5 Steps to Choosing the Right Employee Engagement Software for Your Business

Claire Beveridge

The right employee engagement software is critical to business success. Without the best tool to help manage and measure employee engagement, you risk missing out on the benefits of a productive, motivated workforce.

However, onboarding the wrong software can result in wasted resources and a minimal impact on key engagement metrics such as retention, absenteeism, and turnover.

With a wide range of employee engagement platforms on the market, we’ve drilled down the five steps you need to take to evaluate and onboard the right solution for your business.

How to evaluate employee engagement software

1. Assess needs and challenges

To ensure you understand workplace needs, gather feedback from employees, HR managers, and other stakeholders to identify pain points across different departments. This will ensure you onboard the best performance management software for your organization.

Look for specific organizational needs and challenges that new employee engagement software can address. For example, if your feedback finds that employees feel like the feedback loop is broken, you can address this concern to improve engagement when onboarding new software.

If employees give feedback that they need more manager upskilling, explore a performance management platform with that specific feature.

2. Research and evaluate

The research stage examines different employee engagement platforms and helps you analyze strengths and weaknesses to understand the ideal solution for your business.

Consider the following factors:

Features

Look for features that align with your business needs. For example, does the solution offer employee engagement features, such as performance reviews? Is there a compensation management tool? Does it also help you streamline administrative tasks?

Sizability and scale

Assess how well the tool will scale in your organization. While you might get away with running HR operations on a few spreadsheets if you’re a micro business, the minute you start to grow, it’s time to onboard project management software.

Here’s what we recommend:

Small business (<50 employees): A streamlined, efficient tool that aims to be simple and cost-effective.
Medium-sized companies (50-500 employees): A scalable performance management solution that can adapt to growing HR demands and usage.
Large enterprises (500+ employees): A robust and scalable solution that integrates with an HRIS to help manage high levels of employee data and information while remaining flexible and secure.

User-experience

The usability of the employee engagement software will impact how frequently employees use the platform and how easy it is for them to access self-service information such as payroll, holiday schedules, and organizational charts.

Look for a platform that creates a smooth experience for employees and administrators. Ensure that key data is readily accessible on a dashboard and that the interface is user-friendly and easy to navigate.

Integrations

Make sure the employee engagement platform can fully integrate with your tech stack. Integrations help streamline processes and save HR teams valuable time that would otherwise be spent on manual data entry.

For example, 15Five integrations include HRIS tools like Rippling, Bamboo, Gusto, and Namely and productivity and communication tools such as Slack, Salesforce, Jira, MS Teams, Google Calendar, and more.

Customer support

New software often comes with a steep learning curve for employees. To ensure that no one gets left behind, assess the level of customer assistance and support the solution provides.

For example, does the tool have dedicated account managers who support your business? Or is there a customer support line people can call? Decide whether the customer support solution fits your business, its size, and its employees.

Once you’ve evaluated each tool, create a shortlist of your top three based on the findings.

3. Perform a cost-benefit analysis

Evaluate the cost versus the benefits of each performance management solution. Consider the up-front cost and investment along with any recurring subscription fees, onboarding and training costs, and potential ROI regarding improved employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

4. Request a demo or trial period

You can schedule a demo with a member of the sales team or request a trial of your shortlist to get hands-on experience with the platforms.

This way, you can explore features, user experience, and compatibility in real-time and make informed decisions about the next employee engagement software you onboard.

For example, 15Five offers a free demo as well as the opportunity to try 15Five free for two weeks.

Remember not to restrict usage to only the HR team. In the demo or trial period, include relevant stakeholders from across the organization to gather diverse perspectives on how well the software operates in your business ecosystem.

5. Select a vendor and plan implementation

Once you’ve identified the right employee engagement solution, negotiate terms and pricing with the vendor and outline any customization requirements.

Then, develop a detailed implementation plan that outlines key milestones, responsibilities, and timelines for setting up the new platform. Identify who will be responsible for each aspect of the process, including data migration, system configuration, employee training, communication, and onboarding.

Choose 15Five for the complete solution to employee engagement

15Five helps businesses measure employee engagement and take action. For example, you can send out a research-based employee engagement survey to understand company, department, or team engagement rates.

Engagement surveys are entirely customizable, helping you target specific teams or groups for specific insights. Use the HR Outcomes Dashboard to measure engagement data against other business metrics to understand where opportunities lie to create the most significant impact.

Compare progress over time and create benchmarks for your industry to see how your company stacks up against the competition.
The platform also includes manager upskilling, performance reviews, and an HRIS connector to ensure that enterprise-level companies securely manage large volumes of employee data.