Want to know all about performance management software? You are on the right page. According to a 2019 Workhuman Analytics & Research Institute survey, 55% of employees said yearly reviews didn’t boost their performance. In the same study, experts identified that 53% of employees said that performance reviews didn’t show the work they do.
That’s why you need to redefine your yearly review policies if they are not working. You probably also need to change your performance evaluation software or get one. This will ensure that your methods of consistently tracking individuals, teams, or businesses’ performance are effective.
So in today’s post, we will take you through the A to Z of performance management software. Today, you will get useful insights on performance handling software and much more. By the end of today’s post, you will know all about this software that accrues performance evaluations and will have the best software to implement. So, let’s dive right in.
Parts of a Performance Management System
A good performance evaluation system, which top tools for managing performance accrue has 3 elements. In a typical scenario, you will set goals first, then review and boost employee performance. With that being said, let’s see how each step adds up.
1. Goal Setting
The first thing you will simplify with your performance employee management system software is your goal setting, which is setting teams and member objectives. The idea here is to set specific, transparent, and measurable goals. Overall, these objectives must align with your organizational values and targets. Usually, there are 3 types of goals your teams will fulfill.
- Purpose-oriented goals are continuously used over time and are set based on the meaning of individual role success and KPIs. For example, keeping customer satisfaction at least 95%.
- Project-oriented goals are set based on the forecasted outcome of a project. For example, deliver the first phase within a month.
- Professional growth goals are set based on what an individual requires to outgrow themselves. For example, participate in at least 2 yearly technical training courses.
Another thing to consider is to set SMART goals with your leading systems for managing performance.
1.1 SMART Goals
To set SMART goals with your performance management software, you need to know what it means first. SMART is the abbreviation for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. With that being said, let’s see how you can act SMART.
- Your goals must be well-set, clear, and unambiguous.
- Your objectives must provide useful data, which can be used to track the performances via performance appraisal processes.
- The objectives you define must be attainable.
- The goals must be accessible, practical, and relevant.
- The objectives must have a timeline.
2. Performance Review
The next step involves reviewing your employees’ work performance with your employee performance tracking software. This part is basically how you evaluate employee work progress. Moreover, for your modern organization, we recommend the feedforward method during the 1:1 meetings.
- Focus on the past
- Review previous work
- Describe what has been done so far
- Emphasize what did and didn’t go well
- Do most of the work
- Ask what your employee will do differently next time
- Debate on the task
- Effectively use your time
- Your employees get inspired as this method focuses on strategy
3. Performance Improvement Plan
Now, since you have got accurate results, it’s time to improve employee productivity and efficiency. Here, everyone including your best workers needs to have that plan. Moreover, a great PIP ensures:
- Each person understands what’s affecting their work.
- Each person knows how to execute the plan.
4. Execute the Plan
Now that everyone has the performance improvement plan based on the reports from your performance management software, it’s time to bring it to fruition.
- Start implementing the improvement strategies right away.
- Don’t rush it. You need to understand how the plan is improving your performance.
- Discuss with your team members and superiors to get the correct advice on the action to take next.
5. Evaluate The Results
Now that you have executed the plan for a duration, for instance, a year, it’s time to view the results. Do they match your expectations? If not, you may need to, unfortunately, make another performance improvement plan or get a better employee performance software.
Read Also: Attendance Tracking Software: A Complete Guide
What is Performance Management Software?
So far so good. However, till now you must have come a lot across the term, performance management software. So, what is it? The said software is a solution, which helps businesses evaluate and track employee productivity and performance. Using such software can ensure that:
- Your employees and teams are working towards your objectives.
- It can help your managers make better decisions about development and compensation.
Typically, performance review software has these features:
- Goal setting
- Tracking
- Feedback
- Recognition
- Reviews
- Feedback
- Coaching
- Automated workflows
- Access controls
Key Features of Performance Management Software
So far, we looked at performance management software in short. However, that didn’t clarify what this software can do. However, taking a look at the features will give us a better understanding.
1. Goal Setting
At the core of any performance evaluation software is the goal setting feature. The software allows you to set clear and actionable objectives in a simple and automated manner. Plus, you can set, organizational, team, or individual goals, which gives you flexibility. Similarly, tracking is as simple as that.
2. Performance Reviews
Based on the goals set, the performance management software also accurately reviews the work performances of your employees. Plus, automated and customizable templates for this task save you time and money.
3. Continuous Feedback
All software platforms for managing performance provide you with this intuitive feature. Gone are the days of annual reviews. This feature allows for real-time feedback, which lets employees and managers communicate effectively, leading to more transparency.
4. Employee Development
Performance management software solutions always provide you with learning management system features. What these do is let you identify skill gaps and provide targeted training, which is crucial for employee growth these days.
5. Data Analytics
With the right performance review software, you can get insights into performance metrics. What you will get is a 360-degree view of the work of your employees. Through data-driven decision-making, you will have more accuracy and unbias in improving efficiency and productivity.
6. Competency Management
With your performance management software, you also get the features to define and assess the individual competency levels for the different designations. What the software does is map employee skills to the required competency for better evaluations.
7. Succession Planning
The tools for managing performance also provide you with a very useful succession planning feature. What it does is let you make better strategies for future success and growth. Plus, accurate analytics of past and present data also aids you in having a better expansion vision.
8. Compensation Management
All your employees must be fairly compensated for their hard work. Performance management software ensures that it happens without any bias. The software incorporates tools and functionalities for merit-based pay increases, bonuses, and other incentives. Overall, all this motivates your employees to keep doing better and better.
9. Integrations
Software systems for managing performance can also seamlessly integrate with the other tools and apps you use for smooth data flow and streamlined processes and workflows. Common integrations include integrating with payroll, and HRIS, time tracking software. Overall, what it does is reduce administrative burden and boost data accuracy.
10. User Experience
Another great feature of performance management software solutions is the user-friendly interface, which provides an intuitive user experience. What it means is that the software must be easy to navigate and use. Plus, the features must be easy to find. Especially, when you need them the most. Furthermore, the lesser the learning curve, the better.
11. Customization
What we love about employee performance tracking software solutions is the level of customization and configurations they provide. Every business is unique. Thus, the software also ensures that it works as per all the business requirements. Plus, another great thing is that the application can also scale in features as your business does in size.
How to Choose the Best Performance Management Software?
The above did it for an overview of performance management software. Thus, you might want to implement one right away in your organization. However, not so fast. If you are implementing software, you are implementing the right one.
1. Evaluation Criteria
The first step in choosing one of the tools for managing performance for businesses is that you must have evaluation criteria. The best practice here is to determine your KPIs and metrics as per your goals and objectives.
2. Scalability
One of the other criteria to look for in performance management software is scalability. The best software will adapt to the ever-changing needs of your business. Thus, this will save you time and expenses.
3. Customization
No one buys and implements rigid employee performance solutions these days. Do they? That’s why it is essential to look for software, which is customizable as per your business’s requirements.
4. Integration
Performance management software solutions that allow integrations are better as they save you time and costs. Software that seamlessly integrates with your tools streamlines data management and processes.
5. Interface
When choosing one of the popular platforms for managing performance, you also need to look for systems with a user-friendly interface. This ensures adoption and usage throughout your business.
6. Data Security
Data security is a vital aspect when looking for performance management software. It should be your priority to choose software that has data safety and compliance adherence mechanisms in place. It will ensure the protection of sensitive employee information.
7. Feedback Mechanisms
When choosing one of the top tools for managing performance, feedback mechanisms are also essential. We recommend selecting a software solution with continuous development and improvement through communication tools.
8. Support and Training
The more you and your employees use the performance management software, the more the benefits. Thus, if the software you chose provides ample training and support resources, the results of implementation and usage will be more fruitful.
Read Also: How to Improve Workplace Productivity?
Top 10 Performance Management Software
So now that you know how to choose the best most requirement-fitting performance evaluation software. The next step is to choose and implement the software solution in your organization. That is if you have the time for it amidst your other essential tasks. Fortunately, we made the list of the best 10 software for you.
- DeskTrack
- Mitratech Trakstar
- Deel
- Primalogik
- ClearCompany
- Lattice
- PerformYard
- SurveySparrow
- ThriveSparrow
- Leapsome
1. DeskTrack
DeskTrack is the best performance management software and an all-rounder integrated system for employee monitoring and time tracking software. Thanks to its accurate real-time performance reports, it becomes simple for your managers to make better data-driven decisions.
Key Integrations:
- HRMS
- Zoho People
- Vitel Global
- Biometric
- Jira
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Best overall | $5.99/user/month | 5/5 |
2. Mitratech Trakstar
Identify performance trends and improve your employees’ work performance with one of the leading systems for managing performance. Mitratech Trackstar provides you with data analytics to keep your employees on track.
Key Integrations:
- Google Workspace
- Okta
- OneLogin
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Goal progression assessments | Quote on contact | 4.3/5 |
3. Deel
Deel is an all-rounder HR platform. Designed to simplify the management of international teams, it helps you facilitate one-on-one meetings along with helping you hire, onboard, and pay globally.
Key Integrations:
- BambooHR
- Expensify
- Greenhouse
- Ashby
- Workday
- HiBob
- Xero
- Workday
- Netsuite
- Okta
- OneLogin
- Quickbooks
- SCIM
- Slack
- Workable
- API
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Continuous one-on-one feedback | Flat rate pricing | 4.8/5 |
4. Primalogik
This next performance management software on our list is known for 2 things. With customer-centricity and product-simplicity, it helps you boost employee engagement and empower your employees to reach their full potential.
Key Integrations:
- ADP
- BambooHR
- Google Workspace
- Microsoft Azure
- Okta
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Advanced benchmarking and performance comparison tools | $159/month | 4.6/5 |
5. ClearCompany
What we like about this employee performance tracking software is the 360-degree feedback feature, allowing your users to anonymously share feedback. Plus, it provides you with insights into your employee’s strengths, weaknesses, and improvement areas.
Key Integrations:
- Assessment test solutions
- Calendars
- Background checkers
- ADP
- Absorb
- AccuTrace
- BambooHR
- Checkr
- eSkill
- GrowthPlay
- Office 365
- Okta
- OneLogin
- Predictive Index
- Ping Identity
- Skill Check
- Wonderlic
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Engagement and performance tracking | Quote on contact | 4.6/5 |
6. Lattice
Lattice is performance management software, that lets you set goals, run surveys, track performance, and reward top employees with ease. Moreover, what we like about this software is that it makes it simple to distribute surveys and performance reviews.
Key Integrations:
- BambooHR
- Jira
- Microsoft Teams
- Okta
- Slack
- Zenefits
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Consistent 360-degree feedback | $11/user/month | 4.7/5 |
7. PerformYard
PerformYard is the performance evaluation software, which provides your HR teams with the tools needed to make employee evaluation strategies. Plus, your teams also get a streamlined experience to focus on quality feedback and fruitful performance discussions.
Key Integrations:
- ADP
- BambooHR
- Gusto
- Rippling
- UKG
- Paycom
- Workday
- Paylocity
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Streamlining performance management processes | $5-10/user/month | 4.7/5 |
8. SurveySparrow
SurveySparrow is performance management software with a primary focus on online survey and customer experience. What we like about this software solution is the 360-degree reports that leave no bias.
Key Integrations:
- MailChimp
- Zapier
- Google Tag Manager
- HubSpot
- Intercom
- Salesforce
- Slack
- Stripe
- Google Analytics
- Karbon
- Freshdesk
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| 360-degree performance reviews | $19/month | 4.4/5 |
9. ThriveSparrow
What makes ThriveSparrow one of the best performance review software is it’s AI-powered. Designed to enhance workplace performance, it provides you with well-rounded evaluations and a full view of employees’ performances.
Key Integrations:
- BambooHR
- HiBob
- HR Partner
- Sage HR
- Gusto
- Personio
- 7Shifts
- Dayforce
- Justworks
- OneLogin
- JumpCloud
- Oyster
- UKG Ready
- Officient
- Humaans
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Robust analytics tools | $2/user/month | 4.5/5 |
10. Leapsome
First of all, Leapsome is an all-in-one performance management software designed to help you enhance your management processes. Plus, it also helps you measure and improve employee satisfaction over time.
Key Integrations:
- Active Directory
- ADP
- BambooHR
- GSuite
- HiBob
- Jira
- Microsoft Teams
- PayFit
- Personio
- Rippling
- Slack
| Best For | Initial Pricing | User Rating |
| Bridging the gap between performance, engagement, and learning | $8/user/month | 4.8/5 |
Why is DeskTrack the Best Performance Management Software?
DeskTrack is the top tool for managing performance and also the best software for all things time tracking and employee monitoring app. Thanks to its plethora of features, it becomes simple for you to take charge of your teams and boost your business productivity to success. With DeskTrack you get the best features for:
- Real-time time tracking
- Real-time activity monitoring
- Automated timesheets and task timers
- User-friendly interface
- Real-time performance reporting and much more
Conclusion
We hope you are now clear about performance management software. To summarize, reviewing the performance of your employees and teams accurately is the only way to improve their productivity to success. However, without the right tools, applications, and methods, it will be inefficient and time-consuming. That’s the reason you need to know the proper way to set goals, review performances, and make the best performance improvement plans. However, only with the right performance handling software, you will get the desired output. Thus, it’s essential to evaluate all the features and criteria for selecting the best requirement-fitting tool for your organization. That is if you have the time for it. That’s why we recommend always going through expert shortlists like this one to save you valuable time. But what if you need more than software for evaluating work performances? DeskTrack is the best all things employee monitoring software in the industry.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What are the 5 Steps of Managing Employee Performance?
Ans. To effectively manage the performance of your employees, you need to follow this process.
- Planning
- Monitoring
- Developing
- Rating
- Rewarding
Q. What is Performance Management Software?
Ans. Performance management software solutions are feature-rich digital tool packages. What it does is allow businesses to effectively track, analyze, and evaluate the work performance of their teams and employees. The software can distribute feedback forms, collect data, manage HR tasks, analyze data, and securely store feedback.
Q. Which are the Best Performance Evaluation Software Solutions?
Ans. To help you select one of the top tools for managing performance, we shortlisted the best 10 options.
- DeskTrack
- Mitratech Trakstar
- Deel
- Primalogik
- ClearCompany
- Lattice
- PerformYard
- SurveySparrow
- ThriveSparrow
- Leapsome
