Replacing an employee can cost a business twice the person’s annual salary. With that in mind, you are probably looking for top performance management software to help effectively retain talent and boost employee performance. The key is to find a user-friendly all-in-one performance management solution among various tools on the market.
Here, we would like to present 8 performance management software solutions tested by experts, that earned the right to be top contenders for the best performance management system title.
Criteria for performance management software selection
While performance management software is a tool that can help small businesses achieve business objectives through better performance enablement and better productivity, it is still essential to know the criteria for choosing the right workforce management solution that you can implement right away.
We focused on these aspects:
User-Friendly. The performance management software should feel natural for managers and employees to use, minimizing the learning curve and letting teams reap the benefits swiftly.
Setting and Pursuing Goals. A key feature of any good performance management software is the ability to develop, monitor, and manage goals while aligning individual efforts with the bigger picture - the organization's objectives.
Open Communication Channels. The management software should also encourage ongoing feedback and recognition to cultivate an environment of open dialogue and constant enhancement.
Insightful Reporting. A good performance management solution should offer meaningful reports and analytics to help managers grasp team performance and pinpoint areas that need a boost.
Smooth Integration. The performance management system software should blend effortlessly with other organizational tools to ensure a seamless workflow and cuts down the need to juggle between different platforms.
Growth-Ready. The performance management software should be ready to grow with the organization. This ensures the software stays relevant and practical as the team size increases.
Value for Money. The software should strike the right balance between offering robust and cost-effective features.
Plai is a user-friendly performance management software designed for scaling SMBs, aiming to foster a high-performing culture. It streamlines HR tasks, facilitates feedback collection, and simplifies goal-setting with OKRs. Plai has coaching tools for managers, helping them interact with their teams more effectively (i.e. templates, HR expert guides, and advice inside the app), which is especially useful for first-time managers.
With a high rating for design and ease of use, it also offers complimentary onboarding and various employee training programs, making performance management less stressful and more efficient. Plai is a great performance management tool for the long run, especially if you plan to develop employee competencies.
Features
Goal-setting. Align and focus teams with OKRs (Objectives and Key Results).
Performance reviews. Gather feedback and run automated review cycles effortlessly, without hundreds of forms and sheets.
One-on-ones. Schedule regular check-ins to craft meaningful conversations with curated agendas and actionable tasks.
Peer-to-peer feedback. Provide regular and constructive peer-to-peer feedback.
Growth plans. Help employees set and track personal goals and explore career paths in a fair, transparent environment.
Praise feature. Reward excellence and reinforce company culture with public praise.
Employee surveys. Assess and enhance employee engagement with easily scheduled surveys with in-depth analytics while making performance appraisals less stressful for employees and managers alike.
Dashboards and analytics. Access integrated reports on employee performance, goals, and engagement to identify trends and decrease attrition.
Integrations. Integrates smoothly with your existing tools such as Slack, MC Teams, calendar, HR systems, and identity management providers.
AI-based features that provide quick report analysis, smart AI suggestions for goals and feedback, and valuable insights about your organization and team.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
All-in-one performance management solution having all the features users might find necessary, which means you will rarely need third-party integrations
A user-friendly interface makes it easier to navigate the dashboard
Excellent customer support is available 24/7 and ready to deal with any query users might have
Template library to choose from pre-made frameworks meeting different company’s needs, which means you don’t need to build workflows from scratch
The cons are the following:
Users not experienced with performance management software might encounter a steep learning curve. Yet, various demos are available to help you learn how to use the platform in a matter of minutes.
Pricing
When it comes to pricing, in addition to a 14-day free trial, Plai offers these packages:
Starter at $2.4/user/month
Pro at $4/user/month
Enterprise with custom pricing
Reviews and Feedback
Plai is well-regarded by users, especially regarding user-friendliness and team alignment.
HiBob, simply known as "bob," is a comprehensive performance management software designed to manage an organization's time, talent, performance, and culture. HiBob has been on the market for a long time and is often one of the top picks when people look for a tool to boost employee engagement.
Features
Employee engagement feature through Shotouts, Kudos posts, and Clubs to bring employees together
Time and attendance management to simplify time-tracking
Document and management workflow to automate paperwork and easily manage everything linked to workflows
Benefits management to streamline and manage employee benefit packages
Actionable insights and KPIs to help HR get continuous feedback and perfect performance reviews
Onboarding process management to streamline the onboarding processes
Integrations with 360Learning, anecdotes, deputy, G Suite, Hofy, Jira, okta, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
Comprehensive platform
Focus on employee engagement
Abundance of integrations
Automated paperwork
Customizable onboarding flows
The cons are the following:
Steep learning curve
Users report some integration issues with Slack
Pricing
You must submit a form to get custom pricing for your company.
Reviews and Feedback
HiBob can boast positive reviews on various third-party review websites. Most often, people recognize its automated workflows and employee engagement features.
BambooHR is a great performance management software and one of the Leapsome competitors specifically tailored to simplify HR tasks for small to medium-sized businesses. It offers a unified platform to gather all an employee's performance- and HR-related data, effectively managing various HR activities.
Features
Employee database and records. Store all employee information in one place.
Hiring and onboarding. Streamline these HR processes with applicant tracking, onboarding checklists, and electronic signatures.
Time-off tracking. Manage and track employee time easily off.
Performance management. Conduct performance reviews, set goals, track objectives, and gather peer feedback.
Advanced reporting and analytics. Look after a turnover rate, salary information, and diverse data.
Integrations. NetSuite, TazWorks, iMocha, Slack, PayScale, Okta, Indeed, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
Comprehensive performance management solution
No learning curve
Excellent customer support
The cons are the following:
Pricing not transparent
Limited customization
Too feature-rich for very small businesses
Pricing
While BambooHR doesn’t have its pricing listed publicly, the platform’s customers suggest there are two basic pricing options:
Essentials at $5.25/user/month
Advantage at $8.75/user/month
Reviews and Feedback
Overall, based on user reviews, BambooHR has completed hundreds of projects and most of them with top-notch results.
15Five is a performance management software that maximizes team engagement, performance, and retention. The platform is easy to implement and use, accelerating adoption and change management with tools your team can use in minutes.
Features
Perform features to offer simple reviews maximizing employee performance.
Engage feature to provide actionable engagement surveys to boost employee engagement.
Focus feature on aligning the company's OKRs with employees' individual priorities.
Transform feature to offer customizable training and coaching programs for managers.
Integrations with Namely, workday, Slack, Salesforce, okta, Jira, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
Great tool for both managers and employees
Intuitive
Easy-to-implement
Good for change management
The cons are the following:
Steep learning curve
Users report integration issues
Costly for very small businesses
Pricing
With 15Five, you can choose from four different pricing plans, these are the following:
Engage at $4/user/month
Perform at $8/user/month
Focus at $8/user/month
Total Platform at $14/user/month
Reviews and Feedback
It has a well-established user base, and most user feedback emphasizes the tool's intuitive UX and value for managers.
Lattice is one of the leading performance management software and one of the Betterworks competitors focusing on people management. Lattice is designed to help companies manage performance with goal tracking, 1-on-1s, and more features.
Features
Performance management to streamline goal setting, real-time feedback, and performance review process.
Employee engagement to measure and boost employee satisfaction along with engagement.
Career development to help employees grow professionally through 1-on-1 meetings and feedback.
People analytics to help businesses better understand their employees and put forward data-driven decisions.
Integrations with Slack, workday, Salesforce, G Suite, Outlook, MC Teams, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
A comprehensive suite of tools
User-friendly and intuitive
Robust analytics capabilities
Abundance of integrations
The cons are the following:
The massive number of tools can be overwhelming to some users
Users report occasional glitches and bugs
Pricing
Lattice has multiple pricing plans:
Performance Management + OKRs& Goals at $11/user/month
Engagement at $15/user/month
Grow at $19/user/month
Compensation at $25/user/month
Reviews and Feedback
Lattice has thousands of positive reviews, and most users point out the tool's integrations and analytics features.
Betterworks is an advanced performance management software and one of the Lattice competitors crafted to boost employee engagement, enhance managerial efficiency, and amplify business impact.
Features
One-on-ones. Facilitate collaboration and alignment between managers and employees.
Conversations feature. Promote dialogue, coaching, career discussions, and performance reviews.
Feedback features. Emphasize recognition and create a goal-focused workforce culture.
Calibration features.tap into data-driven insights showing all you need to know about employee performance to identify and groom talent.
Goals feature. Allign strategic company goals with individual career development initiatives employees would like to have.
Integrations. G Suite, MC Teams, Slack, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
Advanced goal-setting capabilities
Key focus on feedback
Calibration offers access to data-driven insights
Great customer support
The cons are the following:
Steep learning curve
Potential integration issues with MS Teams
Pricing
Betterworks offer its pricing packages upon request, you can get a custom quote based on the number of employees you have.
Reviews and Feedback
Like Plai, Betterworks is a new player in the market but gets positive feedback concerning its unique goal-setting capabilities.
Leapsome is a comprehensive performance management software and one of the 15Five alternatives for performance management, employee engagement, OKRs, and learning.
Features
Performance management. Help teams reach their full potential.
Employee engagement. Supports managers and employees in reaching greater levels of job satisfaction.
Learning features. Promote employee development and training.
Reflektive is a performance management software and one of the BambooHR competitors conceived to augment employee engagement, productivity, and retention. It promotes accountability and encourages constructive, ongoing dialogues, operating seamlessly across email, chat, and mobile environments.
Features
Performance management. Work with goals, reviews, check-ins, feedback, and talent calibration.
People analytics. Tap into performance trends and insights with pre-built customizable dashboards.
Employee engagement. Promote employee recognition through surveys, benchmarks, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and action plans.
Integrations with Slack, MS Teams, workday, Namely, ADP, Okta, etc.
Pros and Cons
The pros are the following:
Advanced tools like NLP and action plans
Robust people analytics
Abundance of integrations
Intuitive
The cons are the following:
Lack of pricing options
Pricing
With its pretty straightforward pricing, Reflektive provides a Starting Price plan at $6/user/month.
Reviews and Feedback
Reflektive is performance management software that pays particular attention to analytics, reflected through many positive reviews mentioning that.
If you're seeking a comprehensive solution, Plai is the most promising tool on the market. It offers a general toolkit and unique features that are hard to find with any other platform.
If you're intrigued and want to put our assumption to the test, sign up right away, and you'll see why Plai is making waves in the market.
FAQ
What is the best tool for performance management?
It is extremely hard to find a one-size-fits-all performance management software that can be coined as the best. Namely, an array of specific variables and factors are involved in making particular project management tools better or worse. However, when looking at the spectrum of top choices, you should consider Plai, Lattice, and BambooHR. These platforms of comprehensive features come with appealing pricing packages and have outstanding customer support.
What are 3 types of performance management systems?
The 3 types of performance management systems are:
Competency-based. These systems focus on developing particular skills and competencies crucial to a specific role or organization. They include assessments against a set of pre-defined competencies.
Management by objectives (MBO). Managers and employees set specific and measurable goals in these performance management systems. They must align with the organizational objectives. In such a case, performance is assessed based on whether the goals are achieved or not.
360-degree feedback. These systems are used to gather feedback from all around the employee. It includes getting information from
What are 5 performance management processes?
The 5 best performance management software and processes are:
Planning - setting clear and measurable goals aligning with strategic objectives.
Monitoring - checking regular progress among managers and employees.
Developing - offering learning and training opportunities.
Rating - assessing employee performance against goals and competencies.
Rewarding - providing employees with rewards and recognition based on performance results.
Founder of 3 products and product development agency @Uptech before 25. Use and consult about OKRs, performance management, and team leadership for 4+ years.
