Top 10 Staff Engagement Tools of 2025 | Expert Guide

A lot of pieces have to come together in order to run a successful business, but some of those pieces get more attention than others. From increasing revenue to streamlining processes, scaling operations, and ensuring compliance, it's easy for other seemingly less important aspects of your business, like employee engagement, to fall through the cracks.

But the truth is, your business can’t thrive without engaged employees. Not only do disengaged employees negatively impact workplace culture, but they also reduce revenue and profitability to the tune of up to $550 billion every year.

The good news is that you can increase engagement with the right performance management platforms, like PerformYard, that integrate staff engagement tools. The question is, which tool is right for you?

Here is everything you need to know about employee engagement software, including what it is, what to look for, and the best staff engagement tools in 2025.

What Are Staff Engagement Tools?

Staff engagement tools, which are also referred to as employee engagement tools, are designed to help you measure and enhance employee engagement in your organization. Although you can find engagement features in some general HR software, staff engagement tools focus solely on providing capabilities that directly relate to engagement.

Employee engagement includes the emotional and psychological commitment that an employee has towards their work, their team, and the overall organization. Staff engagement software can help employees develop and maintain the motivation to perform their very best at work.

A staff engagement platform typically includes the following core functionalities:

• Employee surveys
• Multiple ways to give and receive feedback
• Ways to recognize high performers
• Analytics that help you make sense of engagement data

Implementing employee engagement software can positively impact your business. Organizations that implement and use collaboration tools and performance tracking software for employees see seven times more engagement than organizations that don't.

Keep in mind that maximizing engagement means choosing the right employee engagement solutions for your business. You can start narrowing down your options by learning more about the types of staff engagement tools that are available.

7 Types of Staff Engagement Tools

Increasing staff engagement requires multiple approaches. It’s important to know which ones are most relevant to your business, because not all performance management platforms with engagement features include all of the tools you might need.

Here are the 7 essential categories of staff engagement tools:

• Survey and feedback tools
• Recognition and rewards platforms
• Performance management systems
• Internal communication tools
• Learning and development platforms
• Wellness and benefits tools
• Analytics and reporting dashboards

Survey and feedback tools

Surveys are a main feature of most staff engagement tools. They allow you to ask your employees questions, and they also support giving and receiving feedback.

It’s important to choose a platform that features employee surveys with customization capabilities. That way you can ask the questions that are relevant to your team and send them out on a schedule that works for you. Customization capabilities also enable you to design different types of surveys, like pulse surveys and annual surveys.

Feedback mechanisms should include continuous, real-time feedback and 360 reviews that allow employees, peers, and managers to provide feedback to each other.

A few platforms known for their survey and feedback capabilities include Culture Amp, Glint, and TinyPulse.

Recognition and rewards platforms

In the hustle and bustle of everyday operations, it is easy to let recognition and rewards slip through the cracks, but recognizing employees for a job well done is a great way to boost engagement. 45% of employees who are recognized on a monthly basis are rated as being very engaged at work.

Platforms that support positive feedback include special ways to deliver that feedback. For example, some platforms support peer-to-peer recognition and milestone celebrations, like time spent in a certain role or birthdays. Some platforms also support recognition programs, like a catalog where employees can choose from different kinds of rewards, like gift cards, after accumulating points.

A few platforms that focus on recognition and rewards include Bonusly, Kudos, and Motivosity.

Performance management systems

Employees actually crave feedback. A whopping 80% of employees who report having received meaningful feedback in the past week are fully engaged at work. Performance management software can provide them with the feedback they crave, which ultimately leads to higher levels of engagement and productivity.

Good performance management software includes goal tracking and continuous feedback. It should also enable you to design a system of performance reviews that works with the goals and culture of your business.

PerformYard is a leading example of a comprehensive performance management platform that supports a complete range of reviews that include goal check-ins, 360 feedback, quarterly conversations, and more.

Internal communication tools

Having a platform with internal communication capabilities is handy, especially if you're looking for staff engagement software for remote teams. It allows you to keep all your performance management and engagement information, analytics, and communications in one place. Most platforms feature integrations that make communication easier. For example, PerformYard integrates with Slack and Microsoft Teams.

It can be especially handy if the internal communication tools on your employee engagement software integrate with the communication tools you're already using. For example, Microsoft Viva Engage integrates engagement capabilities into their existing communication tools that you and your team may already be using.

Learning and development platforms

Most employees want to be able to learn and grow on the job, with 92% of respondents in one survey reporting that the right kind of formal workplace training impacts their engagement in a positive way.

Some platforms focus on supporting learning and development with features that include skill development, career pathing, and mentoring. They can also integrate different online classes and training programs that employees can access for free. A few of these include LinkedIn Learning and Coursera for Business.

Wellness and benefits tools

Mental health is important to employee engagement, especially when burnout is so prevalent. According to one report, two-thirds of American employees are experiencing burnout, and when employees feel burned out, they are less likely to be engaged.

One way to tackle burnout is by supporting employee wellness. Some staff engagement tools provide mental health support, which may include access to meditation courses and psychiatric services. Some also enable leaders and employees to set healthy working hours, as well as create customized reminders for things like drinking water or taking a 5-minute walk.

A few platforms that focus on supporting wellness include Headspace for Work and Personify Health.

Analytics and reporting dashboards

Most staff engagement tools include some kind of people analytics, but which analytics are measured depends on the capabilities of the platform. Employee engagement tools with analytics also vary widely in how they display the data they track.

The best platforms include:

• Engagement metrics that enable you to break down results by cohort to measure different engagement factors over time.
• Predictive analytics that enable you to identify future high and low performers, as well as which employees are prone to looking for another job or burning out.
• Trend analysis that enables you to observe the impact of managers on engagement, the fluctuations of absenteeism throughout the year, and how long it takes for employee cohorts to achieve goals.

Top 10 Staff Engagement Software Solutions (With Real Examples)

There are a lot of staff engagement software solutions to choose from with a wide range of capabilities. Here are the top 10 categorized by comprehensiveness, specialized solutions, and enterprise options so you can narrow down your choice to the one that’s right for your organization.

Comprehensive Platforms

Comprehensive staff engagement tools also incorporate performance management software to offer an all-in-one platform. They offer things like engagement surveys, but they also support other functionalities, like customized review cycles, streamlined meeting planning, and more.

A few of the most popular comprehensive platforms include:

• PerformYard
• CultureAmp
• Leapsome
• 15Five

PerformYard

PerformYard combines performance management and engagement features, offering a robust way for organizations to streamline employee reviews, manage goals, provide feedback, and track engagement.

PerformYard offers specialized engagement features that include:

• Pulse surveys: Send out short, focused surveys to gather quick insights that can be acted on in real time.
• Goal alignment: Create cascading goals that encompass company-wide, team, and individual objectives, with goal cycles designed to emphasize personal growth, career advancement, and more.
• Survey integration: See survey data in the same platform as performance reviews and goals to get a complete picture of individual, departmental, and company-wide engagement.
• Data dashboard: Get a company-wide view of employee satisfaction and engagement with the ability to narrow down the data into cohorts.
• eNPS: Ability to create custom surveys using the Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) with built-in analytics that help you analyze the results.
• Custom questions: Surveys and reviews are completely customizable, allowing you to create questions that are catered to the specific needs of your employees.

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Pricing is one of the reasons why HR and their teams choose PerformYard. Starting at just $5-$10 per person per month, PerformYard is one of the most affordable platforms available, with the option to add additional features, like employee engagement, for just an extra buck or two per person.

Wondering if PerformYard is right for you? Check out our case studies and customer success stories to see how PerformYard has enhanced performance and engagement in other organizations.

Culture Amp

CultureAmp is a robust platform that features functionalities that support engagement, performance, professional development, and people analytics. Their platform is customizable, and it features diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) analytics. Having so many features and options means you can customize the platform for your organization, but all those separate features can also make the process of understanding engagement and creating a review cycle overwhelming.

All that customization means you can personalize the price, but it also means you have to pay separately for each category of support, which means it can get costly if you’re looking for full functionality. In addition, prices aren’t listed online, which means you have to contact them directly for a quote.

Leapsome

Leapsome supports customizable performance reviews, employee engagement surveys, and goal setting, but it also includes HRIS functionalities that support payroll, PTO, and time tracking. That's handy because it means everything is in one place, but it also means there's a steep learning curve to figure out the platform. In contrast, a platform like PerformYard is more intuitive, making it easier and less frustrating to use.

Support can also be a challenge with such a large platform. Customer support may not have in-depth knowledge of the process you have questions about. In addition, one-on-one support is not available to all customers, which means getting your questions answered could be a challenge.

15Five

15Five has performance and engagement features with the ability to customize check-ins and Objective and Key Results (OKR) for employees and teams to ensure individual goals are aligned with organizational goals. You can create engagement surveys and utilize feedback tools to gain insights into engagement and performance. What really sets 15Five apart is its focus on manager development with upskilling content and an AI coach.

15Five is designed for small and medium-sized businesses, so it may prove troublesome for organizations that are growing. It also has very limited capabilities in regard to onboarding and offboarding employees.

Specialized Solutions

Specialized solutions focus on specific aspects of performance management and engagement. Although they may not offer all the functionalities of comprehensive platforms, they often go more in-depth and feature more affordable price points, making them a good choice for smaller companies and those who want to focus on the types of support that work well for their business.

They include:

• Bonusly
• Motivosity
• Connecteam

Bonusly

Bonusly believes recognition is the key to building high-performing teams. This platform offers many different ways to recognize employees through rewards, celebrations, and awards. It supports 1-on-1 meetings and goals, in addition to providing tools that help managers become coaches when guiding and growing their teams. You can also include rewards right on the platform so employees can redeem points for real gifts, like cash, gift cards, and swag.

With a focus on positive feedback, there aren't as many capabilities to support Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) or personalized performance reviews. Pricing can also be a bit of a challenge. With three Bonusly versions to choose from, managing rewards costs, and setting budget limits, maintaining the platform has the potential to be expensive.

Motivosity

Motivosity also focuses on recognition, but it stands apart with its peer-to-peer program. It actively encourages employees to compliment each other with built-in personality profiles and a social feed that is focused on connection and gratitude, giving employees quick and easy ways to recognize each other.

You can automate reminders for things like birthdays and work anniversaries. You can also create a rewards marketplace with a customizable catalog so you can build rewards that reflect the culture of your business.

As a specialized solution, Motivosity doesn't include reviews, meeting planning, or goal management in the same ways other platforms, like PerformYard, do. You can customize your package based on industry or need, but you do have to speak with a sales rep in order to get a custom quote.

Connecteam

Connecteam was specially developed for service-based industries and frontline workers that include:

• Construction
• Cleaning
• Healthcare
• Food and beverage
• Retail
• Field services

Their product reflects the things service industries want to focus on, including task management for non-desk teams and HR capabilities like training, documentation, and time clocks. It also includes recognition and rewards systems that enable managers to reward their teams using their own budget.

It lacks specific functionality for performance management, which means you cannot customize reviews or create engagement surveys. However, it does have a free version for small businesses and transparent pricing for other tiers so you can find a plan that fits your budget.

Enterprise Options

Enterprise staff engagement tools are specifically created with large organizations in mind. They are designed to seamlessly integrate with other systems to provide you with integrated functionality, saving you the time it takes to switch back and forth between different platforms and risk important information falling through the cracks.

Here are a few enterprise options:

• Microsoft Viva
• Workday Peakon
• Quantum Workplace

Microsoft Viva

Microsoft Viva is a suite of apps that can be used to enhance employee engagement and performance. It's an especially handy choice if you already use Microsoft's other platforms, like Microsoft 365 and Teams, as integration is seamless. It includes specific options for encouraging collaboration with things like polls and fostering an open dialog with leadership. You can create custom surveys and unearth insights that allow you to make sense of in-platform data. You can pick and choose which apps you want to pay for, with the entire package costing $12 per user per month.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is discontinuing Viva Goals in December 2025, which means you may need another solution for setting and monitoring goals. Because each app is distinct, they each have separate admin interfaces, which can make for a disjointed experience.

Workday Peakon

Workday Peakon includes the ability to conduct enterprise-grade surveys across a large organization. Then, that information can be transformed into accurate, all-encompassing analytics that you can use to drive real-time change in your business. Specialized areas of the platform focus on employee retention by allowing you to identify potential causes of turnover and leadership development with personalized learning content and action plans.

Workday Peakon is just one of the products offered by Workday. You can also find HR solutions, financial planning, legal support, and more. That's handy for large organizations that want to be able to work with a single company to support HR tasks, but it also means using it can feel cumbersome and confusing. It can also make getting help more difficult, as customer support agents may not be as well-versed in certain areas of the platform.

Quantum Workplace

Quantum Workplace aims to streamline the review process, which is a great benefit for large companies with disjointed review cycles. It features flexible review modules that enable you to use a single template or create multiple templates to meet the needs of different departments. The review process can support goal achievement, 1-on-1s, employee recognition, and more.

Their platform features a comprehensive engagement suite compared to what's offered on other enterprise platforms. You can create a wide variety of specialized surveys that can be used to create action plans, increase engagement, and focus on turnover risk to prevent talent from leaving the company.

Although having templates can make things easier, it does make it a bit more difficult to create reviews and surveys from the ground up. In addition, you can customize which performance and development tools you need, but you have to speak to a representative to get a personalized quote. 

How to Choose the Right Staff Engagement Tool

There isn’t one platform that does it all. Instead, you have to think about what kind of staff engagement tools would be most impactful at your organization. When you start with what you need, you can narrow down your choices to just one or two platforms that can provide you with the right support.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you’re searching for performance management tools with engagement features.

Essential Features Checklist

There are a few essential features that most staff engagement tools have in common, but their capabilities vary greatly between platforms. When looking for staff engagement tools, you’ll want to consider:

• Who can provide and receive feedback: The most robust platforms allow for multi-channel feedback from a wide variety of sources that include managers, peers, direct reports, self-assessments, and even external stakeholders, like customers and vendors.
• Analytics and reporting: Look for timely analytics and reporting that enable you to make real-time changes according to the data you uncover. The best analytics can collect and display data from multiple sources in intuitive ways that enable you to analyze the info quickly.
• Mobile design: If you have a remote, hybrid, or out-of-the-office team, you’ll want to look for a platform that has a well-developed mobile design. The interface should be intuitive and offer the same functionalities as the desktop version.
• Customizability: Templates are a great way to get started, but the platform you choose should also support customization. You should be able to create different types of surveys, customize the questions you ask, and customize how and when surveys are sent.

Budget considerations

Different platforms have different price points, enabling you to choose one that fits your budget. However, what you spend goes a lot deeper than the cost of the contract. Here are a few other budgetary features to keep in mind:

• Per-employee pricing models are the most common, but some, like Connecteam, have flat monthly fees up to a certain number of users.
• Some platforms price different features of their software separately, and some require a certain annual spend amount to operate the software or to receive special benefits, like a personal customer care agent.
• Implementation and training costs can add up. It can be helpful to work with a platform like PerformYard that offers professional account setup and live training services at no additional cost.
• Consider using an ROI calculator to estimate your performance management ROI to see if investing in a particular platform would be cost-effective. 

Integration requirements

Having software that operates in a silo can be a nightmare because it requires you to manually transfer information. That’s time-consuming, but it can also negatively impact your analytics if data isn’t uploaded or it’s uploaded incorrectly. That’s why it’s important to make sure you choose staff engagement tools that integrate seamlessly with the other platforms you’re using.

Look for:

• HRIS system compatibility so employee information is consistent across platforms.
• Single sign-on (SSO) capabilities so you can sign in just once and access all of your connected platforms with a single username and password.
• An Application Programming Interface (API) allows for custom integrations, enabling you to connect other platforms you are using, even if prebuilt integrations aren't available.

Platforms with all three features can save you a lot of time. For example, PerformYard integrates with the top HRIS systems, features single sign-on for popular platforms, like G Suite and Office 365, and offers custom integrations. Plus, you have access to a dedicated account manager who can help you get it all up and running.

Best Practices for Rolling Out Staff Engagement Tools

No matter which staff engagement tools you choose, there are some things to keep in mind when introducing them to your team:

• Rethink management strategies
• Make a communication plan
• Training and adoption tips
• Be open to feedback
• Common pitfalls to avoid

Rethink management strategies

Using new HR technology requires you to rethink how things are done, but that’s especially true when it comes to staff engagement tools. Leaders and managers may have to rethink how their relationships with their direct reports should change with the new software.

For example, you may realize that managers need to meet with employees more often when using a platform like PerformYard that can streamline the process of goal check-ins. Or, you may want to have leaders act as mentors instead of managers when using a platform like 15Five that has a dedicated manager enablement program.

Make a communication plan

How are managers going to communicate with employees in regard to engagement and performance? Where are employees going to post accolades they have for peers? In the past, email and Slack channels may have been fine, but you’ll need a new plan with new staff engagement tools.

Make sure everyone knows exactly where to post and communicate when it comes to engagement and performance, especially if it’s different from other types of communication. For example, employees should enter feedback on the new platform, but send questions about the latest project through a different channel. That way all of your performance and engagement data is on one platform.

Training and adoption tips

Take the time to train employees on the new software, and don’t rush the process. Give them plenty of chances to try out the new software in a supportive environment where they can work together and ask questions.

If they run into trouble after the software rollout, they should know exactly who to contact for help. Whether it’s a manager, coworker, HR, or a point of contact at the software company, they should know exactly who to ask so they can get an answer quickly.

Having resources that workers can reference can be handy too. For example, if you’re using PerformYard, employees can search the support page for answers to their questions at any time.

Be open to feedback

Learning new software can be frustrating. Allow employees to offer suggestions and share how they feel about using the new platform. One of the best ways to get feedback is with a survey. Not only can you collect feedback, but it also gives you the ability to test out the survey capabilities of the platform you’re using.

Then, take the time to acknowledge the feedback you received and come up with solutions so employees know you’re taking their feedback seriously. For example, if a certain aspect of the software is difficult for employees to use, schedule a specialized training session.

Common pitfalls to avoid

There are a few common pitfalls you want to avoid in order to create a positive employee experience when rolling out new staff engagement tools:

• Don't rush the process. Give the software a trial run before committing to the platform, involve key stakeholders in the process, and give plenty of notice to employees about the upcoming software so they aren't blindsided by the change.
• Get as many team members on board with the new software as possible. The more support and excitement there is, even if you have to use incentive programs, the more successful the rollout will be.
• Be transparent throughout the process. Be open and honest about why the software is being implemented, why you chose the particular platform, and take employee concerns seriously so employees feel like they're part of the process.

Measuring ROI and the Impact of Your Staff Engagement Tools

You should measure ROI and the impact your staff engagement tools have on your business as you’re rolling them out, but you should also measure them over time. Here are a few tips to make the most out of the data:

• Key engagement metrics to monitor
• Business impact indicators
• Reporting cadence recommendations
• Look at case studies: How PerformYard customers measure success

Key engagement metrics to monitor

There are many metrics you can monitor in regard to staff engagement, but here are a few that are considered the most important:

• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) which measures how likely an employee is to recommend working at the company to others.
• Employee turnover rate that measures the percentage of the workforce that leaves within a certain time period.
• Absenteeism rate calculates the rate of unplanned absences among employees.
• Job satisfaction score can tell you whether or not employees are satisfied with their role.
• Level of employee recognition that highlights things like the time since their last promotion or pay increase.
• Employee participation rates include measuring things like participation rates in training programs or serving on a committee or task force.

Business impact indicators

It's important to follow individual and team engagement metrics among employees, but you should also take the time to see how the new employee engagement software impacts the operation of your business. A few questions to answer include:

• Does the new software save time on admin tasks?
• Are there fewer delays when sending out and receiving engagement feedback?
• Is feedback or 1-on-1 meetings increasing?
• Is the quality of work metrics increasing, like fewer errors or higher project ratings?
• Has the revenue per employee gone up since implementing the software?

Reporting cadence recommendations

The reporting cadence you choose will ultimately depend on the goals and expectations of your leadership team. However, it is recommended that you analyze data and create a report that outlines engagement metrics and business impact indicators multiple times a year.

For example, pulse surveys can be sent out on a weekly or biweekly cadence to capture quick shifts in engagement so you can implement an intervention quickly. If you want to see what kind of impact a new initiative is having, you may want to send out a quarterly survey to give it time to take effect.

Look at case studies: How PerformYard customers measure success

It can be hugely helpful to see how others measure engagement success among their workers when determining how to best implement new staff engagement tools into your workflow.

For example, Aero Simulation Inc. used the PerformYard platform to create a system of pulse surveys that are sent out every 3-4 weeks. Being able to divide results by department allows for a greater understanding of engagement throughout their company. After implementation, one struggling department in the organization had an engagement score that increased 91 points in just 30 days.

Click here to check out more PerformYard case studies to see how other businesses measure engagement success.

Transform Your Business With the Right Staff Engagement Tools

The right staff engagement tools can transform your business by increasing performance, which in turn can increase your bottom line. You just have to figure out which staff engagement platform is right for your organization.

If you’re serious about increasing staff engagement, look no further than PerformYard. Our platform combines performance management with powerful engagement features that enable you to support your employees to do their best work.

Want to learn more? Check out our powerful customer stories and view our transparent online pricing.

Ready to get started? Get a demo and we'll tailor PerformYard to your business so you can see exactly how it can support your performance management process.