The best performance management software will help streamline your employee review cycle and help you set clear and measurable goals for individual performance. For any growing business, it’s a great investment. As well as helping with the review cycle, it will also support providing frequent feedback and gathering key insights on the effectiveness of your performance goals.
Finding the right tool for your business will depend on the industry you work on, your goals, priorities, expenditure, and the size of your business. To make that decision easier, we reviewed and compared hundreds of the best performance management tools on the market to narrow down the best of the best, so you can see exactly what different vendors offer and find the right tool for your organization.
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What is Performance Management Software?
The best performance management tools are designed to enhance overall business performance by improving key performance indicators, such as employee productivity, individual goals, and expectations.
It involves real-time tracking of employee progress and how this aligns with organizational objectives. Managers also collect feedback for continuous improvement and recognize employees’ accomplishments with rewards. The performance measurement tool aim to help managers evaluate employee performance, boosts employee engagement, and provide feedback tools to reinforce individual accountability and foster open communication.
The best performance management software will make this process significantly easier. In our testing, we narrowed it down to the best that meet most business needs.
- Deel — Best for Continuous Performance Feedback via 1:1 meetings
- Trakstar — Best for Connecting All Stages of the Employee Lifecycle
- Workleap Officevibe — Best for Gathering Continuous Feedback
- ClearCompany — Best for Simplifying and Automating HR Workflows
- Primalogik — Best for Collecting and Analyzing 360 Degree Feedback
How to Choose the Best Performance Management Software
The effectiveness of employee performance management software for your organization hinges on its compatibility with your workplace culture and business requirements. Here are the top factors to consider when choosing the ideal employee performance management system.
Price – It’s crucial to consider the price of employee performance evaluation software for various reasons. Firstly, it helps select software that fits your budget constraints to prevent overspending.
Secondly, it assists in evaluating the software’s overall value by determining whether the features and capabilities provided are worth the cost.
Moreover, understanding the pricing structure, including recurring fees or hidden charges, helps you make informed decisions and avoid unexpected expenses.
By weighing the software’s price, you can find a solution that meets your performance evaluation needs and fits comfortably within your organization’s financial resources.
Features – The features offered by the software should match your specific needs. Look for capabilities like goal setting, 360-degree feedback, leave management, and employee self-assessments.
Assess whether the software can effectively handle your unique performance evaluation processes and objectives. Furthermore, selecting software with the right features allows you to:
- Streamline performance evaluation workflows
- Enhance employee engagement, and
- Drive individual and team performance improvements
In short, analyzing the features on offer is pivotal in determining the software’s overall suitability and impact on your organization’s performance management practices.
Compatibility – The software must seamlessly work with your existing tech, including your HR management software, payroll systems, and other relevant tools. Incompatibility issues can lead to data discrepancies, inefficiencies, and increased IT costs.
By selecting a software solution compatible with your current technology stack, you can facilitate the efficient flow of data and processes, reduce the risk of disruptions, and enhance the overall effectiveness of your performance evaluation system.
This integration capability enhances data accuracy, reporting, and analytics, enabling HR teams to make data-driven decisions whilst facilitating collaboration with easy data sharing.
Ease of Use – A user-friendly interface makes it accessible to employees, managers, and HR staff, regardless of their technical proficiency. When it’s easy to use, it minimizes the learning curve, reducing the time and resources needed for employee training and onboarding.
Simplicity encourages broader engagement in performance evaluation, ensuring feedback is collected and acted upon efficiently. This leads to a more productive and collaborative work environment.
Ultimately, this allows employees and managers to focus on constructive discussions and development rather than struggling with complicated software interfaces.
User Reviews and Reputation – Third-party insights provide valuable perspectives on the software’s performance and reliability. To help with this, we took both user reviews and the product’s reputation into account when ranking our list and in our reviews.
This can help you make an informed decision, avoid potential pitfalls, and select a solution that matches your specific needs. User reviews also offer insights into the software’s ease of use, scalability, and adaptability to various industries and company sizes.
These factors allow you to avoid costly mistakes by selecting a solution that truly suits your requirements and ensures a smoother implementation process with a higher likelihood of success.
Scalability – Scalability is a crucial factor to consider when selecting employee performance evaluation software, ensuring that as the number of employees increases, the system can handle the increased data, user load, and performance demands without compromising efficiency.
Moreover, scalability enables the software to adapt to evolving evaluation processes and requirements for long-term viability and relevance.
Additionally, as businesses expand geographically, a scalable solution can integrate new teams and locations into the performance evaluation process, fostering consistency and standardization across the organization.
Customization – Every business has distinct performance evaluation processes, criteria, and goals, and a one-size-fits-all approach rarely suffices. So, look for software that allows you to customize evaluation templates, performance criteria, and rating scales.
This flexibility enhances the accuracy and relevance of performance assessments and fosters employee engagement by reflecting the company’s values and goals in the evaluation process.
Moreover, as business dynamics evolve, the ability to adapt and customize the software enables organizations to stay agile and responsive to changing performance management needs.
Best Performance Management Software Pricing Compared
Provider | Best For | Starting Price | Free Trial | Onboarding | Time Tracking |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Deel | Best for continuous performance feedback on a 1:1 basis | $49/month for contractors, $599/month for EOR | Deel HR is free for teams of up to 200 | Yes | Yes |
Trakstar | Best for connecting all the stages of the employee lifecycle | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Workleap Officevibe | Best for gathering continuous feedback including anonymous options | $5/month per user | Free plan | Separate product | No |
ClearCompany | Best for simplifying and automating HR workflows | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Primalogik | Best for collecting and analyzing 360 degree feedback | $159/month | 30-day trial | No | No |
Paycor | Best for efficient performance management solutions | Not public | Demo | Yes | Yes |
PerformYard | Best for customized performance review processes | $5 to $10/month per user | Demo | No | Yes |
Leapsome | Best for employee development-oriented performance management | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Lattice | Best for incorporating multiple feedback sources | $11/month per user | Demo | Separate module | No |
Peoplebox | Integrating goals and performance into employee workflow | $7/month per user | 14-day trial | No | No |
Connecteam | Employee engagement and recognition | Free for up to 10 users | 14-day trial | Yes | Yes |
Insperity | Custom, scalable HR solutions | Quote-based | N/A | Yes | Yes |
15Five | Measuring outcomes of HR initiatives | $4/month per user | 14-day trial | No | No |
Profit.co | Day-to-day task management | $7/month per user | Free up to 5 users | No | Yes |
Mirro | Ensuring company culture alignment in hybrid teams | $6.50/month per user | 14-day trial | Yes | No |
PeopleFluent | Ongoing feedback and rich people analytics | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Bob | KPI tracking and data-driven decision-making | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | Yes |
WorkDove | Talent acquisition and retention | $5/month per user | Demo | Yes | No |
Ascender | Creating custom SMART objectives and rating scales | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | Yes |
Worktango (formerly Kazoo) | Creating incentives and rewards for hitting milestones | Not public | Demo | No | No |
Betterworks | Unbiased performance calibration | Quote-based | Demo | No | No |
Teamflect | Boosting remote employee performance | Quote-based | Free up to 10 users | Yes | Yes |
GoCo | Document management and onboarding | $5/month per user | Demo | Yes | Yes |
ClickUp | Robust project and task management | Free / $7/month per user | Free plan | Yes | Yes |
monday.com | Monthly team planning and task tracking | $8/month per user | Free up to 2 users | Yes | Yes |
Motivosity | Pulse surveys and goal and challenge creation | $2/month | Demo | No | No |
iSpring Learn | Micro-learning and product and compliance training | $4.08/month per user | 30-day trial | Yes | No |
Eden | Workplace management for hybrid teams | $2.25/month per user | Demo | No | No |
IntelliHR | Employee engagement and talent retention | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Kallidus Learn | Empowering and upskilling your team | Quote-based | Demo | Yes | No |
Best Performance Management Software Reviewed
To provide you with a comprehensive review of the best performance management software solutions on the market, we’ve tried and tested each tool to compare each solution based on their price, features, usability, automation, and third-party reviews to help you identify which tool is best for you. Read our full breakdown below.
1. Deel — Best for Continuous Performance Feedback via 1:1 meetings
Best For | Continuous 1:1 performance feedback |
---|---|
Free Trial | Free plan available |
Price From | $49/month for contractors
$599/month for EOR |
Top 3 Features | Feedback capabilities, Goal setting and tracking, Data insights |
Pros
- Global HR solution
- User-friendly platform
- The software is scalable
- Multiple automated processes
Cons
- Limited customization
- Integrates well in the Deel ecosystem but struggles with third-party integrations
Learn more in our Deel review
2. Trakstar — Best for Connecting All Stages of the Employee Lifecycle
Best For | Employee lifecycle |
---|---|
Free Trial | Demo |
Price From | Custom pricing |
Top 3 Features | Performance reports, 360-feedback, Goal setting and tracking |
Pros
- Custom performance reports
- Comprehensive feedback system
- Effective goal management
- Easy platform for beginners
Cons
- Limited mobile functionality
- Can be more costly than competitors
3. Workleap Officevibe — Best for Gathering Continuous Feedback Including Anonymous Options
Best For | Anonymous feedback |
---|---|
Free Trial | Free plan available |
Price From | $5/month per user |
Top 3 Features | Peer recognition, Comprehensive performance reviews, Goal tracking |
Pros
- Promotes a culture of continuous improvement
- Real-time analytics and reporting
- Customizable performance reports
Cons
- Can be a steeper learning curve compared to competitors
4. ClearCompany — Best for Simplifying and Automating HR Workflows
Best For | Automating HR workflows |
---|---|
Free Trial | Demo |
Price From | Custom pricing |
Top 3 Features | 360-feedback, Employee engagement, Ready-to-use templates |
Pros
- Improves collaboration
- Easy-to-learn platform
- Automated workflows
Cons
- Does not include LMS
Learn more in our ClearCompany review
5. Primalogik — Best for Collecting and Analyzing 360 Degree Feedback
Best For | 360 Feedback |
---|---|
Free Trial | 30-day trial |
Price From | $159/month |
Top 3 Features | Advanced reporting, Custom reviews, Goal-setting |
Pros
- Employee engagement tools
- User-friendly software
- Customizable performance reviews
- Real-time reporting
Cons
- Limited integration options
- No LMS available
How We Review And Test HR Products
To provide our readers with accurate and well-informed recommendations, we test the most popular HR products on the market to find the best options for you. Our methodology consists of the following criteria:
- Features: We examine each product’s features to determine what capabilities are offered, and how well it performs crucial HR management tasks, such as tracking a sick leave.
- Integrations: We evaluate the integrations of each piece of HR software to determine how well it fits in with other key pieces in a business’s software stack, and whether its functionality can be expanded as required.
- User Experience: Usability is paramount when it comes to HR software. That’s why we put ourselves in the shoes of a new user, testing each platform to gain a firsthand understanding if the platform is easy to use or requires onboarding.
- Price and Value for Money: Our approach to pricing involves a thorough review of the structure and plans offered by each platform. Beyond just the initial cost, we delve into the details to assess affordability and value for money.
- Security: We dig into the security policies of each company, interrogating the safeguards they have in place to ensure the software protects user data properly.
- Compliance: A critical requirement for most HR departments, we assess HR software on whether it offers local compliance when it comes to payroll, taxes, and more.
- Reporting and Documentation: We look at the reporting and documentation capabilities of each software to make sure they offer comprehensive data sets, takeaways, and collaboration options for documentation.
Performance Management Software Trends for 2024
In 2024, several key trends are emerging for performance management software, driven by advancements in technology and a deeper understanding of employee needs.
The following highlights the most significant trends in performance management tools for the coming years, providing insights into the future of workplace performance and development.
- AI and Machine Learning Integration – AI is being used for predictive analytics and employee performance forecasting. Machine learning algorithms are also being introduced to personalize feedback and development plans.
- Real-time Feedback Systems – Continuous, real-time feedback is replacing annual reviews. More businesses are also looking for tools that enable instant recognition and constructive criticism, which also encourages peer-to-peer reviewing.
- Employee Well-being Focus – There has been a big shift in focus on mental health and well-being metrics. Businesses are now using tools that provide insights into employee burnout and stress levels.
- Gamification and Social Features – More businesses are incorporating game-like elements to engage employees. They’re additionally using rewards, badges, and leaderboards to motivate performance.
Free vs Paid Employee Performance Management Tools
When comparing different solutions, it makes sense to investigate free options. After all, on average, a small to medium-sized business might expect to pay anywhere from $5 to $15 per employee per month for a basic employee evaluation system. More comprehensive solutions with advanced features could range from $15 to $50 per employee per month or more.
While software like Deel offers a free plan for teams of up to 200 people, paid options are typically more reliable. Although some of the best free HR software for performance management may offer free trials, they often lack the advanced features and comprehensive support found in paid versions. Investing in a paid option ensures access to robust functionalities, dedicated customer service, and ongoing updates, ultimately leading to more effective performance processes and outcomes.
Benefits of Performance Management Platforms
Here are the main benefits of using a performance management tool: