When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Heres how it works.
Employees are rightly called the most important business resource, which makes employee management a crucial task.
Sure, handsome salaries are a significant motivator.
But you also need something to keep your employees going throughout the month and not only on payday.
Employee recognition software allows you to channel these incentives through points and rewards.
However, which software is the best for you?
Choosing one can be quite a confusing ordeal.
confirm to stick around until the end to learn the ins and outs of the best employee recognition software.
We’ve also featured thebest employee monitoring software.
Best employee recognition software overall
1.
They can comment on the post and award more points to the recipient if they wish to.
Employees can choose between as many as 892 reward options.
But one thing that stood out for me was the cash-out option.
It’s rightly said that cash is the best motivator.
you’re free to access these pre-designed bots through the Recognition > Awards page and then punch Automated.
you’re free to have pre-decided points for each occasion.
This takes a huge burden off HRs shoulders to monitor all events.
Bonusly analytics is another thing that stands out.
Managers can get a comprehensive overview of the engagement levels and leader boards.
But what I loved about its analytics is the Organization graph.
It shows the interconnection between team members in a graphical format, with lines connecting each team member.
Now, the thicker the link, the deeper is the connection between two employees.
So, the line connecting Sam and Tim will be thicker than that connecting Sam and Jason.
This saves managers the time to dig into lengthy tables to figure out team bonding.
A simple chart does the trick.
There are two modes of payment the platform offers prepaid and postpaid.
However, do be aware that this comes with a 3% commission.
Best free employee recognition software
2.
It has an extensive collection of gift cards from as many as 60,000 global merchants.
This huge library ensures that there is something for everyones liking.
Simply add only those members who are authorized to hand out gifts, i.e., the senders.
Recipients of the gifts need not be on the platform at all.
Guustos flexibility during gift redemptions is something that deserves special mention.
Lets say an employee has received a $25 gift card.
Now, they need not spend all of this amount on a single merchant.
They can split this amount between two or three (or even more) merchants to receive different gifts.
To make the deal sweeter, employees can even combine gift cards to redeem higher-value gift items.
Suppose an employee has four $25 gift cards.
They can combine these cards to get something worth $100.
This way, employees can get what they want and not what the managers want to gift them.
Paying for rewards is pretty economical, too.
Guutso is also connected to a social cause named One Drop.
It donates one day of clean drinking water for every reward sent through its platform.
Thus, every time youre using Guusto, youre actually doing societal good.
This is excellent for value-driven organizations with an aim to contribute to the society.
Guustos pricing is also great for mid-sized and large organizations.
Thus, if you have two HR personnel who can hand out rewards, the basic plan wouldnt do.
There could have been a plan between the Essential and basic plan, with, say 5 seats.
Nonetheless, Guusto more than makes up for this shortcoming with its versatile redemption options.
Best employee recognition software for cost-effectiveness
3.
These points aim to encourage the employee to spend on things that will enhance their lifestyle.
you’re able to customize the program by allowing or disallowing certain categories of expenses under the program.
Awardcos Earn programs were another feature that caught my eye.
Managers can create custom incentive programs to motivate employees to do certain tasks.
Lets say you want to encourage your employees to undergo a safety training program.
The best part is that you’re able to even automate these rewards.
The reward category features the usuals Amazonproducts, gift cards, and company swag.
However, theres something your employees would love Priceline Hotels.
Employees can redeem their points for stays at featured hotels that have a tie-up with Awardco.
Accommodation happens to be one of the most significant expenses while planning a vacation.
These hotel vouchers can ease this burden.
Employees also have the option to redeem their points to a virtual prepaid card.
It is a 16-digit account that can be used to pay online.
Just like Bonusly, Awardco also offers a cash-out option.
However, it charges a 5% transaction fee while doing so.
However, if you do have more than 200 employees, Awardco is worth the deal.
The average annual cost per employee with Awardco is definitely cost-effective compared to others with monthly costs.
Best employee recognition software for custom rewards
4.
Motivosity
Motivosity does away with the traditional point-rewarding system with its dollar-for-dollar recognition program.
Here, managers (or employees) do not award points.
Instead, they award real dollars.
Thus, there are no tacky conversion ratios employees can spend whatever theyve earned.
Sure, Awardco also offers a virtual prepaid card similar to this.
But that can only be used for online shopping.
Youd need to request a physical card to use it in stores.
However, thats not the case with the ThanksMatters card.
It can be used at every place that accepts card payments.
This provides unmatched flexibility in reward spending.
The best thing about this is that it’s possible for you to curate local experiences for your employees.
For example, it’s possible for you to add a voucher for the famous diner round the corner.
This sort of customization makes sure your employees get what they actually need and not just pre-made gift cards.
The platform goes beyond just internal employee appreciation.
You may want to thank a tax consultant whos just saved you thousands of tax dollars.
The reporting dashboard is pretty clean with color-coded indicators.
Each parameter is highlighted in a different color.
This helps managers catch a quick glance at the actionable without spending much time on redundant tasks.
Best employee recognition software for small business
5.
Nectar
Nectar HR is one of the easiest cloud-based employee recognition platforms out there.
As a manager, it’s possible for you to reward Sam by giving him a shoutout.
First, tag Sam in your shoutout post.
Then hit Give Points.
(Thats pretty much how most recognition platforms work).
you’re free to even create custom rewards such as gifting movie tickets or a couples dinner.
Nectar also offers some bonus rewards in the form of discounts.
Employees do not need to spend their points to avail of these discounts.
They simply need to enter their ZIP codes to access these discounts.
However, thats about it with Nectar, which should be sufficient for small organizations.
We’ve also featured thebest employee scheduling software.
Best employee recognition software FAQs
What is the best employee recognition software?
Employees also have the option to cash out their points instead of redeeming a reward.
How to choose the best employee recognition software?
The platform must offer enough rewards, and that too without markups.
Affordability also plays a huge role when choosing an ideal software.
Striking a balance between costs and benefits is paramount from an organizational perspective.
How much does employee recognition software cost?
Employee recognition software can cost anywhere between $2 to $8 per employee per month.
you might typically choose between annual and monthly payments.
However, the monthly payment option would cost you more.
The pricing also depends on the features you need.
Basic features like manager-to-subordinate recognition and peer-to-peer recognition will cost less.
However, plans with features like awards automation and an extensive reward option will cost more.
Is there a free employee recognition software?
This is ideal for small organizations with 10-30 employees.
Thats why we employed stringent parameters to gauge the effectiveness of various software.
For starters, we considered how easy to use the platform is.
Creating rewards and awarding points and incentives shouldnt consume a lot of HR resources.
Next, weve also considered the platforms scalability.
Most providers work on a per-employee cost model.
Thus, as the number of employees increases, your costs will increase linearly.
The cost of rewards is yet another important consideration.
A $100 reward should cost your company $100 only.
The platform should be devoid of any markups on rewards or unruly commissions.
This makes sure that every penny you spend actually goes towards your employees benefit.
Considering reward options is also necessary when picking recognition software.
Last but not least, we consider various features that these platforms offer to make your work easier.
These include common features such as event recognition, incentive programs, peer-to-peer recognition, and spot recognition.
Read more on how we test, rate, and review products on TechRadar.
We’ve also featured the best employee monitoring software.
