Find the Best Employee Engagement Software for Your Teams

Did you know that 66% of employees would consider leaving their job if they felt unappreciated?  Yet, many companies have yet to adopt a structured tool for recognition and engagement. Employee engagement tools play a vital role in the workplace—not only do they foster engagement, but they also create a more positive environment for employees. Clients and stakeholders benefit too, as these tools enhance your company’s reputation, making it easier to attract and retain top talent.

In this article, we’ll explore the impact of employee engagement tools and their benefits. We’ll break down the key features to look for and help you choose a platform that aligns with your business needs.

What Is an Employee Engagement Tool?

An employee engagement tool stimulates engagement through recognition and rewards. Its purpose is not only to improve engagement. It also reinforces corporate values, enhances job satisfaction, boosts performance and attracts talent.

Key functionalities can include:

• Peer recognition. A dynamic way for colleagues and managers to highlight achievements and show appreciation through a virtual wall or feed. In addition to peer-to-peer recognition, incentive campaigns can be launched to engage employees, with rewards in the form of points that can be redeemed for personalized gifts, company-branded rewards, or special perks like an extra day off.
• Service award program management. A seamless way to celebrate employee milestones and recognize outstanding contributions. Whether it’s a work anniversary, exceeding expectations, or a special achievement, employees gain access to a curated store where they can choose a reward they truly appreciate.
• Managers’ training program.A practical program designed to help managers seamlessly integrate recognition tactics into their daily routine. Every engagement software is only as effective as the people using it–this training ensures managers understand how to maximize its impact and foster a culture of appreciation.

Platforms like these empower managers with actionable recognition strategies, making it easy to put them into practice by recognizing and rewarding employees. In turn, employees feel valued and can also celebrate their peers through this dynamic tool. The ongoing recognition, these platforms promote leads to numerous benefits–stronger team communication, higher morale, improved retention, and ultimately, a happier, more productive workplace.

Many industries use employee engagement platforms to promote satisfaction and retention. Google’s platform gThanks enables employees to thank one another publicly via personal notes, for instance.

Cisco’s program Connected Cisco offers gifts to celebrate milestones and reward employees.

Both companies report elevated employee satisfaction levels. A survey of Google employees found that 61% of employees felt acknowledged, while 85% said their workplace was positive, for example.

Benefits of Using an Employee Engagement Software

Employee engagement software and tools offer many benefits to organizations and employees alike. These include:

• Boosting employee satisfaction and morale: A workforce engagement software lets you honor your employees’ work and celebrate their achievements. As a result, employees experience job satisfaction and increased morale. When energy company E.ON introduced a peer recognition and engagement system, they found that their staff motivation score went up from 61% to 69%.
• Enhancing communication and collaboration: The best digital tools for employee engagement are designed like a social media feed–intuitive, user-friendly, and free from the downsides of traditional social platforms. This familiar setup makes it easy for teams to stay connected and celebrate each other effortlessly.
• Streamlining data collection and acting on insights: Employee engagement is an ongoing journey. An intuitive dashboard simplifies data collection and provides actionable analytics, enabling you to identify key areas for improvement and take prompt action.
• Improving retention rates and reducing turnover: Using an engagement platform means staff are more likely to stay loyal. Cisco uses their own employee engagement software, which contributes to more fulfilled staff. A survey found that 65% of its employees have been with the company for five years or more.
• Tracking engagement trends: This feature allows you to continuously refine your engagement strategies by tracking trends. It also helps you understand the optimal moments when employees are more likely to recognize or appreciate recognition. You can launch targeted campaigns, such as an employee appreciation initiative where employees recognize one another, and then analyze their effectiveness and impact afterward.

Key Features to Look for in an Employee Engagement Tool

If you’re assessing employee engagement tools, make sure the platform you choose includes the following features:

• Recognition tools. Recognizing and appreciating employees fosters a happy and productive workplace. A recognition platform simplifies the process for managers to show appreciation, while also allowing employees to give kudos to one another. This results in a more positive work environment, enhanced well-being, improved retention rates, and, ultimately, a stronger corporate reputation.

• Analytics and reporting. Look for an employee engagement software that offers analytics and reporting functionality. This will allow you to identify challenges, themes and trends within your organization. It will also offer actionable insights so you can improve the working environment.

• Feature options. Don’t just choose an engagement tool. Opt for a flexible platform that offers integration options. The right employee engagement software allows you to add features to reflect your business and your engagement goals. For example, you may wish to include a gift shop where employees can select personalized rewards or exclusive company swag, adding a personal touch to their recognition experience.

• Customization and scalability. Your business is unique, so your engagement solution should be too. Choose a platform that allows you to customize it to your workforce values and goals. Make sure that the platform is also scalable to support your future growth.

• User-friendly interface. Your employee engagement software should be easy to use. A platform with a clean design, intuitive features, and flexible functionality will be a hit with employees, offering a modern and technological way to engage and recognize achievements.

How to Assess Your Team’s Needs

Your next step is to align your team’s unique requirements with the right engagement tool.

Start by identifying your team’s pain points. You can do this by asking questions such as

• What are your current employee engagement methods?
• Which features work well?
• Which features don’t work well?
• Do employees feel engaged?
• If your employees don’t feel engaged, what are the reasons?
• Would your employees like to engage more?
• What new or existing methods would they like to use?

Involving employees in this process as fully as possible is essential. Their answers will lead you to the right employee engagement software for your business. They will help you choose a tool that reflects their preferences and goals and is more likely to be used extensively.

You can capture this information via a number of methods, including:

• Surveys
• Team meetings
• Focus groups
• Informal discussions
• Performance reviews
• Onboarding interviews
• Exit interviews
• Physical or virtual suggestion boxes

You should also choose an employee engagement software with features based on your company’s specific goals. Say one of these aims is to strengthen bonds within the team and enhance collaboration. An engagement tool that includes a peer recognition feature will help you achieve this.

If your team values working towards rewards, consider an employee engagement tool that incorporates a point-based rewards program. Employees can trade points received for gifts, enhancing workplace morale.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing an Employee Engagement Software

Learn about the pitfalls you may encounter in the selection process and how to avoid them:

• Difficult to use. There’s no point in implementing an employee engagement platform if it isn’t user-friendly. Everyone prefers apps that are intuitive and uncluttered. Choose the same format for your engagement software or tool.
• Too generic. Your employees are unique individuals. Make sure you choose an engagement tool that reflects their needs and preferences. For example, if your goal is to implement an engagement tool specifically for a sales team, choosing a solution without point-based rewards could lead to low engagement and missed opportunities to motivate and incentivize your team effectively.
• Does not allow employee participation. Avoid tools that only offer manager-to-employee engagement. This makes the process passive and unsatisfying for employees. Instead, consider a platform that includes peer-to-peer recognition. This way, your employees feel included and involved.
• Does not offer training. Without proper training, managers and employees may struggle to use the engagement tool effectively, limiting its impact. Choose a platform that includes recognition training, helping them to integrate these practices into their daily routines.

Top Recommendations for Employee Engagement Software Tools

To help you choose the right employee engagement software tool for you, we’ve handpicked six of the best systems on the market.

1. Altrum

Altrum offers an all-in-one employee recognition platform, to recognize and reward employees. This fully customizable engagement solution flexes to your company’s unique needs. The format is attractive and intuitive. What’s more, it allows both managers and employees to offer appreciation and honor achievements. As a result, everyone feels involved and inspired.

Every contribution deserves to be celebrated, our all-in-one platform empowers your organization to turn recognition into results.

• Effortless Recognition Management: Streamlines and scales your recognition programs seamlessly, so appreciating your team becomes second nature.
• Memorable Milestone & Service Awards: Helps you celebrate career achievements and personal life events with thoughtful, personalized gifts that show employees their contributions matter.
• Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Supports you in encouraging a culture of connection where achievements shine, rewards drive performance, and milestones are automatically celebrated.
• Manager Trainings & Conferences: Provides the only complete 6-week program on the market to help managers build lasting skills. Equips your leaders with powerful recognition tools and behavior-based techniques that drive motivation, engagement, and retention.

2. Vantage Circle

Vantage Circle offers a range of features including: a rewards system, wellness function, feedback opportunities, and corporate discount offers.

This holistic approach to employee engagement helps to promote a sense of belonging and motivation in the workplace.

3. Motivosity

Motivosity offers a variety of functions to celebrate, reward, and recognize employees. It features a virtual social network to bring employees together. There’s also a communication function for news and announcements and an instant reward program.

Its combination of useful features makes it a popular employee engagement software tool. Meanwhile, its analytics function allows tracking and understanding of engagement.

4. Bonusly

Bonusly nurtures peer-to-peer recognition by enabling employees to give each other “bonuses” or points that can be traded for rewards.

Other features include tools to help managers check in and engage with employees and insights into participation and recognition activities.

5. TINYpulse

TINYpulse uses employee engagement software with a strong focus on feedback. Employers can build their own customized and anonymous surveys. They can use prebuilt templates and a question library to help them. This enables them to gain valuable insights into employee engagement.

By expressing their thoughts and opinions, employees feel that their voices are heard and valued. The result is enhanced engagement and boosted job satisfaction.

6. Workleap

With a strong emphasis on feedback tools, Workleap presents valuable insights into employees’ motivation. The platform has been designed with remote workers in mind, addressing challenges such as isolation.

The analytics help managers gain a greater understanding of employees’ experiences at work. They also help them to build relationships and encourage success.

A Recognition Platform to Match Your Needs

The right employee engagement software is a sound investment that pays off quickly.

Choose an engagement tool that reflects your company’s values and aspirations. Be sure to carefully consider the available options. It’s essential to find a solution that will work hard from the get-go and flex to your changing requirements.