TalentGuard Performance Management scores people against the skills set for their role, and quotes its price on a call

Should you buy TalentGuard Performance Management?

How TalentGuard runs a review round

TalentGuard Performance Management scores people on the skills and behaviours their role needs. The role profiles come from TalentGuard. Your team works with TalentGuard to set up or import a skills framework. The framework sets out the competencies for each role. A competency is a skill or behaviour the role needs. It also sets the level of skill expected and the requirements of the role. Reviews take their criteria from it.

TalentGuard’s 90-day accelerator starts with 25 to 50 priority roles. The 90 days deliver the role framework. Looking after it needs a named owner, not a dedicated team.

A review has several panels. The behaviours panel holds tailored questions and rating options. The core responsibilities panel checks job skills against approved job profiles. An interim panel covers mid-year reviews. Scales can be BARS, which rates example behaviour at each level, or Likert, which is a numbered scale of agreement.

A review can be open to both the manager and the employee. It can also be employee-only or manager-only. The product offers two levels of sign-off after the employee.

A cascading objectives panel links each person’s targets to company goals. Objectives and key results (OKRs) connect to skills development. The product captures feedback as it happens and runs interim check-ins. The product also has structured workflows for corrective action.

Multi-rater input gathers views from several colleagues. It uses behaviour indicators for each competency. The Optimize bundle includes 360 Feedback, for leadership feedback from several raters.

A readiness engine compares each person’s verified skills with what their role requires. It produces gap scores for every employee, team and business unit. Each person also gets a readiness score for their role. The score is set against the levels used for decisions.

TalentGuard takes employee and organisation data from a core HR system. Examples are Bamboo, SAP SuccessFactors, UKG and Workday. Data can sync by API, which is a direct link between two systems, with an HR, learning or recruiting system. It also supports scheduled SFTP transfers, which are secure file transfers. Its performance product connects with ADP.

WorkforceGPT is TalentGuard’s own AI engine, trained on workforce data. It writes job profiles, skill definitions and skill-level descriptions for a person to review. TalentGuard’s AI can also generate, calibrate and update skills and roles on its own. AI content needs at least one qualified person’s approval before it can count in a decision. The Automate bundle includes WorkforceGPT Copilot. It is an AI helper for managing competencies.

TalentGuard also offers an MCP connector. MCP is a link that lets AI tools such as Claude use a product’s data. This one gives them access to role, skills, proficiency and learning data. Two functions are available today. One scores a job description and fixes it.

Read our guide to performance management software to see how the products split by job. Open the comparison of the products to read their prices and terms in one table.

What TalentGuard does well

What TalentGuard costs and what the contract sets

The table sets out the price, the contract terms and what happens when you leave.

Ask for the price of Performance Management alone, then in each bundle. Ask whether set-up costs extra.

What to ask TalentGuard

1. One of your pages calls TalentGuard a better fit from 500 employees and another puts the minimum at 1,000. Which applies to us? Good answer: A written reply that gives the bundle for our headcount.
2. What does Performance Management cost on its own and in each bundle? Good answer: A written price for each, with every fee listed and any set-up fee shown separately.
3. Does “improve the services” include training WorkforceGPT on our review data? Good answer: A written no, or an opt-out in the order form.
4. Which steps in a review does the AI write, score or suggest? Good answer: A list of steps, with a person approving each one before it counts.
5. Can we shorten the renewal term or the 90-day notice period? Good answer: A one-year renewal and 30 days’ notice, both set in the order form.
6. How do we export every review and rating, and how long do we have? Good answer: A full export in a stated file format, with more than 30 days to take it.
7. What do we receive if uptime falls below 99.5%, and who covers hours outside 8am to 5pm CST? Good answer: A fee reduction and named out-of-hours cover, both in the contract.
8. What does the 76% improvement rate measure, and who measured it? Good answer: A named customer, the starting figure and the method.
9. How many customers run Performance Management today, and can we speak to one? Good answer: A current customer list and an introduction to one in our sector.
10. Which of our HR systems link live by API, and which use file transfers? Good answer: A named list for our system, with the data that moves each way.

Alternatives to TalentGuard

Six other products are worth comparing. They are Betterworks, PeopleFluent, Culture Amp, ClearCompany, SAP SuccessFactors and Workday.

Betterworks sells a Performance package at $8 per user per month. Its Performance plus Talent Intelligence package costs $9. It adds succession, skills intelligence and a unified talent profile. The Enterprise package is custom. Implementation is a one-time cost on top. Betterworks is built for mid-market and enterprise companies.

PeopleFluent sells Performance inside a talent suite. The suite is for HR leaders in highly regulated industries. PeopleFluent sells to mid-to-large enterprises. Users can launch manager, self and 360 reviews. They can also run calibration sessions with managers.

Culture Amp Perform is priced by quote. The price depends on the number of employees, the product and the service tier. It has a tier for enterprises of 1,000 or more employees and a tier for organisations under 200.

ClearCompany has an AI assistant called Review Agent. It drafts evidence-backed reviews in the review form from goals and notes from 1:1 meetings. A Performance Admin Agent does the admin work behind review rounds.

SAP SuccessFactors Performance & Goals passes goals down through the company. It also covers ongoing feedback, coaching and performance assessments. SAP quotes its price on request. A UK reseller’s government price document gives £2.53 per user per month for 1 to 2,000 users, excluding VAT. The price per user falls as numbers rise.

Workday has Sana Coach. It is an AI assistant that drafts reviews, goals and check-in recaps from connected performance data. Sana Coach enters early access at Workday Rising. Workday charges for its AI agents with Flex Credits. These count the work the AI does, not the number of employees.

TalentGuard takes its people data from a core HR system. If you have one, ask its vendor whether its own reviews cover your needs before you buy another product.