What is performance management?
Performance management refers to the way you, along with other managers and leaders at your company, manage your workforce. It’s a holistic process, where your company’s goals are intrinsically linked to employee productivity, motivation and success. Good performance management encapsulates the entire employee life cycle, from recruitment and onboarding to offboarding, but the focus is on developing existing employees – helping them fulfil their potential and add value to the business. Employee satisfaction and retention – which often go hand in hand – are also important to the process. These aims are achieved through a combination of training, one-on-ones, data analysis, continuous feedback and performance reviews.
How can performance management tools help your business?
Performance management software tools offer a centralised platform for setting and tracking goals and facilitating regular feedback and communication. By automating appraisal processes, the software can streamline employee evaluation and identify strengths and areas for development. Integrated analytical and reporting features can give you insights into workforce trends and help you make informed decisions. Using these tools can also foster a transparent, collaborative and goal-oriented work environment.
Ten performance management tools to consider
After tracking customer reviews and advice from experts in the tech sphere, we’ve rounded up ten of the most popular and hardest-working performance management software solutions. Below, we break down the main features and uses of the following programs:
- 15Five
- Bamboo HR
- ClearCompany
- Deel
- HiBob
- Engagedly
- Lattice
- Leapsome
- Namely
- PerformYard
Please note that none of the companies, institutions or organisations mentioned in this article are affiliated with Indeed.
1. 15Five
15Five is a cost-effective program that’s holistic and driven by insights that enable action. The software offers a host of features for monitoring employee satisfaction, retention and talent management like 360-degree performance reviews, ongoing feedback tools like integrated one-on-ones and check-ins, engagement surveys and goal-tracking. Key points to note:
- Offers multidimensional feedback
- Integrates with other HR systems as well as productivity software
- Helps track goals and OKRs (objectives and key results)
- Offers training, performance reviews and employee recognition
- Incorporates generative AI
- Custom analytics
2. Bamboo chiHR
Bamboo HR is uniquely suited to small- to medium-sized businesses and is highly rated for offering the ability to manage workflows at every stage of the employee life cycle. Recruitment, payroll, time tracking and benefits sit under one umbrella, and data security is a priority. A popular feature of the software is its focus on goal setting, with notifications sent out when your employees make progress on a goal. This enables you to easily monitor the performance of your team and can help increase employee motivation. Key points to note:
- Holistic approach to HR
- Detailed and thorough applicant tracking
- Collects targeted feedback
- Company-wide performance reports
- Centralised database
- One of the more expensive programs
3. ClearCompany
ClearCompany is also suited to small- to medium-sized businesses, but it has a more targeted focus than Bamboo HR, prioritising the recruitment process and talent management. It offers an applicant tracking system (ATS) with myriad features and a streamlined onboarding process. It also focuses on employee retention by providing new hires with resources and goals, integrating feedback tools and letting you create unlimited performance reviews. Key points to note:
- Flat-rate pricing model instead of selling add-ons
- Strong capabilities for managing remote workforces
- Fully customisable
- Connects performance data to the hiring process
- ATS offers bulk emails, mobile career sites and social sharing tools
- Best suited to companies in North America
4. Deel
Deel is a top-rated platform lauded for its intuitive design, customisation options and capability for managing an international workforce. The platform aims to simplify the entire management process and HR tasks. Its global compliance tools ensure that you can hire workers from anywhere in the world while upholding local regulations, and standardised global analytics are also offered. HR workflows that Deel deftly handles include onboarding and offboarding, document management, leave, salary changes, expenses and more. A popular feature is its one-on-one meeting tool, allowing you to manage employee performance on an ongoing basis and create notes to refer back to. Key points to note:
- Three pricing plans available
- Integrates with many other HR programs and communication tools like Slack
- Surveys to assess employee engagement
- Manages compliance in over 150 countries
- Can be personalised according to your company’s needs
- Automated HR workflows
- Free to use for companies with fewer than 200 employees
5. HiBob
HiBob is a powerhouse in the field of HR software, primarily used by medium-sized businesses. It supports all styles of teams, from in-office to hybrid and remote working and offers automation of core workflows, like onboarding, performance and compensation, to increase efficiency. It’s a data-driven program, and its analytical tools can help you make informed decisions about performance management. HiBob puts a focus on employee satisfaction and empowers your HR team to improve employee performance and retention. Key points to note:
- Dedicated teams across the UK, USA, Europe, Australia and others
- Streamlines core HR processes
- Goal-setting capabilities
- Role-based dashboards and performance reviews
- Integrated one-on-ones
6. Engagedly
As its name suggests, Engagedly is a performance management tool that prioritises employee engagement. The platform is built off the back of decades of research and guides you through onboarding, training and development of your team. A gamified design offers rewards, praise and badges, while more traditional features include employee engagement surveys, 360-degree feedback, performance reviews, one-on-ones and even coaching and mentoring capabilities. Key points to note:
- Goals, analytics and insights
- Wide range of third-party integrations supported
- Mobile-enabled platform
- Live support not included with the cheapest plan
7. Lattice
Much like Engagedly, Lattice is also laser focused on the human side of your company. Its people analytics tools are comprehensive and powerful. Continuous performance management is combined with tools for other key workflows like onboarding, career development, employee engagement surveys, compensation handling, one-on-ones, 360-degree feedback, goal setting and more. The platform is particularly popular for its detailed performance reviews that collect data and feedback from managers, direct reports, colleagues and the employee themselves. Key points to note:
- Integrates with most HR systems and communication software
- Supports project-based reviews
- Mobile app available
- Employee praise and recognition offered
- Interface could be more intuitive and is sometimes buggy
8. Leapsome
Employee engagement, learning and team development are also cornerstones of Leapsome. The software offers a wide array of tools, from employee onboarding, learning and compensation to development frameworks, performance reviews, promotions, feedback and praise and even meetings. Leapsome also offers many options for you to customise performance reviews, grow talent, automate processes and align your workforce around a central objective and goals. Key points to note:
- Implementation support and a customer success manager
- Growth-oriented insights and results
- User-friendly interface
- Affordable pricing
9. Namely
Namely is a cloud-based HR software solution that includes an app for iOS and Android. Its main focal area is streamlining payroll and benefits, but with many other tools and management of the entire employee life cycle, it’s a popular choice for medium-sized businesses seeking an all-in-one platform. Attention to detail is strong, with features including background checks and offer letters for recruitment, automatic syncing of benefit deductions to payroll and a social media-esque news feed for employees with Slack integration designed to increase employee engagement and collaboration. Key points to note:
- Centralised storage and management of documents
- Numerous feedback and praise tools
- Company-wide announcements
- Easy-to-use system
- Strong employee management and performance review features
- Can be costly for large businesses
10. PerformYard
The most commonly mentioned performance management software in our research, PerformYard is a powerful tool that combines typical workforce management functions with a focus on continuous feedback to keep employees engaged and motivated. The program makes it easy to collect and share feedback in real time, giving you a head start on addressing any issues and pinpointing areas for improvement. Detailed data dashboards, comprehensive goal-setting tools, scientifically designed employee engagement surveys and 360-degree, project-based reviews are just a few standout examples of PerformYard’s many features. Key points to note:
- An employee-first platform with high user-review scores
- Highly flexible and customisable features to suit your HR team’s needs
- Dedicated customer success managers for every customer
- Clean, straightforward interface and seamless UX
- Goal management and dynamic objectives
- Integrates with several other HR and payroll programs
When deciding which performance management tool to use for your company, it’s a good idea to take an audit of your unique needs and pinpoint which areas of human management you’d like to focus on for your next few cycles. Consider what needs your current software already covers and whether you’d like to be able to integrate existing programs with your performance management tool.
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