Kenjo

What Is Kenjo?

The European HR software market has consolidated around a few major players. Personio dominates the DACH region with its all-in-one approach. Factorial has captured Southern European growth companies with its modern interface. BambooHR serves as the US import that European companies adopt before realising its compliance and payroll limitations. Workday and SAP SuccessFactors occupy the enterprise tier.

Between these established players, there is a gap: mid-sized European companies -- 30 to 300 employees -- that need more than basic time-off tracking but less than enterprise HR infrastructure. Companies that want employee engagement measurement built in rather than bolted on. Companies in the DACH region and Southern Europe that need multilingual interfaces and EU-specific compliance without paying enterprise prices.

Kenjo occupies this gap. Founded in Berlin in 2017, the platform delivers core people operations -- absence management, time tracking, digital employee files, onboarding, performance reviews, and organisational charts -- with a distinctive focus on employee engagement. Unlike most competitors that treat engagement surveys as a premium add-on, Kenjo includes employee surveys and eNPS (Employee Net Promoter Score) tracking as a standard feature, reflecting a product philosophy that views engagement measurement as a core HR function, not a luxury.

The company operates as a GmbH based in Berlin with data hosted in German data centres. With an estimated 51-200 employees and Series A funding, Kenjo is smaller than Personio or Factorial but large enough to deliver a stable, actively developed product. The platform's interface is available in German, English, Spanish, and Italian, covering the primary languages of the DACH and Southern European markets where Kenjo concentrates its efforts.

Kenjo does not try to be everything. It does not process payroll directly (though it integrates with DATEV and other payroll providers). It does not offer applicant tracking. It does not provide learning management. What it offers is a focused, well-designed core HR platform with engagement features that punch above its weight class.

Key Features

Absence and Leave Management

Kenjo's absence management system handles the full lifecycle of leave requests: employees submit requests through a calendar interface, managers approve or decline with optional comments, and balances update automatically based on configurable policies. The calendar view provides team-level visibility, showing who is available and who is out, which is essential for managers approving requests.

The system supports multiple leave types -- annual leave, sick leave, parental leave, unpaid leave, and custom types -- each with their own accrual rules, approval workflows, and carry-over policies. For companies operating across European countries with different leave entitlements, the ability to configure country-specific policies within a single platform is a practical necessity.

The mobile app makes requesting leave as straightforward as selecting dates and tapping submit. For employees, this simplicity drives adoption. For HR administrators, the reduction in email-based leave requests and manual spreadsheet tracking is immediate and measurable.

Employee Engagement Surveys and eNPS

This is Kenjo's most distinctive feature. The platform includes built-in employee pulse surveys and eNPS tracking that allow HR teams to measure engagement on an ongoing basis rather than through annual surveys that arrive too late to address emerging issues.

Pulse surveys can be scheduled at regular intervals -- weekly, fortnightly, or monthly -- with customisable questions covering satisfaction, team dynamics, workload, and management quality. The eNPS metric, adapted from the customer NPS methodology, provides a single-number indicator of employee advocacy: would your employees recommend your company as a place to work?

The value of continuous engagement measurement is not abstract. A declining eNPS score can signal retention risk months before resignations materialise. A pulse survey revealing team-level dissatisfaction can prompt management intervention before the situation escalates. For companies where talent retention is a business-critical concern -- and in Europe's competitive labour market, that includes most growing companies -- Kenjo's built-in engagement tools provide early warning capabilities that most competitors charge extra for or do not offer at all.

Performance Reviews with OKR Integration

Kenjo's performance management module supports customisable review cycles with self-assessment, manager evaluation, and 360-degree feedback from peers. The system integrates an OKR (Objectives and Key Results) framework that connects individual goals to team and company objectives, providing context for performance discussions that goes beyond subjective manager impressions.

Review templates are configurable, allowing companies to design review processes that match their culture -- from lightweight quarterly check-ins to comprehensive annual reviews. The system tracks review completion rates and provides aggregate analytics showing performance distribution across teams and departments.

The OKR integration is a meaningful differentiator in Kenjo's price range. Most HR platforms at this price point offer basic performance reviews without goal-setting frameworks. Kenjo's inclusion of OKRs reflects a product philosophy that treats performance management as goal-driven rather than retrospective, which aligns with how modern European companies prefer to approach employee development.

Time Tracking with Shift Scheduling

Kenjo provides time tracking with clock-in/clock-out functionality, shift scheduling, and overtime calculation. The mobile app supports GPS-based clock-in for field workers and remote employees, though this feature should be used thoughtfully given European data protection sensitivities around location tracking.

The shift scheduling feature allows managers to create, publish, and modify shift patterns with employee visibility into their schedules. Shift swap requests and availability preferences are handled within the platform, reducing the back-and-forth communication that typically accompanies manual scheduling.

For companies with desk-based employees, the time tracking is primarily useful for attendance monitoring and overtime management. For companies with shift workers -- hospitality, retail, healthcare -- the scheduling capabilities add genuine operational value by centralising a process that is otherwise managed through spreadsheets or separate scheduling tools.

Digital Employee Files and Document Management

Kenjo provides a digital employee file system where HR documents -- contracts, certificates, identification documents, performance reviews, and correspondence -- are stored securely with role-based access controls. HR administrators can define which documents are visible to employees, managers, and HR staff, ensuring that sensitive information (salary data, medical certificates, disciplinary records) is accessible only to authorised personnel.

The onboarding workflow integrates with document management, allowing new hires to upload required documents (tax identification, work permits, bank details) through a self-service portal before their first day. This digital onboarding process eliminates the paper-heavy first-day experience that still characterises many European companies.

Pricing

Kenjo does not offer a free tier. The Starter plan begins at EUR 5 per employee per month, covering absence management, employee database, and basic reporting. The Growth plan at EUR 7 per employee per month adds performance reviews, time tracking, employee surveys, and advanced reporting. The Connect plan offers custom pricing with API access, a dedicated account manager, custom integrations, and priority support.

For a 75-employee company, the Starter plan costs EUR 375 per month and the Growth plan EUR 525 per month. This pricing is competitive with Personio and slightly below Factorial's Enterprise tier, while offering engagement features that both competitors charge extra for or restrict to higher tiers.

A 14-day free trial is available with access to all features, providing a meaningful evaluation window. Our value assessment scores Kenjo 7.5 out of 10. The per-employee pricing is fair for the capabilities delivered, and the inclusion of engagement surveys on the Growth plan -- a feature that dedicated engagement tools charge EUR 2-5 per employee per month for separately -- represents genuine value.

The main pricing consideration is the tier structure. Performance reviews and employee engagement surveys -- arguably Kenjo's strongest features -- require the Growth plan. Companies attracted to Kenjo specifically for its engagement capabilities should budget for the Growth tier from the start.

EU Compliance & Privacy

Kenjo achieves a strong 9.0 out of 10 for EU compliance. As a German GmbH headquartered in Berlin, the company is fully subject to GDPR and German data protection law. All data is hosted in German data centres, providing the strongest possible compliance posture for employee data within the EU.

The platform includes role-based access controls specifically designed for HR data sensitivity -- ensuring that salary information, medical documentation, and performance evaluations are visible only to authorised roles. Audit trails track all HR actions, providing the accountability that GDPR compliance reviews and works council consultations require.

For German companies with Betriebsrat (works council) requirements, the audit trail and access control features support the transparency obligations that come with works council oversight of HR systems. The DATEV integration enables compliant data export for payroll processing, maintaining the end-to-end compliance chain from HR administration to tax reporting.

Who It's Best For

Mid-sized European companies (30-300 employees) in the DACH and Southern European markets that need a focused HR platform with built-in engagement measurement.

Companies prioritising employee engagement and retention that want continuous pulse surveys and eNPS tracking as a standard feature rather than a premium add-on.

Organisations using DATEV for payroll that need an HR platform with native DATEV integration for seamless payroll data handoff.

Multilingual European teams that benefit from Kenjo's German, English, Spanish, and Italian interface options within a single platform instance.

The Verdict

Kenjo does not try to be the most feature-rich HR platform on the market. It does not process payroll directly. Its integration ecosystem is smaller than Personio's. Its reporting, while functional, lacks the depth of enterprise tools. For large companies with complex HR needs, a broader platform will be necessary.

What Kenjo does well is deliver a clean, focused core HR experience with engagement features that genuinely differentiate it. The employee surveys and eNPS tracking, included as standard on the Growth plan, provide capabilities that competitors either charge extra for or do not offer at all. For mid-sized European companies that believe measuring employee engagement is not a luxury but a core HR function, Kenjo makes a compelling case.

The 14-day free trial provides a low-risk evaluation path. If your primary needs are absence management, time tracking, performance reviews, and engagement measurement -- and you operate in the DACH or Southern European markets -- Kenjo deserves serious consideration alongside the more established alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Kenjo compare to Personio?

Personio is larger, more established, and offers a broader feature set including applicant tracking, payroll preparation, and a larger integration marketplace. Kenjo is more focused, with stronger built-in engagement features (pulse surveys, eNPS) and competitive pricing. Personio is typically the choice for companies that need a comprehensive HR suite. Kenjo appeals to companies that prioritise engagement measurement and want a clean, focused core HR platform.

Does Kenjo handle payroll?

Kenjo provides payroll preparation features -- collecting time data, absence records, and employee changes -- but does not process payroll directly. It integrates with DATEV and other payroll providers for actual salary calculation, tax deduction, and payslip generation. This integration model is common among European HR platforms that operate across multiple countries with different payroll regulations.

Can Kenjo support a fully remote team?

Yes. Kenjo's cloud-based platform and mobile app support remote HR operations including digital onboarding, electronic document management, time tracking, and engagement surveys. The platform does not require physical presence for any workflow. For remote teams, the engagement survey features are particularly valuable as they provide visibility into team sentiment that is harder to gauge without in-person interaction.

What languages does Kenjo support?

Kenjo's interface is available in German, English, Spanish, and Italian. This covers the primary languages of the DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and Southern European (Spain, Italy) markets where Kenjo focuses. For companies with employees speaking other languages, the interface language limitation may be a consideration, though most European professionals are comfortable working in English.

Is Kenjo suitable for companies smaller than 30 employees?

Kenjo can technically serve any company size, but the per-employee pricing model and feature set are optimised for companies with 30+ employees. Very small teams (under 15) may find the platform more tool than they need, and the cost per employee does not decrease at smaller scales. For teams under 20 employees, simpler tools or even well-structured spreadsheets may be more proportionate to the administrative needs.