Today’s employees routinely use digital tools to manage their personal lives. They use them for banking, shopping, fitness, even dating – and they’re coming to expect a similar level of convenience and connectivity in their professional lives too.
Forward-thinking employers are using employee experience software platforms to transform their workplace, and meet (or ideally exceed) employee expectations. They’re using the very best employee engagement tools to ensure that staff feel more connected, motivated, and loyal to their organization.
Frontline teams in particular have a lot to gain from an employee experience solution. The frontline connection gap leaves frontline employees feeling disconnected from the company and each other. They miss out on the social and career benefits that their desk-based co-workers take for granted, and both employee satisfaction and employee retention rates tend to suffer.
A mobile-first employee experience platform can bring everyone together, no matter where they’re working. It gives every employee a sense of belonging, as well as the praise and regular communication that makes work more fulfilling.
So here, we’ve listed some of the best employee experience software platforms, to help you find a solution that unifies your team and supercharges your employee engagement efforts.
- Reasons to use an employee experience software platform
- Key things to look for when choosing an employee experience software platform
- 15 best employee experience software platforms
- Additional considerations for HR teams
- Case Study: Elara Caring
- Employee Experience Platform FAQs
Reasons to use an employee experience software platform
Whether you have a frontline team, a desk-based team, or a mixture of the two, an employee experience software platform can help your organization meet and exceed employee expectations. Here’s what employee experience software can help you to achieve.
Enhanced employee engagement
Low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion, according to Gallup. The employee experience platforms on our list facilitate two-way communication, employee recognition, and collaboration. They improve employee engagement and help you build a more loyal, satisfied, and productive team.
Streamlined HR processes
The best employee experience software automates repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Things like time tracking, performance appraisals, and routine communication. With these taken care of, HR teams increase their bandwidth and get to spend more time on human-touch, value-add activities.
Improved talent management
65% of frontline employees are unaware or unsure on how to achieve advancement at work, but employees who get opportunities to grow and develop are more loyal to their employer. Employee experience platforms provide tools for ongoing feedback, coaching, development, and performance management. They make it easy for organizations to identify employees with high potential and motivate employees toward company and career goals.
Data-driven insights
Employee experience management software should provide reporting and analytics functions — these will help you understand employee engagement levels, sentiment, and performance. With this data at your disposal, you can make better decisions, identify trends, and nip engagement problems in the bud.
Employee recognition and empowerment
Employee appreciation tools make your workforce feel valued. Self-service tools ensure your teams have access to essential information, whenever and wherever they need it. In this way, employee experience software helps employees to feel supported and connected to the wider organization.
A positive company culture
The best employee experience software promotes transparent communication and meaningful connection — two essential building blocks for positive company culture. When you have a culture that employees feel proud to be part of, you can count on higher levels of employee satisfaction and reduced churn. You’ll also find it easier to build an employer brand that attracts top talent.
Key things to look for when choosing an employee experience software platform
So now that we know the benefits of an employee experience software platform, let’s take a look at the key features you can expect from this type of tool. When picking an employee experience software platform for your organization, you should be trying to tick the following boxes:
- User-friendly interface: The best employee experience software doesn’t come with a big learning curve; it’s intuitive and feels familiar right from the get-go.
- Personalization and customization options: One size never fits all so pick an employee experience platform that gives you choice over the tools and features you use.
- Employee self-service: When employees have access to everything they need, the HR team spends less time responding to requests for assistance.
- Integration capabilities: For an all-through-one solution, an employee engagement platform should integrate with other tools your company already uses, so your employees don’t need to use multiple different platforms
- Mobile accessibility: Frontline teams are often at a disadvantage from the get-go with company tools as they don’t sit at desktops or in the corporate office. Meet your employees where they are, whether they’re working remotely, logging in on their commute, or away from a desktop computer in a frontline role.
- Analytics and reporting: Pick employee experience software that provides rich data on employee retention, satisfaction, and engagement, so you can make data-driven decisions.
A wide range of features: To avoid using multiple tools, opt for a platform that covers a full range of HR functions; employee engagement, feedback, rewards and recognition, performance reviews, learning and development, and employee engagement surveys.
15 best employee experience software platforms
1. Blink
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Blink is the best employee experience app for frontline teams. It’s a mobile-first solution with an easy-to-use interface that keeps disparate team members connected and engaged with each other and leadership.
Blink comes with a bunch of great features, all designed to improve internal comms and employee engagement while making life easier for your HR team.
Quick-launch pre-loaded employee surveys or write your own to dig deeper into a topic. Add mandatory reads to the shared news feed. Recognize employees for their great work. Or dive into data that reveals insights on employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
Built with frontline teams in mind, Blink puts all essential information in the same place, from paystubs to scheduling to critical documents, known as the Hub. The Blink app is also easy and enjoyable to use, so you can count on high adoption rates too.
Key features
- News feed
- Employee surveys
- Employee recognition
- Secure chat function
- Content hub
- Insights and analytics
- Integrations
- Mobile-friendly
- Content translation
Pricing
Begins at $6.18 per user/month. Contact our sales team to learn more about our plans.
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2. Culture Amp
Culture Amp is an excellent choice if you want to improve your performance tracking process. You can set and track employee targets, create personalized L&D plans, and access historical conversation and 1:1 data so managers can provide actionable feedback.
This employee experience management software also gives you access to a ton of data. This provides a great basis for analysis and insight. And the platform even does some of the hard work for you too, using employee engagement stats to predict staff turnover.
Key features
- Reporting and analytics
- Turnover prediction tool
- Performance reviews
- Goal tracking
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
3. Bonusly
Bonusly is a great option for employee recognition. Employees meet personalized targets and build up points, which they can then use to claim a selection of rewards, all via the platform.
Whether you want your team to go above and beyond for customers, meet their sales quota, or simply engage with a request for employee feedback, Bonusly helps you to promote and recognize the employee behavior you most want to see.
Key features
- Peer-to-peer recognition
- Employee rewards
- Goal setting
- Reporting and analytics
Pricing
- Core: $3 per user/month
- Pro: $5 per user/month
Contact sales team for custom plans
4. Lattice
With Lattice, you’ll find it easy to launch employee surveys, celebrate employee wins, and get real-time experience data with the help of the platform’s Pulse feature and sentiment analysis. Lattice also supports employee development opportunities. It connects individual work to business outcomes so employees can view their progress easily.
Key features
- Reporting and analytics
- Employee surveys
- Employee recognition
- Goal management
Pricing
- Performance Management + OKRs and Goals: $11 per user/month
- Engagement: +$4 per user/month
- Grow: +$4 per user/month
- Compensation: $+6 per user/month
5. Qualtrics XM
Qualtrics XM offers several products, one of which they’ve designed specifically for people teams. The employee experience platform uses AI and automation, so you can continually gather and assess employee feedback and get to know employee views at every point in the employee life cycle.
Data analytics tools help you to connect employee feedback to customer experience and business outcomes – so you can target employee experience improvements where they stand to make the most difference.
Key features
- 24/7 technical support
- Automation tools
- Analytics and reporting
- Action plans
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
6. Workhuman
Workhuman is built around social recognition. Team-based social feeds support peer-to-peer appreciation. Employees gain recognition points, which they can exchange for personalized and locally sourced rewards. And an AI-powered Inclusion Advisor gives real-time feedback on recognition posts to prevent unconscious bias and promote a culture of belonging.
Key features
- Employee recognition
- Performance management
- Translation into 34+ languages
- Community building
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
7. Mo
Mo is one of the best employee experience software platforms for team communication and appreciation. It allows you to share successes, recognize results, and reward good work.
Standout features include the Mo assistant, which helps people managers to remember work anniversaries and prompts them to appreciate employees who haven’t had a pat on the back in a while, and the social feed, where you can start conversations, prompt employees to start conversations, and ask for employee feedback.
Key features
- Team appreciation
- Social feed
- Employee feedback
- Insights
Pricing
- Starter: $3 per user/month
- Level Up: $5 per user/month
Contact sales team for custom plans
8. Motivosity
Motivosity provides tools for every stage of the employee journey. From recruitment to onboarding to development to career progression and even an employee’s company exit experience. The basic plan gives you access to a company social feed, great for important announcements and getting to know co-workers. Add-ons include Recognition and Rewards, Manager Development, and Employee Insights.
Key features
- Social feed
- Employee recognition
- Manager training
- Surveys and insights
Pricing
- Motivosity: $2 per user/month
- Recognition and Rewards: +$2 per user/month
- Manager Development: +$2 per user/month
- Employee Insights: +$2 per user/month
9. WorkTango
WorkTango (formerly Kazoo) allows you to highlight the strengths and skills of peers and employees, while a points and rewards system incentivizes key behaviors. It’s one of the best employee engagement platforms for teams who want to make recognition an integral part of their company culture.
Key features
- Employee recognition
- Goal setting and feedback
- Surveys
- Analytics and reporting
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
10. 15Five
15Five is one of the best employee experience software options if you’re looking to connect employee work with business objectives. Managers and employees can create career paths that motivate performance. Employees can identify their strengths and how these align with their goals.
Key features
- Goal setting tools
- Feedback
- Employee recognition
- Manager coaching
Pricing
All of the following prices are billed annually:
- Engage: $4 per user/month
- Perform: $8 per user/month
- Focus: $8 per user/month
- Total Platform: $14 per user/month
11. Leapsome
Leapsome is a solid employee engagement software, particularly if you’re looking for a solution that can scale with your company. You can select the modules you need, adapting the software to the size and budget of your organization. With Leapsome, you can run meaningful, well-structured meetings. You can also congratulate co-workers publicly and share private feedback too.
Key features
- Employee feedback
- Learning and development
- Goal setting
- Employee competency framework
Pricing
Pricing starts at $8 per user/month with the option to add on the extra features you need
12. BambooHR
BambooHR provides a huge range of HR tools. Teams can use it to track payroll, hours worked, and paid time off. The platform offers recruitment and L&D tracking tools.
As well as making life easier for HR teams, BambooHR has a couple of features designed to improve the employee experience. Wellbeing and eNPS surveys help teams to understand the employee perspective, while performance tracking tools support employee progression.
Key features
- Performance reviews
- Time tracking
- Payroll management
- Applicant tracking system (ATS)
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
13. Officevibe
If you’re looking for an easy and effective employee survey tool, Officevibe is an excellent choice. Officevibe is just one of the HR products available under the Workleap umbrella and this offering is laser-focused on employee experience.
The platform gives managers tools to become better leaders and build happier teams. Pulse and customized surveys, peer-to-peer recognition, and 1-1 meeting tools that guide meaningful and productive conversations are all at a manager’s disposal.
Key features
- Surveys
- Employee feedback
- Employee recognition
- Performance tracking
Pricing
- Free: $0 per user/month
- Essential: $5 per user/month
- Pro: $8 per user/month
14. Workvivo
Another good employee experience management software, Workvivo helps organizations streamline their communications and showcase their company culture, even when teams work remotely. When posting on the social feed, employees can link their posts to company values and goals. And with the Badge Feature, managers can recognize employee achievements publicly.
Key features
- Social feed
- Employee recognition
- Content hub
- Analytics & insights
Pricing
Contact sales team for prices
15. Jostle
An intuitive platform with a quick and easy setup process, Jostle is another popular employee engagement platform. It works to connect everyone within an organization, providing a social feed and a space for shared documents.
Managers can set tasks and then use built-in chat functions to track progress. They can also separate the social feed by location or team, ensuring that the right information reaches the right people.
Key features
- Social feed
- Surveys
- Peer-to-peer recognition
- Document and policy sharing
Pricing
Prices depend upon the number of employees you have. For an organization with 15-50 employees, prices are as follows:
- Bronze: $5 per user/month
- Silver: $9 per user/month
- Gold: $12 per user/month
Smaller organizations can expect to pay more per user. Larger organizations can expect to pay less. Prices for the Platinum plan are available from the sales team.
Additional considerations for HR teams
You may already be sold on a particular employee experience management software, but getting senior leadership buy-in is a vital next step. Before entering conversations about the type of tool you’d like to implement, be sure to gather information on all of the following:
Read more: The essential guide to executive buy-in for frontline employee experience
- Scalability – Find out if and how your chosen platform will respond to your company’s future needs, considering long-term company growth and an increase in the number of employees.
- Implementation – Determine how easy it is to implement your chosen software and whether it integrates with your other existing systems.
- User adoption – An employee experience platform provides very little value if employees don’t use it. Check whether your chosen platform has a user-friendly interface and a history of high adoption rates. We’re proud that 97% of employees at Care Synergy are now using the Blink app. Find out more by watching our on-demand webinar.
- Vendor reputation and support – Take a look at customer reviews, testimonials, and case studies to find out whether your software provider has a good track record in terms of product quality and client care.
Case Study: Elara Caring
Elara’s 32,000 carers spend their workdays caring for patients in their homes or in hospice settings. The company faced a million-dollar communication problem:
- Without company phone numbers or email addresses, carers felt disconnected from their co-workers and head office
- Carers wanted shift opportunities but an inefficient manual system meant hundreds of shifts went unfilled each week
- The company’s existing HR platform was failing to meet the needs of employees and the wider organization
https://youtu.be/GamaL9a4_Mo
Elara saw a solution in Blink. Our platform gathered all the information and tools that employees needed in one easy-to-use platform that everyone could access from their smartphones. Employees and managers had access to a social feed, shift scheduling, employee feedback and employee recognition tools.
The result? Improved workforce efficiency and streamlined communications. Thanks to Blink, Elara has transformed the employee experience. 95% of employees now feel more connected to Elara and 96% would recommend the platform.
Read the full Elara case study.
Employee Experience Platform FAQs
What is employee experience?
Employee experience is the way an employee feels about working for a company. It impacts employee engagement, performance, productivity, and retention, and it’s something that almost 80% of executives rate as important or very important.
Employee experience develops at every stage of the employee journey. So recruitment and onboarding, management style, progression opportunities, co-worker communication, and overall company culture all dictate whether the employee experience is negative or positive.
Who uses employee experience software?
HR teams are the primary users of employee experience software. On a platform like Blink, HR teams can ask for employee feedback, recognize good work, and send out company communications. They can also monitor data on employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention.
Employees use employee experience software too. Depending on platform features, employees can use software to network with co-workers, communicate with leadership, access essential documents, and even book their shifts.
Finally, an IT team is also likely to use employee experience software. They’ll take responsibility for integrating software with existing company tools and resources. For example, using Blink, an IT team makes all company policy and guide documents available via the Blink Hub.
