Bamboo HR Detailed Review
Bamboo HR 
The complete HR software
Best For: Organizations of all sizes
Overview
BambooHR’s journey began with a powerful mission: to liberate people to do extraordinary work. Based on this vision, they have dedicated themselves to simplifying complex HR processes and freeing organizations from time-consuming tasks.
It is a comprehensive solution that transforms HR operations and goes beyond. Its performance management software demonstrates its dedication to seamless HR practices.
Bamboo HR’s extensive feature set includes everything from actionable and customizable reviews to automated reminders to complete assessments.
In this review, we’ll go over these features in depth so you can make an informed decision about implementing the best performance management software for your company.
BambooHR’s reach extends across a wide range of industries. BambooHR caters to your specific needs, whether you’re a startup looking to scale, a small business looking to expand, a mid-size enterprise driving innovation, or a large corporation steering industry trends.
BambooHR’s platform is intended for HR managers, leaders, managers, and anyone else looking to improve the performance of their organization.
Finally, BambooHR focuses primarily on streamlining HR operations in a company with essential add-ons like performance management.
BambooHR Rating
| Feature | BambooHR | JOP |
|---|---|---|
| Meets Requirements | 8.7 | 9.4 |
| Ease of Use | 9.3 | 9.6 |
| Quality of Support | 8.9 | 9.5 |
| Product Direction | 8.6 | 10 |
BambooHR Review
Positive
- BambooHR ensures your workflow remains smooth and hassle-free by integrating major tools such as Slack, Indeed, and Google Suite. No more switching between platforms; this integration unifies your tools for smooth operation.
- It meets the needs of modern work styles with its responsive mobile app. Whether you’re in the office or on the go, you can manage performance while staying connected and in control.
- BambooHR’s centralized database provides each employee with a consolidated dashboard that houses documents, records, and critical information. This centralization makes decision-making easier.
- It displays everyone’s goal progress on a single screen. Managers can easily identify areas for improvement and recognize good performance.
- Peer reviews enrich performance evaluations by incorporating perspectives from colleagues. It ensures that you gain a comprehensive understanding of individual contributions and growth.
- Timely notifications from the platform cover everything from important holidays and payroll updates to personal milestones like birthdays. This attention to detail fosters an environment of engagement and connection.
Negative
- Although comprehensive, BambooHR’s performance review section cannot include custom questions tailored to your organization’s specific needs.
- While the platform’s employee surveys are useful, they could be more customizable and allow managers to delve deeper into employee sentiments and concerns.
- In large organizations, the lack of a searchable Employee ID feature can make it difficult to locate specific employees quickly.
- While BambooHR’s notification feature is useful, it cannot edit notifications before sending them to the entire company. Custom notifications would enable more personalized communication.
- While the platform allows for report creation, many users find the report customization options to be limited. Improving could provide useful information about various aspects of performance management.
- BambooHR does not allow you to download previous data reports. This feature would be especially useful for trend analysis and tracking historical performance.
BambooHR Pricing
BambooHR provides users with the option to choose between two primary plans, the Essentials and Advantage plans, based on their specific needs. BambooHR’s pricing structure is intended to meet a variety of HR requirements.
Essentials Plan: It is a solid choice for businesses starting their HR journey, providing essential yet powerful tools to get them started. It is designed for those looking for a foundational approach to HR management.
Advantage Plan: It is a comprehensive platform that is ideal for businesses that are ready to capitalize on the strategic value of advanced HR practices. This plan includes a comprehensive set of features that enable businesses to drive efficiency, engagement, and growth through strategic HR initiatives.
Performance Add-on: BambooHR offers a variety of add-ons to further enhance its flexibility, including payroll, benefits administration, performance management, and time tracking. The Performance Management add-on promotes a culture of growth and excellence by facilitating goal-setting, continuous feedback, and performance reviews.
| Advantage + Performance Management (Add-on) | $8.75+/user/month |
|---|---|
| Onboarding | Offboarding |
| Applicant Tracking System | E-Signatures |
| Employee Wellbeing Surveys | Training Tracking |
| Customizable Reports | Phone & Chat Support |
| Open API | Performance Assessments |
| 360° Feedback | Employee Goals |
| Automated Reminders | Performance Reports |
Price comparison
BambooHR is undeniably a comprehensive and popular HR software, and it includes performance management tools, but it falls short of its full potential for efficient and comprehensive performance management.
Many organizations could not justify the cost of the BambooHR software. They have a basic plan and some add-on features, but each add-on costs more, which can cause organizations to consider other comparable software, such as JOP, which costs $6.49 per user per month.
| BambooHR | JOP |
|---|---|
| Advantage + Performance Management (Add-on) | Scale Up |
| $8.75+/user/month | $6.49/user/month |
BambooHR Features
BambooHR streamlines the evaluation process, allowing managers to focus on employee strengths and contributions. Assessments of self and managers serve as a starting point for meaningful dialogues, aligning perspectives, and fostering growth.
The platform supports up to four formal review cycles per year, with the option of including impromptu assessments. The ability to skip assessments adds another layer of customization, ensuring managers are able to motivate their teams at the appropriate time.
Reminders and notifications keep everyone on track by encouraging timely feedback and progress updates.
BambooHR facilitates 360° feedback via one-on-one meetings with managers and multi-source feedback.
This allows leadership to gather insights from colleagues and stakeholders who interact closely with employees, providing a comprehensive view of performance.
Users can use the platform to set, track, and share individual and team goals. Automated reminders and notifications keep teams up to date on goal progress and completion.
This feature simplifies goal monitoring by consolidating data into a single, user-friendly report. The Goal Status report provides executives and managers with an in-depth overview of departmental progress, allowing them to make informed decisions and provide timely assistance.
BambooHR’s performance reports provide valuable insights to managers, assisting them in understanding how to effectively support their teams.
These reports provide a visual representation of performance trends and patterns, making it easier to recognize and reward top performers.
Furthermore, the platform provides company-wide performance reporting, allowing organizations to track and analyze performance evaluations over time. This data-driven strategy promotes informed decision-making and strategic planning.
Conclusion
BambooHR is a comprehensive HR solution, with a noteworthy performance management tool available as a separate add-on.
While BambooHR’s performance management platform provides adequate functionality, its value must be evaluated in the context of the larger picture.
The platform’s strengths lie in its holistic approach to HR operations, which offers a variety of tools to meet various organizational needs.
It is important to note, however, that in the case of performance management, some users may find alternative solutions that are more cost-effective and provide better or comparable value.
This comprehensive review includes an in-depth examination of BambooHR’s pricing and features, as well as a fair comparison with JOP.
With this comprehensive information at your disposal, you’ll be well-equipped to make an informed decision tailored to your specific needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, BambooHR can integrate with Slack, Microsoft Teams, G-suite, and many other tools.
Yes, you can use BambooHR for small, medium, and large businesses.
- Performance
- Assessments
- 360° Feedback
- Employee Goals
- Automated Reminders
- Performance Reports
- JOP (Joy of
- Performing)
- Culture Amp
- 15Five
- Leapsome
- Engagedly
