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Top 5 HR Tech Tools IT Directors Should Recommend in 2025 (Especially If You're Living in Microsoft 365)

May 27, 2025

Recognize – Employee Recognition That Lives Inside Microsoft 365

Recognize makes it easy to celebrate work anniversaries, for employees to encourage great habits, earn rewards like Amazon or concert tickets, and track culture metrics—all without leaving Teams. If you’re tired of shadow IT and HR tools duct-taped together, this is the grown-up version that actually plays nice with your ecosystem.

Workable - ATS That Works With Outlook

Workable is your no-nonsense hiring platform. It syncs directly with Microsoft 365 calendars and email, so HR can do interviews and scheduling without pinging you for every calendar issue.

Lattice – Performance Reviews Without the Security Gaps

Lattice lets HR run performance reviews, 1:1s, OKRs, and feedback without bolting on 12 tools. And from your side, it’s SOC 2 compliant and integrates with Teams and Azure AD cleanly.

Workleap – Training & Onboarding That Feels Native to Microsoft

Workleap (formerly GSoft) is underrated. It helps HR onboard, train, and ramp up new hires—without IT needing to manually create anything. Works inside Teams and doesn’t feel like another siloed LMS.

BambooHR – Core HR That Supports M365

BambooHR is perfect for mid-sized orgs. It’s lightweight, friendly, and the Teams integration actually works (time-off approvals, updates, etc). Security-wise? They’ve stepped it up big time.

HealthHero – Employee Wellbeing Inside Microsoft Teams

This one’s a sleeper hit. HealthHero brings telehealth and mental wellness tools into Teams. Employees get check-ins, HR gets anonymized insights, and you don’t get another SSO headache.

Polly – Pulse Surveys That Don’t Require a Whole New Tool

Polly runs inside Teams so HR can shoot out polls and surveys without adding another platform to your stack. It’s quick, secure, and employees actually respond to it.

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