How to choose a workforce performance platform

What to decide first, what to compare, twenty questions for a demo and warning signs.

Operated by thrive at work · Last reviewed: October 2026

Decide these first

1. What question needs answering? Are people committed? Can they keep going? How is the work going? Who is about to leave?
2. Who will act on the results? Managers, HR, executives, or all three.
3. What is already in place? An engagement survey, a performance system, an HR system.
4. What is the timeline? When must results be in people's hands, and by when must a decision be made?

Compare platforms on these eight points

1. What it measures. Ask for the list of what employees are asked about.
2. Privacy. Who sees individual answers, and the smallest group a manager can see.
3. What employees get back. A private result, learning, nothing.
4. What happens after results. Priorities, action plans, follow-up.
5. Integrations. Which HR systems it syncs with, and how employees are loaded.
6. Languages. For employees, and separately for managers and executives.
7. Security. Certifications held today, with report dates, and which are in progress.
8. Price and terms. What sets the price, what is excluded, what happens at renewal.

Twenty questions for a demo

Measurement

1. What exactly does the survey ask about, and how many people are needed for a group result?
2. What is it compared against?
3. What research stands behind the questions, and what has been tested?
4. Does it measure what people want to do, what they can keep doing, or both?

Privacy

5. Can any person at the employer see an individual's answers or score?
6. What is the smallest group a manager can see?
7. What does the employee see, and who else can?
8. Where is data stored, and who processes it?

Action

9. What does a manager do on Monday after seeing a result?
10. Is there an action plan, and who owns it in the product?
11. What do employees get: learning, tools, a private result?
12. How is progress shown on the next survey?

Delivery

13. How are employees loaded: HR system sync, a file upload, single sign-on?
14. Which languages are available for each type of user?
15. What does onboarding include at our size?
16. What support is included, and what costs extra?

Commercial

17. What sets the price: employees invited, employees answering, modules?
18. What is excluded from the quote?
19. What happens to the price at renewal, and how much notice is given?
20. Can we speak to a customer of a similar size?

Warning signs

• A single score with no explanation of what it combines
• Individual results visible to managers
• No minimum group size
• A security certification described as held when it is "in progress"
• A claim about results with no named source
• A price that cannot be explained in a sentence
• No reference customers and no answer on why