7 Best Performance Management Tools 2023 [My 10 Years Exp]

Picture this:

You are leading a time-bound campaign for a product launch. Your team is burning the midnight oil to get things straight. And the event is a success!

What’s next?

Do you start planning for the next event?

Or

Do you analyse the effort of each team member and rate their performance?

Most people think of analysing performances in case of failed activities. But it is as important when things go right.

Throughout my career, this is how I made sure that my projects were a success. Irrespective of the result, I spend time analysing the performance of my team members to identify areas of improvement.

Not that I like to micro-manage my team or something, but the insights help me in building a solid foundation serving as a head start for the next campaign.

Earlier, I used to do these kinds of stuff manually. But thanks to the automation and rise of performance management software tools, this process has gotten a lot easier.

And that’s exactly what we are going to discuss over here. So, put on your seat belts, while we take a journey to explore the best performance management tools for boosting the success rates of your future projects.

But before we go ahead, let’s start with a basic understanding of performance management software and tools.

What are Performance Management Tools?

Performance management software is a tool that analyses the performance of a team in various activities. Team leads and managers can use these tools for gathering insights that help in setting realistic goals, workload distribution, and providing feedback.

This performance software also comes in handy for the HR team to automate functions, identify the top performers, and manage the non-desk and remote workforce.

How can Performance Management Software Tools benefit you?

To give you a clear example, according to a survey, companies saw a 24% increase in productivity when they adopted the process of continuous feedback.

And that’s the simple feedback we are talking about based on the analyses.

The purpose of these tools is to access, manage, and improve the performance of the team members.

While team leads and managers use this tool to identify the weaknesses of the team, the HR team can use it for employee appraisals.

In short, this software contributes to boosting the overall performance of the workflow by filling up the cracks and bringing in the needed changes.

Other benefits of performance management tools are –

• Data-Driven Insights

It can provide you with analytics related to individual performance in comparison to the overall team performance. This helps in identifying weak points that you can focus on in the upcoming projects.

• Continuous Feedback

This tool comes in very handy to bridge the gap between team members and management with the real-time feedback feature. It helps to create a work environment that includes open communication to resolve problems promptly.

• Recognition and Rewards

With in-depth analytical data, you can use this tool to identify high-performance team members. When you reward these employees for hard work, it will boost the morale of them as well as other employees. This creates an overall positive work culture.

• Strategies for Performance Improvement

This tool can help you in making data-driven decisions that can help the employees towards growth. It can also help your employees to have a clear vision of the goals and work together to achieve them.

Top 7 Performance Management Tools List

ProofHub

Best for setting realistic goals with real-time feedback.

If you are looking for an all-in-one team collaboration and project management software, then this is for you. ProofHub provides you with in-depth analysis and reports of individual persons.

You can use this tool for managing workload, delegating tasks, setting up realistic deadlines, monitoring progress, and developing a roadmap for upcoming projects.

Key Features 

• You can set effective goals by defining roles and creating custom labels.
• It will give you a bird’s eye view and enhanced visibility.
• The real-time in-depth analysis ensures team members stay on track.
• The task management dashboard helps in delegating tasks with ease.
• The built-in time tracker helps in identifying bottlenecks and causes of delays.

Pros 

• Quick learning curve
• Intuitive and user-friendly interface
• Customisable workflows
• One-on-one communication option

Cons 

• Overwhelming notifications
• Limited integrations
• Slow support

Free Version – There’s a free trial available for 14 days.

Pricing – The monthly essential pack starts from $45.

BambooHR

Best for recruiting, onboarding, and continuous feedback.

This tool provides a comprehensive solution to manage several aspects of an employee’s lifecycle. In short, BambooHR helps you track and evaluate the overall performance of an individual.

As the name suggests, the software is predominantly designed for the HR department. It can help you in employee recruitment, onboarding of individuals, and retaining top talents.

The plus point of this tool is that you get a smooth interface for team members with multiple integration options.

Key Features 

• It can evaluate the performance of employees as well as their well-being and satisfaction.
• The tool provides dozens of custom built-in templates, automated workflows, and advanced analytics.
• The self-served employee data management and reports can help in boosting overall performance.

Pros 

• Simple, user-friendly interface
• Quick integration with different tools
• Generate customised reports easily

Cons 

• Limited customisation features
• Weak customer support

Free Version – There’s a free trial available for this tool.

Pricing – The monthly essential pack starts from $5.25 according to G2. The official website did not mention any pricing.

PerformYard

Best for identifying top performers and creating an effective leadership schedule.

As the name suggests, this tool is an effective medium to review performances. If you are looking for something that can help you identify a future leader, then this is the one.

PerformYard focuses on the overall vision of the organisation helping you identify the high performers who can be leaders one day.

The plus point of this performance management tool is the high flexibility in setting it up and creating a customised performance management system.

Key Features 

• You can align team members to the overall objective and goals of the company.
• The review cycle feature of this tool helps in understanding progress and keeping a tab on individual performance.
• You can create a personal growth cycle along with development goals.

Pros 

• Quick customer support response
• Interactive graphics
• Customising user profiles

Cons 

• Interface is difficult to navigate
• No option for requesting feedback
• Custom field reports are not effective

Free Version – No free version is available for this tool.

Pricing – The monthly pack starts from $5 per person.

Engagedly

Best for real-time recognition and OKR workflow.

This versatile tool provides you with real-time collaboration and recognition that majorly focuses on OKR (Objective and Key Results).

When you use Engagedly, you can implement a three-pillar strategy that includes engagement, development, and performance. The comprehensive engagement feature of this platform will help your organisation in its overall growth and create a positive work culture.

This software is one of the performance management tools examples that is designed to empower companies in building stronger connections with employees, aligning goals, and boosting overall performance.

Key Features 

• It provides a 360-degree feedback feature from multiple sources.
• You can effectively manage goals and objectives with a continuous feedback mechanism.
• This tool offers a continuous monitoring option that can help in easily generating annual reports.

Pros 

• Elaborate dashboards
• Instantaneous feedback
• Open and transparent performance display

Cons 

• Initial configuration is complicated
• Slow loading of the page
• Customisations are limited

Free Version – No free version is available for this tool.

Pricing – The annual pack starts from $5,000. You need to get in touch with the company for custom packages.

Connecteam

Best when you are managing a remote and non-desk workforce.

In this post-covid world, many things have changed. One major thing is the increase in remote workforce. So, if you are working with a team that has a non-desk or remote workforce, then this tool is for you.

Connecteam offers an easy-to-use app that your team can use on multiple platforms and devices. In short, it provides you with a seamless connectivity and efficient management system.

The plus point of this all-in-one performance tool is that you can use it in every aspect of employee management. That means right from onboarding to workflows and appreciation.

Key Features 

• It offers you real-time communication with remote employees.
• The customisable dashboard can be modified as per individual needs.
• You can create a transparent, visible workflow that allows a steady and effective business process.

Pros 

• Quick and easy set-up
• Geo-location tracker and time-clock
• User-friendly interface

Cons 

• Bugs and frequent issues on lower plans
• No tutorial videos
• Customer support is not up to the mark

Free Version – It offers a free Small Business Plan for up to 10 users.

Pricing – The basic monthly pack starts from $29 for 30 users.

Trakstar 

Best to connect all the stages of the employee lifecycle.

If you are looking for a fully automated cloud-based solution that simplifies the review process, then this tool is for you. This software allows you to review both teams as well as individual persons giving your entire process a personalised feel.

Trakstar offers you a real-time 360-degree feedback option that helps streamline and enhance the performance. The user-friendly and simple interface of this tool allows you to easily track, evaluate, and develop the team’s overall performance. 

The plus point of this tool’s performance management feature is the review templates it offers. These templates can further be customised to match your company’s evaluation process.

Key Features 

• It is fully automated and cloud-based allowing your team to access it easily.
• The continuous 360-degree feedback and coaching allow setting and tracking processes in real time.
• You can easily multiple platforms such as Google Workspace, OneLogin, and Okta.

Pros 

• Real-time reporting with actionable insights
• Employee development and learning plans
• Well-rounded 360-degree feedback

Cons 

• Terminology used is confusing
• Steep learning curve
• No option to customise the dashboard

Free Version – No free version is available for this tool.

Pricing –You need to get in touch with the company for custom packages.

Zoho People

Best cloud-based solution for incorporating effective team culture.

Another cloud-based tool on the list that can majorly help you in setting effective team culture. This tool especially comes in handy to adapt to the changing dynamics and keep your team always competitive in the fast-changing world.

Zoho People helps you to put employee needs on priority and build a high-performance workforce.

The plus point of this tool is that you can set flexible goals and map KRAs as per an individual’s potential and align with the company’s vision.

Key Features 

• You can manage individual employee profiles easily.
• With the help of insights and data collected from this tool, you can easily make decisions and manage the workforce.
• The 360-degree feedback helps in improving employee performance.

Pros 

• Highly customisable platform to suit unique requirements
• Covers majorly all tasks for the HR department
• Simple and visual user interface

Cons 

• Customer support is not up to mark
• Initial setup is difficult
• Steep learning curve

Free Version – There’s a free trial available for 30 days.

Pricing – The monthly essential pack starts from $48.

Criteria for Selecting Performance Management Software

Wondering how to select the best performance management tools for your project? Well, here’s a way that can help you sort out the pros and cons of the tools that suit your business.

Core Functionalities

You need to take a good look at the basic functionalities of these tools. For example, does it offer standalone performance management features, or does it offer them as a module? 

Other things to check are the ability to track and store data like individual OKRs, KPIs, and goals. It should also offer built-in analytics and reporting systems to help managers and HR individuals in analysing.

Key Features

Review the key features of all these tools’ performance management options. And see which of the features your business needs the most to start with. Each tool comes with a different strong point and weakness. So, analyse them before going forward.

Some of the key features that you would want to have a look at are the performance review templates, career development plans, performance improvement plans, feedback collection mechanisms, training & e-learning, reporting & analytics, automation, and notifications.

User Interface

One of the major things to consider while selecting a tool is the user interface as it makes the reviewing process easier. Choose something that suits your taste. My recommendation is to go with a clean, colourful, and intuitive interface.

Usability

Go for a tool that simplifies the process and is easy to understand. Look for software that shares visual-based data like charts, graphs, percentages, etc. It is better to choose software that helps your employees to understand the tool and data easily.

Integrations

You may need to add different software with the management tool. So, choose one that has the option to either directly integrate the software that you need or at least add in one of the modules.

Value for Money

All the tools come with different sets of packages and accordingly features. So, go through their pricing options and check the features you get for the price.

Wrapping Up

The world of performance management is evolving rapidly. And the need for effective tools to streamline it has never been more apparent. In this blog, we’ve explored the fundamental concepts of performance management tools, delving into what they are and how they can benefit your organization.

Performance management software tools offer an indispensable advantage, enabling organizations to foster a culture of growth, efficiency, and accountability. They help in improving individual growth while aligning it with team goals and organizational objectives. In short, these performance management tools offer insightful analytics that help in improving employee engagement and productivity.

Our top 7 performance management tools for 2023 represent a cross-section of this vibrant ecosystem, each with its unique strengths and features. While some prioritize real-time feedback and continuous improvement, others focus on comprehensive performance evaluations and goal tracking. Depending on your organization’s specific requirements and priorities, you can find a tool that suits your needs among these options.

Lastly, we’ve discussed the criteria for selecting the right performance management software for your organization. It’s important to evaluate factors such as scalability, ease of use, customization, integration capabilities, and cost when making your decision. By considering these criteria, you can ensure that the tool you choose aligns seamlessly with your organization’s goals and supports your unique approach to performance management.

As we navigate the ever-evolving world of business and technology, one thing remains constant: the need for effective performance management. By embracing the right tools in 2023 and beyond, you can elevate your organization’s performance, empower your employees, and drive success in an increasingly competitive world.

So, go ahead and explore the top 7 performance management tools mentioned in this blog, and take the first step towards a more productive and efficient future for your organization.

FAQs

How can performance management tools help in improving employee productivity?

Performance management tools can improve employee productivity by providing clear performance expectations and goals, and facilitating regular feedback and coaching, which motivates employees to excel. Additionally, these tools often offer data-driven insights, enabling organizations to identify and address performance bottlenecks, ultimately leading to enhanced productivity.

Which features should you look for while choosing performance management tools?

When choosing performance management tools, prioritize features like scalability, customization options, integration capabilities, and ease of use to ensure they align with your organization’s needs and goals. You should also consider the tool’s analytics and reporting capabilities to derive meaningful insights from performance data.

What is the purpose of performance management tools?

The purpose of performance management tools is to help organizations effectively monitor, evaluate, and enhance employee performance to achieve strategic goals and improve overall productivity. These tools streamline performance-related processes, facilitate communication, and provide data-driven insights for informed decision-making.