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Kazoo

Performance management software to keep track of OKRs and award high-performing employees with the recognition they deserve

8.8

299 Votes

  • Category HR Software
  • Languages German, English, French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish

Kazoo calls itself an Employee Experience Platform, but that's really just a fancy way of saying it's an all-encompassing HR platform. That's not to undermine what's here, as the tools they put in the hands of HR managers really are comprehensive. And in practical terms, the UI and features are centered around the specific goal of creating an expressive and ultimately productive company culture.

A big part of making that intention a reality comes down to their goal of breaking priorities down into objectives and incentivizing them in ways that make sense for a specific company's needs. Kazoo has essentially broken down the cycle of communications between employees and management, broken them down into discreet hubs that have their own features, utilities, and tools.

A big part of that experience comes down to creating a less hostile and intimidating approach to performance management. Kazoo puts productive and collaborative tools like 1-on-1s and check-ins front and center while also integrating productivity goals into the wellness experience. It's a continuous management system that offers a greater amount of fluidity than quarterly performance reports ever could. It's an approach that's flourished even more as greater offices have moved towards remote work, as it offers a flexible mix of ways to communicate.

Kazoo's cycle of encouragement is also predicated on the idea that reinforcing good behavior publicly is important to encouraged growth. The use of a digital rewards system — and one that posts those rewards in a digital hub for everyone to see — does a functional job of gamifying the experience. Just as with the other features, the flexibility here is very well executed. The interface even encourages offering employee rewards for tasks outside of workplace objectives, like volunteering or working out.

But the point where employees will really perk up is with the integration of real world prizes for continuous performance. The integration of a reward points system allows managers to up the game and provide smoothly integrated rewards for accomplishing goals assigned to them. Kazoo has partnered with an expansive selection of retailers so companies of any size can offer tempting rewards to all of their employees who succeed.

It's the kind of system that could become an absolute mess — and a potentially costly one — without the right oversight, but Kazoo's goals and OKRs system is incredibly intuitive. It lets you assign distinct goals and rewards for different departments, offices, individuals, or branches. That lets it scale nicely to the sizes of even enterprise level businesses, but it also allows you to get granular with your rewards system. Since all of the rewards display using a structured and simplistic diagram, it's easy to make sure everything is neatly aligned and won't bite you down the line.

Pros:

  • Great flexibility for building complex goals and rewards
  • Partnered with a ton of major retailers
  • Continuous approach to employee assessment

Cons:

  • Loading times can sometimes be sluggish
  • Dashboard could use a refresh

Highest-Rated Features:

  1. Customizable forms
  2. Historical data
  3. 360 reviews

Lowest-Rated Features:

  1. Goal-setting
  2. Company goals and OKRs
  3. Requesting feedback
Company
Kazoo
HQ Location
Austin, TX
Year Founded
2013
  • Recognition & Rewards: Starting at $4.25*
  • Performance Management: Starting at $7.25*
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