Executing a robust employee engagement strategy is a big job. A good employee engagement program should help you:
And to get the most out of your engagement initiatives, you need the right tools. That’s where employee engagement software comes in.
The best employee engagement platforms can help you implement and support key engagement strategies while driving engagement across the board.
But how do you know which platform is right for you? With so many moving parts—and your employees’ engagement on the line—it’s important to get your platform right.
Follow the steps below to help you choose the best employee engagement platform for your business.
Before you can choose a solution, you need to know what problems you’re trying to solve. Consider the following questions to help assess what your organization needs:
Each of these questions will help you drill down to the most essential needs and priorities for your engagement strategy. When you understand what you’re trying to accomplish, who needs to be included in the decision-making process, and what features and functions you need to make an impact, you’ll be able to identify solutions that actually work for you.
Once you have your basic goals and strategy outlined, you can start evaluating your options. And there are lots to choose from! To make the decision process easier, use the following questions and tips to guide your assessment.
When looking at different engagement platforms, consider:
Different features support different goals and impact different aspects of employee engagement. When you’re evaluating employee engagement tools, it’s helpful to have a list of key features in mind so you can compare options.
Here are some features you might want to look for based on your goals:
A shared company culture helps employees feel connected to each other and to the organization. Employee engagement software can strengthen that relationship through features that promote goal alignment, feedback, and transparency across the organization.
A strong feedback culture is linked to higher engagement. When teams are focused on continuous improvement, and organizations value feedback in all directions, everyone can move forward together. The right engagement platform can help you build and support a strong feedback culture by incorporating feedback systems into the software.
How can you move the needle on engagement if you don’t understand how, where, and why people are engaged (or not)? Look for features that help you unlock and act on those insights through robust feedback systems, analytics, and automated reminders.
Managers are on the front lines of employee engagement. They work with their employees every day to manage performance and goals, and help drive a thriving team culture. Since managers are uniquely positioned to impact engagement, it’s important they have the tools to succeed. The right features can equip managers to improve their own leadership skills and track and measure what matters most.
The best software in the world won’t do much for your employee engagement if people don’t buy in to the platform. Look for software that helps bring everyone on board and makes adoption easy, intuitive, and accessible.
Every company is different, so your engagement software should be flexible enough to meet your unique needs. Look for features that let you customize your approach.
Not all engagement software is created equal. That’s why it’s important to keep an eye out for signs of a bad fit. Watch out for these red flags when evaluating vendors:
You’ve identified your goals, outlined your priorities, and assessed your options. Now all that’s left to do is make a final decision.
Conduct a final review of your priorities and compare your list of vendors until you have narrowed it down to a shortlist of two or three. These are the vendors you should spend more time assessing. Talk to a representative, schedule a demo, and get a feel for their culture. If they check all the boxes and it’s a good fit, pull the trigger!
Finding the right employee engagement software takes time, but it’s worth the effort. Get started today—to improve employee engagement for years to come—with our Employee Engagement Software Buyer's Guide.