If there was ever an argument about the relationship between employee engagement and company success, it has long since died out. Employee engagement and its every metric is so well-established and widely acknowledged that it doesn't need to be discussed further.
So, instead of debating whether or not employee engagement is worth measuring and encouraging, organisations must instead focus on action: how to generate improved ROI with the best employee engagement software.
After decades of discussion in the workplace about the war for talent, it seems that the battle has ended, and talent had won. Companies are now investing in analytics technologies to figure out why employees quit, and purpose, engagement, and culture are all on company leaders' minds.
Deloitte’s research suggest "retention and engagement" has moved to second place in the priorities of corporate leaders, trailing only the task of developing global leadership. So, how to choose an employee engagement software for your business, and how do you recognise when something is simply too good to be true?
8 Steps to choose an Employee Engagement Software
Following are the steps to choose the best employee engagement software;
1. What sort of features does the system offer?
Make a list of the key features provided by top employee engagement software, later compare the features to the key needs of your organisation (See step 2).
Is the system equipped with employee engagement surveys that your company requires to collect and respond to feedback? Is it possible to customise questions in a survey? Is it possible for users to respond anonymously using this solution?
(Note: Employees may also expect their survey replies to be anonymous.) Finally, does it include all of the top features of employee engagement software you require?
Top features of the best employee engagement platform to consider :
- Pulse Surveys
- Employee Engagement HeatMaps
- Employer Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
- Company Announcements
- Employee RecognitIon Wall
- Employee Voice
- Ideation forum
2. Do the features align with your business needs?
To choose the best engagement software, you should then determine what are your organization's needs. Given the range of software available, you'll need to pick one that addresses your company's most pressing challenge. So, before you choose the best employee engagement software, consider the following questions:
- What is already working and what isn't for your company?
- The biggest challenges you face in managing your remote workers
- Your key objectives and goals
[Tip: Discuss the diverse needs of your employees with your top management. Put them in order of importance. This will give you a better understanding of what to look for when choosing the best employee engagement software.]
3. How easy is it to navigate and access the platform?
It doesn't matter how scalable the best employee engagement software is or how many reports it can generate if employees don't finish the surveys— and that's exactly what will happen if the journey is too long or difficult to access. To ensure widespread use, a simple, user-friendly interface is required.
Regardless of who your employee is, they should be able to navigate and use the tool to its full capacity swiftly and easily. Frustration and discontent might occur from tools that don't function effectively, are overly complicated, or don't cater to specific needs.
4. Are the employee engagement tools mobile-friendly?
When it comes to engaging employees, you must go where they are: on their smartphones. When respondents can conveniently access the survey and relevant imagery on their handheld, they are more likely to complete it during their commute or free time. Your employees should be able to use the employee engagement platform on any device – desktop, mobile, or tablet – and have the same experience on all of them.
To choose an employee engagement software, also see: Top 7 benefits of an employee engagement software
5. Do they offer adequate customer support and training?
Customer service can make or break your experience with a service provider. Find out what level of service you will be given and what’s included. Learn how the provider can assist you in launching and rolling out the service throughout the organization. You should choose an employee engagement software that allows you to effortlessly and quickly onboard your employees.
“Remember, the best employee engagement software are partners and should be able to clearly demonstrate how they can save you time, save you effort and save you money."
6. Is there an availability of Al-driven data and recommendations?
Find out how you'll be able to receive insights and reports from the platform. You may want to invest in the best employee engagement software that uses data analytics to generate actionable insights and AI-driven recommendations. The platform should allow you to analyse data by team, manager, and division, as well as demographics, and show the results in a variety of formats.
Take the situation of peopleHum, for example. Our AI-powered employee engagement software lets you view engagement factors across your organization & correlate engagement, retention, & performance insights.
7. Does the software smoothly integrate with your current system?
Top employee engagement software integrate seamlessly with the technologies you already use. So, choose an employee engagement solutions that integrates with your existing company technologies. Your employees will be able to effortlessly mine data from other platforms as a result of this. The goal of employee engagement tools is to streamline your operations and make them more effective and easy, and integrations are a key component of that.
8. Is it a sociable software with an employee recognition wall?
Employees nowadays demand software that looks and feels like something they use on a regular basis. No one wants to spend any more time on systems with a corporate feel. So choose an employee engagement software that makes giving and receiving employee recognition a social experience.
Employees and managers should be able to connect in a social way when sharing recognitions, and they should be shown on a company-wide feed so that others can see and comment on them as well. All of this supports a highly sociable platform and strengthens the sense of community within the company.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the question of how to choose an employee engagement software will provide long term solutions due to the influx of millennials into the workforce, the expansion of the gig economy and remote employment. The best employee engagement software will give you a better understanding of employee sentiment and a way to show them that they're being heard.
To see why peopleHum may just be what you’re looking for, book a free demo session to explore our platform and how it functions. Reach out to us with your queries or concerns at connect@peoplehum.com.