Founded in 1999, the company rebranded from Globoforce to Workhuman in 2019 to better align with its core mission: "making work human." Unlike traditional HR software that focuses on payroll or administrative compliance, Workhuman focuses on the emotional and social aspects of the workplace. Its platform helps organizations build a culture of gratitude, belonging, and psychological safety by operationalizing peer-to-peer recognition and continuous feedback.
The company serves large enterprise clients globally, including Cisco, LinkedIn, Procter & Gamble, and JetBlue, processing millions of moments of recognition and gratitude annually.
Core Platform: Workhuman Cloud
The company's primary offering is the Workhuman Cloud, a suite of integrated applications designed to modernize the employee experience.
1. Social Recognition
This is the flagship product of the Workhuman suite. It democratizes the traditional "Employee of the Month" concept by allowing anyone in the organization to recognize anyone else, regardless of hierarchy.
* Peer-to-Peer Recognition: Employees can nominate colleagues for awards based on specific company values or achievements.
* Public Social Feed: Recognitions appear on a company-wide or team-wide social feed (similar to LinkedIn or Facebook), allowing others to "like," comment on, and amplify the praise.
* Rewards Marketplace: Recognition often comes with points that employees can redeem in a global e-commerce marketplace for merchandise, gift cards, or charitable donations.
* Global Fulfillment: The platform handles the logistics of reward fulfillment across over 180 countries, dealing with currency conversion and local purchasing power parity.
2. Conversations
Conversations is a continuous performance management tool designed to replace or augment the traditional annual performance review. It shifts the focus from backward-looking evaluation to forward-looking growth.
* Check-ins: Facilitates regular, structured 1-on-1 meetings between managers and employees to discuss priorities, roadblocks, and well-being.
* Crowdsourced Feedback: Allows employees to request feedback from peers they have worked with on specific projects, providing a more holistic view of performance than a manager's singular perspective.
* Goal Alignment: Helps users set agile, short-term goals that align with broader organizational objectives.
3. Service Milestones
This product modernizes the traditional "work anniversary" award. Instead of a generic plaque or pin sent by HR after 5, 10, or 20 years, Service Milestones creates a social celebration.
* Crowdsourced Content: The system automatically invites an employee's colleagues, managers, and friends to contribute photos, videos, and stories about the individual before their anniversary date.
* Digital Yearbook: On the anniversary, the employee receives a personalized digital experience compiling these memories and messages, turning a bureaucratic date into an emotional event.
4. Community Celebrations (Life Events)
Recognizing that employees are humans with lives outside the office, this module allows teams to celebrate personal milestones.
* Life Events: Teams can create group cards and collections for events such as weddings, new babies, buying a home, or completing a degree.
* Inclusion: It provides a structured way to celebrate diverse life moments, fostering a deeper sense of belonging and community among remote or hybrid teams.
Artificial Intelligence and Analytics
Workhuman differentiates itself through the heavy use of data science and AI to derive cultural insights from the recognition activity on its platform.
Workhuman iQ
Workhuman iQ is the analytics engine that visualizes the "human connections" within a company.
* Network Analysis: It maps the social graph of the organization, showing who is connected to whom, identifying "cultural energizers" (people who uplift others), and spotting isolated employees who may be at risk of turnover.
* Sentiment Analysis: The tool analyzes the text of recognition messages to gauge the overall mood and sentiment of the workforce in real-time.
Inclusion Advisor
Inclusion Advisor is an AI-powered "writing coach" built directly into the recognition workflow.
* Bias Detection: As an employee types a recognition message, the AI analyzes the text for unconscious bias (e.g., using gendered language or vague praise for certain groups vs. specific praise for others).
* Real-time Suggestions: If it detects potential bias or non-inclusive language, it gently nudges the user with suggestions on how to make the message more inclusive and impactful before they hit send.
Services and Events
Beyond software, Workhuman operates as a thought leader and strategic partner in the HR space.
Workhuman Consulting Practice
The company employs a team of industrial-organizational psychologists and change management experts to help clients design their recognition programs. They assist with:
* Program Strategy: aligning recognition criteria with corporate values.
* Change Management: helping leadership teams transition from command-and-control styles to human-centric leadership.
* ROI Analysis: demonstrating the financial impact of improved retention and engagement.
Workhuman Live
Workhuman Live is the company's annual industry conference. It is a major event in the HR calendar, featuring high-profile speakers (past speakers have included Michelle Obama, Bren? Brown, and George Clooney) who discuss the future of work, psychological safety, and civil rights in the workplace.
