Tip
The 3 questions to consider when choosing engagement, performance, and talent management software are:
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What ongoing support with be accessible to you?
- Price
Choosing the right engagement, performance, and talent management software boils down to finding the platform that solves your current organizational challenges, future desires, and fuels the employee experience. It is about finding your Goldilocks: not too big, not too small, but just right. In an endless sea of Google searches for the “best” software solution, how do you efficiently sift through the digital haystack to find the needle?
How to Choose the Right Performance Management Software
Below are questions to consider throughout your search along with corresponding WorkDove best practices.
1. Functionality: What problem(s) are you trying to solve?
While it may be tempting to get swept away by software platforms that offer a plethora of solutions, it’s important to focus on the ones that are tailored to your specific performance and talent management challenges. After all, a solution that doesn’t address your needs won’t provide the two major things you are looking for: an ROI (return on investment) and an ROE (return on expectations). That’s why it’s crucial to gather input from all stakeholders and identify your organization’s key challenges before diving into the search process.
When you have a clear idea of what you need, it’s easier to find a solution that meets your expectations and delivers measurable results. Common challenges that engagement, performance, and talent management platforms can help address include tracking performance reviews and scores in one central location, monitoring goal progress across the organization, documenting coaching conversations and peer feedback, and keeping a pulse on employee satisfaction and sentiment.
Clients regularly migrate from competing software platforms to WorkDove. Often they tell us that other systems were not only too expensive but too complex and didn’t align with their needs. We take pride at WorkDove to assess our client’s needs and align the solution. A software solution may seem perfect for your organization, but if it’s not user-friendly, too complex, or includes more features/functions than you need, employees will shy away from using it. At WorkDove, we understand that people gravitate towards the technology path of least resistance, which is why our platform offers a simple, single source of truth for employees, managers, and admins. Plus, our Support team is always available to help users throughout their journey, ensuring a seamless experience.
2. What ongoing support will be accessible to you?
The reality is that you are not simply looking for a performance management software solution but rather a partner in engagement, performance, and talent management. These organizational needs are ever-evolving and it makes a marked difference when you are aligned with a tech company that provides ongoing account management relationships, resources, and best practices to fuel your experience. When you are exploring software, ask about ongoing support. As noted, we often welcome our competitors’ clients with open arms. When we ask what drove them from their existing platform, it usually is driven by a poor customer experience. For example, many software vendors sign you to a contract, share some videos, and wish you good luck. That just does not set people up for success.
WorkDove is more than just a software solution; it’s a partner in your organization’s performance and talent management journey. From the moment you sign up, your dedicated Onboarding Consultant will guide you through the entire process and seamlessly transition you into ongoing account maintenance interactions. In addition to the intuitive platform, WorkDove offers a wealth of resources, including Help articles, Support chats, exclusive webinars, and weekly Deep Dive training sessions to ensure that your experience is always top-notch.
3. Price
The price conversation ultimately needs to answer one question: What is the actual return for the price that you pay?
When looking for an engagement, performance, and talent management software solution, it’s important to consider platforms that can grow alongside your organization. Will the subscription provide everything upfront, or can you add features as you go? Take the time to identify your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and potential future needs so you can eliminate options that don’t meet your criteria. This will allow you to make informed decisions on how to allocate your budget for performance and talent management.
Though many of our clients use the entire WorkDove platform with all apps included, we have starter packages that allow you to use the Performance Review, Check-Ins, and Recognition apps. Those start at $5k for up to 100 users, and individual apps can be purchased as low as $3 per month, per user. Though the system has to first meet your company’s needs and offer a superior customer success operation, you don’t have to overpay for an engagement, performance, and talent management platform. We like to say, find a system that is “Just enough, but not too much.” The system should be easy to use, not offer you excess functionality that you don’t need, and be affordable. Regularly, WorkDove hears that it offers the right functionality, and allows them to save $4-5 per month, per user, and in some cases $10,000-$20,000 per year or more for a 250-employee organization.
WorkDove Software Buyer's Guide
We have taken the time to develop a Software Buyer’s Guide to make your search even more simplistic and save you precious time! This guide is meant to do exactly that: guide you toward the performance and talent management digital solution that fits “just right” for your organization’s growing needs. Check it out below!
