Looking for a Workday Alternative for Performance Management?
Workday is powerful for enterprise HR operations. Confirm is purpose-built for performance—revealing who actually drives results through data your HCM can't see.
Why enterprise HCM platforms struggle with performance
Workday is excellent at core HR operations—payroll, benefits, compliance. But when it comes to understanding who's actually high-performing, enterprise HCM reviews and manager ratings only tell part of the story.
Built for breadth, not depth
Workday does everything from payroll to workforce planning. But being an all-in-one platform means performance management is just one module among many—not the specialized, data-driven approach high-performing teams need.
Traditional reviews miss hidden impact
Workday's performance module captures manager ratings and goal progress. But it can't see the cross-functional collaboration that saved the launch, the mentorship that retained three juniors, or the knowledge sharing that made the team more effective.
Implementation complexity delays insights
Workday takes 3-9 months to implement and often requires dedicated HRIS consultants. By the time you're live, your performance problems have already cost you top talent.
What makes Confirm different
Confirm uses Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) to reveal true performance through collaboration patterns—not just manager opinions or self-reported goals.
ONA: See performance Workday can't
ONA analyzes real collaboration data—who people go to for help, who drives decisions, who connects siloed teams. This reveals impact that enterprise HCM systems and traditional reviews completely miss.
- Identify hidden high-performers (the ones too busy to self-promote)
- Spot underperformers with great review scores but low actual impact
- See collaboration health and team dynamics in real-time
- Make promotion decisions based on evidence, not manager bias
Purpose-built for performance
Workday does many things well. Confirm does one thing exceptionally: helping managers understand and improve performance using data-driven insights powered by AI.
Go live in weeks, not quarters
While Workday requires 3-9 months and dedicated consultants, Confirm is live in 5 weeks with white-glove support included. Start getting insights before your next review cycle.
Integrates with your HCM
Confirm doesn't replace your HRIS—it makes it better. We integrate with Workday and other enterprise HCMs to layer performance intelligence on top of your existing system.
Feature comparison
When to choose Confirm vs. Workday
Choose Confirm when you need:
- Deep performance intelligence beyond manager opinions
- To identify hidden high-performers before they leave
- Data-driven evidence for promotion and comp decisions
- To spot collaboration bottlenecks and team health issues early
- Fast implementation (weeks, not months)
- AI-powered coaching for middle managers
- Lower total cost of ownership for performance insights
Best for: Companies prioritizing performance management and talent optimization
Choose Workday when you need:
- All-in-one enterprise HCM to replace legacy systems
- Integrated payroll, benefits, and time tracking
- Complex multi-country, multi-entity HR operations
- Deep customization with powerful rules engines
- Workforce planning and financial management integration
- Enterprise-grade security and compliance controls
- Single system of record for all HR data
Best for: Large enterprises (1,000+ employees) consolidating HR tech stack
💡 Use Both Together
Many enterprises use Workday as their core HRIS and Confirm as their performance intelligence layer. Workday handles payroll, benefits, and HR administration. Confirm handles performance insights that Workday's review module can't provide. They integrate seamlessly—Confirm pulls employee data from Workday and layers on ONA-powered analytics.
What HR leaders say
"Organization network analysis (ONA) is an absolute breakthrough with performance management; it is exceptionally insightful."
"When we learned about ONA from Confirm, it was magical timing. We looked at a bunch of platforms. None of them could do it — not in that way, in such a fast, simple way."
"Confirm is the first tool that lets me see the behavioral side with some evidence. I can quickly get the information to make decisions."
Cost comparison
Workday's enterprise pricing vs. Confirm's transparent, performance-focused model
Workday
- Implementation: $300K-500K (100% of annual fees)
- Timeline: 3-9 months to go live
- Support: Requires dedicated HRIS team or consultants
- Modules: Full HCM suite (performance is one module)
Total first-year cost: $600K-1M+ for mid-market
Confirm
- Implementation: Included (white-glove support)
- Timeline: 5 weeks to go live
- Support: Dedicated success rep included
- Focus: Purpose-built for performance intelligence
Pays for itself by retaining just one top performer
📊 ROI Reality Check
For a 500-person company, Workday's first-year cost (software + implementation) typically exceeds $600K. Confirm's first-year cost is typically under $100K—and customers report 2.5x more top performers identified, preventing costly turnover.
Calculate your Confirm ROIKey differentiators: Confirm vs. Workday
Organizational Network Analysis
Confirm OnlyConfirm's ONA reveals who drives results through collaboration patterns—identifying hidden high-performers and underperformers that Workday's traditional review system misses entirely.
Implementation Speed
Confirm OnlyConfirm is live in 5 weeks with white-glove support included. Workday requires 3-9 months, dedicated HRIS consultants, and implementation fees equal to your annual software cost.
Specialized Performance Depth
Confirm OnlyWorkday is a mile wide. Confirm is a mile deep on performance management—with ONA, AI coaching, and real-time insights purpose-built for identifying and developing talent.
Enterprise HCM Platform
Workday OnlyWorkday provides full enterprise HCM—payroll, benefits, time tracking, workforce planning, financial management. Confirm focuses on performance and integrates with your existing HRIS.
Multi-Entity, Multi-Country Scale
Workday OnlyWorkday's enterprise architecture excels at complex, multi-country operations with custom workflows and powerful rules engines. Ideal for Fortune 500 HR complexity.
Total Cost of Ownership
Context-DependentFor performance management alone, Confirm delivers better ROI. For replacing your entire HR tech stack, Workday's all-in-one approach may justify the premium pricing if you need enterprise-grade HCM.
Already on Workday? Add Confirm.
Most Confirm customers on Workday don't replace it—they augment it with performance intelligence.
The Integration Approach
- Keep Workday for: Core HRIS, payroll, benefits, time tracking, org structure
- Add Confirm for: Performance insights, ONA analytics, AI coaching, hidden talent identification
- Integration: Confirm pulls employee data from Workday automatically—no duplicate data entry
- Timeline: 5 weeks to layer Confirm on top of your existing Workday deployment
Why customers layer both
Workday's enterprise HCM + Confirm's performance intelligence
Keep your Workday workflows—Confirm sits on top
Add performance insights without replacing your entire HCM
Common questions
Can I use Confirm with Workday?
Yes. Most Confirm customers on Workday keep it for core HR operations and layer Confirm on top for performance intelligence. Confirm integrates with Workday to pull employee data and org structure, then adds ONA-powered insights Workday can't provide.
Does Confirm replace Workday?
No. Workday handles enterprise HR operations (payroll, benefits, time tracking, compliance) that Confirm doesn't. But for performance management specifically, Confirm provides deeper insights than Workday's review module through Organizational Network Analysis.
How is ONA different from Workday's performance reviews?
Workday's performance module captures manager ratings and goal progress—traditional review data. ONA analyzes how people actually work—collaboration patterns, who they go to for help, who drives decisions. It's the difference between opinion and evidence.
What about implementation complexity?
Workday typically takes 3-9 months and requires implementation fees of ~100% of your annual software cost ($300K-500K). Confirm is live in 5 weeks with white-glove implementation included at no extra charge.
How does pricing compare?
Workday costs $34-42 PEPM at scale, typically $300K-500K annually for mid-market companies, plus equal implementation fees. Confirm starts at $8/employee/month with implementation included. For performance management alone, Confirm delivers significantly better ROI.
Is employee data safe?
Yes. Confirm is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR compliant, meeting the same security standards as Workday. ONA data is aggregated and anonymized—we never show individual communication content. All data remains encrypted.
Do I need to change our review process?
No. Confirm layers on top of your existing Workday performance review process. Managers still complete reviews in Workday, but now they have ONA insights to inform their ratings and development plans—reducing bias and spotting talent they'd otherwise miss.
What if we're mid-implementation with Workday?
Perfect timing. Since Confirm integrates with Workday, you can add Confirm once your Workday HRIS is live. Many customers launch both in parallel—Workday for core HR, Confirm for performance insights from day one.
Ready to see who's really driving results?
See why forward-thinking enterprises layer Confirm on top of Workday to identify hidden talent, catch problems early, and make data-driven performance decisions.