HR & Engagement Writer
1
Talent Retention Tools for an Engaged Workforce in 2024
8 min read
Published: May 25, 2023
Revised on: Mar 1, 2024
Here’s our curated shortlist and our reasons for liking each company; please click into each company to get more details:
- 15Five
- Improves communication between employees and managers through weekly check-ins. Allows for timely feedback and discussions.
- Easy to use interface and setup. Intuitive for both employees and managers.
- Provides visibility into team and individual goals and objectives. Allows tracking progress over time.
- Facilitates employee recognition through features like High Fives. Boosts morale.
- Centralizes performance management and reviews. Provides useful records and insights.
- Workleap Officevibe
- Provides anonymous feedback from employees, allowing them to be more open and honest. This gives managers insight into issues that may not otherwise surface.
- Easy to use interface and quick weekly surveys make it simple for employees to participate regularly. High participation rates give more accurate data.
- Real-time analytics and reporting allow managers to identify trends and issues early so they can be addressed promptly.
- Pre-set questions based on validated models ensure relevant topics are covered from engagement to culture.
- Integrations with tools like Slack make it convenient by sending survey reminders and notifications directly within commonly used platforms.
- Monday.com
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviewers mentioned how user-friendly Monday.com is.
- Visual project management. Reviewers liked the ability to visualize workflows and track progress through boards and timelines.
- Enhanced team collaboration. Monday.com facilitates task assignment, communication, and real-time updates to improve collaboration.
- Customizable boards and workflows. Users appreciated the ability to fully customize boards and automations to match their needs.
- Centralized hub. Storing all project information and files in one centralized place made managing projects easier.
- Assembly
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
- Awardco
- Easy to use and user friendly interface. Many reviews mention how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Wide variety of redemption options, including gift cards, donations, and products through Amazon. Provides employees choice in how they want to be rewarded.
- Ability to recognize coworkers both publicly and privately. Allows for flexibility in giving praise.
- Integration with Amazon for product redemptions. Gives access to a huge catalog of items.
- Features like the recognition feed increase engagement and positivity among employees. Helps boost morale.
Holding on to top talent improves a company’s productivity, maintains uninterrupted business cycles, and, most importantly, reduces rehiring costs. It is no wonder that talent retention is an essential priority for most organizations. However, in an increasingly competitive market where top talent is hard to recruit and retain, talent retention has become more challenging than ever.
By applying proper techniques, you can attract and retain top talent(s) to create a well-oiled workforce. Just as significantly, by leveraging talent retention tools, you can complement these efforts to build a band of loyal, plugged-in, and outcome-oriented employees.
The 3 R's of employee retention are commonly referred to as:What Are the 3 R's of Employee Retention?
How Do You Keep An Engaged Workforce?
Keeping a workforce engaged involves a mix of strategies aimed at fostering a positive work environment and nurturing a sense of purpose and satisfaction among employees. Here are some effective ways to achieve this:
- Clear Communication
- Recognition and Rewards
- Professional Development
- Work-Life Balance
- Empowerment and Autonomy
- Positive Work Environment
- Wellness Programs
- Purpose-driven Work
- Regular Feedback and Development Discussions
- Leadership and Management
- Celebrating Milestones and Achievements
- Adaptability and Flexibility
- Employee Well-being Surveys
- Community and Social Impact
By combining these strategies and tailoring them to your company's culture and workforce, you can create an environment where employees feel valued, motivated, and engaged.
Best Talent Retention Tools for Engaging Your Workforce
Come with us as we review the best talent retention tools to keep your superstars happy, engaged, and secure!
Pricing
$4.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
15five is an employee engagement platform with robust tools for promoting high employee performance and engagement, improving managerial skills, and increasing employee retention. Thanks to this employee retention software, companies can simultaneously gather employee feedback while empowering managers with the necessary skills needed to drive business changes.
Reasons to Love 15Five:
- It has several engagement tools that help to build a connected company-wide culture that retains and attracts high-performers
- Surveys, reports, and continuous feedback tools give visibility into critical issues and the ability to act on them quickly
- Boosts employee morale with recognition with features like High Fives
What Clients Are Saying About 15Five:
- Verified G2 User: "A comprehensive employee tool."
Pros
- Improves communication between employees and managers through weekly check-ins. Allows for timely feedback and discussions.
- Easy to use interface and setup. Intuitive for both employees and managers.
- Provides visibility into team and individual goals and objectives. Allows tracking progress over time.
- Facilitates employee recognition through features like High Fives. Boosts morale.
- Centralizes performance management and reviews. Provides useful records and insights.
Cons
- Can feel repetitive answering the same questions every week. Questions get stale over time.
- Not all employees like documenting work and giving constant feedback. Can feel like micromanaging.
- Pricing can be high for large teams. Expensive for big organizations.
- Lack of advanced custom reporting and analytics features. More metrics would be useful.
- Mobile app capabilities are limited compared to desktop. Missing some features.
Pricing
$3.50 per user/month
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
If you’re searching for an excellent employee retention tool, then Workleap Officevibe is perfect for you. With tools for employee surveys & feedback, recognition, OKRs, performance reviews, and more, you can give your managers the edge they need to engage and retain your top talent.
Workleap Officevibe also has data-driven reports tailored to the unique needs of each business. With this information, managers can identify areas of employee dissatisfaction and opportunities for growth and take meaningful steps to improve the work environment.
Reasons to Love Workleap Officevibe:
- Workleap Officevibe has tools for collecting anonymous feedback from employees, allowing them to be more honest and vulnerable. This feature, in turn, helps managers with valuable insights
- Highly customizable surveys that can be tailored to all types of work scenarios
- Access to real-time analytics and reporting allows managers to catch and address issues quickly
What Clients Are Saying About Workleap Officevibe:
- Verified G2 User: "The best tool for ensuring a happy workplace where senior managers can take positive effect."
Pros
- Provides anonymous feedback from employees, allowing them to be more open and honest. This gives managers insight into issues that may not otherwise surface.
- Easy to use interface and quick weekly surveys make it simple for employees to participate regularly. High participation rates give more accurate data.
- Real-time analytics and reporting allow managers to identify trends and issues early so they can be addressed promptly.
- Pre-set questions based on validated models ensure relevant topics are covered from engagement to culture.
- Integrations with tools like Slack make it convenient by sending survey reminders and notifications directly within commonly used platforms.
Cons
- Questions can become repetitive if the same ones are used too frequently, leading to survey fatigue.
- Limited customization options for surveys or modifying question banks in some versions.
- Can be difficult to analyze data accurately for smaller team sizes while maintaining anonymity.
- Support can be slow or provide generic responses rather than tailored help.
- Buggy integrations with other software like Slack can cause issues logging in or accessing surveys.
Pricing
$8.00 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- No Seat Minimum
If you’re looking for a customizable platform to create and shape the way you work, then Monday.com is for you. It empowers teams to build their dream workflow under one roof with ready-to-use templates, easy-on-the-eyes designs, and numerous integrations. As a talent acquisition and retention tool, it has robust features for tracking your talent pipeline and engaging your employees. In addition, Monday.com also helps with HR processes such as recruitment, onboarding, and performance reviews.
Reasons to Love Monday.com:
- Powerful automation that frees up your time so you can focus on attracting and engaging top talent creatively instead of doing grunt work
- Is equipped with a data and analytics dashboard for a top-to-bottom view that improves the decision-making process
- Provides a central hub for all your HR needs, including but not limited to talent recruitment, onboarding, employee well-being, and development and learning
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: Everything you need in one package
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviewers mentioned how user-friendly Monday.com is.
- Visual project management. Reviewers liked the ability to visualize workflows and track progress through boards and timelines.
- Enhanced team collaboration. Monday.com facilitates task assignment, communication, and real-time updates to improve collaboration.
- Customizable boards and workflows. Users appreciated the ability to fully customize boards and automations to match their needs.
- Centralized hub. Storing all project information and files in one centralized place made managing projects easier.
Cons
- Steep learning curve. Some reviewers found the initial setup and learning process time-consuming and complex.
- Limitations of free plan. Key features like automations are only available on paid plans.
- Integration issues. Some users faced challenges integrating Monday.com with other tools they use.
- Slow performance. A few reviewers complained about occasional lagging or platform slowness with heavy usage.
- Price. Monday.com's pricing model makes it cost prohibitive for larger teams to use all features.
4
Assembly
Pricing
$2.80 per user/month
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
It is no secret that the success of any organization hinges on its ability to retain top talents for a long time. After all, nothing slows productivity and stifles innovation like having a revolving door of employees. Enter Assembly, a powerful ally in the quest to slay the dragon that is high employee turnover. Equipped with an impressive culture suite, employee engagement tools, and collaborative platforms, Assembly fosters satisfaction and unity among your talented employees, ensuring they stick around for the long haul. No wonder 4000+ organizations have adopted Assembly’s software, leveraging its capacity to hit their lofty goals.
Reasons to Love Assembly:
- Explore and enjoy a template library with 100s of ideas ranging from recognition, rewards, and anonymous suggestions, to automated surveys, announcements, and departmental wins
- Never miss a significant milestone with automated anniversary and birthday recognition
- View people's departments, hobbies and interests, preferred names, and length of tenure with the organization
- An extensive catalog of rewards with gift cards, custom swag, culture rewards, and charity donations
- Integrates easily into Slack and Microsoft teams as well as 40+ Hris integrations (ADP, BambooHR, Ceridian, Workday, Zenefits, Rippling, UKG, and many more)
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: Assembly is “great for driving team engagement + employee retention
Pros
- Easy to use and intuitive interface. Many reviews mentioned Assembly is simple, easy to navigate, and user-friendly.
- Good customer support. Reviews mentioned Assembly's support team is responsive in resolving issues.
- Rewards redemption process is smooth. Users liked the gift card and other reward options that can be redeemed with points.
- Integrates well with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The integration makes giving recognition quick and seamless.
- Good for employee recognition and engagement. Reviews highlighted Assembly's peer-to-peer recognition features that help boost employee morale.
Cons
- Limitations in analytics and reporting features. Some reviews wanted more detailed analytics and user statistics.
- Creating flows and automations can be tricky. Reviews noted workflows and automations are sometimes hard to setup.
- Limited customization options for recognitions. Users wanted more ways to customize recognitions with images/GIFs.
- Lack of mobile apps earlier on. Reviews mentioned lack of mobile apps made it hard to use when not by a computer.
- Confusion due to branding changes. Reviews noted frequent name changes of the reward units was confusing initially.
5
Awardco
Pricing
Contact sales for pricing
- Free version
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
Employee appreciation and recognition are two ingredients that make up a steamy pot of employee satisfaction. A satisfied employee is a happy employee who never wants to leave your company. Perhaps this is why Awardco created a tool that makes it easy to appreciate and engage your talents. You can create and reinforce a positive work culture, reaffirming your people’s choice to work with you, and improving your talent retention rate.
Reasons to Love Awardco:
- Requires little to no technical know-how to use
- Offers multiple ways to keep your employees happy based on your company’s values
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: A great way to drive [employee] engagement & performance
Pros
- Easy to use and user friendly interface. Many reviews mention how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Wide variety of redemption options, including gift cards, donations, and products through Amazon. Provides employees choice in how they want to be rewarded.
- Ability to recognize coworkers both publicly and privately. Allows for flexibility in giving praise.
- Integration with Amazon for product redemptions. Gives access to a huge catalog of items.
- Features like the recognition feed increase engagement and positivity among employees. Helps boost morale.
Cons
- Limited selection of products compared to full Amazon catalog. Not all options on Amazon are available.
- Inability to pay difference when order total exceeds points balance. Must have exact points amount.
- Reporting capabilities could be more robust for admins. Some want more data analysis options.
- Navigation issues like having to reload item list when going back to browsing. Causes inconvenience.
- Lack of ability to track shipments of ordered items. Status not always clear after ordering.
6
Bonusly
Pricing
$3.00 per user/month
- Free trial available
- Seat Minimum: 1 User
First impressions matter. And nothing screams, “We’re serious about retaining top talent,” like having a tool as powerful as Bonusly in your talent retention arsenal. Start with Bonusly features like shoutouts and nominations to recognize and celebrate employee wins. Move to its collaboration tool for fostering interpersonal relationships between colleagues and managers. Finally, end your journey with several performance management tools that monitor and reward employees.
Reasons to Love Bonusly:
- Integrates seamlessly with popular workplace tools making employee recognition and appreciation top of mind — all of which improves talent retention
- Has feedback tools for measuring employee engagement and satisfaction levels
- The organization graph provides insights that can facilitate collaboration, promote inclusion, identify top and struggling performers, as well as flight-risk individuals
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: Helps address employee retention and creates loyalty from the employees
Pros
- Easy-to-use interface and seamless integrations (e.g. with Slack) make it simple for employees to recognize each other.
- Hundreds of international reward options make it useful for international teams.
- Wide variety of gift cards and reward options to redeem points.
- Analytics provide insights into employee engagement levels.
- Ability to customize rewards and tie them to company values.
Cons
- Can be costly, especially for larger organizations.
- Some users have reported that Bonusly can be slow to load
- Users express dissatisfaction with the inability to keep transactions private between themselves and the recipient.
- Some users feel constrained by the number of points they can award to colleagues
- Reliant on user adoption - engagement declines if employees don't actively participate.
Pricing
$2.00 per user/month
- Seat Minimum: 10 Users
Here’s a math problem for you. What do you get when you add an intentional employee experience to a great talent retention tool?
Answer: Incredible ROI on talent retention, satisfaction, productivity, and more. At least, that’s the answer Motivosity puts forward as the reason for using their software.
Designed to address all aspects of employee job satisfaction, Motivosity empowers you with tools to build a culture that your people never want to leave — aka talent retention.
Reasons to Love Motivosity:
- Plays well with other existing work tools, so you don’t have to miss a beat while setting it up
- Has zero onboarding or support fee for setting up
- Bundles several tools together to make talent retention easier than ever
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: The teams have never been closer, workplace satisfaction is at an all-time high, retention is up, and the pricing is extremely affordable for the value provided
Pros
- Makes it easy and fun to recognize and reward peers and employees. Many reviews mentioned how Motivosity makes it simple to give thanks and praise to coworkers.
- Improves employee morale, culture, and engagement. Multiple reviews highlighted how Motivosity has enhanced company culture, boosted team morale, and improved employee engagement.
- Fosters connections between remote/hybrid teams. Reviews noted how Motivosity helps remote and dispersed teams stay connected.
- Provides visibility into what's happening across the company. Reviews liked being able to see praise and recognition across the organization.
- User-friendly interface. Many reviews complimented Motivosity's clean and easy-to-use interface.
Cons
- Leaderboards can cause unwanted competition. Some reviews felt the leaderboards promoted competition instead of true recognition.
- Money rewards aren't always motivating. A few reviewers felt the money wasn't the real motivator - the recognition was more meaningful.
- Reporting and analytics could be better. Some reviews wanted more robust reporting capabilities.
- Mobile app lacks functionality. The mobile app was called out for missing key desktop features.
- Technical glitches. A couple reviews cited occasional technical issues with the software.
8
Nectar
Pricing
$2.75 per user/month
- Seat Minimum: 50 Users
What does great culture look like to you? In the eyes of Nectar, a remarkable culture is one that your top talents never want to leave. This compelling notion led Nectar to develop a tool that empowers businesses to recognize, reward, and appreciate top performers under one roof. With Nectar’s dedicated efforts, business owners can say goodbye to high employee turnover and welcome a more connected and engaged team.
Reasons to Love Nectar:
- Has an extensive reward catalog that is redeemable worldwide
- Robust employee recognition programs for increasing employee satisfaction and building trust in your team
- Allows you to customize employee engagement programs to match your company’s core values and goals
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: Inspires gratitude and is user-friendly & improving employee retention
Pros
- Makes it easy to recognize and reward employees (praise, points, gifts)
- Boosts employee morale and positivity in the workplace
- Allows recognition across departments and remote teams
- Simple and intuitive interface, easy to use
- Provides analytics and insights into employee recognition
Cons
- Limited options for rewards in some regions/countries
- Can feel like a popularity contest with the leaderboards
- Monthly points expire if not used quickly enough
- Not integrated with common workplace tools like Slack or Teams
- Mobile app is not as robust as desktop site
Pricing
Contact sales for pricing
- Seat Minimum: 150 Users
WorkTango offers a platform dedicated to the noble cause of “engaging, inspiring, and retaining your employees.” That’s why they built a tool that covers all employee engagement bases. From impressive features like employee rewards and recognition to feedback, surveys, and performance management, WorkTango has created a solution that improves talent retention efforts and a sense of belonging for employees.
Reasons to Love WorkTango:
- Customizable to fit your very specific needs
- Tools and programs that help talent feel better aligned, valued, and inspired
- The user interface is aesthetically pleasing and intuitive to navigate
Customer Testimony:
- Verified G2 User: Amazing Experience
Pros
- Easy to use and user-friendly interface. Many reviews mentioned how simple and intuitive the platform is.
- Ability to easily recognize and reward coworkers. Giving points and recognition is seamless.
- Fun way to boost employee morale. The gamification and rewards help motivate employees.
- Provides insight into employee engagement. The data and analytics provide valuable insights.
- Good variety of rewards to choose from. Many gift cards and merchandise options in the catalog.
Cons
- Point system not ideal. Reviews mentioned points being hard to earn or expiring too quickly.
- Rewards catalog limitations. Some wanted more options, lower point costs, or better rewards.
- Reporting and analytics could be better. Some found the data analysis functionality lacking.
- Issues with notifications. Reviews cited missing or too frequent notifications as problems.
- Navigation issues. Some found the site navigation confusing or unintuitive at times.
10
BambooHR
Pricing
Contact sales for pricing
- Free trial available
The ultimate talent retention software is, ideally, one that can take care of the employee experience from “hire to retire,” and this is precisely what BambooHR offers. By providing you with tools that touch the moving parts — recruitment, hiring, onboarding, off-boarding, etc. — of the employee cycle, BambooHR helps to build a great employee experience. All this and more help to retain top talent for as long as possible and reduces employee turnover rate.
Reasons to Love BambooHR:
- Comes with a robust reporting and analytics tool
- The user interface is friendly and easy to navigate
- Easy to find all your employee information and data in one place
Customer Testimony:
Pros
- User-friendly interface - Many reviews praise how intuitive and easy to navigate BambooHR is. Both employees and HR admins find it simple to use.
- Streamlined HR processes - Automates tasks like onboarding, document signing, PTO requests, etc. Saves HR teams time and effort.
- Excellent customer support - Numerous reviews highlight BambooHR's responsive and knowledgeable customer support as a major plus.
- Customizable - Can tailor BambooHR to fit organization's specific needs via custom fields, workflows, access levels, etc. Provides flexibility.
- Integrations - BambooHR integrates with other HR tools like payroll, applicant tracking, and performance management systems. Allows connecting workflows.
Cons
- Limited customization - Some reviews note inability to customize certain aspects like performance reviews. Can be an issue for unique needs.
- Complex configurations - Setting up advanced workflows and custom fields requires learning and experience. Can impact productivity.
- Missing features - Lacks some common HR features like scheduling, recognition programs, advanced analytics. Requires add-ons.
- Lack of personalization - Dedicated account manager promised during sales but not provided post-signing according to some reviews.
- Reporting limitations - Reporting functionality could be more robust and flexible as per some user reviews.
Conclusion
Talent retention goes far beyond a single event that can be checked off and promptly dismissed from memory. Instead, it should be approached as a series of actions that span the lifespan of an employee within a company, from the initial talent recruitment phase to retirement. The significance of these activities cannot be underestimated, as they are intertwined with the very fabric of an organization's culture. Let it be known: there is no stronger testament to a company's essence than its employees' collective experience. When it comes to retaining and attracting talented people, nothing wields a greater influence than cultivating a work environment characterized by positive and supportive values.
