Betterworks vs. SAP SuccessFactors
SAP SuccessFactors has a performance module
Betterworks has the
performance behavior
SAP SuccessFactors is a trusted, enterprise-grade HCM suite — payroll, talent, learning, and performance in one system. But when performance is one module inside a much bigger suite, it's often the one managers and employees use the least. Betterworks seamlessly layers on top as a dedicated performance platform built around a simple idea: performance only works if people actually use it.
Over two million employees run performance on Betterworks
4.5 on Gartner
Capability isn’t the same as usage
The old way
SAP SuccessFactors offers a broad range of performance management capabilities
But in practice, a cumbersome experience and workflow friction limit manager and employee engagement between formal review cycles — leaving performance as a periodic, HR-driven process rather than a regular activity.
The Betterworks way
Betterworks was purpose-built to make performance a habit
Not an event — goals, feedback, 1:1s, recognition, and talent decisions connected in one workflow, surfaced where people already work. It runs alongside SAP SuccessFactors, not instead of it — SAP stays your system of record; Betterworks becomes the layer that gets people to actually engage with performance year-round.
Where Betterworks leads
Four places the difference shows up
01
Goals built for business execution
SAP SuccessFactors provides the mechanics for creating, cascading, and managing goals. But having goals in the system doesn’t necessarily give employees and leaders a clear, current view of how work connects to company priorities—or make those goals an active part of execution throughout the year.
Explore Goals & OKRsWhy Betterworks
Betterworks makes goals a visible, ongoing part of how the business executes. Employees can see how their work ladders up to broader priorities, while leaders gain visibility into progress and alignment across the organization. Goals stay present in 1:1s, feedback, and performance conversations, with integrations to Jira, Asana, Salesforce, Google Sheets, and more automatically keeping progress current.
01
85%
OKR adoption in the first 45 days
02
Performance in the flow of work, not a periodic HR event
SAP SuccessFactors supports ongoing manager/employee dialogue, but the platform experience is a common source of friction — multiple clicks across modules, a learning curve for new users, and processes that feel like an HR task rather than a manager habit. Real engagement often clusters around review cycles instead of happening continuously.
Explore Performance ManagementWhy Betterworks
Betterworks is designed around behavior, not just process — feedback, recognition, and 1:1s happen through Slack, Teams, Gmail, and Outlook, so performance shows up inside the tools people already use instead of requiring a separate trip into an HR system.
02
03
AI grounded in real performance signals
SAP is making a significant investment in AI across performance and talent. But AI is only as useful as the data it has to work with. When managers and employees engage primarily during formal cycles, goals, feedback, and coaching context can be incomplete or outdated—limiting the quality of the insights AI can provide.
Explore AI for HRWhy Betterworks
Betterworks is designed to generate a richer, more current performance record throughout the year. Goals, feedback, 1:1s, and conversations continuously create context for AI-powered summaries and recommendations. Conversational Intelligence captures additional signals from meeting transcripts, while Betterworks MCP makes performance data accessible and actionable through AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude.
03
04
HR owns the performance program, not the HRIS or IT
In SAP SuccessFactors, program changes often require HRIS or IT involvement, and sometimes a certified implementation partner — creating a queue for HR teams that want to adapt their program as the business changes.
Explore Performance ManagementWhy Betterworks
Betterworks lets HR and talent teams own the program they're responsible for — configuring cycles, templates, and workflows directly, without waiting on HRIS or IT. That control lets HR move faster, test new approaches, and keep performance aligned to the business, while maintaining enterprise-grade controls, auditability, and scale.
04
How Betterworks compares to SAP SuccessFactors
Betterworks
vs
SAP SuccessFactors
Goals connected to real work
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
Flow-of-work coverage
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
Meeting intelligence
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
AI for performance
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
Calibration flexibility
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
HR ownership of the program
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
Implementation & ongoing support
Betterworks
SAP SuccessFactors
Trusted by enterprise teams turning
performance into impact
Leading organizations use Betterworks to connect goals, feedback, skills, and talent intelligence — helping HR leaders improve alignment, support managers, and make better decisions.
“Partnering with Betterworks has allowed us to enable year-round performance conversations with our workforce. A dynamic platform where we can modify goals, track progress, and get feedback on a regular basis.”
Humera Shahid
VP of Talent Development, Intuit
“Betterworks is helping us build a culture of regular 1:1 conversations, ongoing feedback and recognition, and goals aligned to our common objectives”
Dolça Freixes Pascual
Talent & Culture Advisor, Ferrer
“Betterworks has helped define employee-manager expectations on both business and behavioral outcomes, leading to increased efficiency and engagement, stronger collaboration, and higher morale.”
Sanjana Sambantham
HR Application Specialist, Collinson
“We wanted to ensure there is transparency, visibility, and alignment across the firm for all the big, audacious goals that matter to us, and we realized that Betterworks is one of the best platforms that can help us turn this philosophy into reality for our employees.”
Vincy Philip
Vice President, Organization Design & Talent Development, Arcesium
98%
completion rates for reviews
“The partnership was very clear, right from the first person I spoke with. There’s a whole team working together to help us succeed — and that’s been true from the support we received through integration to the support we receive today from our client success manager.”
Andrea Malec
Manager of Talent Management and Development, The Driving Force Group of Companies
88%
Employee Role Clarity
“The Betterworks platform has given us the tools to streamline engagement, and it doesn’t feel like a chore. Employees can come in, get it done, and move on knowing that they’ve done what they needed to do to the right level.”
Matthew Meech
Talent Development Manager, LivePerson
75%
Faster Feedback Delivery
“Betterworks has helped us see where we are in relation to our goals, pressure ourselves to think differently, and to be honest with ourselves. …Betterworks helped show us we were not where we needed to be, and more importantly, to understand why we were not there. ”
Mónica Monserrat Cabrera Solís
Manager of Corporate Strategy, Grupo Posadas
97%
OKR Adoption
Experts along the way
Named experts, not a help center. For every customer.
Every Betterworks customer gets a named Program Architect and a designated CSM — with a custom SOW, defined success metrics, and executive business reviews built in from day one.
Our implementation team includes organizational psychologists and change management specialists averaging 10+ years of experience, with 2 months of hypercare support standard after go-live.
Implementation isn't a handoff. It's the start of an ongoing partnership.
90+
Implementation NPS Score
14+
Average years of HR experience on the implementation team
187,000
Largest employee count implemented
Everything Integrated
This isn't a swap-out decision
Already running SAP SuccessFactors for core HR, payroll, or talent management? Keep it as your system of record. Betterworks integrates with SuccessFactors and adds a dedicated performance layer for the goals, feedback, conversations, and talent decisions that happen throughout the year.
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SAP remains your governed system of record
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Employee, manager, and organizational data flows into Betterworks
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Performance and talent data can flow back to SuccessFactors
Ready to get started?
Connect with a Betterworks Expert
We can help your organization drive business impact through performance.
Self-guided product tour
See how Betterworks connects goals, feedback, skills, and talent intelligence.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Is SAP SuccessFactors good for performance management?
SAP SuccessFactors offers broad capabilities across goals, continuous performance, calibration, and 360 reviews. The challenge is that having those capabilities doesn't always translate into sustained engagement between cycles — and when participation drops off, the data available for talent decisions gets incomplete or scattered across spreadsheets. Betterworks is designed to sustain that engagement year-round, keeping context current for managers and talent decisions.
Do we need to replace SAP SuccessFactors to use Betterworks?
No. SAP SuccessFactors can hold your HR data just fine — it's just not producing a live stream of goal progress, feedback, and coaching context for managers to act on. Betterworks generates that signal continuously; SAP SuccessFactors stays exactly where it is underneath it.
What's the difference between Betterworks and SAP SuccessFactors' AI?
SAP SuccessFactors' Joule agents summarize performance information already captured in the system, and its AI roadmap continues to expand. But those insights are only as good as what managers and employees consistently log. Betterworks creates a richer, more current signal year-round — including meeting content captured through Conversational Intelligence — giving its AI more to work with from the start.
We already pay for SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals — why add Betterworks?
Because licensing the module and running an active performance program aren't the same thing. Managers commonly disengage between cycles, and key processes like calibration may end up in spreadsheets to get flexibility the system doesn't offer. That's a talent-decision risk, not a UX complaint — and it's what Betterworks solves.
What happens if we don't add a dedicated performance layer on top of SAP SuccessFactors?
Performance data stays thin between cycles, and talent calls get harder to reproduce or defend to leadership. The gap isn't visible until you need the data — a reorg, a promotion cycle — and it isn't there in usable form.
Is Betterworks built for enterprise organizations?
Yes. Betterworks supports mid-market and enterprise organizations, including large global workforces, with role-based access, localization in 31 languages, and enterprise-grade security.
Does Betterworks include skills intelligence and succession planning?
Yes — skills are inferred from real work signals (goals, feedback, 1:1s) with manager verification, and succession includes readiness and risk-of-loss tracking, generated from active performance data rather than a separately maintained library.
