10+ Best Employee Engagement Software Tools for 2025
The results from the latest round of tech tests are in! Let's take a look at which employee engagement software has come out on top.
Employee Engagement Tools
Employee engagement software allows you to continuously gauge the health of your company’s culture via employee surveys that gather feedback on various topics and issues. The ultimate goal behind these platforms is to boost employee morale, satisfaction, and retention.
We’ve just finished our Q4/2024 tech tests for employee engagement software categories. Read on to explore why these above 16 brands were at the top of the list. Additionally, you can also enjoy a free consultation with an HR tech expert who'll help you narrow down the best solutions for your particular use case.
To select the best employee engagement software, we combine insights from product demos with user feedback, the knowledge of industry experts, and the experience of our in-house team. We think the features distinguishing great engagement software from good ones are ease and anonymity of use, reporting and analytics, and automation.
- Ease and anonymity of use: The best employee engagement platforms make it easy for employees to take surveys and share their feedback regularly from different devices. Tools that integrate with Slack, MS Teams, and email scored particularly high in our selection process. We’ve also spent extra time looking for tools with anonymity settings, which ensure you’re getting the most honest and actionable feedback from your employees.
- Reporting and analytics: The most effective employee engagement software allows you to track engagement metrics, identify trends, and gain insights into employee sentiment. Reports can be generated to measure progress, spot areas of concern, and inform decision-making.
- Automation: We only select employee engagement tools that support a scheduled cadence for collecting employee feedback and seamless automation processes that disseminate that information to HR teams and execs through email and/or dashboards.
Our selection criteria prioritize what we believe is best for our readers. For an in-depth look at how we do that, read this article about our editorial guidelines.
Terryberry
Motivosity
Leapsome
Connecteam
Workleap
Matter
Profit.co
Quantum Workplace
Bonusly
Reward Gateway
Culture Amp
Kudos
Empuls
Assembly
WorkTango
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Deel
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SurveySparrow
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Terryberry
Terryberry offers a comprehensive employee engagement solution that integrates recognition, wellness, and engagement measurement into one platform. With over a century of experience, their all-in-one approach helps mid-market organizations streamline their engagement initiatives while providing powerful analytics and insights, making them an excellent choice for companies looking to consolidate their employee experience programs.
PROS
- Advanced analytics toolkit featuring custom pulse surveys, template library, and demographic filtering for data-driven decision-making
- Comprehensive well-being features, including mental health resources, physical activity tracking, and social challenges tied to rewards
- Strategic measurement tools tracking engagement impact on retention, satisfaction, and organizational performance
- Complete integration between engagement initiatives, recognition moments, and reward fulfillment
- Mobile-first design with an intuitive interface
- Customized physical goods as employee rewards
- Wide range of employee engagement features, including rewards, incentives, and a wellness tracker.
- Customer support and account management at Terryberry are quite good. Their reps stand out for being very responsive and attentive, which is evidenced by some of the client testimonials we read.
- The implementation process, while six weeks long, is quite comprehensive, and you get tons of help along the way. For instance, the last two weeks consist of internal and customer testing, as well as user training.
CONS
- No open API is currently available, though it's on the development roadmap
- Limited free trial options for testing the platform
- It may be complex for smaller organizations with basic engagement needs
- Interface design could benefit from modernization to match competitor offerings
- While Terryberry is easy to use, its design could look more modern and sleek.
- No open API, but on the roadmap for the end of 2023.
- No free trial at the moment.
Terryberry's engagement platform stands out for its cohesive and well-rounded approach to employee experience, combining recognition, rewards, and wellness initiatives in one system. During our recent 2024 demo, we observed how the platform effectively unites multiple engagement tools while maintaining clear visibility into program participation and cultural impact.
The platform's survey capabilities for gathering employee feedback impressed us during our evaluation. The manager dashboards provide comprehensive insights into recognition program adoption and value alignment, a feature that particularly resonated with HR leaders we consulted. We found the built-in wellbeing features effectively support both physical and mental health through team challenges and activity tracking, complemented by flexible reward options that can be tied to wellness achievements.
In our conversation with their product team, they highlighted how the platform's analytics suite has evolved to provide deeper insights into engagement metrics. We observed how organizations can track the correlation between recognition activities and employee satisfaction, providing actionable data for program optimization. The pulse survey functionality, complete with template libraries and demographic filtering, enables companies to gather targeted feedback and measure engagement trends over time.
We were also particularly impressed by how the platform integrates milestone programs with broader engagement initiatives. The system automatically triggers communications and recognition moments while maintaining personalization through configurable workflows. Lastly, while the interface could be modernized, the mobile-first design facilitates engagement across hybrid and remote workforces.
Terryberry serves over 40,000 clients worldwide, including notable names like Tesco, Epsilon, General Motors, and Trilogy Health.
Terryberry offers flexible pricing models tailored to each organization's engagement needs. Their basic subscription plans start at approximately $3 per employee receiving an award. To get an accurate quote, it's best to contact their sales team directly.
Pricing factors include:
- Subscription costs based on selected engagement features
- One-time setup fees
- Annual administration fees calculated by total employee headcount and program utilization
Best For
Terryberry's engagement platform is optimized for mid-market organizations wanting to consolidate their recognition and engagement programs into a single, measurable solution. It particularly serves companies looking to eliminate the complexity of managing multiple vendors while maintaining program effectiveness. The platform's integrated approach makes it ideal for HR teams seeking to connect recognition moments with engagement initiatives and wellness programs.
Motivosity
Motivosity’s product is changing every time we see it! We like that their employee Net Promoter Score survey (eNPS) goes out on the cadence you choose, and their feature-rich tools combine community, recognition and rewards, and employee insights.
PROS
- Easy to use for both employees and managers.
- Employees can access this system from their phones, desktop, and apps they are in at work, such as Teams/Slack.
- Free implementation support is included in all plans.
- Premium support: Help desk, help site, community site, training videos, quarterly QBRs with a dedicated Customer Success rep (for large customers) in every product.
- The average administrator spends 43 minutes per month in this system.
- Robust analytics to measure the impact of their platform as well as measure employee sentiment
- eNPS surveys, template surveys, plus build your own surveys.
- Employees can access this system from their phones, desktop, and apps they are in at work such as Teams/Slack
- One platform that combines rewards, recognition, employee engagement, and more
- Built in reporting with insights around potential attrition, most recognized employees, managers that need coaching, etc.
CONS
- Only has dollar (not points) based rewards. Their research shows dollars are more effective, but many companies want points.
- Doesn’t allow for as many rules regarding who can give what dollars to whom (for example, a team member could theoretically give 100% of their rewards to a friend each month).
- Only has dollar (not points) based rewards. Their research shows dollars is more effective, but many companies want points.
- Some users claimed sometimes it can be a bit buggy connecting to Slack to notify people that an appreciation came through.
- It would have broadened the number of gift card options for users to choose from.
- There could have been an easier way to integrate the software with swag stores. For now, you have to transfer funds to a card and then link that card with the swag store, which slows down a bit the process to cash in funds.
Motivosity product’s philosophy is that engagement and recognition should come from the bottom up, not from the top down, which explains why the software is designed to be simple for employees to access via their mobile devices, Slack/Teams, and also easy to use with an interface that looks like a social platform vs. enterprise software.
Motivosity’s solution is based on three pillars: Building Community, Employee Recognition, and Manager Relationships. The platform enables employees to interact with their entire team via a Facebook-like social feed and recognize and reward peers for a job well done, while managers engage with their team members, see where their employees are going above and beyond, and understand and track employee engagement.
What’s also great about Motivosity is that it’s scalable. Users can upgrade plans and add additional products or team members as they grow.
Instructure, University of Michigan, WGU, Cotopaxi, HealthEquity, DF Credit Union.
Motivosity offers two main products:
- Community and Connection + Recognition and Rewards: costs $4 per person per month and is automatically bundled with the other Motivosity products.
- Employee Insights: Employee Insights costs $2 per person per month.
Best For
Movitosity has customers from 25-person startups to 10,000-employee large enterprises. However, their sweet spot tends to be mid-market (75-750 employees) companies looking to take their employee experience to a new level.
We had used Motivosity to promote events in the community. We also used it to facilitate Employee Giving (i.e. Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico several years ago). During the pandemic, it was leveraged especially to lean into our Employee Resource Groups. We used it to focus on specific dates on the calendar, such as Veteran's Day, Juneteenth, and International Women's Day. We also used this platform to encourage Employees to take the Employee Experience Survey.
Clean Interface. Multi-faceted and easy-to-use
Our organization bought Motivosity as part of our strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility. A discovery from our Employee Experience survey showed that there was an interest in our employees who wanted to give back to the community.
The interface is easy to use. The benefits of the platform include multiple functions such as global connection and employee giving. I used this Motivosity for close to a year.
I don't have anything negative to see about Motivosity.
I would say that Motivosity offers multiple streams to help support Employee Engagement.
Executives should think about the company culture. Does the culture support employees taking on projects and missions for CSR projects? Also, from a Technical standpoint, is it easy to integrate with their current systems?
I would say Motivosity has made our needs, and it has stayed the same.
For-profit corporations and/or organizations with many employees.
Small non-profit companies with small margins.
Leapsome
Leapsome is highly flexible; you can choose to build on its best-practice surveys and questionnaires developed by psychologists or customize everything — from questions to timelines and anonymity settings.
PROS
- Leapsome is feature-rich and easy to use.
- Through anonymous surveys, managers can collect honest feedback to understand employee sentiment.
- Users appreciate how Leapsome centralizes feedback and reviews in one place.
- The notifications and reminders ensure tasks aren’t neglected.
- The visual charts, graphs, and analytics in Leapsome help you understand feedback and performance data.
- Leapsome is quite feature-rich; the platform packs modules for employee onboarding, learning management, engagement, performance management, goals tracking and much more.
- The majority of users find Leapsome’s UI to be friendly and easy to navigate.
- There are lots of third party integrations options to choose from, including Slack, which many users appreciate.
- The platform has transparent pricing, and you only pay for the modules you need.
CONS
- Users can’t include images or files in feedback.
- Leapsome’s wide range of features does mean a learning curve and lengthy implementation.
- There isn’t a mobile app for quick access on the go.
- Free trials require a sales demo to access.
- There is currently no way to post or upload an image or file into your feedback.
- Since Leapsome can do so many things, you may need some time to get used to it. The implementation process can also take some time.
- There currently isn’t a mobile app that users can download and access Leapsome quickly on-the-go.
- Free 14-day trials are available but you need to book a demo with the sales team first to sign up for one; you can’t do so on your own.
Leapsome offers a host of features dedicated to measuring and improving employee engagement. Through easy-to-create surveys featuring pre-made templates based on scientific research, you can regularly collect anonymous or identified feedback from your employees and gain valuable insights.
Among the Leapsome features, what stood out for us is its advanced sentiment analysis. Using AI and machine learning, the software can analyze open-ended survey responses to uncover hidden insights and common themes. It automatically scores the sentiment of qualitative feedback to reveal how employees truly feel. This level of analysis provides the actionable data you need to tackle the biggest engagement challenges.
Leapsome also enables the segmentation of survey results by factors like tenure, team, and manager. By spotlighting correlations between engagement drivers and performance or turnover, you can develop targeted strategies for improving the culture at your organization. Selective sharing options allow managers to view trends and feedback relevant to their teams without compromising anonymity.
With its focus on survey customization, automated deployment, advanced analytics, and anonymous follow-up dialogues, Leapsome combines comprehensive feedback collection with the tools to turn insights into positive action. If you’re seeking to measure employee experience and make positive changes to workplace culture, we think Leapsome is worth checking out.
Over 1,500 companies use Leapsome, including Mercedes Benz, Spotify, Trivago, Eventim, and Babbel.
Leapsome’s pricing depends on the number of your employees, the modules you want to use, and the length of your contract. Its modular pricing starts from $7 per user per month when billed annually. To get a detailed quote, contact Leapsome’s sales team. You can also test out Leapsome free of charge for a full 14 days - no credit card required.
Best For
Leapsome can be used by companies of all sizes across different verticals.
We use Leapsome daily as a comprehensive tool for managing performance and increasing employee engagement. It is especially helpful for the leadership and HR teams, allowing us to align personal goals with the company's broader objectives through OKRs and goal management. The platform supports performance reviews, 360-degree feedback, and real-time feedback, which help enhance communication and development. Leapsome’s customizable features make processes like surveys and one-on-one meetings more efficient by allowing us to adapt the platform to our needs. Overall, Leapsome has streamlined how we engage with and support employees.
- Leapsome’s user-friendly design makes it easy to recognize colleagues and boost morale with positive feedback.
- The platform functions as both a learning management system and an organizer for meetings, reviews, and surveys.
- It’s intuitive and quickly adopted by employees, improving morale by encouraging shared feedback and appreciation.
My organization adopted Leapsome to centralize and improve multiple HR functions within a single platform. We wanted a solution that could integrate goal-setting, OKRs, performance reviews, employee learning, and engagement into a cohesive system. Leapsome’s all-in-one design has been key in enabling streamlined performance tracking and employee development. It has also helped promote better communication and engagement with features like 360-degree feedback, surveys, and recognition tools. I have personally used Leapsome for two years, and it has consistently proven valuable to our team.
- The platform’s workflows could be better optimized for smoother use.
- The UI/UX for completing a learning path could be improved to provide a more seamless experience.
- Some internal management processes still rely on outdated methods.
Leapsome differentiates itself with customizable performance and 360° reviews that are straightforward to use. It supports goal alignment and tracking across the organization, fostering transparency and accountability.
Through employee engagement surveys, it provides insights into company culture that help in strategic decision-making. Leapsome also encourages a culture of continuous growth with real-time feedback and praise.
These features create a holistic approach to performance management, employee development, and engagement that stands out from competitors.
I recommend researching the platform’s functions to ensure it aligns with your organizational needs. Leapsome offers many valuable features, though some may require further development.
Leapsome has remained relatively consistent, though there is room for further updates to meet evolving user requirements.
The platform’s versatility makes it suitable for various types of organizations and industries.
Currently, I believe Leapsome could be beneficial for almost any organization looking to streamline HR functions.
Connecteam
Connecteam’s platform is mobile-first, user-friendly, and packed with tools to drive engagement, including surveys, polls, rewards, recognition, chat, news feed, skills development courses, and much more.
PROS
- Connecteam’s platform is user-friendly and mobile-first, designed with deskless workers in mind.
- The platform covers a wide range of features for team management, communication, training, and engagement.
- The pricing of all modules is transparent, with free plans for small businesses.
- There’s a 14-day free trial you can sign up for, no credit card is needed.
- One of the only fully-mobile HR tech tools for deskless workers
- Very adequately-priced for all it entails, SMB-friendly
- Quite open to feedback, having implemented user suggestions as features in the past.
CONS
- It can take some time to fully get the hang of the platform because of how many features there are.
- Although the platform’s scalability is a good thing, many essential features are locked behind the higher pricing tiers.
- The surveys module is offered as part of the communication hub, while the rewards, recognition, and training modules are under the HR & skills hub, which means to use all modules together fully, you may need to purchase subscriptions to both hubs.
- In the communication hub, the app offers no confirmation that messages were sent and/or seen.
- Certain features that some teams consider essential, such as GPS-tracking, are only available in the higher-tier pricing plans.
Connecteam offers a series of employee-centric tools for communication, training, and Ops management. We’ve trialed their employee engagement features for this review and are happy to report that there’s a lot to like. First up is the surveys and live polls functionality, which you can access from the Communication hub in the left side panel. Through it, you can gather insights and opinions from team members on various topics. The platform also excels at keeping teams informed in real-time. Through the Updates module (also accessed through the Communication hub), employees can easily get relevant company updates, share insights, and discuss best practices from the field.
Another thing we like about Connecteam is its focus on employee recognition, which isn’t something we usually find on deskless employee management platforms. There’s a dedicated space within Connecteam where managers can showcase the achievements of exceptional team members, celebrate special occasions, and acknowledge personal milestones through rewards, awards, and shout-outs.
Connecteam also prioritizes professional growth, offering features that support employees from onboarding to ongoing skill development. New employees can be efficiently trained and connected through the platform's digital onboarding process, while mobile-first learning enables personal improvement at every stage of an employee's journey. Additionally, Connecteam's customized information hub keeps teams engaged and informed, ensuring they have access to the resources they need to succeed.
Finally, Connecteam streamlines business operations, making it easy to assign shifts according to employee availability, manage tasks remotely, and submit requests from the field. The platform even allows for the promotion of activities and events, further raising morale and fostering a sense of community within the organization.
Connecteam is used by 36,000+ businesses, including Subway, Hilton, and Volvo.
Connecteam’s offering is split into three hubs: Operations, Communications, and HR & Skills. Each hub has different plans, ranging from $29 to $99 per month for 30 user seats. That said, each hub also includes a free plan that small companies or teams with under 10 users can get started with. The survey module is part of the Communications hub. Visit Connecteam’s Pricing page for a full breakdown of all plans.
Best For
Though Connecteam can be used by businesses of all sizes, midsize businesses with deskless teams are likely to derive the most value.
Connecteam is a user-friendly software for managing employees, facilitating communication, and enhancing collaboration. It is especially valuable for businesses with many non-desk employees. Connecteam helped us streamline communication, improve daily operations, and develop professional skills. It allowed us to schedule shifts, monitor employee work hours, and send automated reminders. The software was accessible on both desktop and mobile platforms, allowing us to use it anytime, anywhere.
- One standout feature of Connecteam is its user-friendly design, offering various options to customize team collaboration.
- Users can easily upload their own documents and files from any device, making resource sharing simple.
- The intuitive interface allows you to manage your team from a single dashboard, where you can view the status of tasks at a glance, reducing miscommunication and boosting productivity.
- Tasks can be assigned directly from the dashboard, eliminating the need for additional communication methods.
I used Connecteam for three months while on contract with my previous employer. As of late 2024, I believe they are still using the platform. We chose Connecteam because it is a comprehensive employee app designed to streamline communication, optimize daily operations, and boost professional skills. It allowed us to schedule shifts, monitor employee work hours, and send automated reminders, all within a single platform.
- While Connecteam offers a flexible pricing structure, some users find frequent upgrade prompts frustrating.
- For smaller teams with fewer than 30 members, the pricing can be relatively high, which might discourage some users.
- The costs can add up depending on the desired features and team size, so businesses should carefully assess their needs and budget before committing to the platform.
Connecteam stands out for its ease of use, featuring an intuitive and user-friendly interface. The layout is clean, with clearly labeled tabs for each function, making navigation straightforward.
For example, team members can easily create individual profiles with personal information, promoting better collaboration and engagement within the organization. The app’s simplicity ensures that even users with limited technical skills can navigate it effectively, fostering team integration and productivity.
Connecteam offers a flexible pricing structure compared to other employee scheduling tools. The software includes three distinct hubs, each offering five unique plans: Free, Basic, Advanced, Expert, and Enterprise.
Pricing is fixed for the first 30 users, making it affordable for small teams, but as your team grows, additional charges apply. This tiered structure allows businesses to choose a plan that fits their needs while accommodating future growth.
Connecteam has evolved by empowering managers to automate business processes, allowing them to focus on growth strategies while helping employees enhance productivity, professionalism, and job satisfaction. By streamlining tasks and reducing administrative burdens, the platform creates a more engaged and efficient work environment, ultimately driving better results for the organization.
Connecteam is ideal for teams of 30-50 employees, especially those with non-desk workers who need streamlined communication and scheduling tools.
Connecteam may not be suitable for teams that frequently change personnel or those that constantly restructure their workflow, as it might be challenging to manage frequent adjustments.
Workleap
Our rigorous testing of Workleap (formerly Officevibe) yielded primarily positive results, particularly in terms of ease of use, engagement features, and support for anonymous feedback. Plus, the platform has a scalable model and a generous free plan with all core features, making it a go-to option for both SMBs and large businesses.
PROS
- Easy-to-use free plan with essential employee engagement features for teams, no member count limit.
- Ensures truly anonymous feedback by requiring a minimum of 5 responses before survey results are accessible.
- Offers peer-to-peer recognition for employees to acknowledge each other's work.
- Covers a wide range of topics with built-in surveys.
- 14-day free trial available without credit card requirements.
- Slack integration enhances convenience and improves survey completion rates.
- Workleap is easy to use and has a free plan that a team of up to 10 users can use.
- To ensure that feedback is truely anonymous, without the manager, or anyone with higher access being able guess who submitted what response, a minimum of 5 responses need to be sent in before the survey manager is able to access the anonymous feedback.
- The platform has a feature for peer-to-peer recognition, giving your employees the ability to praise one another for outstanding work.
CONS
- Free plan limits data history (engagement scores and feedback responses) to 30 days.
- Personalized onboarding and dedicated success manager only available for teams with 100+ users.
- OKR resetting and adjustment can be cumbersome.
- Only supports private peer recognition for now, no public praise option available.
- Some users find 1-on-1 templates and scheduling not very intuitive.
- Some users have reported that Slack integration sometimes malfunctions.
- Workleap does not include a complete performance management solution among their offerings. They have an OKR tool that lets you set goals but there isn’t a mechanism in place to track thos
- e goals or conduct performance reviews.
- There currently isn’t a mobile app that managers and employees can use on the go.
Workleap is a cloud-based platform that focuses on employee engagement and manager growth, which allows managers to measure employee satisfaction through automated pulse surveys and anonymous feedback, then provides guidance on improving the work environment and culture.
One of the standout features of the platform is how easy it is to use and set up. We appreciate that there’s a free plan that comes equipped with a solid array of employee engagement tools. There are automated pulse surveys and custom surveys for gathering insights. Plus, the ability to manage feedback, conduct 1-on-1s, set goals and OKRs, and recognize team efforts, all for free. It no longer puts a limit on the member count - you now can have as many users as needed.
As we explored the platform further, we noted how seriously Workleap takes feedback anonymity. In our testing, it was clear that the system ensures true anonymity by requiring a minimum of five responses before the survey manager can access any feedback.
Recently, we also tried out the new Good Vibes recognition feature, which allows for even more employee acknowledgment through e-cards. It was satisfying to see how this feature not only enabled colleagues to recognize one another but also provided managers with valuable insights into what kinds of recognition were most impactful.
However, there were a few cons we encountered. The most critical perhaps was that while creating OKRs in Workleap was easy, adjusting them was not.
While the Good Vibes feature is a nice touch, we can’t help but feel the absence of an option for public praise is a missed opportunity to foster a more open culture of recognition.
Lastly, the 1-on-1 templates and scheduling features looked promising in our testing, yet we found them a bit clunky and not as intuitive as we hoped, which caused some frustration during our planning.
20,000+ companies, including WeTransfer, Dyson, Bose, PayScale, and Trivago.
Workleap has a free plan that limits to 1 team but does not limit team member count. It also has 2 paid plans: Essential ($3.5 per person per month billed annually) and Pro ($5 per user per month billed annually). There’s also a 14-day free trial that allows you to try all the features the employee engagement software offers.
Best For
Workleap is a good option for medium—and large-sized businesses, though small teams can still benefit from its free plan.
I used Workleap every two weeks to review feedback from pulse/employee engagement surveys, identifying organizational strengths and areas needing improvement. It helped determine our NPS score, branding us as an employer of choice, and understanding employee referral likelihood. KPIs were set for performance reviews, allowing managers and employees to provide feedback and track career development. I set up 1:1 meetings with discussion topics, enabling prepared and productive sessions. Managers and employees could set goals and track project or task completion and progress.
The pulse/employee engagement surveys effectively assess overall satisfaction and identify improvement areas, aiding proactive staff retention.
Anonymous pulse surveys encourage honest feedback and higher participation rates.
Tracking performance and reporting within one system supports staff development and accountability, with goal setting and milestone tracking enhancing manageability and achievability.
My company wanted to enhance its culture and obtain more frequent feedback from staff. Workleap was utilized to track employee feedback through engagement surveys, build on employee satisfaction, and manage performance reviews quarterly. It also allowed managers to set up monthly 1:1 sessions with employees to drive engagement, check on well-being, and discuss performance goals. Workleap combines these functions into one system. I used Workleap for six months.
I had no cons with this tool
I have not encountered another system that tracks performance and surveys on one platform, which is a significant advantage of Workleap.
Workleap offers many capabilities, including pulse surveys, employee engagement, 1:1 meetings, and performance management, all in one platform with robust reporting and data analysis functions. It is an excellent communication tool for engaging with employees, building transparency, and understanding both positive and negative feedback. This fosters a high-performing and positive work culture. The surveys are concise, primarily ratings-based, minimizing time commitment and maximizing valuable feedback. The reporting data is also beneficial for sharing insights with executives.
The functionality and usage remained consistent during the six months I used the tool.
Workleap is suitable for organizations of any size or industry. It is a valuable tool for HR departments to enhance retention, engagement, and company culture. Its user-friendly interface makes it accessible to employees at all levels.
I believe Workleap would be beneficial for all organizations.
Matter
Matter is unique in that its engagement tool works right inside Slack and Teams. For a plugin-type tool, it’s notable that it enables companies to automatically reward survey completions with coins, which employees can later redeem for gift cards, donations, and numerous other rewards.
PROS
- Option to reward survey completions with redeemable Matter coins.
- Pulse Survey delivered and responded to right in Slack or MS Teams.
- Pulse Surveys use real-time data from a library of 100 questions to provide insights on cultural categories.
- Survey recipients won't see the same question twice within 90 days.
- Real-time anonymous feedback with custom notifications.
- Affordable and transparent plans with discounts for non-profits and schools.
- Option to reward survey completions with redeemable Matter coins.
- Pulse Survey delivered and responded to right in Slack or MS Teams.
- Pulse Surveys use real-time data from a library of 100 questions to provide insights on cultural categories.
- Survey recipients won't see the same question twice within 90 days.
- Real-time anonymous feedback with custom notifications.
- Affordable and transparent plans with discounts for non-profits and schools.
CONS
- To use Matter, you must have either Slack or Teams installed.
- At this time, the vendor doesn't allow the Pulse Survey questions to be editable.
- Pulse surveys are only available on the highest-priced plan.
- To use Matter, you must have either Slack or Teams installed.
- At this time, the vendor doesn't allow the Pulse Survey questions to be editable.
- Pulse surveys are only available on the highest-priced plan.
If you’re eyeing a solution that effectively engages employees within Teams or Slack, you wouldn’t want to miss out on Matter. With this tool, you can deliver your Pulse Surveys right within Slack or Teams so your employees can finish them within either of these communications platforms—no need to log in to or learn a separate app.
But that’s only part of the reasons we love this tool. Another reason is its unique approach to encouraging survey participation. Matter is the first solution we've found that rewards completed surveys with "Matter coins," which can be redeemed for gift cards, donations, or custom company rewards. We can imagine a notable difference in how team members engage with surveys with this feature contribution.
Another big plus we found was how it handled feedback and updates. We could choose who to give anonymous feedback right away, and there's a weekly digest of company stats shared privately through Slack or Teams, which is a great way to stay connected and informed.
Matter’s Pulse Surveys provides a library of 100 questions across multiple engagement categories; however, we're hoping for a bit more flexibility here. As of now, there’s no way to edit the questions. You’ll have to stick with what the system has built out instead.
Also, a word of caution for those considering the free plan of this engagement tool: the plan barely touches the survey element and focuses mostly on recognition. It also limits historical analytics data to only 30 days. To access Matter’s pulse surveys, you'll need to upgrade to the highest-priced plan.
4,700+ organizations, including SIEMENS, Microsoft, and Sephora.
Matter pricing ranges from $0 to $5 monthly, with a 30-day free trial (no credit card required).
Best For
SMBs seeking a solution to engage employees within Teams or Slack.
Profit.co
With Profit.co, you can quickly conduct anonymous pulse surveys using the built-in survey builder, review the results, and see how your team members feel about their workplace. To boost engagement further, the platform also facilitates 1:1 meetings, rewards, and recognition.
PROS
- The surveys on Profit.co are customizable, anonymous, and can be deployed in multiple languages.
- Their engagement model is enhanced with features for 1:1 meetings and employee recognition.
- The support team is available 24/7 via phone and chat.
- There’s a free 30-day trial anyone can sign up for.
- The platform has tutorials available that walk you through how to use the system and guide your team onto the platform. There are also examples of different types of goals, objectives and KPIs, so it's easy to see how they work in practice.
- Profit.co offers an intuitive interface that makes it easy for teams to set goals, collaborate and track progress. The tool allows users to set up OKRs for each team member, which can be done fairly fast with the help of step-by-step instructions.
- Users can choose from several pre-defined KPIs that range from sales to customer satisfaction, which helps them visualize their progress over time with just one glance at their dashboard.
CONS
- The employee engagement module is only offered as an add-on. To use it, you need to purchase either the OKR or performance management module.
- The pricing isn’t publicly available, which means you need to book a demo to get an estimate.
- There’s a bit of a learning curve simply because of how many features there are. Mastering them all does take some time.
- While Profit.co offers a free plan for up to five users, it has limited features. The only way to unlock more features is by upgrading to another plan.
- One complaint about Profit.co is that there are too many features in one platform. While this might sound like a good thing at first glance, it can actually be frustrating for users who want something simple and straightforward – especially if they’re new to OKRs and performance management.
- As an administrator, you can create and edit tasks and goals. However, there’s no way to edit or upload tasks or goals on a mass scale. For example, if you want to change the title or description for every task, then you’ll have to manually do it one by one.
Profit.co's employee engagement module is designed to complement their flagship offering for OKR and performance management. We’ve given it a go and liked how easy it was to create and run pulse surveys. You can have these surveys be in different languages and choose to make them anonymous so employees feel at ease giving honest feedback. Once submissions are in, the built-in dashboards help you get quick insights into the results, while the export functionality allows for deeper analysis in external tools.
Profit.co also emphasizes the importance of regular 1:1 meetings between managers and their direct reports to stay connected and course-correct as needed. The platform facilitates this by allowing managers to schedule and define an agenda framework and employees to plan discussion points, review their work and results, and openly discuss any roadblocks they're facing.
Recognizing and appreciating employee accomplishments is another key strength of Profit.co. The Awards feature allows managers to celebrate their team's successes in the context of specific achievements and have this recognition showcased publicly to boost morale and motivation. And for an added element of friendly competition, Profit.co's Leader Board helps you highlight top performers across the organization, further igniting performance.
Overall, Profit.co delivers a thoughtfully designed platform that touches on the key drivers of employee engagement - from clear goal-setting and consistent feedback to recognition and organic team interactions. If you’re looking for a holistic platform to track OKRs, manage performance, and drive engagement, we highly recommend checking Profit.co out.
Over 1000 businesses use Profit.co, including SunTec, Altheo, and CWB Financial Group.
Profit.co’s employee engagement module is available as an add-on to customers who’ve already purchased either of its primary modules, OKRs & Task Management or Performance Management & Goals. To learn how much all modules and add-ons cost, we recommend scheduling a demo with Profit.co’s Sales team.
Best For
Profit.co is a great fit for mid-size companies looking for an OKR and performance management platform with employee engagement features.
Quantum Workplace
Quantum Workplace’s platform is expert-designed and comprehensive. Its validated survey, expansive benchmarks, and action-oriented tools make it a powerful solution for measuring and improving employee engagement.
PROS
- Easy to use and intuitive interface; you can find what you’re looking for and still see the most important items pinned on top.
- You can personalize surveys, make them from the best practices templates, or build them entirely from scratch.
- You can share, review recognition with your teammates in a social newsfeed format, and make it as detailed and scheduled or as succinct and impromptu as you please.
- Ever-present customer service team. Many users have complimented them on their responsiveness.
- Easy to use, the user interface is intuitive, you can find what you’re looking for and still see the most important items pinned on top.
- The option to personalize surveys, make them from the best practices templates, or build entirely from scratch.
- The ability to share and review recognition with your teammates in a social newsfeed format. What’s great is that you have the option to make it as detailed and scheduled or as succinct and impromptu as you please.
- An ever-present customer service team. Many users have complimented on their responsiveness.
CONS
- The platform lacks anonymity options, with feedback being visible to peers/colleagues.
- Navigation can be confusing at times, particularly when trying to find past goals/feedback.
- The platform could benefit from more customization options, like adding more details when updating goals or customizing feedback questions.
- Many users have expressed their issues with canceling, rescheduling, and the inability to schedule 1-on-1s on short notice.
- Some users have found the goals feature to be a little confusing to understand because of its extensivity.
- This is a rather unprecedented one, but we found many users wishing for more vibrant colors for the platform.
Quantum Workplace’s employee engagement software is easy to navigate and is highly flexible in terms of customizations. You can design surveys using the platform's library of validated, research-backed questions that employ a standardized Likert scale to ensure high-quality results. Open-ended questions are also integrated to gather examples of what employees think your company should start, stop, or continue doing.
Once survey data is collected, the built-in reporting and analytics provide insights into overall trends as well as breakdowns by team and demographic. Additionally, Quantum Workplace provides unparalleled benchmark data from over 10,000 organizations to add context to results.
Beyond measurement, the platform enables you to take action on engagement data through features like the action planning library, personalized employee engagement reports with recommendations and lightweight one-on-one tools for managers. The platform also makes it easy to collect data through multiple access options like desktop, kiosk, and SMS text surveys. This allows you to reach every employee, including dispersed and deskless teams.
There are lots of neat automation in place: the automated invitations and reminders significantly reduce survey administration work for HR teams, while the AI-powered Narrative Insights quickly analyzes employee comments to uncover themes, sentiments, and sensitive topics needing follow-up.
With easy-to-interpret analytics, robust benchmarking data, and built-in action planning features, we think Quantum Workplace has got what it takes for you to be on top of employee experience. If you’re looking to reliably measure and improve employee experience, Quantum Workplace’s offering is worth considering.
Quantum Workplace is used by over 10,000 companies, including Fossil Group, DSW, BKD, and Getty Images.
Pricing is not disclosed upfront, but you can get it after booking a demo.
Best For
Quantum Workplace's employee engagement platform is ideal for medium to large businesses that require advanced engagement and analytics capabilities.
We use Quantum Workplace on a monthly, and sometimes weekly, basis as it is integrated into all our HR processes, from onboarding to offboarding. It is instrumental for pulse surveys and in-depth employee engagement surveys.
Recently, we began using Quantum in a new learning program to gather regular insights on how participants are feeling. Our next step will involve leveraging Quantum as a skill matrix and for succession planning, helping us identify skill gaps and plan our workforce for the future.
The platform is intuitive and easy to navigate, requiring no in-depth manual to use effectively. The support and customer success managers are excellent, helping us translate data for senior leadership. The AI capabilities are impressive, allowing us to summarize survey data quickly, which saves a significant amount of time.
My company has used Quantum Workplace for two years now. The primary reason was to have a global solution for employee surveys, as we operate in both the US and Europe. Beyond just a survey system, we sought a partner with the knowledge and benchmarking capabilities to support our growth.
Quantum Workplace provides insights that help improve employee engagement at all levels. They deliver key questionnaires and go further by analyzing the data, using AI to summarize employee input and creating presentations with the key results for both leadership and employees.
The analytics can feel quite complex if you don’t work with them daily. Customization options are limited, particularly for the emails sent from the system. Additionally, I would like to see more flexibility in administering access rights.
Compared to other tools I’ve used, which tend to be more generic HRIS solutions, Quantum Workplace stands out by staying ahead with technology like AI. This technological focus is a significant advantage.
Don’t limit the tool’s use to an annual survey; instead, leverage it regularly to gain insights into the sentiment of your organization and employees. Ensure there is a dedicated person to manage and maximize its potential. Take your time to implement it properly and become familiar with the software. Once you’re comfortable, it will significantly enhance your work.
Quantum Workplace consistently evolves with technology and listens to customer feedback to improve. We see yearly updates, each of which becomes increasingly relevant and beneficial.
Quantum Workplace is well-suited for large organizations looking to improve employee engagement.
For smaller organizations, Quantum Workplace may be excessive for their needs.
Bonusly
Bonusly helps you engage employees, celebrate their wins, and hear their thoughts on improving company culture. It does this through peer recognition, integration with team communication tools, analytics, and more.
PROS
- Modern, easy-to-use UI that’s available in multiple languages.
- Employees can recognize one another with GIFs, points, and more.
- Its social-media-style spreads recognition across teams/departments.
- Employees can redeem points for gift cards and other tangible rewards.
- There’s a 14-day free trial you can use to test the waters.
- Intuitive user interface.
- Available in German, English, French, and Spanish.
- Supports Android and iOS.
- Discounts for nonprofit and education organizations.
- 14-day, full-featured free trial.
CONS
- The analytics and reporting functionality is limited in customization and scope.
- The rewards catalog lacks experiential options and is focused on gift cards instead.
- Employees outside the U.S. have reward caps and fewer options.
- Some technical issues like downtime, user imports, and redemption bugs may be experienced from time to time.
- The starter plan is for small businesses that cap out at 50 users.
- Analytics and reporting features are relatively underdeveloped.
- The reward catalog lacks in-person experience and physical goods, and options and focuses on gift cards, cash, or donations.
- Unused bonus funds don’t roll over: users use it or lose it.
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Bonusly aims to improve employee engagement through frequent, meaningful peer-to-peer recognition and rewards. Employees can choose from over 1,200 gift cards across popular vendors, redeemable in over 200 countries. There are abundant options for apparel, food and beverage, travel, and more to match individual preferences. Bonusly also enables companies to offer unique branded swag using an AXOMO integration. Employees can browse and order items right from the Bonusly platform.
For those who prefer cash rewards, Bonusly points are redeemable for PayPal, Visa gift cards, and prepaid Mastercards. You can also create customized experiential rewards like lunch with the CEO, tickets to local sports games, additional PTO, and more. For employees passionate about certain causes, rewards can be redeemed as donations to over 50 integrated charities.
Beyond rewards redemption, Bonusly helps you put appreciation on auto-pilot through features like automated awards for milestones and integrations with HRIS platforms for automated birthday and anniversary recognitions.
Peer recognition is also simplified through Bonusly. There’s only a few steps to do it: employees receive a monthly allotment of points valued from $10-$20 to recognize fellow team members, then it’s as simple as choosing the recipient, points amount, reason, and optional hashtags or GIFs. To top it all off, all recognition shared around is showcased on a public feed, spreading and amplifying the positive vibes further.
Among Bonusly’s 3000+ customers are Hulu, InVision, SurveyMonkey, Headspace, and more.
Bonusly has 3 plan that costs as follows when billed annually:
- The Core plan costs $2.70 per user per month for up to 50 users. This plan is best suited for small businesses.
- The Pro plan costs $4.50 per user per month and provides more reporting, permissions, and integration capabilities for larger teams.
- The Custom plan gives access to all of the platforms’ features, plus premium customer service and implementation support for big businesses. Pricing is determined based on the number of users and features needed.
Best For
Bonusly serves companies in different verticals. As for company size, Bonusly is typically used by companies between 50-5,000 employees.
Bonusly is ideal for hourly, non-exempt workforce populations; these folks are engaged and thrive off the recognition. Management applauds this valuable tool and its support of teams and people across capabilities, departments and projects. Bonusly is also used as a means to donate to different charities. The reporting feature is helpful to understanding employee engagement.
Bonusly offers diverse opportunities to acknowledge and commend team contributions in a meaningful and impactful way. The UI is quite easy to navigate and integration with Slack makes it so easy to send "fun recognition" to colleagues. The ability to utilize Bonusly across the globe is also a great benefit.
I've used Bonusly with different organizations over the years. Bonusly absolutely achieves collaboration across teams/departments. It is a great way for peers to give kudos to each other via Slack (or other integrated platforms, as needed). I have multi-generational teams including Boomers to Gen Z-ers. Team members enjoy the ease of use, and the ability to recognize their teammates any time, day or night, and the ability to make it fun by adding memes, GIFs etc. to their posts.
The rewards are limited; not a lot of variety in gift cards. The need for a message and a mandatory hashtag can seem redundant and inconvenient. Automatic reminders to users to redeem points before they expire should be a standard feature. Additional choices for international employees would definitely be welcome!
Bonusly is a great platform for daily recognition. I don't feel that Bonusly can truly compete with platforms such as Snappy, which offer more impactful gifts. Organizations truly do need both as an opportunity for keeping teammates and colleagues engaged.
- Integrations are important, especially with Slack or any main workplace communication tool.
- Reporting is pivotal to determining how to best use peer recognition tools within the workplace.
- Having a functional, easy-to-use dashboard is a must-have, as is the ability to customize based on business needs.
Bonusly's possibilities for integrations and mobility is constantly evolving, as are the rewards and charitable donation options.
Bonusly is excellent for remote and global workforces, as well as hourly and entry-level employees and their managers. Bonusly is a successful tool in any sector of industry; as it is a universal tool that encourages peer recognition, appreciation, rewards and charitable giving.
I believe Bonusly to be a beneficial tool for any organization/sector of industry.
Reward Gateway
Reward Gateway stands out for combining employee engagement surveys, recognition features, reward options, communication tools, wellness guidance, analytics, and more in a single solution.
PROS
- Easy to use for both the employees and the admin users.
- Remarkably good customer support thanks to their 24/7 help desk team and multiple communication channels.
- Varied rewards, including products from Amazon, customizable ecards, and experiences.
- You can purchase modules separately if you prefer.
- Integration includes HRIS, directory, authentication apps, and collaboration tools. There’s also an open API.
- Remarkably good customer support due to their 24/7 help desk team and multiple communication channels
- Varied rewards including products from Amazon, customizable ecards, and experiences
- You can purchase modules separately if you prefer it
CONS
- The “Reward Gateway for Small Business” version is only available for companies in the UK, Australia, and Ireland.
- The platform’s free trial is only available for the Reward Gateway for Small Business version.
- The reporting feature isn’t very easy to navigate, according to some users.
- Several users noted they had poor experiences using the mobile app to access discounts provided by employers. The app also hasn’t been updated since Dec 9, 2022.
- Users are unable to change employee profiles or create new recognition themselves but have to rely on customer support.
- No free trial
- The “Reward Gateway for Small Business” version is only available for companies in the UK and Australia
Reward Gateway provides a robust yet user-friendly employee engagement solution that can help you boost morale, retention, and productivity. It centers on employee surveys, including its proprietary four-question Engaged Index that benchmarks engagement. You can use this Index to identify at-risk areas for turnover and presenteeism, then conduct follow-up surveys on specific topics to dig deeper. Surveys can be created from existing templates or customized as needed.
A major advantage of Reward Gateway is how effectively it turns survey insights into impact. The platform makes acting on feedback easy with digestible analytics tied to engagement drivers. Leadership teams can clearly see potential areas for investment and how interventions may influence key metrics like retention. This proves the ROI on employee engagement spend and lends credibility when proposing new programs.
All in all, there’s a lot to like about Reward Gateway as an employee engagement software solution. It offers versatile survey options, an easy-to-understand yet robust scoring system, powerful segmentation, and actionable analytics. Companies looking to boost engagement and improve culture through data-driven insights would do well to shortlist Reward Gateway.
Reward Gateway has over 4000 customers, including Ikea, McDonald's, Unilever, and Heineken.
- For companies under 100 employees and are based in the UK, Ireland, or Australia: It costs £6 (around $7.5) per employee per month for an annual subscription.
- For companies with 100+ employees: Undisclosed pricing. You will have to get in touch with their team to get the quote.
Best For
Rewards Gateway can be used by companies anywhere, though they do cater to U.S., UK, Ireland, and Australia-based companies best.
I am the HR consultant for Ryan Nelson London and was in charge of selecting a rewards platform. I set up the initial demo and recommended the company adopt Reward Gateway. My main responsibilities included setting up and customizing the platform for our company. I consulted with the team to determine the best ways to utilize the platform and coached them on how to use it. Now, I follow up and assess the team's satisfaction with the platform and the impact of these benefits on job satisfaction.
I like that the team can log on to the SmartSpending app and manage everything through their phones, which is ideal since our jewelry workshop team doesn't have access to desktops or laptops during the day. The system doesn't require a company email address, which we don't have. It is intuitive and versatile, offering exciting options for the team. The team loves it!
Our founder wanted a self-service reward system for the employees, allowing the rewards to run smoothly without day-to-day involvement. We were looking for an alternative to PerkBox, which we used briefly but found unsuitable for a small company. We then considered Reward Gateway. We have been using it for several months and it has met our needs for a more effective rewards system.
The discounts can sometimes be difficult to claim and don’t always work. We have had situations where we had to claim a refund. The customer service, while responsive, doesn't always have a solution for every problem. Additionally, there are occasional technical issues like long loading times and bugs on the platform.
Reward Gateway allows peer-to-peer recognition, which positively impacts company culture. The analytics provide factual insights into platform usage, enabling us to customize rewards for the team more effectively. The platform offers wellbeing options, which support a healthy work-life balance.
Check how the system integrates with your current HR system to ensure a smooth transition. Make sure you can transfer the existing perks that employees value. Consider the scalability and robustness of the platform. While managing rewards for a small team is easy manually, an all-in-one platform can save headaches for growing companies. Finally, consider which analytics you may find valuable.
We have just started using Reward Gateway some months ago, so the changes and evolution are still to be determined. However, it looks promising.
Reward Gateway is ideal for scale-ups and companies that need to connect employees across different teams. It suits companies that prioritize a healthy culture and employee wellbeing, especially those with a younger workforce.
Reward Gateway may not be suitable for companies that don't require high engagement and prefer simple rewards systems. Smaller companies and startups might find more cost-efficient alternatives.
Culture Amp
Culture Amp boosts engagement through dozens of ready-made and customizable surveys, powerful analytics, and integration capabilities. To top it all off, the platform is supported by a group of data experts focused on everything relating to engagement.
PROS
- Culture Amp has an intuitive, easy-to-navigate interface.
- You can choose from multiple survey templates or create your own.
- Upon survey completion, the platform gives you insights into employee sentiment via heatmaps, trendlines, and benchmarks.
- You can set goals and track their progress seamlessly.
- You get useful reminders about different things like tasks, reviews, and 1:1s.
- People science team
- Tons of engagement surveys
CONS
- Customization options for reviews and ratings are limited.
- The platform features a text-heavy design that lacks visual elements like charts.
- It takes time to understand the platform’s full capabilities.
- The pricing isn’t publicly disclosed and can only be obtained after booking a demo.
- Their people science plus offering is not available for very small companies
- Enterprise clients might find that they lack some of the integrations and customizations a bigger team needs.
Culture Amp provides organizations with an effective system to regularly pulse their workforce, dig into key drivers of engagement, and take proven steps to create a thriving culture.
One of Culture Amp's greatest strengths is its library of 40+ customizable survey templates designed by experts in organizational psychology. You can leverage these prescriptive questionnaires to glean actionable insights around engagement, inclusion, onboarding, company events, and more. The software also benchmarks results against over 1 billion survey responses, allowing you to understand your engagement levels compared to top-performing companies.
Another feature worth highlighting is Culture Amp’s Retention Insights, which gives you early warning signs around employee flight risks. It doesn’t stop there though, Retention Insights also gives you suggestions on what you can do to bring these employees around.
The insights Culture Amp gives you aren't just comprehensive for leadership - they empower each employee to feel heard while driving change at an individual level. Both managers and employees appreciate the customized reporting and focused recommendations that translate feedback into clear steps forward. The platform is thoughtfully designed for each stakeholder, providing leaders with a birds-eye view of engagement while giving teams and individual employees visibility into areas requiring their input. This connectivity fosters a culture of accountability at all levels.
Culture Amp is used by over 6500 companies, including SoulCycle, Canva, McDonalds, Etsy, and Bombas.
Culture Amp has three modules - Engage, Develop, and Perform. The pricing isn’t fixed and is calculated based on the modules, number of user seats, and features you need. Contact the Culture Amp sales team for pricing details.
Best For
Culture Amp serves growing and large companies best, regardless of industry and location.
We use CultureAmp on a quarterly basis. We connected our HRIS (Rippling) to CultureAmp and it makes the Survey sending, data collecting, and data reporting functionalities very smooth and easy. The key workflows we used for CultureAmp would be for our Quarterly employee engagement survey, pulse surveys, and DEI engagement surveys. Once the survey campaign is activated, we live in the data to set goals for the upcoming quarter around engagement metrics from the top level down. We also used the privacy preferences so that managers are able to see into their own org. They take their survey privacy very seriously, which creates a much more equitable and honest survey experience.
- I love their easy-to-use survey creation tool, it makes customizing the survey extremely easy.
- I love the data visualization, filtering capabilities, and reporting flexibility to really show the data to tell the story.
- I really appreciate their customer support, they truly do go above and beyond.
- I also really love their IO psychology-based recommendations they provide for high-level areas of opportunity to provide direction in making impactful changes within the organization.
We selected CultureAmp because it is a best-in-class software for running employee engagement surveys. Prior to using it, we used Google Surveys for pulse surveys which is pretty limited in functionality. I've used CultureAmp at 2 separate companies and in total I've used it for about 3 years combined. It's one of my favorite HR systems that I like to recommend around engagement metrics tracking. The key benefits it provides are extremely easy-to-use surveys, the ability to create great reports and visualize data, great end-user experience, good customer support, and adaptability to use the survey functionality for different feedback mechanisms. As an HRBP, it's also extremely helpful to talk through engagement surveys with managers in identifying gaps in their team. CultureAmp's IO expertise also includes great recommendations for specific areas of opportunity for your organization which are great.
- One of the things that was difficult was the HRIS integration between Rippling, though that may just be more of an integration issue. Some of the data would transfer over while others wouldn't.
- When making any edits after the survey has gone out to the data sets ( for example, changing the department a person belongs to) you have to contact your account rep to change the data set. It would be nice to be able to do that independently!
- It would be great if you could preview your data sets and how it would look like for your survey without publishing it as active first, that way you're able to more easily make any edits prior to making it active.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I have not used other engagement survey tools. I've used add-on services that generally do pulse surveys like Paylocity or Google Sheets. CultureAmp is definitely the best-in-class system around engagement surveys, and beyond. It's the most comprehensive survey tool that allows you to really get into the depths of the data and recommendations on how to use the data to make impactful decisions to move your organization forward. As an HR professional, it truly is valuable data that no other system has been able to do as well as CultureAmp.
Budget is definitely important to think about. We also used some of the add-on performance management add-on. It's not the cheapest platform and can cost as much as an HRIS sometimes ( but it's extremely worth it).
Additional Add-ons: Depending on already existing systems, some of the add-on functionalities like performance management tracking, OKR tracking, etc. could be redundant. It's important to think about what you want to use CultureAmp for, and what you want to keep within your HRIS.
They have added on additional modules like performance management to address customer needs. It's a great add-on tool and helpful for companies starting out their Performance Management system.
they're great at customer listening, and their customer support is great.
I would say that it's best for companies with over 50+ employees. The earlier the better to really get a good data set going, but 50 + is probably most ideal for the functionalities outside of engagement surveys. I also believe it's for progressive organizations that really care about the culture and employees and take action.
It would not be a good fit for a very small org under 50 employees because I think the ROI might be a bit too pricey for the number of employees and data sets you'll get. Also, it's an expensive system to keep alive if you just do surveys just to get data. You can definitely use Google Surveys for that. Make sure you take advantage of the recommendations, and modules, to move the org forward.
Kudos
Though it primarily focuses on employee rewards and recognition, Kudos has expanded its platform with features for understanding and driving engagement, including sentiment surveys, detailed analytics, incentive campaigns, and more.
PROS
- Kudos’ interface is quite intuitive, making recognizing coworkers very easy.
- Employees like the ability to reward and appreciate peers.
- Employees can earn points to redeem for gift cards and prizes.
- Unique, company culture-oriented features are present all across the platform, such as in the way they approach analytics, or on the actual Culture Accelerator module.
- Excellent relation of mobile / desktop functionality. You basically get all the bells and whistles on both versions.
CONS
- The monthly point limits to award others can be restrictive.
- The system can be buggy at times, especially when redeeming points for rewards.
- The gift card options are somewhat limited, especially for local brands.
- There is no free plan or free trial.
- Unless you get a demo and start exploring the tool with the help of an insider, we’d say it’s somewhat hard to get a good idea of what features are like, how they work, and even what they do, just from their website alone.
- From our research, we could gather that the points system and how this works can get a bit confusing for some users.
Kudos’ platform packs several modules aimed at improving employee experience. For starters, it lets you create and deploy anonymous Sentiment Surveys, enabling employees to safely provide feedback and giving you reliable insights to identify issues within the current workplace culture. All of these insights, along with trend analysis, are neatly displayed in the Kudos Dashboard.
Going beyond surveys, Kudos can help you create a culture of appreciation through its user-friendly peer recognition tools. Employees can send customizable Kudos cards to colleagues to highlight appreciated actions, from individual contributions to team efforts.
You can also use the platform to delight employees with all sorts of rewards, including merchandise, events, travel, charities, gift cards, and even custom rewards. Kudos’ rewards system is point-based, which means you give employees points as incentives, and they get to choose to redeem their accumulated points for. For the most part, we’ve found the point value assigned to rewards fair, without added fees.
Another stand-out module you’ll find within Kudos is its Culture Accelerator. Through it, you can create specialized campaigns to incentivize behaviors aligned with your company’s values and objectives. All of these campaigns can be customized to reflect your company brand and messaging, and if you need any help, you can work with a Kudos Program Designer to ensure your campaigns hit the mark.
If you’re a mid-to-large company looking to elevate employee engagement through data-backed insights and values-driven recognition strategies, we think Kudos checks all the boxes and is highly worth checking out.
Kudos is used in over 80 countries. Some of their customers include KidsPeace, Kronos, DHL, Chewy.com, and Make A Wish.
With a minimum requirement of 500 employees, Kudos offers pricing starting at $3.25 per user per month. The actual cost varies based on factors such as the number of users and the contract length.
Best For
Kudos is best suited for companies with large teams, from 500 to thousands of users in practically any country and industry.
We use the points to issue to team members. Team members can then send points to each other as a show of appreciation. This can be for providing good ideas during a meeting or helping out on a project. Employees can use the earned points for rewards like gift cards. We also use the awards feature for different company and department recognition across the board.
I like the awards feature because you can customize the categories to the company. The platform is easy to use and navigate, which makes the learning curve manageable. Recognition can be sent with or without points, so it doesn't limit employees in showing gratitude.
The client bought Kudos because they wanted a different way of recognizing and incentivizing team members. There wasn't a clear method for recognizing employees. We were also looking to find motivating initiatives to make recognition a part of the everyday culture. Kudos allowed collaboration and gratitude to be easy not only from a company standpoint but also by allowing team members to shout out to each other. We have a mixture of remote and on-site teams, so the platform makes it easy to navigate recognition.
I dislike that points expire after a certain period. I know it is to encourage giving recognition, but we also don't want to force it. The pulse survey feature is a bit limited in customization and analysis. Besides those two issues, I have no other cons.
I think they have really put time into ensuring the experience is top-tier. The platform structure compared to some of the others is what sold the company.
What do you want out of your recognition program? How do you want it to align with or enhance your culture? It's not just about points and getting rewards; it is about the specific outcomes you're hoping to see.
I am not sure, as I only used it for a brief period.
A medium or big sized company that want to reward and recognize their employees will find Kudos to be a good fit.
A startup or a small company that doesn't have an intentional plan around recognition will not get the most out of Kudos.
Empuls
Empuls’s engagement solution lets you run a variety of surveys, including Pulse, eNPS, and 360 Feedback surveys. All surveys are customizable and can be anonymized so your employees feel at ease giving honest feedback.
PROS
- Empuls features a modern UI that’s easy to navigate. They also offer plenty of self-help articles to help you get started.
- The platform is quite comprehensive, with tools covering employee communication, engagement surveys, recognition, rewards, and analytics.
- Employees are able to participate in surveys on the go with the help of Empuls’ mobile app available on both iOS and Android devices.
- Their affordable and tiered pricing ensures companies of different sizes can try out the tool and scale it up or down as needed. They also offer a 30-day free trial that anyone can sign up for.
- Empuls features a modern UI that’s easy to navigate. They also offer plenty of self-help articles to help you get started.
- The platform is quite comprehensive, with tools covering employee communication, engagement surveys, recognition, rewards, and analytics.
- Employees are able to participate in surveys on the go with the help of Empuls’ mobile app available on both iOS and Android devices.
- Their affordable and tiered pricing ensures different size companies can try out the tool and scale up or down as needed. They also offer a 30-day free trial that anyone can sign up for.
CONS
- A few users find the options for rewards rather limited. Several of them are specifically wishing for the inclusion of more Amazon gift cards viable in their countries.
- Employees cannot share their points with each other at this time.
- Once you assign a sub-domain, you cannot change it later.
- Several users have experienced performance speed issues with Empuls’ mobile app.
- There is no monthly billing option.
- A few users find the options for rewards rather limited. Several of them are specifically wishing for the inclusion of more Amazon gift cards viable in their countries.
- Employees cannot share their points with each other at this time.
- Once you assign a sub-domain, you cannot change it later.
- Several users have experienced performance speed issues with Empuls’ mobile app.
Empuls provides organizations with a host of tools to listen to, diagnose, and act on employee feedback to boost engagement. Central to its offering are anonymized pulse surveys which can help you elicit honest input. You can customize these surveys or choose from existing templates, thoughtfully created in partnership with HR experts at SHRM.
Another powerful tool is Empuls’ simplified eNPS surveys, which help you identify brand promoters, passives, and detractors with a single score. The detailed classification, coupled with guidance on how to engage each segment, enables you to convert detractors and passives into loyal promoters.
Once feedback is in, Empuls makes it easy to diagnose problem areas through cross-linkage insights between engagement, performance, culture, and more granular analytics. The platform detects interconnections that highlight priorities for improvement. These data-backed insights inform Empuls’ Act phase, where you are given action plans and change management recommendations tailored to addressing each engagement obstacle.
The ability to capture feedback across the employee lifecycle is another thing we like about Empuls. Right from onboarding to exit interviews, Empuls’ conversational surveys help you uncover how employees feel at each touchpoint. These staged insights along with data from pulse and 360-degree surveys, allow you to craft targeted strategies that elevate the experiences of your employees.
Empuls has over 1,000 global customers, including Prodevans, Magzter, KPIT, Quixy, and more.
Empuls’ modules are sold separately. Below is how much each module costs, billed annually:
- Reward and Recognize: $3 per employee per month.
- Surveys: $3 per employee per month.
- Social Intranet: $1 per employee per month.
- Perks and Benefits: $2 per employee per month.
Best For
While Empuls offers several competitive features for every business, it’s most suitable for small to medium-sized businesses who want to build a people-first environment.
Assembly
Assembly’s platform helps companies automate a host of employee engagement and recognition processes through customizable templates and workflows - eliminating manual effort and ensuring consistency.
PROS
- The platform is easy to use and customize.
- The pricing is transparent and affordable. There’s also a free plan you can sign up for without a demo.
- Make your own rewards and even set up a points system with automated incentives.
- Explore the platform for free, no need for a credit card or demo
- Great set of features for the price point
- Make your own rewards and even set up a points system with automated incentives
- You have the option to go with a month-to-month plan or a long-term contract. For the latter, you can reach out to their team for a custom deal if it’s a larger team. However, keep in mind that the minimum agreement is 12 months.
CONS
- A few users noted needing more control over their notifications to avoid notification overload.
- Coins and points do expire, so sometimes they’ll expire by the end of the month before you can use them, although you get more the next period.
- SSO is only included with some plans. For others, it can be purchased as an add-on.
- Coins and points do expire, so sometimes they’ll expire by the end of the month before you can use them, although you get more the next period.
- SSO is only included with some plans. For others, it can be purchased as an add-on.
Assembly originally started as an employee rewards product but rapidly evolved into a comprehensive platform that facilitates employee listening, recognition, and collaboration. With the help of its customizable workflows and templates, companies large and small are able to celebrate their employees’ achievements, drive engagement among their teams, and streamline their daily operations.
Among the key workflows Assembly offers is one dedicated to engagement surveys. Designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of employee sentiments, this workflow lets you craft concise surveys, collect actionable feedback, and establish a consistent benchmark for measuring engagement over time. Another valuable workflow is centered around employee recognition. Whether it's acknowledging exceptional work, celebrating milestones, or simply expressing gratitude, the Recognition workflow can help you convey heartfelt recognition effortlessly.
Assembly also facilitates transparency and open communication through its Executive Updates and News Feed workflows. These features allow executives to share strategic decisions, company milestones, and important announcements, keeping employees informed and fostering a sense of connection to the organization's goals and successes.
There’s a lot to like about Assembly’s platform; it is user-friendly, customizable and affordable. There’s lots of other workflows you can customize and deploy within as well. If you’re an SMB looking for a flexible and budget-friendly employee engagement platform, we think Assembly is worth checking out.
Over 4,000 companies use Assembly’s solutions, including Coca-Cola, Quest Nutrition, Nesco Resource, HelloTech, and Amazon.
Assembly has four plans that are priced as follows:
- Recognition: Packs all the employee rewards and recognition features for $2 per user per month, billed annually.
- Engagement: For $4 per member per month, billed annually, this plan is designed for teams that want to maximize their employee engagement.
- Digital HQ: For $6 per member per month, billed annually, this plan packs all the necessary features for businesses to amplify cross-functional engagement, without any limits on the number of members on board.
- Custom: Designed for large organizations that need a custom and unique program, the Custom plan can accommodate unlimited members. Contact Assembly’s Sales team for a price quote.
Best For
Small and mid-size businesses across different verticals can benefit from Assembly’s solutions.
Assembly is such a fantastic platform for sharing gratitude with your colleagues, across the organization as a whole, as well as internally and externally between departments. It is straightforward, easy, and fun to use! This tool is especially good for nurturing culture across a remote team. The integration with Slack makes it seamless for the team to use and engage with, and Assembly engages senior leadership with ease.
Simple, fast platform. Easy set-up and free trial version prior to transition to paid version. Easy implementation and great reporting options and support.
In the age of remote, work-from-home, and hybrid models, and all of the inherent challenges it presents, Assembly has allowed us to continue to celebrate business culture and monetize the value of success within our organization. We are able to easily recognize team members and their accomplishments so that those ambiguous moments can become tangible for the entire company to see. Acknowledgements of birthdays, anniversaries, work anniversaries etc. are seamlessly built in, never to be forgotten or overlooked. Coins can be exchanged for gifts, donated to charity, traded in for company-branded gifts, or cashed in for rewards. Our engagement rate is over 90% on the Assembly platform and we are very excited to see how they can continue to evolve its value proposition.
Coins expire if not used in time. UX could be more user-friendly. Larger tiered allotments would be a great improvement.
When considering any employee recognition platform, functionality and reporting should always be heavily weighted in the final decision. Recognition platforms go hand-in-hand with engagement surveys; some platforms do not offer this feature or offer. Limited version of this feature. Mobility and accessibility are primary concerns, especially where remote and global teams exist. Also, goal/challenge creation, tracking and attainment features are wonderful enhancements to include.
There have been consistent upgrades to the platform and Assembly is very open to feedback and suggestions.
Assembly is ideal for small and mid-market organizations.
Assembly would not be a good fit for large/enterprise organizations.
WorkTango
WorkTango helps you measure engagement and collect actionable feedback easily and confidentially. You can leverage its real-time dashboards and analytics to understand employee sentiment, empower managers to act, and drive positive organizational change.
PROS
- You can run unlimited surveys, available in over 20 languages including English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Korean.
- You can use WorkTango’s research-backed and statistically validated assessments, or create your own.
- Anonymous Conversations enable managers to acknowledge and respond to open-text survey comments while protecting employee anonymity.
- You can compare your engagement survey results to internal and external benchmarks.
- Open-text responses can be summarized with Natural Language Processing (NLP). It can also bring the most used terms front and center in a word cloud.
- Unlimited surveys available in English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Korean.
- You can add modules as you go and these will be charged on a prorated basis.
CONS
- There isn’t a monthly billing option. You have to pay by year.
- All plans require a minimum commitment of 12 months.
- Free trials aren't available at this time.
- Billing is only done annually and all plans require a minimum agreement for a 24-month subscription (see our FAQs for more and their pricing page for full details).
- Several users have complained about the rewards redeeming process being not very intuitive.
WorkTango’s Surveys & Insights module is all about helping businesses measure and improve employee engagement. We like that users can customize and deploy an unlimited number of surveys to gather feedback across the entire employee lifecycle. Survey creation is made even easier with WorkTango’s library of expert-designed questions, ready to be used as needed.
Once responses are collected, WorkTango's dashboards and reporting features kick in. The sophisticated analytics help identify key themes and trends from both quantitative data and open-ended comments. Features like the Sentiment Cloud summarize the overall positive and negative sentiment within employee feedback, while easy benchmarking shows how your company compares to other players in your industry. These insights are presented through highly visual, easy-to-grasp dashboards tailored to different roles.
But WorkTango isn't just about measuring engagement. The software offers predictive recommendations and suggested actions based on survey results. Leaders can then turn these recommendations into accountable action plans with progress tracking. For developing leaders' capabilities, WorkTango even suggests relevant learning resources to build skills in areas needing improvement. It’s overall, a very well-thought-out platform.
Over 1,000 companies use Worktango’s solutions, including Kia Motors, HUB International, Rexall, and Accruent.
WorkTango pricing is calculated based on each customers' needs. For more information, we recommend booking a demo with their Sales team.
Best For
Although WorkTango can be used by any company size, from SMBs to Fortune 100 enterprises, their 1000+ customers are predominantly mid-sized to large companies.
My company uses WorkTango on a monthly basis. We use WorkTango to track employee recognition and create surveys to retain top talent. I share the information we receive from WorkTango with management, and it is used to create incentive programs and salary increases throughout the year. In the upcoming fiscal year, our company will be utilizing WorkTango 100%. I highly recommend WorkTango for other organizations that are trying to retain and recognize employees.
- The customer service is awesome.
- The WorkTango team always takes the time to help and find different ways to utilize the software.
- Employees love that they can give feedback on their peers and receive incentives.
My company purchased WorkTango because we wanted to implement a recognition and rewards program for employees. Prior to purchasing WorkTango, it was cumbersome and tedious to recognize employees who were going above and beyond, using paper forms and spreadsheets. WorkTango has made the process easier, and we can now get feedback. We have been using WorkTango for three years and have noticed an increase in employee engagement and retention.
We have been using Worktango for 3 years and have noticed an increase of employee engagement and retention.
Not much to dislike. We love working with WorkTango.
I have not used similar programs to WorkTango.
The criteria a company should consider when buying this program would be how to retain employees and what incentives can be put in place. This is a win for both the company and employees if implemented well.
WorkTango has evolved to become more user-friendly and has introduced features that have significantly increased employee satisfaction. The platform has adapted to better meet the needs of both employees and administrators, enhancing its effectiveness in recognizing and retaining talent.
WorkTango is particularly well-suited for mid-size to large companies that need a robust platform for employee recognition and rewards.
WorkTango may not be the best fit for very small companies that have simpler employee recognition needs.
Deel
While Deel is best known for global payroll, they have expanded into a comprehensive system enabling HR teams to manage and engage international employees and contractors.
PROS
- You can offer employee benefits through Deel, as well as other perks such as discounts at known service providers.
- Slack integration allows the creation and deployment of pulse surveys to increase engagement.
- Getting paid through Deel is fast and easy. Payments arrive on time without delays.
- Deel's interface has a modern design and is fairly easy to navigate.
- Users praised Deel's customer support for being responsive and quick to resolve issues.
- Deel HR is completely free to use.
- Excellent 24/7 customer service with fast onboarding (2-3 days) and local payroll experts in each jurisdiction.
- Deel HR is free for companies of all sizes.
- Seamless integration with platforms like QuickBooks, BambooHR, and Greenhouse, plus custom integration options.
- User-friendly, self-service features enable quick setup; identity verification often takes under 24 hours.
- Automated invoices simplify payments, provided they're in English.
CONS
- Pulse surveys are offered through the Slack plug-in, and aren’t built into Deel.
- The HR offering isn’t as developed as specialized HRIS/HCM solutions.
- Deel's fees and exchange rates are high compared to other platforms.
- The 30-day withdrawal deadline is inconvenient; many users would prefer for Deel to function as a wallet.
- There currently isn’t a mobile app for Deel; users can only access it through the web version.
- Despite being a global platform, Deel’s debit card feature is only available in a few countries.
- You can’t edit some of Deel’s contract clauses.
- Key features like onboarding automation are add-ons, which may increase costs.
- Limited flexibility in modifying contracts or service agreements; changes often require an addendum.
- Invoices cannot be generated in languages other than English.
Deel was designed with distributed teams in mind, which is evident in its flagship global payroll offering, but also in their continuous rollout of features that foster connections and engagement among remote employees. The "Connections'' tool enables 1:1 and group interactions to build relationships like those formed organically in an office.
Integrations like Slack make employee engagement initiatives accessible right within familiar workflows. Pulse surveys delivered via Slack see higher response rates. Surveys can also create interest-based Slack groups to connect employees around shared hobbies/topics beyond work projects.
It's impressive to see the employee experience capabilities Deel has built out, considering the company started by solving a different need - global payroll. The focus on relationships, networking, and engagement really caters to the needs of distributed, remote-first teams.
Over 35,000 businesses globally have used Deel, including Nike, Shopify, Redbull, and Zapier.
Deel Engage is priced at $20 per employee per month and covers performance, learning, career, and feedback management tools.
Best For
Companies of all sizes can use Deel’s solutions to pay employees on time, offer benefits and engage them, wherever they may be.
We used Deel as a payment processor for our international employees. The system is customizable to pay contractors on a weekly, bi-weekly or semi-monthly basis. We were able to pay some contractors weekly, and another group semi-monthly. The system also allows for you to submit payments on behalf of the contractor or out of their usual payroll cycle in an off-cycle payroll. Reimbursements could be paid out by the use of the off-cycle payroll. They could be paid immediately after approval by the admin or included in the next payroll cycle run.
I liked the customization of contracts. I liked that our contractors could manage their funds after they were available. It was very easy to get help and a solution through their chat feature or by phone with a representative.
We were in search of an international HRIS tool to employ our international contractors and full employees temporarily. We chose Deel due to the ease of onboarding, customization, and 0 dollar up front cost to onboard our international contractors. We used the platform on a weekly basis to onboard and pay our contractors for 6 months. I especially liked that once a contract ended we could still pay out hours via an off-cycle payroll. This was helpful if a contractor missed a timesheet submission deadline. Another benefit to the platform that our contractors favored was the ability to withdraw their funds in their currency of choice; or split payments into various currencies. Once timesheets were approved and processed from an administrative perspective, funds were available, in most cases within 24hrs to the contractors Deel account.
As we were considering hiring international employees we could only do so by paying upfront cost before onboarding them, this was not ideal for us. I did not like that I couldn't set a semi-monthly rate for a few of our contractors. Onboarding manager wasn't easy to reach for quick questions when onboarding contractors.
The management fees were lower and contractors had more control over their funds.
If you are hiring contractors or employees and how many. Have a solid understanding of what countries they are located in, as this affects the management fee. Also, management fees are paid each payroll, which could get costly, so be sure the contractor or employee is aware of their pay schedule.
We only used this tool for about 6 months and did not see any significant changes during that time.
Remote first companies with employees or contractors across the world.
None
Mo
Mo drives morale and engagement through its easy-to-understand rewards system, peer nominations, and an AI Assistant that ensures appreciation never falls through the cracks.
PROS
- User-friendly UI with a wide range of vouchers available.
- System auto-nudges employees to recognize achievements if recognition is overdue.
- Reasonable pricing with no rewards fees.
- Free onboarding and implementation support.
- Users can access the platform in 12 languages.
- Android and iOS mobile apps are available for on-the-go access.
- UI is easy to navigate, and users seem to appreciate the varied choice of gift cards they can offer through the platform.
- Transparent pricing starting from $2.25/user/month with no rewards fees.
- Free onboarding and implementation support for all users.
- Robust and feature-rich mobile applications.
- Available in 12 languages and growing.
CONS
- Base plan does not offer HRIS integration. Additional implementation fees may apply for Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations.
- The availability of customer support is limited to weekdays from 9 AM to 5 PM GMT.
- There aren’t free trials or free plans that you can sign up for at this time.
- HRIS integration absent in Base plan. Possible implementation fee for Slack and Microsoft Teams integrations.
- The customer support hours are limited to weekdays, 9 AM - 5 PM GMT.
Mo’s platform takes on employee engagement through meaningful rewards and recognition. At its core, you’ll find Moments and Boosts - which are simple yet effective features engineered to fuel morale. Managers can easily create Moments to praise team or individual accomplishments, pairing the shout-outs with gift cards or custom rewards. Boosts, on the other hand, are automations that ensure day-to-day kudos are never forgotten.
We appreciate Mo’s attention to different preferences through its varied and customizable reward options. We also like how straightforward their rewards program is; if a user puts in $5 to recognize someone, the recipient gets $5 to redeem. Having a clear dollar value to rewards is great for a few reasons: it’s simpler for users to understand (as opposed to confusing point-based systems), and it also makes budget tracking infinitely easier.
Mo also promotes inclusiveness in its peer-to-peer nomination features, which give employees the ability to actively recognize one another. This not only makes employees feel more empowered but also contributes to a positive and supportive company culture.
To complement its core offering, Mo recently introduced its AI-powered Assistant tool, which provides customized recommendations on actions leaders can take to boost engagement further. For example, it will automatically remind managers of upcoming employee milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries. Or if someone hasn’t given praise to a deserving co-worker in a while, the Assistant will gently prompt them to send some appreciation.
Mo counts over 58k users using its platform, including SGN, The O2, NHS, Aspen, William Hill, and SHL.
Mo’s offering is available over three plans. When billed annually, the pricing for each plan is as follows:
- Appreciate: This plan is designed for small teams who are new to recognition software. It costs $2.25 per user per month and includes features that allow you to acknowledge achievements, celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and more.
- Engage: Priced at $4.5 per user per month, this plan includes everything in the Appreciate plan and additional features such as the ability to nominate individuals for awards and grant rewards, access advanced reporting and insights, and integrate with third-party platforms.
- Transform: Tailored for large companies, the Transform plan has personalized pricing. It encompasses all the features available in the other plans, along with rewards and recognition program design, advanced security measures, premium support, and implementation services.
Best For
Companies of all sizes can use Mo to drive employee engagement through rewards and recognition.
SurveySparrow
SurveySparrow can help you boost employee engagement through pulse surveys, assessments, and automated feedback workflows that provide actionable insights from pre-hire to offboarding.
PROS
- SurveySparrow has an intuitive and user-friendly interface.
- Users like the ability to customize survey questions, design, flow, and logic per their needs.
- Integration with CRMs, marketing platforms, and collaboration tools allows for more process automation, seamless data syncing, and workflows.
- Responsive customer support.
- You can translate surveys in over 50 languages.
- There’s a 14-day free trial, no credit card required.
CONS
- Starting at $19 per user per month, SurveySparrow's pricing is on the expensive side, making it out of reach for startups and small businesses. That said, you can try their newly released employee engagement and recognition solution, ThriveSparrow, for just $3 per user per month.
- The extensive features make the initial learning curve steep, especially for beginners.
- The reporting feature could use some improvement, with users reporting issues with extracting, analyzing, and compiling survey data like text responses into reports.
- A few users reported experiencing technical issues like surveys crashing or not loading properly. There were also spam filtering limitations that allowed fake responses.
SurveySparrow’s employee engagement solution helps you gather and act on employee feedback, from even before they’re hired and throughout their journey with your company. Right from the start, SurveySparrow helps attract top talent through engaging video survey forms that simultaneously collect the information you need and showcase your company culture. Once new hires join, you can ensure their onboarding goes smoothly by sending feedback surveys and providing the resources they need.
One of the things we were impressed with is SurveySprarrow’s ability to auto-send pulse surveys regularly. These short, routine surveys give real-time data on how satisfied employees feel regarding their work, benefits, company culture, and more. You can then dig into SurveySparrow's reports to glean actionable insights and make data-driven improvements.
When it's time for an employee to move on, SurveySparrow's exit surveys provide closure by uncovering the reasons behind their departure. This valuable feedback lets you address any issues to boost retention company-wide.
With its focus on actionable data, automated workflows, and integrated recruiting-to-offboarding feedback features, SurveySparrow is definitely worth checking out if you’re in the market for a suite with a host of employee engagement features. They’ve also recently launched a dedicated employee engagement and peer recognition product called ThriveSparrow, with affordable pricing plans businesses of all sizes can use and derive value.
SurveySparrow has over 100,000 customers, including Xerox, Godrej, Honda, Opera, and Grand Thornton.
For individuals
- Basic: $19 per month (billed annually) for a single user and 2,500 responses per year.
- Starter: $39 per month (billed annually) for a single user and 15,000 responses per year.
For teams:
- Business: $79 per month (billed annually) for up to 3 users and 50,000 responses per year.
- Professional: $249 per month (billed annually) for up to 5 users and 100,000 responses per year.
Best For
SurveySparrow’s engagement solution is best suited for growing companies and enterprises.
I use SurveySparrow daily to collect feedback and address internal tickets, integrating it with live chat tools for real-time interactions. This tool allows us to measure and visualize feedback effectively. I also prepare reports based on the collected feedback to share with relevant departments for review, which informs future training and improvements. Additionally, I export data from SurveySparrow in XML format to other tools, enhancing our data management processes.
The user interface of SurveySparrow is straightforward, making navigation simple. The customer support provided is world-class, offering timely and effective assistance whenever needed. Furthermore, the pricing structure is reasonable, making it accessible for businesses of any size.
Our organization purchased SurveySparrow to better understand client needs and improve service delivery. Previously, gauging employees' opinions on our services and work culture was challenging, especially since we wanted to maintain anonymity in feedback collection. Survey Sparrow has enabled us to gather this feedback discreetly by distributing surveys via links. Additionally, we've integrated the tool with Zendesk to manage internal tickets, which helps us serve both clients and improve our workplace culture. I have been using this tool for three years.
Certain integrations within SurveySparrow do not function as expected. The tool lacks support for collecting feedback via widgets, relying solely on links. Additionally, the limited payment methods available do not adequately serve our geographical location.
SurveySparrow has maintained stable pricing since we first adopted it, unlike competitors who frequently increase their fees annually. This consistency makes budgeting easier and ensures we can continue using the tool without financial strain.
Potential buyers should consider the long-term cost implications of this tool to ensure it aligns with their expected return on investment. The limited integrations with other commonly used HR tools might also make SurveySparrow less suitable for some organizations, so evaluating compatibility with existing systems is crucial.
Since its implementation, SurveySparrow has undergone significant improvements, particularly in its user interface, which has been streamlined and enhanced for better user experience.
Survey Sparrow is particularly well-suited for human resource managers looking to gather and analyze employee feedback efficiently.
This tool may not be ideal for support operators, as it lacks certain functionalities tailored to optimizing support operations and real-time interaction management.
Eletive
We’ve tested hundreds of tools in this space and have yet to come across anything that matches the way Eletive handles engagement. Seamlessly blending ready-to-use, automated pulse surveys with AI, this platform covers every stage of the employee lifecycle and offers a unique, personalized experience where the survey questions are tailored to each individual.
PROS
- Pre-made survey packages cover 11 different areas of employee engagement, ranging from onboarding to diversity and inclusion and offboarding.
- Machine learning personalizes the pulse survey question distribution.
- Tailored advice and suggested actions based on Organisational Behavior Management theory for active participation.
- The dashboard offers a clear, concise report and analysis of survey answers and trends (see screenshot).
- 40+ native HRIS integration options are available.
- 40+ languages support.
- Pre-made survey packages cover 11 different areas of employee engagement, ranging from onboarding to diversity and inclusion and offboarding.
- Machine learning personalizes the pulse survey question distribution.
- Tailored advice and suggested actions based on Organisational Behavior Management theory for active participation.
- The dashboard offers a clear, concise report and analysis of survey answers and trends (see screenshot).
- 40+ native HRIS integration options are available.
- 40+ languages support.
CONS
- AI analysis is done in English. Non-English answers have to be translated before analysis.
- The Base plan's report lacks export options, alerts for sensitive questions with low scores, and positive improvement and attrition risk insights.
- 1-on-1s, OKRs, 360-degree feedback, and HRIS integrations cost extra.
- AI analysis is done in English. Non-English answers have to be translated before analysis.
- The Base plan's report lacks export options, alerts for sensitive questions with low scores, and positive improvement and attrition risk insights.
- 1-on-1s, OKRs, 360-degree feedback, and HRIS integrations cost extra.
If you're on the hunt for an employee engagement solution that feels personal, intelligent, and genuinely designed for modern organizations, Eletive is worth a closer look.
Unlike most employee engagements we’ve tried before, Elective’s pulse survey is AI-supported—it can tailor the employee survey-taking experience by asking questions based on each individual's previous responses.
To test how this feature works, one of our editors scored a question low, and interestingly, they received a follow-up on that topic in the next survey. We can see how valuable this is for managers who want to understand their employees' feelings more deeply without spending hours reviewing responses to previous surveys in order to personalize the next ones.
Considering how important privacy is today, we were pleased to see how Elective integrated anonymity into its platform. The Chat feature, for example, enables any team member to respond to a manager’s question without revealing their identity unless they choose to do so. Moreover, allowing users to comment on any survey question—not just the open-ended ones—is a thoughtful way to collect nuanced feedback.
Unsurprisingly, as the brand is from Sweden and primarily targets the European market, it is more renowned in the U.K. and the E.U than in the U.S. Pricing-wise, Eletive’s is undisclosed and varies from user to user, but from what we've gathered, it’s pretty much in line with what you'd expect from other platforms like Profit.co or Quantum Workplace.
We like the abundance of HRIS integrations Elective offers—over 40 options. What we don’t like, though, is that these aren’t free. You must opt for their priciest plan or an integration add-on to access them. And while we’re on the topic, features like 1-on-1s, OKRs, and 360 feedback cost extra, too.
Undisclosed number. Some brands that have used Eletive include Halton, Orka, and Purmo.
Eletive has 3 plans: Essential, Standard, and Professional. All are quote-based.
Best For
Teams with at least 100 employees, ideally but not necessarily based in Europe.
Benefits of Employee Engagement Software
There’s a lot to gain from employee engagement software. Most notably, these tools enable you to:
- Make employees feel heard: Employee engagement software provides an outlet for employees to anonymously share their opinions, voice out any concerns about the workplace and work culture, and propose suggestions for improvement. When employees feel heard and their feedback is taken into account, it leads to less turnover and higher productivity.
- Craft and deploy surveys like an expert: There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. The best employee engagement platforms are built on solid research, which often includes the input of IO psychology experts. They also often come with a host of ready-made survey templates you can deploy in minutes, with recommendations on what to ask, when to ask it, and how often.
- Automatically analyze and uncover employee sentiment patterns: One problem with traditional employee engagement surveys is that it can take a long time to analyze all the feedback gathered. A lot of what is uncovered relates broadly to the employee experience but lacks actionable next steps. The best employee engagement tools can analyze feedback as it comes and give you a comprehensive understanding of employee sentiments, preferences, and areas for improvement.
- Continuously perform culture health: Most employee engagement platforms use pulse surveys to gather small amounts of data in frequent intervals. These surveys ask only one or two questions, keeping the pressure low and the response rate high. By establishing a consistent feedback loop, you can identify trends, address concerns before they grow into systemic problems, and adapt strategies to maintain a psychologically safe working environment.
- Do a lot more than surveys: Oftentimes, employee engagement platforms bundle up their offerings with other solutions in the employee experience tech space, such as employee recognition and performance management software. Having all of these tools integrated into one platform reduces tech fatigue for your team and is easy on your budget too.
Common Mistakes When Buying and Using Employee Engagement Platforms
- Unreasonable expectations of impact: To be effective, the platform must work alongside a distinctive, authentic, and appreciative work culture. The software can supplement your efforts, but it won't “fix” company-wide problems with engagement. Employee engagement experts Mallory Herrin and Tracie Marie agree here, and Marie's experience has borne this out. She reminds us in no uncertain terms that engagement software cannot replace the power of a human connection.
- Unreasonable expectations of adoption: Affecting a company-wide change will take time. Simply put, inspiring behavioral change is difficult. After working in an environment that could have been more attentive to their engagement, employees are sometimes distrustful of initiatives that promise brighter days. The process of winning over the skeptics can’t happen overnight, but it can happen. The right time to start, whether with engagement software or other means, is now.
- Underestimating the slow pace of implementation: Like the plodding, uphill struggle of behavior change, implementing a new HR tool can also be painfully sluggish. To make it as easy as possible, choose a platform with an open API and/or partnerships with tools you already use. Consider your HR tech stack and daily communication tools: Both must be seamlessly connected to your new tool to ensure a seamless transition.
- Trying to do too much, too fast: Be conservative and methodical about your rollout game plan. Some vendors offer assistance with this process, but if yours doesn't (or you choose not to follow it), you can orchestrate a successful rollout with good planning and reasonable expectations. From our experience, creating a schedule with a regular cadence that introduces features slowly is best. We’ve also found it helpful to take feedback from departments across the organization about the rollout order: the insight of your leadership and individual contributors is a massive asset.
The Business Case Behind Employee Engagement Platforms
Employee engagement software allows companies to have a better understanding of the health of their organization. These solutions give People and HR teams more insights into what is working and what needs to be fixed.
When used right, HR can reap benefits by increasing the productivity of their workforce and studying losses caused by employee attrition. Plus, we all got into HR to help people have a better employee experience, right?
We’ve designed this Excel-based calculator to help you calculate the basic ROI from using the best employee engagement solutions. We highly suggest you watch the video below to learn how to use this spreadsheet best.
We also have a page on our site dedicated to HR Tech ROI calculations if you want to check it out.
Key Features of Employee Engagement Software
Here are some key features of employee engagement software:
- Employee surveys: Employee surveys are a fundamental capability of employee engagement software. These include pulse surveys for regular sentiment check-ins, eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) surveys to measure loyalty and satisfaction, and more in-depth annual or quarterly surveys. Sophisticated survey builders make it easy for HR teams to craft customized question sets while choosing from preset expert-validated templates.
- Anonymity settings: The best employee engagement platforms allow admins to configure anonymity settings on a per-survey basis. For example, demographic data collection can be toggled on or off. Respondents can also opt to submit written commentary anonymously with no identifying details. Setting the right anonymity parameters helps drive survey participation and enable tracking of trends for different subgroups.
- Automated distribution: Employee engagement tools allow you to configure surveys to be sent out either via email or other internal communication apps to pre-defined audience segments at the time and frequency of your choosing. There are often automated nudges and reminders, too, which further alleviate manual intervention, freeing admins and HR teams to focus on reviewing results and implementing ideas to enhance employee engagement.
- Real-time analytics: With the help of artificial intelligence and user-friendly dashboards, employee engagement software helps you analyze employee feedback and visualize key engagement metrics like eNPS and satisfaction scores. Trends can be segmented across teams, locations, or any custom attributes captured, allowing HR professionals and leaders to respond promptly to emerging trends or critical issues.
- Reporting: Employee engagement software typically offers robust reporting tools. You can auto-generate and share reports for stakeholder audiences that showcase response rates, trends, and insights over time. You can also tailor reports by including or excluding sensitive groups and export results into various formats, such as PDF and CSV.
Questions to Ask in Demos with Employee Engagement Software Vendors
- How does your platform measure and track employee engagement? What metrics and analytics does it provide?
- How customizable are the surveys and feedback tools? Can I tailor questions and flows to my organization's specific needs?
- What methods does the platform use to gather employee feedback (e.g., surveys, pulse polls, open text, etc.)?
- Does your system integrate with our current HRIS, payroll, or other platforms?
- What types of participation tracking does it offer (e.g., survey response rates, event attendance, etc.)?
- What kinds of real-time feedback capabilities does it have? Can employees provide input anytime?
- What types of employee segmentation and filtering options are available? Can I analyze data by role, team, location, etc.?
- How are the results and data visualized? What dashboards, reports, and insights can I access as an administrator?
- Does your platform provide employee engagement action plan templates and tools and follow-up workflows based on feedback results?
- How do you ensure data security and compliance with regulations? What is your security and privacy protocol?
- What type of support, training, and account management do you provide?
- Can you explain the implementation process? How long does rollout typically take?
- What are the pricing models available? Are there options to scale up or down as needed?
- Can I see a demo tailored to our specific use cases and needs?
Employee Engagement Software FAQs
What is employee engagement software?
Employee engagement software provides tools to gather employee feedback through surveys and pulse checks, facilitates internal communications and social connections, and enables managers to coach employees and analyze engagement metrics. The software leverages data and analytics to identify areas for improving the employee experience and sparks action to nurture a highly engaged, satisfied workforce.
What is the difference between employee engagement and employee recognition?
Employee engagement refers to the level of enthusiasm, connection, and commitment an employee has toward their organization and its goals.
An engaged employee is one who is fully involved in and enthusiastic about their work. In contrast, employee recognition is about acknowledging employees for their efforts and contributions. Forms of recognition include praise, rewards, awards, and appreciation events.
How do companies use employee engagement software?
Employee engagement software serves various purposes within an organization to improve the employee experience.
Human resources teams use the software to conduct regular surveys to monitor engagement levels and pinpoint problem areas. Managers also use it to check in with their direct reports, provide coaching, and recognize achievements. The software also facilitates company-wide communications from leadership to all employees and social connections between peers.
When is the best time to use employee engagement software?
Our community expert, Christina Moran, emphasizes that there’s no exact headcount or development phase for buying employee engagement software. The right time depends on your company’s unique needs. She recommends looking for signs that indicate widespread disengagement, such as decreased productivity, absenteeism, and complacency.
She adds, “Like with any software purchasing decision, the software should make your life better, easier, and higher-performing in the realm it’s being added to. It should be an enhancement, a value-add, not just an accepted cost.”
What is a good measure of employee engagement?
A good measure of employee engagement encompasses multiple factors, such as job satisfaction, enthusiasm for work, and alignment with company values. Key indicators include high levels of participation in workplace activities, positive feedback in surveys, low turnover rates, and strong peer relationships.
When employees feel connected to their roles and company mission, they tend to demonstrate higher productivity, discretionary effort, and commitment. Engagement metrics, therefore, combine quantitative data (like retention and productivity) with qualitative insights from regular employee feedback.
Final Advice on Buying Employee Engagement Software
There are no silver bullets when it comes to tackling disengaged employees and understanding what's really happening in your business. However, having an employee engagement platform in place can help you engage your remote workers as well as in-office ones.
Given companies using employee engagement gamification are seven times more profitable than those that don't, you may also want to figure out ways to add gamification to your employee engagement programs.
Last but not least, providing proper training for your managers and teams is crucial for creating a culture of appreciation in your workplace. This list of the best employee engagement training courses can be a great starting point.
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