If you’re in HR, People Ops, or leadership and tasked with picking an employee engagement platform, you know the drill: every vendor promises a “transformational experience” and a “culture of recognition.” Most leave you with a dashboard nobody checks. This guide is for people who actually want a system that works—something your team will use, and that you won’t regret buying.
We’ll break down what really matters in a B2B employee engagement platform, which features are just noise, and how Bonusly actually holds up in practice.
What Actually Matters in a B2B Employee Engagement Platform
Let’s be real: most platforms throw in every feature they can think of, hoping one will stick. But you don’t need everything. Here’s what you should actually look for.
1. Easy, Frequent Recognition
Employee engagement lives or dies on whether people actually use the platform. If giving recognition is clunky, or buried in five menus, people won’t bother. Look for:
- Simple, fast ways to give recognition—ideally in under 30 seconds.
- Integrations with tools your team already uses (Slack, Teams, email).
- Peer-to-peer recognition—not just manager-to-employee.
How Bonusly Measures Up:
Bonusly’s claim to fame is peer-to-peer, points-based recognition. It’s dead simple to give a shoutout: type a message, tag a coworker, assign points, and you’re done. The Slack and Teams integrations are genuinely useful—no extra logins or tabs. Honestly, this is what they get right. People actually use it.
What to Ignore:
If a platform boasts about “AI-powered recognition suggestions,” ignore it. If your team needs AI to remember to say thanks, you have bigger fish to fry.
2. Real, Useful Rewards
Recognition is nice, but people want rewards they care about. The best platforms let users pick what’s meaningful to them.
- Wide selection of digital gift cards, cash-out options, or charity donations.
- Minimal friction to redeem rewards.
- No “points purgatory”—users should know what points are worth and how to use them.
How Bonusly Measures Up:
Bonusly offers a big catalog of gift cards, plus charity donations. Gift cards are for real brands—no weird, obscure vendors. Redemption is straightforward, and you don’t need a PhD to understand the points-to-dollars ratio.
What to Ignore:
Beware platforms that lock you into branded swag or company-logo water bottles. Nobody wants more junk.
3. Solid Reporting and Analytics
If you’re the person justifying the cost, you need data that actually tells you something—not just pretty charts.
- Can you see who’s giving and receiving recognition?
- Are there engagement trends over time?
- Can you break it down by team, department, or location?
- Export options—can you get the raw data if you need it?
How Bonusly Measures Up:
Bonusly’s reporting is good enough for most teams. You can spot engagement gaps, see which teams are slacking, and download CSVs. The dashboards aren’t fancy, but they’re not confusing either. If you want advanced analytics or deep integration with your HRIS, it’s a bit limited.
What to Ignore:
Ignore “sentiment analysis” features unless you have a real data team. Most of these are black boxes and you’ll end up explaining vague scores to your execs.
4. Flexibility and Customization
No two companies run engagement the same way. You want a platform that bends to your needs without months of setup.
- Customizable recognition reasons or “values” tags.
- Adjustable reward budgets by team or manager.
- Ability to run challenges, contests, or campaigns.
How Bonusly Measures Up:
You can customize the “reason” tags to reflect your company values, which is nice. Admins can tweak budgets or set up team challenges. It’s not as customizable as some enterprise platforms, but unless you have a lot of edge cases, it’s enough.
What to Ignore:
Don’t get sucked in by “gamification” features like badges or leaderboards unless your team actually likes that stuff. For most, it’s just noise.
5. Integration with Your Existing Tools
If your people have to log into Yet Another System, usage will tank. Period.
- Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace integrations.
- Single Sign-On (SSO) support.
- APIs for connecting with HRIS or payroll (if you need it).
How Bonusly Measures Up:
Slack and Teams integrations are genuinely usable. People can give recognition from chat without opening the main site. SSO is there, and there’s an API for bigger companies. Bonusly doesn’t try to be your HRIS, and that’s probably for the best.
What to Ignore:
Beware platforms that promise to “replace” your HRIS or payroll. That’s a huge lift and rarely pans out.
6. User Adoption and Engagement
The best platform is worthless if nobody uses it. Look for signals that the vendor actually cares about adoption.
- Training resources and onboarding help.
- Clear, accessible mobile and web apps.
- Reminders or prompts—but not naggy spam.
How Bonusly Measures Up:
Bonusly sends gentle nudges (not too many), and has a clean web and mobile interface. Onboarding’s pretty self-serve, but there’s enough documentation to get going fast. If you want white-glove onboarding, you’ll have to pay more.
What to Ignore:
Ignore vendor claims about “100% adoption.” That’s not real, and you know it.
Features That Sound Good but Don’t Matter (Much)
A quick word on the “extras” you’ll see in sales demos:
- Company-wide newsfeeds: Nice to have, but don’t expect people to scroll through another feed.
- Birthday and anniversary reminders: Fine, but you don’t need a whole platform for that.
- Pulse surveys: These can be useful, but most teams already use other survey tools.
If a platform tries to be everything, it usually ends up being mediocre at all of it.
The Bottom Line: How Bonusly Stacks Up
Where Bonusly shines:
- Actually gets used, thanks to easy recognition and real rewards.
- Integrates with common tools, so people don’t ignore it.
- Clean, no-nonsense interface admins and users can figure out.
Where Bonusly falls short:
- Not as customizable as some enterprise behemoths.
- Reporting is solid, but not deep analytics.
- Onboarding is mostly self-serve—fine for most, but not “white glove.”
Who it’s for:
Teams that want a simple, usable recognition and rewards system without a ton of fluff. If you need a platform to solve cultural issues by itself, you’ll be disappointed—no software does that.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Overthink
Pick a platform your people will actually use. Start small, see if it sticks, and adjust as you go. Don’t get dazzled by feature lists—look for frictionless recognition, real rewards, and honest reporting. If Bonusly checks those boxes for you, great. If not, keep looking—but skip the hype. Your team will thank you.