Employee engagement should be a priority for every organization. As we’ve explored throughout our ongoing engagement blog series, there are many ways to improve employee engagement. If you’re not already caught up, check out the previous posts in this series: 

The role of employee engagement in a culture of learning

Top ways to improve employee engagement in learning programs

How to improve employee engagement in remote workplaces

However, the question remains: what are the best tools and software to improve employee engagement?

In this post, we’ll explore some of the best employee engagement tools and the software your business can use to increase engagement and have a more productive, efficient, and happy workforce.

For a deeper dive, check out our whitepaper, Employee engagement strategies to build successful L&D programs.

Types of employee engagement tools and software

From survey and communication tools to software that helps with project management and recognition, there are plenty of resources designed to boost engagement in your organization.

Below, we’ll analyze the best employee engagement software to help you get the most out of your workforce.

10 of the best employee engagement survey tools are:

Survey Monkey – Possibly the most well-known survey tool, it’s comprehensive and easy to use.

Trakstar – A great retention tool with a comprehensive employee survey feature.

Jotform – Mobile friendly, so great for hybrid or remote teams.

Lattice – Offers science-backed templates and real-time feedback.

ThriveSparrow – User-friendly with plenty of retention tools, including employee surveys.

Leapsome – Useful for linking employee development and retention, plus great survey features.

Deel – Perfect for medium and small businesses, as a free version is available for businesses with fewer than 200 employees.

Sogolytics – Comprehensive survey tool with useful analytics features.

Culture Amp – Simple to use and produces actionable insights.

Connecteam – Has a great range of features, including sending auto-reminders to employees who are yet to complete a survey.

Best employee engagement tools for project management

10 of the best employee engagement tools for project management are:

Asana – Allows for simplified workflow management and offers plenty of integrations.

Trello – Simple and stylish, using a unique sticky note interface.

ProofHub – Offers a ton of customization and is easy to navigate.

ClickUp – A place to centralize project management which is customizable and affordable.

Monday.com – Potentially the most well-known project management tool on this list, it ticks a lot of boxes a business of any size would need.

Wrike – Perfect for large organizations with plenty of functionality and features.

Podio – Super user-friendly with lots of integrations available.

Workzone – Everything is streamlined and has fantastic reporting capabilities.

Teamwork – A one-stop shop with plenty of customizations available.

MeisterTask – No-nonsense and integrates with other popular tools such as Slack.

Best employee engagement tools for recognition

10 of the best employee engagement tools for recognition are:

Bonusly – Focus on peer-to-peer recognition with useful analytics.

Blueboard – Instead of monetary rewards, employees can choose rewards from categories related to health, fitness, wellbeing, travel, and more.

Kudos – A great all-around recognition tool with fantastic analytics features.

Awardco – Affordable and easy to use, it offers an offline reward option too.

Assembly – Offers business-wide recognition and can automate special occasions like anniversaries and birthdays.

Fond – Provides a large selection of rewards to help businesses build a culture of recognition.

WorkTango – Use the platform to set goals and automatically reward employees when goals are achieved.

Nectar – Great for peer-to-peer and manager-to-peer recognition and integrates with other popular software like Slack and Microsoft Teams.

Motivosity – Provides a huge range of customizable reward options.

Reward Gateway – Offers plenty of customization and integrates with Amazon Business, which ensures a wide range of rewards.

Best employee engagement tools for communication

10 of the best employee engagement tools for communication are:

Slack – An extremely popular tool that provides one-to-one and channel-based communication as well as video and voice calls.

Zoom – Simple and reliable video conferencing.

Microsoft Teams – Offers video chat, file sharing, and instant messaging.

Tettra – A great knowledge-sharing platform with an AI feature that can help you find answers quickly.

Twist – Provides a balance between effective communication and fewer distractions.

Notion – Lots of functionality to allow for collaborative working.

SharePoint – Fantastic for working collaboratively, especially in remote or hybrid work environments.

Confluence – Useful for collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Guru – Makes collaboration and accountability simple, plus it can integrate with tools like Microsoft Teams and Slack.

StackOverflow – Offers a lot of functionality to make knowledge sharing and brainstorming simple.

How to choose the right employee engagement tool for your business

With more and more businesses offering employees greater flexibility, including hybrid and remote working, knowing which engagement tools are right for you can be challenging. 

The first thing you need to do is assess the areas where your employees are disengaged. To do this, you can send employees surveys and analyze data, such as by pulling a report if your business uses a learning management system. This should tell you whether tools could help increase engagement. For example, if employees say they don’t feel recognized for their achievements, you know one tool to consider would relate to recognition.

Next, outline the specific features you need from a tool. It’s vital to get input from employees and stakeholders, so you know your entire workforce will benefit from the implementation.

When browsing for tools, ensure you schedule product demos. During these, make sure you get answers to all your key questions, including those related to:

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You should also utilize product trials, so you and your workforce can get hands-on with software and ensure it meets your needs. You may also gauge whether there has been an increase in engagement during that trial period.

For more information, read our blog post on why employee engagement is important for improving customer retention.

Employee engagement is critical. It can be the difference between a top-performing business and one that struggles. When employees aren’t engaged, they won’t deliver their best work. When that happens, quality will slip, meaning deadlines get missed.

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While employees are partially responsible for their engagement, so are managers and senior leaders. Leaders can help by providing the right tools so employees can collaborate, be productive, and – ultimately – engage.

Inspired to boost engagement? Download our whitepaper, Employee engagement strategies to build successful L&D programs, to get started! Or, you can book a demo today to find out how Go1 can help with your team’s learning needs.

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We’ll explore some of the best employee engagement tools and the software your business can use to increase engagement and have a more productive, efficient, and happy workforce.

The best tools and software for employee engagement

Employee engagement is vital. It can be the difference between a successful business and one that barely scrapes by. This is equally true for remote and hybrid workplaces, which are often overlooked in the engagement equation. After all, it can be challenging to gauge how engaged employees are when you’re not in the same room.

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If any positives came out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was proving that remote and hybrid working can be positive and productive. A study by the UK government found that 78% of those who worked from home said being able to work from home gave them an improved work-life balance. Similarly, another study by Stanford University revealed that nearly 40% of respondents have been more efficient while working from home.

Accordingly, the main question is, how do you improve engagement for remote employees? We’re going to examine exactly that. We’ll look at strategies to improve remote employee engagement and offer tips and ideas to get the most out of your digital workforce.

Employee engagement is sometimes overlooked in a remote workforce. After all, if employees are meeting their targets and aren’t raising concerns, surely that means there’s nothing to worry about? Not necessarily.

Ensuring employees are engaged should be a priority for every business leader. Engaged employees are efficient, productive, proactive, and more likely to innovate. Therefore, engaged remote employees tend to produce better work on time and within budget.

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It can be difficult to determine how engaged remote employees are, but it’s something business owners must be on top of. If employees aren’t engaged, they won’t be as invested in your business achieving its goals, which risks underperformance.

The benefits of remote employee engagement

When employees are engaged, it not only benefits them, but your entire organization in the following ways:

More opportunities to promote from within

These factors also contribute to cutting costs or producing consistently high-quality work, resulting in more revenue. As such, ensuring remote employees are engaged makes sense from a financial point of view.

For more information, check out our blog on building strong relationships in a remote work environment.

The challenges of maintaining remote employee engagement

Since remote teams don’t work together in the same room, measuring engagement can be tricky. It’s much harder for managers and leaders to observe when engagement levels are down, meaning potential improvements are overlooked.

However, there’s more to it than that. Below are some of the reasons it can be difficult to maintain remote employee engagement:

Limited opportunities to interact socially

For more information, read our blog post on using connection and belonging to combat loneliness in your team.

Strategies to improve remote employee engagement

The good news is that while there are challenges in maintaining engagement with remote employees, there are strategies you can implement to boost engagement. Below are just a few engagement ideas for remote workers: 

Ensure there are plenty of ways employees can communicate, which offer transparency for who is available and when

Encourage senior management to communicate with employees regularly

Be open and honest about the organization’s goals and objectives

Promote inclusivity, acknowledge achievements, and recognize great work

Encourage virtual team-building sessions and activities that go beyond discussing work 

Regularly check in with employees and schedule 1:1s

Offer thorough onboarding and training opportunities

Consider offering benefits, such as those related to employee wellness

Invest in the right technologies and tools. 

More resources to support your remote team

There are plenty of tools and resources that can make remote workspaces more engaging. Examples include everything from communication software to project management platforms. Some great tools your organization could consider are:

Communication tools, including Slack, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams

Project management platforms, including Asana, Trello, and Monday.com

Collaboration tools, including Miro and Google Workspace

Virtual team building tools, including TeamBonding and Donut

Time-tracking tools, including Toggl and Harvest

Employee recognition platforms, including Bonusly and Perkbox

Health and wellbeing resources, including Headspace and Wellable

How to measure remote employee engagement

Providing employees with the tools and resources they need to stay engaged is one thing, but measuring engagement is equally important. By not measuring employee engagement, you risk low engagement levels because you can’t say whether your strategies are successful. 

Just like there are tools to improve engagement, there are also ways to  measure engagement, such as: 

Employee surveys, which can cover a wide range of topics, such as feedback on job satisfaction, collaboration, and communication

Learning analytics and course completion data, which can be simple and fast to pull if your business utilizes a learning management system (LMS)

Communication data if your business uses a platform such as Slack or Microsoft Teams

Whether the business meets or exceeds its goals and objectives

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We’ll look at strategies to improve remote employee engagement and offer tips and ideas to get the most out of your digital workforce.

Employee engagement is critical for any organization regardless of industry or size. If employees aren’t engaged, they won’t be motivated to produce their best work. In turn, this will have a massive impact on the service your clients and customers receive.

So, how can you improve engagement and ensure employees remain engaged? We’ll explore how you can improve employee engagement at your organization, including the tools you can use to measure employee engagement and expert strategies to improve engagement. 

Employee engagement measures how invested and committed employees are to their work and the success of your business. When employees are engaged, they’re proactive, enthusiastic, and committed to their role, which helps your business grow and achieve its goals.

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Employee engagement is important because it:

Improves customer service and customer loyalty

No single role or department is responsible for ensuring employees are engaged, it’s a shared responsibility across the organization. For example: 

The senior leadership team must provide all necessary resources and employee engagement tools so employees have the opportunity to engage.

Managers should work with employees to offer support and guidance where necessary.

HR should provide support, such as a robust onboarding process, training and development opportunities, and a rewards and recognition program. 

Employees are also responsible for their engagement, which they can improve by developing a growth mindset.

Leadership's role in improving employee engagement

It’s everyone’s responsibility to contribute to employee engagement. This includes your senior leadership team, who should actively connect with their workforce to ensure engagement.

Leaders must lead by example, displaying the behaviors and mentality they expect from others. When leaders are engaged, employees are more likely to be engaged too. As part of this, leaders should create a supportive and inclusive environment to foster a positive workplace culture.

Regular communication should always be a priority. For instance, discuss goals and objectives with employees, specifying how their work contributes to broader business goals. Leaders should also encourage personalized learning, which not only helps employees achieve their personal goals but also contributes to your organization achieving its goals. It’s a win-win!

Expert strategies to improve employee engagement

There are plenty of ways to improve employee engagement. Below are four ways your business can improve employee engagement.

Having a strong, dependable, and accessible leadership team is critical. When leaders show how much they value their employees’ development and wellbeing, and communicate openly and regularly, it can positively impact engagement.

As part of this, ensure employees feel heard. Inviting feedback and input is one thing, but implementing that feedback is far more likely to increase engagement and ensure employees feel valued.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to learning and development because all employees are at different stages of their careers and have unique goals and interests. Personalized development at scale may sound expensive and time-consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. When employees are encouraged to learn in ways that interest them and align with your business goals, it will keep them engaged and help your business achieve its goals.

There are plenty of ways to give employees learning opportunities, such as: 

Making training accessible and simple, such as through a learning management system

Ensuring employees don’t fear making mistakes

Providing employees with the time they need to develop their skills and knowledge

Rewarding and recognizing employee achievements can be a huge motivator. The majority of rewards don’t even need to be monetary (though this helps). They can be something as simple as a shout-out. Gamification is another excellent option, which offers a fun and competitive edge to learning and can also increase engagement. 

Another fantastic way to recognize employee achievements is by promoting from within. This motivates employees to continue developing because they can see it pays off. Promoting from within is also more cost-effective than going through an expensive and laborious recruitment process.

4. Build an inclusive and positive workplace culture

When employees are happy with their work environment, they’re more likely to engage. To achieve this, focus on ensuring employees feel valued and heard, as well as promoting inclusivity, offering more flexible work arrangements, encouraging a healthy work-life balance, and providing a range of benefits. Wellbeing is also key, so providing employees with tools and resources to manage their mental health, wellbeing, and stress can all help prevent burnout and reduce absenteeism.

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Tools to help you measure employee engagement in learning programs

To ensure your engagement strategies are successful, there are several tools you can use to measure engagement, including:

Analytics and reports, which are simple to produce and give you comprehensive data, particularly if your business utilizes an LMS

Surveys and questionnaires so employees can provide specific feedback

Skills and knowledge development and implementation

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We’ll explore how you can improve employee engagement at your organization, including the tools you can use to measure employee engagement and expert strategies to improve engagement.

 Top ways to improve employee engagement in learning programs

Welcome back to another exciting edition of The Extra Mile, where we interview Go1 customers and their Customer Success Managers (CSMs) about their relationships, challenges, learning goals, and everything in between. 

If you haven’t already, take the time to catch up on previous editions of The Extra Mile, where we’ve chatted with Mandy Rutherford from Wave Utilities and Dan Ritchie from H2M Associates, along with their wonderful Go1 CSMs. 

This time, we’ll talk to Susana Pires, Group Health and Safety Manager at ASL Aviation, and her Go1 CSM George Ellison-Bunce, about their first impressions, goals, and what the future holds. 

According to Susana, ASL Aviation partnered with Go1 for two key reasons. Firstly, they were on a mission to optimise their internal tools and systems, including their learning platform, which they had failed to make the most of. 

“Many years ago, ASL developed an internal [learning] platform, but it reached a point where innovation, standardisation, modernization, and creativity was needed. This was all triggered by an internal project that aimed to optimise and standardise tools and systems,” she said. 

Additionally, Susana had a list of non-negotiable requirements. ASL Aviation wanted a partner that offered 24/7 support, had an easily navigable platform, and allowed ASL to create and upload its own content. In Go1, they found a partner that ticked all these boxes — and many more.  

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“Go1 was able to fulfil all our initial requirements: easy to navigate the platform, availability of content, possibility to create and upload our own content, and 24/7 support,” she added.  

With these goals established, George and Susana’s professional relationship was off to an excellent start. 

Susana had nothing but good things to say about her first impressions of George, recalling, “George is friendly, knowledgeable, customer-oriented, open to suggestions, always willing to help and find solutions to questions or challenges presented.” 

George returned the favour, recounting, “My first impression of working with ASL was that Susana had a very clearly defined vision for the platform and its requirements.” Susana’s vision and dedication made George’s job much easier, ensuring they always had clear goals to strive for. 

From this point, their relationship has gone from strength to strength. George outlined his process for building relationships with customers to ensure everyone receives a bespoke CSM experience that suits their needs.

“I approach working with every new customer with a really open mind — I don't want to presume I know everything about them, or what elements of Go1's solution will work best to support their requirements,” he said. 

“To achieve this, I hold several discovery sessions with my clients to ask a tonne of questions to really dig into the core reasons for partnering with Go1, and how we can work together to achieve success.

“I also don't take myself too seriously and always take a personable approach — I'm not one for an overly professional attitude for the sake of it. Also, if they like cats that helps.”

George’s efforts never went unnoticed or unappreciated, with Susana explaining that their relationship evolved “greatly” over time. 

“We have regular meetings to discuss any issues, suggestions, challenges, or just to follow-up on actions/steps to improve,” she said. 

Throughout all this, meeting ASL Aviation’s learning goals remained front of mind. Before long, this was a resounding success.

When asked whether working with Go1 helped her team set and meet achievable learning goals, Susana answered enthusiastically: “Yes!”

“We were able to include, in the yearly key performance indicators, goals and objectives for training, which are measured quarterly and presented to the executive board. We were also able to develop an internal training matrix that we aim to implement early 2024 to all our entities worldwide,” she elaborated. 

Most importantly, the response from employees was overwhelmingly positive. 

“The [learning] benefits we have seen were improvements in certain areas (links, drop down menus, etc.), the development of our own training processes, and the positive feedback from employees using the platform.”

To learn more about how Go1 helped ASL Aviation meet its learning goals, check out our case study on ASL Aviation. 

As with any L&D project, challenges are likely to arise. However, through careful planning and clear communication, both parties overcame these obstacles.

As Susana recalls, finding the right training content to suit her team’s learning needs was initially challenging. However, George was extremely helpful by suggesting lots of relevant material. Moreover, ASL Aviation faced challenges using their SSO feature and integrating with other platforms, which remains an ongoing task.

Thankfully, these challenges rarely lasted long. When asked how they problem-solved when issues arose, Susana responded: “very rapidly.”

“George was able to either support us in getting things done, or contacting the technical specialists that were able to support us,” she added.

From George’s perspective, problem-solving is simply part of the job. He emphasises that each client is different, so active listening is the best way to overcome challenges.

“CSMs at Go1 take the time to fully understand the goals and objectives of the organisation they're working with to ensure value is delivered through Go1's solution. This takes place across the whole working relationship with our customers, through regular check-ins and agreed cadences,” he said.

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“Through having these regular check-ins we're able to focus on what's working, and adapt areas where success hasn't quite taken off yet to create meaningful, measurable impact.”

Throughout this process, Susana has learned many new things to take ASL’s L&D offering to the next level. 

“[I’ve learned] how to better use the platform, some tricks and tips on how to navigate the platform or upload training material, the possibility to use different training formats (interactive, document, video, etc.) and how to explore additional features such as the calendar planning,” she said. 

And the best news is that this is only the beginning of the relationship between Go1 and ASL Aviation! Susana noted that she is “extremely satisfied with Go1”, which is why she recently proposed a long-term, 5-year contract renewal. 

For George, this is fantastic news, as he looks forward to working more with Susana and the entire ASL team.

“I really, really enjoy working with Susana — she's very driven, incredibly personable, and a joy to work with,” he said. 

The feeling was mutual, with Susana singing the praises of her Go1 experience so far. 

We’ll talk to Susana Pires, Group Health and Safety Manager at ASL Aviation, and her Go1 CSM George Ellison-Bunce, about their first impressions, goals, and what the future holds.