In organisations with a large number of employees, a major task is to track the performance of each employee vis-à-vis their work targets and goals. The solution: a performance management software that automates the workforce management and appraisal system.
Growing a business takes time and investment, but most of all, a solid workforce. Thus, learning if your workforce measures up to the standards is a key task for managers and HRMs.
A simple yet effective way to address this is by opting for performance management software.
What Is Performance Management Software?
A performance management software provides a digital platform that not only helps set the goals for each employee, but also provides them feedback on their work, and tips on how they can improve.
By availing of a performance management software, HRMs can reduce the amount of time they spend on admin and routine tasks. Further, it also reduces the errors and provides insights based on employee data.
77% of those in a leadership position believe that the traditional system of appraisals is no longer suitable for gauging an employee’s work or addressing business needs. This gap can be addressed with the help of a suitable performance management software.
Some must-have features to look for in performance management systems include:
- Employee data management and reporting.
- Employee engagement, via surveys and feedback.
- Recruitment and onboarding of new employees.
- Reporting and analytics for employees.
- Performance management, appraisal, and compensation planning.
- Learning and development modules.
- Succession planning for employees.
Why Using Performance Management Software in the UK Workplace Matters?
When a workplace deploys performance management software, it enjoys the following benefits:
- Streamlined HR processes and record-keeping.
- Increase in employee engagement and reduction in turnover.
- Transparent and bias-free review and appraisal system.
- Continuous feedback between employees and managers, and better communication.
- Offering data-driven insights on performance metrics.
- Goal setting, tracking, and management while accounting for organisational targets.
- Employee development and succession planning.
- A more productive workplace and better performance as a whole.
Only as few as 45% of organisations regularly opt for performance management systems at their workplace. However, 94% of businesses agree that there is room for improvement in the performance management systems they use, making a suitable performance management software a necessity.
Let’s make a comparative study of how manual processes using spreadsheets and performance management systems measure up against each other:
|
Features |
Manual Systems (Spreadsheets) |
Performance Management Software |
|
Versatility and Scope |
Offers all sorts of tasks |
Meant for only Performance Management and HR tasks |
|
Ease-of-deployment |
Easy |
Moderate |
|
Ease-of-use |
Easy (but tedious) |
Easy |
|
Data Entry |
Manual |
Manual and from other integrated tools |
|
Cost |
Free |
Moderate to high (depending on software) |
|
Automation |
Not offered |
Partially to completely automated |
|
Data Security |
Not offered |
Secure |
|
Goal Alignment |
Not offered |
Offered |
|
Continuous Feedback |
Not offered |
Offered |
|
Scalability |
Difficult for large organisations |
Offered |
|
Analytics |
Available (but limited) |
Available |
|
Collaboration |
Not available |
Available |
|
Customisation |
Limited |
Available (Depending upon software) |
|
AI assistance |
Not available |
Available (Depending upon software) |
Table 1: Comparison between spreadsheets and Performance Management Software.
Top 10 Best Performance Management Software in the UK (2025)
A Gallup study states that managers can have up to a 70% effect on employee engagement, which can be improved by using an adequate performance management system. Before we delve into performance management software, let’s check out how they compare against each other:
|
Tools |
Target Tasks |
Best For |
Analytics & Dashboard |
Pros |
Cons |
|
StaffCircle |
Performance Management, L&D, Succession Planning |
Small, Medium, and Large Business |
Available |
Easy to use, real-time feedback, better workflows |
Learning the software takes time |
|
Lattice |
Performance Management and OKR |
Small, Medium, and Large Business |
Available |
Compensation planning |
UI is not intuitive, lacks custom reports |
|
PeopleGoal |
Performance Management and Onboarding |
Small and Medium Business |
Available |
Customisable workflow, easy integration |
Limited features, difficult to navigate |
|
Clear Review |
Performance Management |
Small, Medium, and Large Business |
Available |
Easy to use |
Limited customisation, learning curve |
|
Leapsome |
Performance Management, L&D, onboarding |
Small, Medium, and Large Business |
Available |
Integrates with other software |
UI is difficult to use, graphs are not easy to interpret. |
|
Culture Amp |
Performance Management |
Medium and Large Business |
Available |
Easy goal tracking and reviews |
Difficult to navigate, lack of customisation |
|
Bamboo HR |
Centralised employee tracking |
Small and Medium Business |
Available |
Centralised data, simple UI |
Limited configuration options |
|
PerformYard |
Performance Management |
Small, Medium, and Large Business |
Available |
Flexible review cycles |
Limited customisation, UI is not up to the mark |
|
Workday |
Performance Management and Payroll |
Small and Medium Business |
Available |
Mobile-friendly, real-time insights available |
Limited customisation, difficult to integrate |
|
ADP Workforce Now |
Performance Management and Payroll |
Medium and Large Business |
Available |
Comprehensive HR suite |
Add-on costs, learning curve |
Table 2: Comparison of the best Performance Management Software
The Performance Management Systems to look at are:
StaffCircle
To link performance management with employee engagement, StaffCircle offers a platform that takes up performance evaluations, goal management, continuous feedback, peer recognition, and surveys to improve engagement. This ensures that employees have more control over their appraisals, and the managers can track progress and address skill gaps. This helps build a more engaged and productive workforce.
StaffCircle further allows you to build on productivity with the help of StaffCircle AI. Not only does this assist in automating your HR processes, but it also speeds up your work by 90%. Thus, leaders can use the time they spend on routine tasks to strategise and find a way to grow the business. From succession planning to managing staff data, AI prompts with StaffCircle AI can manage it all.
Pros
- Automation of tasks
- Offers data-driven insights
- Mobile accessibility for remote workers
- Offers real-time feedback
- Suitable for organisations of all sizes
Cons
- The interface takes time to learn but can be simplified
Suitable For
Organisations having between 50 – 5000 employees.
Our Verdict
An AI-powered platform offering one-to-one check-ins, 360-degree appraisals, Smart Objective setting, and OKR management, StaffCircle is one of the most comprehensive performance management tools available. This makes it our top choice when it comes to performance management software.
Lattice
Goal tracking to align employee and business goals is a key task in organisations. Lattice helps simplify this with the help of its OKR and performance management system. It offers performance management, OKR and goal tracking, talent reviews, time tracking, employee analytics, and onboarding for new employees.
Pros
- Easily integrates with other third-party tools
- User-friendly interface
- Comprehensive list of tools offered
Cons
- Expensive to deploy
- Limited customisation
Suitable For
Businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
Lattice leverages workforce insights to drive business growth, making it a globally popular platform and the top choice for many organisations.
PeopleGoal
From onboarding and employee data management to performance reviews and appraisals, PeopleGoal promotes business growth via L&D. It allows businesses to create their own templates for goal setting and establish a system based on feedback so that employees can build on their strengths.
Pros
- Comprehensive reports plus analytics
- Offers a mobile app
- Integrates with other third-party software
Cons
- Difficulty in navigating the platform
- Lack of guidelines for first-time users
- Limited features available
Suitable For
Self-service platform for small to medium businesses
Our Verdict
PeopleGoal is a customisable platform, designed with small to medium-scale businesses in mind, helping them align organisational targets to employee goals.
Clear Review
Offering goal setting, performance development, and continuous feedback, Clear Review is geared more towards establishing open channels of communication and not just appraisals. Thus, it allows workers a way to approach their managers and address issues well before appraisals.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Flexible, customisable platform
- Easy integration with other tools
Cons
- Expensive to deploy since it is priced per user
- Focuses on qualitative feedback
Suitable For
Businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
By increasing the frequency and quality of performance management, Clear Review helps drive productivity, making it an excellent performance management tool.
Leapsome
Offering insights into team performance and 360-degree feedback for workers, Leapsome’s AI-powered system streamlines workflows. It offers goal and OKR management, performance reviews, L&D and onboarding, engagement surveys, and more.
Pros
- Customisable dashboard
- Integrates with other software
- Available customer support
Cons
- Difficult to use UX
- Analytics are tough to interpret
Suitable For
High-performing businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
The platform of choice for top organisations, Leapsome encourages L&D alongside performance management, thus driving business success.
Culture Amp
From talent management to goal tracking, Culture Amp is designed to improve performance management and facilitate employee engagement and retention. Further, it offers tools to collect 360-degree feedback, manage workers, and build teams that help deliver organisational goals.
Pros
- Offers actionable insights and data
- Can conduct custom employee surveys
- User-friendly, analytical interface
Cons
- Limited integration with other platforms
- Difficult to navigate
Suitable For
Businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
Offering ready-to-use templates and extensive analytics, Culture Amp effectively simplifies performance management.
BambooHR
Offering a robust performance management system, BambooHR takes up a meld of employee data management alongside performance tracking. Thus, it allows managers to complete performance assessments, track their workers, conduct meetings, and provide feedback.
Pros
- User-friendly interface
- Easy integration with other software
- Customisable as per workplace needs
Cons
- Limited configuration options
- Best suited to SMEs (can fall short in larger organisations)
Suitable For
Small to medium businesses (less than 1000 employees).
Our Verdict
BambooHR can give you a one-stop solution to managing employee data and conducting appraisals, making it a great choice for growing business that has a small to moderate workforce size.
PerformYard
Offering easy performance management and detailed reporting on all workers, PerformYard is a flexible performance management system. It easily integrates with a range of other HR and payroll systems and, thus, caters to a wide range of organisations. PerformYard offers 360-degree reviews, goal management, continuous feedback, and engagement surveys.
Pros
- Flexibility in review cycles that can be set.
- Easy goal tracking for individuals and teams
- Automated prompts to complete evaluations
Cons
- Limitations in customisation
- Less user-friendly interface
Suitable For
Mid-sized organisations
Our Verdict
A feature-rich software, PerformYard streamlines performance management and offers easy automation, thus becoming a sound choice.
Workday
Offering a comprehensive and configurable SaaS system, Workday comes with an intuitive UI. Further, the design of the system offers centralised management of HR data and is highly scalable, supporting organisations with a large workforce.
Pros
- Intuitive UI
- Complementary modules for finance and analytics are available.
- Centralised management of employee data.
Cons
- More time for implementation and roll-out
- Limited, expensive customisations.
- Complicated time-tracking for employees
Suitable For
Businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
A complete human capital management system (HCM), Workday keeps your system and workforce future-ready.
ADP Workforce Now
A comprehensive performance management suite, ADP Workforce Now caters to enterprises that fall under medium or large businesses. Providing a platform for performance reviews, goal tracking, and continuous feedback, it allows employers to get data and analytics on each of their workers.
Pros
- Comprehensive HR suite
- Automated work tracking
- AI assistance
Cons
- Add-on tools can be expensive
- Time taken to gain proficiency
Suitable For
Businesses of all sizes.
Our Verdict
With ADP Workforce Now, not only can you take up performance management, but also address other HR tasks, making it a complete system.
Selecting the Perfect Performance Management Suite
You can enjoy the complete benefits offered by a performance management software only when it addresses all your business needs. Thus, some key criteria to check include:
- Ease of use with an easy-to-learn and navigate user interface.
- Easy customisation that helps streamline your workflow.
- Integration with other HR systems, as well as payroll management and collaboration platforms.
- Scalability systems to support an increase in staff.
- Analytics using dashboards and custom reports.
- Availability of demo or trial versions.
- Functionality versus budget for the particular software.
- Support and training by the software vendor.
Only after a careful evaluation of the above should one select a performance management system for their organisation.
Additionally, follow the steps in the flowchart below to complete the process for deploying the performance management software:
In Conclusion
Using a performance management system is essential when it comes to managing a growing workforce effectively. Not only can you cut back on time spent on appraisals but also establish a data-driven system that boosts employee engagement and retention.
Interested in streamlining your workflow? Try out a performance management software for your business.
Read more:
Top 10 Best Performance Management Software in the UK