Best Performance Management Software in Australia 2026

Let’s be honest. Traditional performance reviews are often a box-ticking exercise that everyone, including you, dreads. They can feel forced, outdated and completely disconnected from the day-to-day realities of work. For ambitious business owners, this is  a missed opportunity to inspire and develop your team. For your employees, it’s a missed opportunity for meaningful career development.

Choosing the right tools to fix this shouldn’t be another chore. The market is flooded with platforms, making it tough to find a solution that really understands a growing Australian business’s needs. In this guide, we look at top performance management platforms, breaking down the real pros and cons to help you make an informed call.

What is performance management software?

Performance management software helps you and your team work together to set goals, share feedback and track progress in ways that actually matter. It’s for business leaders who know their people are their greatest asset and want to ditch the one-off annual review, replacing it with a continuous cycle of growth and development.

This software solves a big problem, turning awkward, administrative performance conversations into productive, motivating sessions. You get frameworks for clear objectives (like OKRs), regular check-ins and timely recognition for great work. The best performance management tools build a culture of feedback, not fear. Instead of admin for admin’s sake, you drive engagement, alignment and real business results.

Benefits of using performance management software

Swapping spreadsheets and paper forms for real performance software is about more than getting organised. It’s about building a high-performing culture where your team feels valued, supported and connected to your mission.

• Team alignment: Get everyone pulling in the same direction. Set clear company, team and individual goals. Track progress transparently.
• Stronger  engagement: Regular feedback and recognition make people feel seen. When team members know how their work fits the bigger picture and are recognised for it, motivation shines through.
• Grow your people: Spot skills gaps and build development plans that help your team progress. If you’re invested in them, they’ll invest in you.
• Fair decisions: With continuous records of performance, feedback and achievements, you can make more objective calls about promotions, pay and development opportunities.

Best Australian performance management software platforms compared

We analysed the top options on the market to find the best performance management software for Australian businesses. Our review focused on ease of use, practical goal-setting tools, feedback features and overall impact on company culture.

Feature/Provider	Employment Hero	Sentrient	Culture Amp	forwardHR	Elmo	Prosper EX	BambooHR
Free trial	✓	✓	✘	✘	✘	✘	✓
Core HR Software	✓	✓	✘	✓	✓	✓	✓
Core Payroll Software	✓	✘	✘	✘	✓	✘	✘
Applicant Tracking	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Integrated HR & Payroll	✓	✘	✘	✘	✓	✘	✘
Ease of Use	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Pricing Transparency	✓	✓	✘	✘	✘	✘	✘
All-in-one Platform	✓	✘	✘	✘	✓	✘	✘
Integration Options	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Employment Hero

Employment Hero is more than just performance management software. It’s a complete employment platform. It was built with a simple goal in mind; to make managing people easier so business owners can focus on growth. The platform combines HR, payroll, employee engagement, learning management and work benefits into one seamless system.

This integrated approach gets rid of multiple disconnected tools and gives you a single source of truth for all your employment data. For Australian SMEs, it offers a powerful set of tools that are both easy to implement and a joy to use.

Pros of Employment Hero for performance management

• All-in-one solution: From recruitment and onboarding to performance management and career development, everything is in one place. This saves time, reduces errors and provides a consistent employee experience.
• Drives connection: Features like 1:1s, OKRs, peer feedback and recognition are built-in, helping you create a positive and productive company culture where people feel valued.
• Designed for growth: Whether you have 5 or 500 employees, the platform scales with you. You won’t need to switch systems as your business expands.
• Actionable insights: Customisable performance reviews and happiness scores give you the data you need to understand your team and make better decisions.

Cons of Employment Hero for performance management

• Comprehensive features: For a business with just a handful of employees and very simple needs, the breadth of features might feel extensive at first.

Sentrient

Sentrient is an Australian-based platform that offers a suite of HR and compliance tools aimed at SMEs. It focuses on affordability and simplicity to help businesses meet their legal obligations and manage their teams.

• Description: The platform includes modules for HR management, performance reviews, online learning and safety compliance. It’s designed to be a straightforward solution for foundational HR needs.
• Pros: It’s an accessible and cost-effective option for Australian businesses needing basic HR and compliance frameworks. The interface is user-friendly for essential tasks.
• Cons: While it covers the basics, it doesn’t have the depth in performance and engagement tools that specialist platforms offer.

Culture Amp

Culture Amp, an Australian-founded company, started as an employee engagement survey tool and has since expanded into performance management. It leverages data and analytics to help companies improve their culture.

• Description: The platform’s main strengths are in its powerful survey and analytics tools, which provide insights into employee sentiment. It now includes features for performance reviews, goals and feedback.
• Pros: If data is your focus, Culture Amp provides a strong base of analytics for understanding and acting on employee feedback.
• Cons: It carries a premium price tag that puts it out of reach for many small businesses. Its performance management features can feel secondary to its core survey tools and it doesn’t offer a unified HR and payroll solution.

ForwardHR

ForwardHR is a platform designed to streamline HR processes for Australian businesses. It aims to provide a central system for managing employees.

• Description: The system offers a range of features, including core HR data management, onboarding, performance reviews and leave management. It positions itself as a comprehensive HR information system (HRIS).
• Pros: It consolidates many core HR functions into one place, which can help reduce administrative workload. The performance module includes standard tools for reviews and goal setting.
• Cons: The platform does not include payroll, a critical function for most businesses. Its user interface can feel less modern than some competitors and it may not offer the advanced engagement features found in other tools.

Elmo

Elmo is an ANZ-based provider of cloud HR, payroll and rostering software. It offers a broad suite of modules that can be combined to cover the entire employee lifecycle.

• Description: Elmo provides an extensive range of solutions, from payroll and core HR to performance management, learning and recognition. Businesses can pick and choose the modules they need.
• Pros: The ability to integrate HR and payroll within the same provider is an advantage. Its comprehensive feature set can support larger or more complex organisations.
• Cons: The modular approach can become expensive as you add more functionality. For a small business, the sheer number of options can be overwhelming to implement and manage.

Prosper EX

Prosper EX is focused on employee experience (EX) and performance. The platform is designed to help organisations build a more engaged and high-performing workforce through continuous dialogue and development.

• Description: It provides tools for goal setting, regular check-ins, 360-degree feedback and recognition. The emphasis is squarely on fostering a culture of continuous improvement and communication.
• Pros: Its specialised focus on performance and experience means the features in this area are well-developed. It’s great for businesses wanting to build strong feedback loops.
• Cons: It is a specialist tool and does not include core HR or payroll functions. This creates data silos and requires integration with other systems, which can be a headache for SMEs looking for simplicity.

BambooHR

BambooHR is a well-known international HR software solution for small and medium-sized businesses. It aims to automate many of the administrative tasks associated with HR.

• Description: The platform offers a core HRIS, including employee records, onboarding tools and an applicant tracking system. Performance management features are available as part of its packages.
• Pros: It has a user-friendly interface that employees and managers find easy to adopt. It excels at centralising employee data and streamlining basic HR workflows.
• Cons: It does not offer a native Australian payroll solution, which is a major drawback for businesses seeking an all-in-one system. Performance management is an add-on and may not be as robust as dedicated tools.

How to choose the right performance management software

Start with: what does performance management mean for your business? Don’t chase after every shiny feature; focus on what will actually make an impact. Core functions like real-time feedback, easy-to-set goals and streamlined reviews often move the needle most.

Look for software that plays nicely with your existing tools and gives you proper, accessible support. The best performance management system fits into your workflow, not the other way around and lifts the admin off your plate without creating new friction. Think beyond the price tag, true value comes from software that saves time, empowers leaders and helps your people grow.

Final thoughts

Don’t let old-school approaches put the brakes on your progress. Choose a platform that grows with you, simplifies the process and empowers your business.

Employment Hero is on a mission to make employment easier and more valuable for everyone. Ready to see how? Learn more about our all-in-one HR and payroll platform and get in touch with one of our business specialists today.