2025 Top Employee Engagement Software Tools for Remote & Hybrid Teams

Employee engagement is like a taco–it’s a combination of stellar ingredients that add up to something exciting and fulfilling. 

It starts with a tortilla, aka your company. You have defined values and a culture where employees can thrive. Next, we have protein, or purpose, in executing a role. From there, we slice, dice, and pack in an array of recognition, including feedback and appreciation. Topped off with a heaping spoonful of motivation (or salsa, whatever you like), we are satisfied with our work. 

You can’t DoorDash employee engagement, but technical solutions are waiting to be delivered. Today, we’re taking a look at the top employee engagement software tools for remote and hybrid teams.

Why is employee engagement important?

Employee engagement doesn’t just indicate how loyal and satisfied your employees are. It can also determine how profitable your business is. 

A decade of research reveals that companies centering employee engagement are 20% more profitable. Reports also show that companies with higher engagement rates enjoy: 

• 80% difference in absenteeism
• 18% increase in productivity
• 20-40% reduction in turnover

Engaged employees go above and beyond because they feel connected to their work and plugged securely into their company culture. Both of these factors are crucial to high job satisfaction scores, which have a huge impact on a company’s reputation.

Moreover, it doesn’t matter how large an organization is, or if its employees live all over the map. Today’s software can help handle engagement from every angle. 

What is employee engagement software?

Employee engagement software is meant to help foster stronger emotional and cultural connections with employees. 

What this means or looks like varies from company to company. One organization may need a great deal of automation across many processes, while others want simple tools that help organize ongoing efforts. 

Plus, today’s software offerings have evolved alongside the rise of remote work. Companies look to a more specific set of features that aim to engage those who never set foot in the office. 

Popular features of employee engagement software include, but aren’t limited to:

• Recognition and rewards
• Surveys
• Communication tools
• Analytics
• Gamification
• Integration with other popular software

What to look for in an employee engagement platform

The right employee engagement software practically reveals itself once you thoroughly biopsy current conditions and what’s missing. Here’s an overview of areas to watch out for as you peruse your options. 

Feedback mechanisms

Question #1: Are you looking for assistance with employee interaction, feedback, and communication? Feedback mechanisms include surveys, evaluations, interviews, reviews, meetings, and more. 

If you know you want a tool that can handle at least one of these–let’s say, pulse surveys–take a closer look at the tool’s function. Is it customizable enough? How is the data presented? Would it be easy for the employee to use, thus encouraging their participation?

Recognition and rewards

Recognition isn’t a “nice to have” in employee engagement programs; it’s a must. Along with this come rewards. 

Some of the software options we have today facilitate recognition and organize rewards. The type of recognition and what rewards are available are the bigger questions. 

Quality peer-to-peer recognition tools can make top-down recognition easier by revealing opportunities for authentic, specific gestures. It’s also a must for teams, especially remote ones, who need to collaborate with people they’ve never met face to face.

If the platform offers rewards, decide how much customization you need, and if the type of rewards they offer will have the intended impact. For instance, gift cards alone may only go so far. Rewards like job flexibility and charitable donations can be more meaningful to some. 

Integration 

Do you need employee engagement software to play nice with tools like Slack, Teams, or HRIS? Most likely.

Here’s an area where your own research matters most. A product can claim to have an avalanche of successful integrations, but your experience will say otherwise.

If integrations are essential to using the tool, take advantage of free trials. Read as many third-party reviews as you can and reach out to customer support to ensure they’re responsive and knowledgeable.

User experience 

The most tech-savvy among us can be bogged down by senseless navigation, mysterious icons, and extra functions we genuinely don’t need. With patience, training, and time, some of this can be resolved. It may even be worth adding that experience to your resume!

However, if you want simplicity, out-of-the-box functionality, and minimal admin requirements, do not compromise. The thrill of a bump in engagement is swiftly dampened by the frustration of trying to maintain a clunky or finicky tool. 

Again, try the free trial.

Scalability 

Constant disruption, confusing upgrades. One of the biggest culprits is a lack of scalability. If you anticipate any growth or changes in the work environment, assess the software with the following in mind.

• Would the tool still work as intended if everyone went remote/hybrid/ back to the office?
• How many users does the software accommodate, and is that sufficient long-term?
• Can you customize your plan and/or the tool’s features to your needs?
• Does the vendor provide regular updates, and is support available? 
• Which processes, if any, are automated, and how does this benefit your goals and experience? 

Top employee engagement software tools for 2025

With a basic understanding of your needs, here are nine of the best employee engagement software tools on offer today. 

1. 🌮 HeyTaco

HeyTaco is an award-winning peer recognition platform that turns gratitude into a daily habit using virtual tacos. Employees give and receive tacos as positive recognition, appearing on leaderboards, ascending levels, and earning rewards. 

What it does best: Peer-to-peer recognition, team rituals, and a wider variety of meaningful rewards, not just gift cards. It’s an ideal solution for remote employee engagement and making people feel seen.

Standout features: 

• Easy to launch
• No heavy admin work
• Gamification for boosted engagement
• Analytics dashboard with actionable insights
• Seamless, proven integration with Slack, Google Chat, and Microsoft Teams

2. 🎯 Bonusly

Bonusly is also a recognition platform that lets employees give one another points, but it can be adjusted for top-down recognition only. Point recipients can save up to redeem gift cards from their rewards catalog.

What it does best: Bonusly’s automation reduces a lot of administrative tasks, especially around regular employee milestones like birthdays and work anniversaries. It helps ensure that recognition is consistent and effective, as long as employees can continue to be incentivized by gift cards alone.

Standout features:

• Wide reward catalog 
• HRIS integrations
• Analytics and trends
• Automated milestones

3. 📣 Lattice

Lattice is a survey and analytics platform for companies focused on data-driven decision making. Pulse surveys, onboarding surveys, and engagement driver identification help measure and improve overall satisfaction and retention.

What it does best: Lattice’s performance reviews and feedback loops net you detailed info on the company's culture. It can compare results to past data for reliable comparisons. 

Standout features: 

• Combines engagement surveys with OKRs and 1:1 tracking
• eNPS scoring
• Customizable templates
• Real-time data

4. 📊 Culture Amp

Get deep insights on engagement trends with Culture Amp. It’s an employee experience platform that measures company performance along with engagement and culture. Like Lattice, you can compare data to third-party industry benchmarks. 

What it does best: Culture Amp is suited to larger organizations that engage in more strategic planning. It’s not all about engagement and satisfaction; it signals areas where productivity and performance can improve.

Standout features: 

• Measure employee sentiment during changes in leadership
• Integrates with a lot of popular HR software
• Evaluates management
• Measures and improves DEI initiatives

5. 🗣 Officevibe

Want to be a better manager? Officevibe helps take the temperature. Leaders who are remote or just not present 24/7 can learn more about their staff and how they could improve their leadership skills.

What it does best: Officevibe does provide continuous feedback for managers, but can also be used for team-building. Overall, it’s a great tool for improving team and top-down communication.

Standout features: 

• Anonymous feedback and team reports
• Personalized management coaching
• Good Vibes recognition feature
• Schedules and tracks 1:1 meetings

6. 👥 15Five

Remote teams may improve engagement with some help from 15five, a performance management tool that collects and shares progress updates. It facilitates goal-setting, feedback, and follow-ups on asynchronous teams.

What it does best: Manager coaching and check-ins keep leadership looped in on team challenges and strengths. Employees can benefit from a clearer vision of the company’s core values and goals.

Standout features:

• Weekly check-ins and performance features
• OKR tracking
• Management coaching
• Employee surveys

7. 🐸 Leapsome

People enablement platform Leapsome is also good for leader-employee relationships in the remote or hybrid work environment. It offers features for measuring or improving learning, engagement, and performance.

What it does best: Touting itself as a holistic HR solution, Leapsome does everything from running meetings to mapping out employee development. It even sends feedback and praise in an instant. 

Standout features:

• Automates many processes, including onboarding
• Integrates with many HR platforms and communication tools
• AI-powered insights, predictive analytics, and leadership coaching
• Can clarify objectives for remote workers 

8. 🍯 Nectar

What if employees could rate the recognition they were given? They can if you choose Nectar, an employee recognition platform that uses this feature to improve and personalize recognition into the future.

What it does best: Nectar is a feature-laden platform for large enterprises. For that reason alone, it’s a good thing it boasts its own social feed, so everyone can catch it. It adds customizable rewards to peer and top-down recognition initiatives.

Standout features:

• Awards nomination and voting
• Analytics and reports
• User-friendly interface
• Milestone tracking

9. 🍩Donut

Can you completely automate team culture? You can certainly try thanks to apps like Donut. It prods and pairs to spur collaboration and camaraderie in all sorts of work settings and situations.

What it does best: Can’t think of a good water cooler topic? Ice too thick to break? Donut can moderate convos in Slack channels, make introductions, and introduce new hires.

Standout features:

• Automated onboarding features

• Mentorship facilitation
• Automated pair-offs for virtual coffee breaks
• Ability to tailor employee journeys

How to improve employee engagement (with or without software)

Some employee engagement software tools can make the quest for a loyal, high-performing team seem effortless. However, there are a few principles to stick to outside of some slick new software.

Prioritize recognition

Higher engagement is the natural result of an effective recognition program. Recognition in the workplace should be:

• Frequent
• Timely
• Specific
• Authentic

It should also include peer recognition as well as top-down recognition and be available through multiple channels. For example, in addition to using a peer recognition tool like HeyTaco, you’d regularly invite and give feedback, as well as acknowledge an employee’s milestones.

Communicate clearly and often

Remote employees need more human-to-human contact to ensure better engagement levels, but everyone can benefit from this. 

Unclear or inconsistent communications don’t just cause disconnects; they confuse. Knowing your purpose and having goals is essential to engagement. 

Organize thoughts before instructing, updating, or touching base with employees. Set a schedule for communications, like weekly meetings or email updates. Share simple, complete thoughts and specific instructions.

Support growth and purpose

Recognition and communication enhance a feeling of purpose, but further guidance will yield next-level results. Add a few growth-oriented opportunities that excite and motivate employees for the future. Some ideas:

• Coaching 
• Continuous learning/training
• Workshops
• Personalized development plans
• Lateral moves 
• Stretch assignments

Build shared rituals 

Building rituals takes the results from all of the above and cements your efforts into a culture. These small habits help teams form bonds that keep them engaged in their work. 

This is HeyTaco’s forte. A small virtual taco becomes an insider symbol with positive meaning. Liven, a tech company with a remote team, uses it to carry out its own little ritual. 

Every two weeks, the team holds a Taco Love session. After sharing their projects, everyone joins a Slack channel for 5–10 minutes to dish out tacos to colleagues who made an impact.

It’s small, it’s fun, and it keeps everyone connected. 

Employee engagement software that fits your needs

The products we’ve seen today are proof that engagement solutions are never one-size-fits-all. Some focus on deep feedback, some help train management, and others deliver recognition in a crisp corn tortilla. 🌮

In the end, the best employee engagement programs meet your people where they are. From feeling heard to positive reinforcement, there’s a software solution to your unique engagement barriers. 

Hungry for more? Try a free trial of HeyTaco. Already a user? Use the Taco Economy assessment to find room for growth.