SAP SuccessFactors Review (2024)

SAP is an industry leading provider ofenterprise resource planning (ERP) software and databases, but it also offers SAP SuccessFactors, an excellent cloud-basedhuman resources(HR) software package geared towards small to midsize businesses (SMBs). Starting at $8 per user per month or as an annual subscription beginning at $85 per employee, it is well organized and with all the features any midsized and larger business will need.

We've reviewed SAP SuccessFactors as an overall HR management suite. However, as the name implies, SAP SucessFactors has outstanding performance management features, which is where the product began. So it's important to note that theperformance managementcategory is where the product earns our Editors' Choice award.

But while it did well as a performance management tool, SAP SuccessFactors did not win our Editors' Choice award in our overall HR software and management system review roundup. That recognition instead goes toBambooHR, which also shares its Editors' Choice award for performance management because it best exemplifies not only a SMB-oriented approach to HR, but also a more fluid paradigm in performance management. This new paradigm elevates job and goal appraisal from a stratified, annual process to an everyday work management tool.

SAP SuccessFactors was a known quantity in cloud-based corporate HR software a decade before launching "Perform and Reward" in 2011 (since rebranded as "SuccessFactors"). This service is the little sister to the company's enterprise-level HR platform and uses the same software code. It targets businesses with five to 500 employees, and includes personnel files, organization chart, goal setting and performance management, and related Android and iPhone applications.

SAP SuccessFactors doesn't include some of the people management tools competitors such asZenefitsandWebHRprovide, most notablybenefits administration(BA). But what it does have is top-notch, which is evident from the moment you create an account. The Setup wizard is a digital butler ready to act at your bidding, asking what task you want to perform and then offering video tutorials and other guides to get you started.

All SAP SuccessFactors users log onto the same home screen dashboard, though system administrators and manager-level users can access more functions than regular employees. The efficiently-laid-out dashboard is organized as a series of tiles representing the software's main operations. There's a to-do list, performance goals and reviews, a tile called "My Team" for tracking members of a workgroup or department, and links to other parts of the tool. Users at any level can customize their dashboard by using a Tile Browser to add or remove tiles.

Adding a New Employee

While some HR software makes simple operations (such as adding a new hire) daunting, SAP SuccessFactors walks you through the process. I used the setup wizard and chose "Add a new employee" to watch a short video tutorial. From there, I clicked Add User to produce an employee form that I filled out with a new hire's information. Anywhere I got stuck, I could hover the cursor over the box to read more instructions on what to do—a nice touch. If I needed to add a bunch of employees at once, I could use a handy tool for uploading the data from a spreadsheet. The system also gave me the option of adding custom fields and sending welcome notes to new hires.

New hire data is automatically added to the Organization Chart, which is reachable from the dashboard's main navigation bar. The visually-oriented Organization Chart shows each employee's photo, a convenient way for a manager to match a new hire's name and face. On the Organization Chart, when I clicked on the employee I'd just added, it pulled up an employee card with their contact info, department, and manager.

The employee card also links to the person's work goals for the year, performance review history, and skills and certifications. If I was logged on as a manager, from the Organization Chart I could send an employee a message from their employee card. Or I could give them a digital badge they could display in their profile for doing well on a project or meeting a goal.

SAP SuccessFactors includes an internal talent search feature, a helpful feature I didn't come across in the other HR software solutions I reviewed. A company owner or HR director could use the talent search feature to do a keyword search of all personnel data for specific skills and competencies. Say you're a retailer that's opening a new store in San Antonio. You could do a keyword search and find all existing employees who speaks Spanish and English and then follow up accordingly.

Goals and Performance Reviews

Performance management has been SAP SuccessFactors' longtime bread and butter. So it's no surprise that it has one of the most thorough performance review modules I tested. This makes it ideal for companies that do rigorous employee evaluations—and the antithesis of pared-down review processes offered by competitors such as Editors' Choice BambooHR.

SAP SuccessFactors divides reviews into two parts: Goals, which managers and employees use to create goals on which to work, and Performance, the actual review process that rates how well they did in achieving those goals. When logged into Goals as an admin or manager, I could pick an employee or team, and then create financial, training, or other goals for them. Or I could pick goals from a goal library that's built into the software. For managers who want to directly link performance to training, SAP SuccessFactors does have a Learning module, though we didn't test it for this review. The solution includes training dashboards for both users and their managers that link to a content network managed internally or through SAP.

To do reviews, I logged into Performance to rate employees on how well they're doing, and rate all of the employees in my department against each other. If I was stuck on how to describe how someone was doing, I could copy and paste phrases from a library of common performance review verbiage—an example of the type of feature that makes this software stand out. Logged in as an employee, I could set goals for myself or complete a self-assessment for my performance review.

At any point in the software, clicking a Support tab on the far right-hand side of the page let me access the SAP SuccessFactors Community Search, a FAQ, and an archive of how-to information called the Knowledge Base. I could contact Support to report or follow up on a problem, chat online with a customer service rep, or dial a toll-free, 24/7 help line for non-technical questions.

Recruitment and Pricing

SAP SuccessFactors now offers a career website builder as part of its SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting solution. Tying this to your HR platform lets you manage employee interactions from A-Z. The tool offersdynamic layouts, templates, real-time site updates, and basically anything you'd find on a consumer website builder. The goal is to make life easier for HR managers who are posting, tracking, and filling positions. When combined with the overall HR platform, this is a nifty integration for HR on every front.

As could be expected from software that pays so much attention to customer service, SAP SuccessFactors costs more than most. Tiered pricing for annual subscriptions starts at $85 per employee for companies with up to 100 employees (equivalent to approximately $8 per employee per month), and drops from there depending upon size of the user base. That puts the minimum cost at least two to three times more thanCezanne HRand premium plans from WebHR.

The Cadillac of Performance Management

SAP improved the system's overall functionality with two new features. Performance & Goals now provides in-depth goals management, performance assessments, and a continuous performance management dashboard that allows for routine check-ins between employees and managers. SAP has also added a mentoring feature that automatically pairs junior and senior employees to provide support for career-minded employees.

SuccessFactors has Android and iPhone apps that mirror the admin, manager, and employee access levels of the web-based tool. The mobile apps, which have similar functionality to apps offered by SAP's competitors, offer limited number of functions, like recording work goals and activities.

SAP SuccessFactors has been in the HR software business for a long time and it shows. SAP SuccessFactors is a good-looking, well-organized HR tool that offers loads of help for getting started and performing routine functions. All of that comes at a cost that's substantially higher than you would pay for rival software, making it one of the more expensive available options. The company's experience is especially evident in SAP SuccessFactors' Goals and Performance modules, which are extensive but could be overkill for companies that don't put that much time and efforts into the review process.

The SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals solutions supports performance management in a number of ways. With Goals Management, managers and employees create, share, and track goals. When logged into Goals as an admin or manager, you can pick an employee or team, and then create financial, training, or other goals for them. Or you can pick goals from a built-in goal library.With Performance Assessments, managers can accurately and objectively assess employee performance relative to specific goals. Through the solution's new Continuous Performance Management capabilities, employees and managers can engage in frequent check-ins and routine performance-oriented dialogue and feedback. With Continuous Performance Management, employees can create activities and capture and share achievements as they happen. Managers can provide simple feedback and coaching. Both managers and employees can capture what's discussed in one-on-one meetings to drive more meaningful ongoing conversations.