone’s on the same page.

Integrations

Connect the platform with other HR software to access resources and databases from a shared software network. Align your recognition programs and HR initiatives with company values at all times by enabling seamless data sharing.

Common integration options include performance management software, employee engagement tools and talent management systems.

Seamless data-sharing capabilities align your recognition programs and HR initiatives with company values at all times.

Reporting and Analytics

Access real-time metrics like engagement, morale, sentiment and job satisfaction levels to determine how certain rewards, incentives and gifts tie in recognition with performance. Create reports rooted in internal talent data and people analytics to assist data-driven decisions.

Software Comparison Strategy

Choosing an ideal system from a plethora of vendors can be confusing. To make an optimal choice, you must devise a comparison strategy tailored to suit your business needs.

Start by determining the following while evaluating your options:

1. Identify Your Requirements

Analyze where and how your current recognition programs fall short and how an employee recognition system could help fill the gaps. Your software choice must provide tools that resolve obstacles and add value to your talent management processes. 

Evaluate internal processes to identify weaknesses. Common challenges can be:

  • Failing to acknowledge employees in a visible way to the entire organization, leading to potential feelings of undervaluation.
  • Inconsistent recognition across teams, resulting in disparities and impacting overall morale and motivation.
  • Challenges in determining the effectiveness of recognition programs and calculating the ROI, making it difficult to justify and optimize these initiatives.

Next, define key requirements in an ideal system to remedy these obstacles.

2. Determine System Type

Next, identify whether a stand-alone system or suite solution suits your business based on your current IT support. A suite solution involves upgrading your HR tech stack to a single provider. On the other hand, an independent platform integrates with a pre-existing software network.

Most performance management platforms have built-in employee recognition capabilities. If you have a pre-existing system, check with your vendor about their services.

To learn more about the technical and functional aspects, our software requirements and features checklist details the essentials to look for in a robust solution.

3. Evaluate Vendors

Once you have your requirements list locked in, research potential vendors by checking online reviews, reading industry guides and asking colleagues for recommendations. Request full-feature demos and free trials from vendors to see how your employees do with the platform before committing.

Shortlist your options based on how well they align with those specifications. Check the following factors to make the optimal choice:

  • Recognition Consistency: The system must let you organize rewards, gifts and bonuses based on life events and suitable reward criteria. That way, rewards and incentives are fair and everyone receives the same treatment.
  • Customization: Tailor recognition programs, workflows and reward systems suitable for your company culture and send awards and gifts that your workforce wants to receive. Look for options like recognition categories, point systems, custom badges, reward libraries and incentive systems.
  • Communication: Leaderboards and company-wide dashboards should let you visibly celebrate wins, display top performers and send praise at individual, team and departmental levels.
  • Analytics: Prioritize providers that offer insights into recognition program performance and align with your company’s performance metrics. Analyze the accuracy of ROI calculations during free trials and demos.
  • User Experience: It’s tempting to pick the system with the most capabilities. But extensive features mean nothing without an intuitive platform. Your chosen platform must let teams easily nominate colleagues, access rewards and view kudos messages. Vendors that consistently upgrade their platform must move to the top of your list.
  • Integrations: Consider how well the chosen platform connects with existing HR tools and productivity apps. Evaluate capabilities like single sign-on, data transfer and performance metrics alignment. Check each vendor’s API integration options to avoid integration issues after committing.

If you need help narrowing your options, our free vendor comparison matrix is here to help. Add your requirements and let the framework generate recommendations tailored to your software needs.

If starting from scratch is more your style, our lean methodology article details nine critical steps of conducting a software evaluation.

Cost & Pricing Considerations

The implementation and maintenance costs vary from vendor to vendor. Still, certain factors affect pricing plans. Before making a purchase, it’s vital to know on what basis your expenses can escalate:

Employee Recognition Software Costing Considerations

  1. Features and Functions: The more features and functionality the software offers, the higher the price. Systems with extensive features like social recognition, gamified scoreboards and performance analytics are likely more expensive than basic software that only offers e-cards and badges.
  2. Deployment Method: On-premise software solutions involve a higher upfront investment for the hardware and IT infrastructure needed to host and maintain the software.
  3. Number of Employees/Users: Workforce size and the number of employees using the software also escalate the price. Large talent pools require additional storage and employee profiles.
  4. Customization Options: Certain vendors charge additional fees for customizing the platform or connecting it to third-party apps and systems.
  5. Customer Support Services: These costs typically include additional support services like dedicated account managers, onboarding assistance, training or 24/7 support.
  6. Billing Period: Contract length is another factor determining costs. Certain vendors offer discounted rates for annual subscriptions, while some may charge more for longer contracts.
  7. Industry-Specific Services: Vendors offering specialized services designed for industries with unique compliance and security requirements also affect cost.

With that in mind, here are some common pricing plans you’ll come across:

  • Pay-As-You-Go Plans: This plan involves paying a small fee for each use or transaction, such as sending an e-card or award. This option is ideal if your company has a limited budget or uses the software occasionally.
  • Monthly Plans: Monthly subscription plans usually give you access to predetermined feature sets and let you recognize a limited number of employees per month.
  • Annual Plans: Similar to a monthly subscription, some vendors offer an annual subscription plan. Certain vendors provide discounted annual plans compared to their monthly plans.
  • Customized Subscription Plans: Handpicked features, integrations and requirements based on your company specifications determine these pricing plans.

The Most Popular Employee Recognition Software

Now that you know the basic functions and top benefits of using employee recognition tools, it’s time to start your software selection process. To help put things into perspective, here are our analyst-approved top picks:

15Five

15Five is a cloud-based performance management system offering employee recognition capabilities. Notable features include employee engagement surveys, guided one-on-one meetings and employee experience analytics. Its employee recognition module includes virtual high-fives, value-added recognition messages, configurable hashtags and @mention function so praise is always specific and reinforces company culture.

Integrations: Top productivity tool integrations include Slack, Microsoft Teams and Jira for company-level recognition visibility.

Starting Price: $10 per user per month, billed annually. The Perform plan offers employee recognition as a core platform feature.

15Five

15five’s high-five feature allows teammates and managers to send virtual appreciation to each other. Source

Betterworks

Betterworks is a cloud-based performance management software that enhances user experience via an intuitive dashboard and extensive integrations. It offers customizable reward programs and recognition tools to foster a collaborative culture. Goal-setting and built-in OKRs framework lets you set realistic objectives and track real-time employee progress. Weave company values into recognition by setting up configurable recognition walls, personalized hashtags and employee profiles.

Integrations: Slack and Salesforce integrations let you send praise messages and manage performance management processes without switching platforms.

Starting Price: The Mid-Market plan, designed for 1000 employees, includes recognition and feedback tools. Get a customized quote by contacting the sales team.

Betterworks

Betterworks lets you add configurable hashtags to highlight specific values and goals in recognition messages. Source

Reflektive

Reflektive is a cloud-based performance management suite. The system offers recognition features like peer-to-peer, manager-to-employee and company-wide recognition. Real-time feedback and employee acknowledgment tools foster a collaborative environment. Other notable features include customizable engagement surveys, analytics and reporting tools to measure program impact.

Integrations: The system connects seamlessly with tools like Slack and ADP.

Starting Price: $7500 per month as a flat rate.

Reflektive

Share appreciation messages via email, Slack or the built-in dashboard in Reflektive. Source

 

 

Questions To Ask

Use these guiding questions to understand your company’s requirements better:

  • What are your company values? How do you use recognition programs to reinforce company culture?
  • What are the pain points employee recognition tools can remedy?
  • What’s your budget?
  • Which reward and recognition options are ideal for your workforce?
  • What is the current IT state? Can it support an employee recognition system?

Employee Recognition Software Key Questions

Asking vendors key questions will help you uncover the pros and cons of using their system and services:

  • Does the platform support the different recognition options?
  • Are the awards, gifts and recognition criteria customizable to meet your specific employee recognition needs?
  • Can the system integrate with existing HR and performance management systems? Does it provide built-in API capabilities?
  • What’s the range of reporting and analytics tools? What are the data visualizations available?
  • How does the software provider ensure the security and privacy of internal databases?

Next Steps

With the right software in place, you can reward your company’s high achievers for their continued dedicated hard work. After all, happy and loyal employees keep the productivity wheel turning, positively impacting your company’s bottom line. All that’s left to do is use this guide as a resource to start an informed software selection process.

Our free vendor comparison report is a good place to start. See how different top-rated systems stack against your needs and zero in on your ideal system. Good luck!

Product Comparisons

Additional Resources

About The Contributors

The following expert team members are responsible for creating, reviewing, and fact checking the accuracy of this content.

Technical Content Writer
Saniya was a Technical Content Writer at SelectHub. With an MBA in Marketing, she found her calling in the world of digital marketing and technical content writing. Her work spanned HR-centric systems like talent management, recruitment and performance management to robust software like ERP and manufacturing systems. When the day winds down, she enjoys taking long walks with her dog or indulging in her artistic side by swapping her keyboard for a pencil. She finds solace in watching the sunset over the beach and appreciates the little things in life.
Technical Research By Aayushi Kishor Sharma
Senior Analyst
Aayushi Kishor Sharma has been part of SelectHub since 2021, working on categories like HR, EHR and Marketing, for which she also earned an MBA. A self-described "social butterfly," she loves meeting people, exploring and trying new things.
Technical Review By Jaisri Narasimman
Principal Analyst
A graduate of NTU Singapore, Jaisri Narasimman honed her data mining and curation skills during her post-graduate education, focusing on developing strategies to help businesses make the most of their data. In her role at SelectHub, her research spans categories like HR, CRM and EHR.
Edited By Joe Evans
Content Editor
Joe Evans is an Editor and Senior Market Analyst at SelectHub. A seasoned professional wordsmith, he has a bachelor's degree in journalism and electronic media and a decade of professional expertise in crafting top-tier digital content for niche online brands. He leads his small yet formidable team in producing helpful, compelling content in vital categories like HR, payroll, talent management, performance management, marketing automation home health, MES. When not editing and writing, he enjoys sports, quality time with family and dogs, and remains constantly in pursuit of something new and interesting to read or listen to.