14 Best Employee Engagement Software Solutions in 2024

Most organizations care about employee engagement — but despite that attention, far too few employees are genuinely engaged. A 2023 Gallup survey found that only 33% of US employees are engaged in their work and workplace.

When it comes to improving employee engagement, the challenge for many organizations is coming up with a systematic, consistent process for identifying and following through with the actions that can increase engagement. That’s where employee engagement software can help. 

In this guide, we’ll provide insights into the value of employee engagement solutions and offer best practices for choosing the right tool for your organization. 

What Is Employee Engagement Software?

Employee engagement software — also referred to as workforce engagement software — is a technology designed specifically to help businesses measure and hopefully improve engagement. 

Improving engagement is crucial because this metric is linked to many other indicators of wider business success, including employee productivity and retention. Plus, in 2023, Gallup estimated that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion. 

Employee engagement software allows organizations to collect and analyze feedback from staff, uncovering real-time insights. These can then be acted on, to improve engagement over time. Employee engagement platforms can exist as standalone tools or as a component of a comprehensive people success solution that connects employee engagement, performance management, and employee development. 

Core Features and Functions of Employee Engagement Software

Employee engagement software should make collecting and acting on employee feedback a simpler, more efficient process. Core features to look out for include:

• Employee engagement surveys. These long-form surveys enable you to ask dozens of detailed questions about workplace culture and make data-driven decisions to improve the overall health of your organization. Top solutions provide engagement survey templates with built-in features like multiple choice questions or mobile functionality to save time and ensure your engagement efforts are executed effectively. 
• Onboarding and exit surveys. Bookending an employee’s time at your company with onboarding surveys and exit interviews can help identify hiring success factors and improve retention.
• Employer Net Promoter Score (eNPS). This tool asks all employees a single question and then scores their overall loyalty and job satisfaction. eNPS makes it easy to determine how many employees are advocates for the company — and how many aren’t. HR teams can then take proactive steps to build loyalty across the organization. 
• Pulse surveys. These quick surveys usually contain five or fewer questions and are designed to plug the gap between longer employee engagement surveys. They’re a great way to continuously collect feedback on the effectiveness of culture initiatives.
• Real-time visibility. To make the most of pulse surveys, a real-time view of employee engagement data is critical. This visibility can be combined with advanced driver and sentiment analysis tools to help adjust your decision-making. 
• Advanced analytics. This helps immediately identify the questions that have the strongest impact on the metrics you care about most — so you can prioritize actions and plan the next steps.‍
• Benchmarking capabilities. Improvement requires being able to clearly — and easily — see where you’ve been. Choosing a solution that measures against past survey results and third-party benchmarks makes it easier to track and analyze your progress.

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14 Top Employee Engagement Software Companies

Not sure where to start your research? Here are some of the leading workforce engagement solution options to get you started. 

Please note: All ratings are based on the G2 Score from the G2 Grid® Report for Employee Engagement.

1. Lattice

Overall Rating: 93

More than 5,000 customers use this people platform to develop engaged, high-performing teams. Lattice offers easy-to-launch employee engagement surveys, pulse surveys, onboarding surveys, exit interviews, and eNPS — all combined with a powerful analytics layer that makes it easy for HR teams to act on insights. Deep customization makes Lattice adaptable to company culture, scaling with you as your company grows. Some notable pros: 

• A centralized platform that links engagement with performance data
• Transparent pricing structure
• Customizable templates with Likert-scale and multiple-choice questions
• Fast and easy implementation and onboarding

For more information on Lattice, download The Total Economic Impact of Lattice or book time to talk with a Lattice expert.
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2. Culture Amp

Overall Rating: 92

This easy-to-use platform helps organizations create a culture of feedback. The customizable survey templates and real-time analytics make it easy for HR professionals to gather the insights needed to drive change. The platform can be cost-prohibitive for smaller companies, and users need time to familiarize themselves with all the available features. 

3. HiBob HRIS

Overall Rating: 86

HiBob HRIS is designed to streamline core HR processes with automated workflows — saving time and ensuring a consistent employee experience. The platform is easy to set up and intuitive to use, but the customization options are limited, and it doesn’t have as many features as some of the other employee engagement solutions on the market. 

4. Bonusly 

Overall Rating: 86

This intuitive and easy-to-use rewards and recognition platform is designed to help organizations create a culture where appreciation and motivation are used to boost employee performance and engagement. Recognition can be given as a bonus, gift, or accumulated as points. It also offers a range of survey and feedback features. 

5. Deel

Overall Rating: 86

This all-in-one HR platform is designed to offer a central view of your entire workforce, from the moment they’re hired. Primarily designed to automate manual tasks, Deel is also designed to boost engagement by streamlining the employee experience. Users love how easy this platform is to use, but it can be cost-prohibitive and doesn’t offer a mobile app. 

6. Leapsome

Overall Rating: 83

This continuous performance management software enables an ongoing cycle of feedback and action. Leapsome’s intuitive employee engagement survey tools and strong customer service set it apart, but it offers limited integrations and benchmarking.

7. Motivosity 

Overall Rating: 82

This employee engagement platform uses features like peer recognition programs, employee-driven goals, and social recognition to boost performance and engagement. It integrates with a wide range of other applications including Slack and most HRIS. It offers various reporting features, and survey results can be visualized and reported in real-time. It’s not the easiest platform to navigate, and some users report that the options for employee rewards and gift cards are limited. 

8. WorkTango

Overall Rating: 71

This employee experience platform blends meaningful recognition and rewards with employee surveys designed to uncover actionable insights. Employees are given points they can award to others, although redeeming these points isn’t as intuitive as it could be. WorkTango also includes customizable surveys with real-time people analytics. 

9. PerformYard 

Overall Rating: 67

Employee performance toolkit PerformYard combines goal-setting and performance reviews into one easy-to-use platform. It also offers continuous feedback, customizable forms, and detailed reporting features. PerformYard includes customizable surveys, science-backed templates, and the option for anonymous feedback. While functional, the platform isn’t as attractive as some other options. 

10. Workleap Officevibe

Overall Rating: 66

This simple platform offers customizable pulse surveys based on a bank of science-backed questions. The option for employees to leave anonymous feedback is designed to boost the likelihood of honest, actionable opinions. The report filtering and analytics aren’t as advanced as some other platforms, but the cost is significantly lower, with some features available for free. 

11. Workday Peakon Employee Voice

Overall Rating: 63

This employee engagement software platform aims to surface insights about employee experience through ongoing two-way conversations. Although Workday Peakon Employee Voice enables organization-wide visibility, it can be difficult to interpret and act on the massive amount of data it provides.

12. 15Five

Overall Rating: 53

15Five offers a range of tools that help managers capture feedback from employees, including tailored engagement surveys. This easy-to-use and customizable software integrates with Slack, Salesforce, and Google Calendar. 

13. Trakstar Perform 

Overall Rating: 43

This platform is primarily designed to boost performance, but as this often goes hand-in-hand with engagement, it’s worth considering. Managers can set goals, check milestones, give 360 feedback, and facilitate performance reviews, all in one place. Trakstar is easy to use, with great customer support, but the reporting features are not always as intuitive as they could be. 

14. Reflektive 

Overall Rating: 41

Offering employee engagement survey templates and engagement reports that let organizations collect feedback and act on the results, Reflektive provides customer support and training resources but can be cost-prohibitive for some organizations.

Choosing the Best Employee Engagement Software for Your Company

For most organizations, budget is a big deciding factor when it comes to choosing employee engagement software. So, it’s important to spend wisely by choosing a solution that people will use, but one that also drives results. Different platforms vary in capabilities, so make sure you understand exactly what you need from your employee engagement software by considering the following:

• What features does it offer?  Key features to look out for include whether the software offers the types of surveys your organization needs to understand the full employee lifecycle. This can include pulse surveys, customizable templates, and options for filtering results and using multiple-choice questions. The ability to create anonymous surveys is also important. Finally, ask what the solution offers that makes it stand out from its competitors.
• Is the solution user-friendly? If it’s not, people aren’t going to use it. Make sure it has an intuitive design that is easy to set up, learn, and use, for both HR managers and employees. It shouldn’t take more than a few clicks to send a survey and begin collecting data. ‍
• What training and technical support is available? When you start using any new software, users will likely need a crash course on how it works. But they’ll also need troubleshooting assistance going forward. Make sure to look into support options for before and after the launch. For example, find out during which hours support is available (and over which time zones) and whether additional fees are charged.‍
• What’s involved with deploying the software? From a logistical standpoint, you’ll need to know roughly how long it’ll take to set up your new engagement software. It’s also important to factor in the resources and manpower needed to get up and running. ‍
• Is it compatible with your current infrastructure? If employee engagement software doesn’t easily integrate with your current communication, login, and HRIS systems, it could create challenges for reporting and analysis. Confirm that any product you use can fully integrate with your current systems. 

Benefits of Employee Engagement Software Across the Organization

The goal of any employee engagement platform is to make the actual process of engaging with employees easier. The simpler it is, the more consistent it becomes. That’s when you start to unlock insight that can transform your workplace on many levels.

For the Organization 

• Reduce turnover. When you act on employee feedback, you create the type of workplace that attracts and retains top talent. 
• Make smarter, quicker decisions. A centralized employee engagement platform provides high visibility, places robust data at your fingertips, and improves employee communication — so you have the information required to make stronger workforce management decisions. 
• Set goals and prioritize projects. With direct, honest feedback from employees, HR teams know where to focus their efforts to drive change and get the best results.
• Evaluate initiatives. Learn from employees whether your efforts to increase employee engagement and other initiatives are working, and stop wasting time and money on ineffective programs and perks. 
• Track progress. See in real-time how the organization is performing from a people management perspective. 
• Build the right company culture. Understand what it takes to drive employee engagement and improve the employee experience.

For Employees 

• Gain a voice. Allow employees to share their concerns and offer real-time feedback to improve the workplace, without fear. 
• Feel valued and respected. When organizations act on employee feedback, team members feel heard. Over time, that boosts satisfaction and morale, both critical components of employee retention. 
• Stay connected — even if they’re remote. Having a way to share potentially culture-changing feedback helps dispersed employees feel like they’re a part of both their team and the wider organization. 

For Managers 

• See increased productivity. Team members who feel valued are more productive and more committed to their roles, team, and organization. 
• Identify pain points on the team. With quick employee engagement surveys, managers can uncover obstacles that are blocking progress and find solutions in near real-time.
• Save time. Employee engagement solutions can reduce the time it takes to collect and understand feedback on important issues and streamline their workflow. 
• Know what you are doing well — and what you need to change. As a leader, the best thing you can do is collect real-time feedback on your own management style and skills from your team members and make necessary changes.

Upgrading From Traditional Engagement Tracking Methods

Can you track all your engagement outreach and employee feedback in a spreadsheet, template, or Google Doc? Sure, but you may make the process much harder on yourself if you do. 

For starters, to gain the kinds of actionable insights needed for positive change, you need tons of data coming in from all corners of the organization. You’ll also need dashboards and reporting to help you interpret the results. And tools like Google Forms or simple surveys just don’t provide that level of detail. 

Trying to manage that level of data using traditional methods of tracking engagement can be:

• Time-consuming. Everything needs to be manually updated and reviewed, before drawing important, actionable insights about what to do next.
• Error-prone. Shared spreadsheets and multiple documents mean it’s easy for inaccurate data to be entered, or correct data to be overwritten or erased. 
• Inconsistent. When multiple people are inputting and accessing data, or storing documents in various locations, the chance of inconsistencies is much higher. 

Plus, traditional tracking methods make it much harder to collaborate or share relevant information with C-suite leaders and key stakeholders.

In contrast, an intuitive employee engagement management solution takes the hassle out of the process. Instead of relying on outdated methods, adding employee engagement software as a stand-alone product or as a companion to an HRIS can save time, prevent mistakes, and empower HR teams to collect data, pull together insights, and take proactive action. These solutions also enable HR teams to operate more efficiently and increase their overall productivity, because they’ve got time to focus on more important tasks. Ultimately, the return on investment is hard to ignore.

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Demonstrating the ROI of Employee Engagement Solutions to Senior Leadership

Most employee engagement solutions are affordable, and the return on investment happens quickly. But HR leaders still need to prove the value to senior management by painting a realistic picture of your organization’s current situation. Start by focusing on three critical issues: 

Turnover‍

What are your turnover rates? How much is it costing you to recruit, hire, onboard, and train new hires? This data will likely matter to senior leadership, and employees notice high turnover, too. 

If your organization becomes known as a bad place to work because of high turnover, it can become difficult to attract talented, devoted people. This can have a ripple effect on everything from customer service to quality control. Measures that can help to improve retention are almost always worth the cost. And using employee feedback to create a winning culture is a surefire way to improve retention. 

Productivity

If you, your team, or other managers are working with outdated processes to collect staff feedback, you’re likely wasting hours collecting, updating, and analyzing data. 

If the senior leadership team wants to see dollars and cents, start by breaking down your and others’ salaries by the hour and calculate how many hours you spend managing the process. You might be surprised. Human resources departments can spend hundreds of dollars per month on inefficient processes. 

Then explain what your team could do if you had that time back, specifically using it to establish new processes and initiatives that improve engagement, culture, morale, and retention. 

The Bottom Line

Improving culture boosts employee satisfaction, morale, and loyalty. When engaged employees are happy and committed, they work harder, make higher-quality products, and provide better services. Conversely, they make fewer mistakes and cause fewer problems. All that contributes to a healthy bottom line. 

Read this case study to learn how Lattice helped Metabolon, a global leader in metabolomics, develop a new people strategy that boosted transparency and provided a unified view of performance, engagement, and professional development.

The Cost of Employee Engagement Software

As with most things, it depends. Different solutions offer different pricing options, based on a variety of factors. Some solutions offer basic, free, or trial versions with limited capabilities, and then start charging as you upgrade your service. Pricing is also often contingent on whether you add a workforce engagement solution to an existing HRIS or purchase a standalone solution. 

As a rough guide, prices generally range from $1 to $15 per person per month, billed on an annual basis. Some providers establish a flat monthly rate which can reach into the thousands of dollars. For larger organizations, many providers offer custom solutions or suites to fit your specific needs.

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Why Employee Engagement Solutions Matter More Than Ever

Sweeping social, economic, and business environment changes are reshaping the workplace. Employee engagement tools can help HR departments and the organizations they support confront these issues and enact meaningful changes. That’s why the best engagement tools empower employees to be heard and feel like they have a say in the culture of the organization.

It all starts with understanding employee sentiment, from how connected employees are with each other, to how enthusiastic they feel about advancing the company’s mission –– and everything in between. Engagement platforms help paint a full picture of the employee lifecycle by translating survey data into structured, actionable feedback.

Lattice Engagement is designed to help organizations navigate things like growth and change — by building cultures full of engaged employees who are committed to your organization. It’s the first-of-its-kind employee experience solution that helps companies identify what keeps employees engaged, connects performance metrics for rich insight, and guides you to take action with real, lasting impact. 

Experience it for yourself by requesting a live demo.

FAQs

What is an employee engagement platform?

Employee engagement platforms are designed to measure, monitor, and improve overall employee engagement within an organization. They include features like surveys, analytics, and action planning to foster a positive work environment.

What tools do I need for my employee engagement program?

When creating an effective employee engagement program, choosing the right employee engagement platform is just one part of the puzzle. HR leaders also need to incorporate tools like effective performance management reviews, learning and development opportunities, and employee feedback. 

What makes a great employee engagement software?

The best employee engagement software empowers HR teams to address employee needs proactively and enhance overall workplace satisfaction. It achieves this by providing a centralized platform where engagement, performance, improvement, and feedback are all combined under one virtual roof. 

Are employee engagement platforms suitable for remote teams?

Absolutely. These platforms help remote teams stay connected by offering features like regular feedback, recognition, and communication channels. These are designed to boost connections and engagement by allowing remote teams to foster shared experiences, no matter where employees are located. 

Can you integrate employee engagement software with other systems?

Many employee engagement platforms are designed to integrate with other HR systems and communication platforms. It’s important to check that any software you’re looking at will integrate with your existing tech stack. This integration helps ensure seamless data sharing and streamlines the workflow for your HR team. 

What features should I look for in employee engagement software?

Key features include survey capabilities, templates, and employee recognition. Integration with communication tools, analytics for data-driven insights, and customizable dashboards are other common features in employee engagement software.

How do I choose the best employee engagement software?

That depends on what your organization is looking for. When choosing the right software for your specific needs, consider whether it’s easy to use, scalable, and offers the features you’re looking for — like surveys, analytics, and benchmarking. Reviews and demos can help uncover whether similar organizations have found that the software offers what they need.