Employee Engagement Strategies

My first communications hot take of 2025! 🔥 Traditional PR metrics are dead. Stop counting press releases. Stop tracking AVE. Stop chasing meaningless numbers that don't tell you anything or move the needle. These metrics are a relic of the past. If you're still using them, your strategy is falling behind. (And if your agency is serving up these metrics as proof of their impact, then it's time for a hard conversation.) 🤨 Here's what needs to go: ❌ "Number of press releases" is just vanity. Nope, press releases aren't a strategy—they're a tactic. Publishing isn't the same as reaching. ❌ "Volume of coverage" tells you nothing. A hundred mentions in low-tier outlets don’t compare to one strategic feature that influences decision-makers. ❌ AVE (Advertising Value Equivalency) is meaningless. This was never a meaningful metric. Did you spend that budget on ads? No? Then why measure it like one? It doesn’t capture influence or impact. ❌ "Total impressions" lacks context. Reaching the wrong audience 1M times = wasted effort. Context is important here. If it’s 1M impressions with your target audience that drives some meaningful outcomes—that’s your metric. ❌ "Social follower count" is shallow. Having 50K silent followers is cool and all, but give me 5K engaged people any day. Social is shifting from brand followers to people, making follower count even less relevant. . Here's what (I think) actually matters in 2025: ✴️ Narrative Share (think thought leadership, elevated) → Are you shaping how people think about key issues? → What percentage of relevant conversations include your POV? → Are you leading the narrative—or playing catch-up? ✴️ Share of Voice *Quality* (not just mentions) Focus on: → Authority & Impact: Topic leadership and decision-maker credibility → Message Effectiveness: Perception shifts and resonance → Business Value: Lead quality and customer story impact → Stakeholder Engagement: How key audiences interact and respond ✴️ Audience Journey → What happens *after* someone sees your message? → Do your efforts drive real behavior change? → How are stakeholders engaging, retaining messages, changing behavior, or taking action? ✴️ Community-Driven Influence (beyond basic engagement) → Are you building advocates or just awareness? → What's happening organically in your networks? → Is your community telling your story for you? 🤔 I'll be the first to admit that measuring these isn't "easy" or as simple as open rates. Measuring the metrics that actually matter in PR requires a *mix* of qualitative and quantitative approaches, and it means leaning into tools, methodologies, and frameworks that go beyond surface-level data. 🗣️ Bottom line (and something I've been saying for years): PR isn’t just about getting your name out there. It’s about influencing how people think, feel, and act—to drive business OUTCOMES. If your metrics don’t reflect that, it’s time to rethink them. 📈 What PR metrics are you focusing on in 2025?

How to align your social media strategy with business goals: 🧵 Most businesses have pretty much the same goals: • Increase product awareness to get customers • Get more new customers to make more money • Deepen engagement with customers to make more money Line them up with your social media strategy: • Boost impressions → increase awareness • Solve pain points → get more customers • Show product utility → deepen engagement Think about how to drive impressions and engage your followers on social media. Get tactical about how this informs your content: • Boost impressions: Publish zero-click content on social media. Summarize blog posts directly on LinkedIn. Repurpose content into carousels for Instagram. Make sure every social post offers standalone value that doesn't need additional context. • Solve pain points: Zero-click content should solve your potential customers' multiple problems. Example: An email service provider should offer ideas for clickbaity subject lines. Educate your audience on the broader problems you solve, nudging them toward your solution. • Show product utility: Demonstrate how your existing customers can get even more value from your product. Host Office Hours that demo the latest features. Offer a VIP sale to only select customers. For ecommerce, promote complementary products your customers haven't seen yet. Rinse and repeat over and over again. Experiment accordingly. • Just getting started and need an engagement boost? Don't forget to comment on similar brands' or creators' accounts. • Not seeing likes & engagement? Try different hooks, create new designs, consider different publishing times. • Seeing good engagement with certain content types? Try expounding on sticky ideas and turn the content into a series.

As someone who has benefited from mentorship early in my career, I can’t emphasize enough the power of having a mentor. Mentorship is one of the most effective ways to accelerate growth, yet it’s often misunderstood. A mentor isn’t someone who simply tells you what to do. Instead, they help you reflect on your actions and guide you toward finding your own path to the right answers. They highlight your strengths, helping you build confidence, and show you what you need to develop to progress, beyond just aiming for the next job title. Importantly, a mentor shouldn’t be your manager. A mentor could be a colleague, a trusted friend, or even someone outside your immediate circle. Their role is to hold up a mirror, helping you see where you need to grow, rather than simply cheering you on. My advice? Seek out a mentor who challenges you, and embrace the journey they help you uncover. It’s one of the best decisions you can make for your career and is an experience I’ve valued deeply both as mentor and mentee. #Leadership #Mentorship #ProfessionalDevelopment #Career

In much of the world, digital financial tools are a daily reality—used to process paychecks, pay for dinner, buy groceries, and more. But 1.4 billion adults in low- and middle-income countries still lack access to these tools.    This isn’t just an inconvenience for them; it's a barrier to economic growth and empowerment. According to a 2023 UN analysis, digital public infrastructure—including digital ID, payments, and data exchange—could accelerate GDP growth in these countries by 20 to 33 percent.    That’s where Mojaloop Foundation comes in: Their open-source software makes it possible for countries to build inclusive digital payment systems that allow anyone with a mobile phone to send and receive money securely, instantly, and affordably. This has the potential to drive economic inclusion—and open the doors to financial freedom—for billions.

Too often, work goes unnoticed. But people want to be seen. A recent statistic had me thinking: 37% of employees claim that increased personal recognition would significantly enhance their work output. This insight comes from an O.C. Tanner survey, which leveraged 1.7 million responses from employees across various industries and company sizes. Beyond just feeling nice, recognition emerges as the most impactful driver of motivation. It makes real-time feedback, personal appreciation, and meaningful rewards not just nice-to-haves — they're must-haves to fuel performance. Here are concrete ways you can supercharge your recognition efforts to resonate deeply with your team: (1) Spotlight Specifics: Highlight specific achievements. Hilton’s Recognition Calendar equips managers with daily actionable ideas that turn recognizing real accomplishments into a routine practice. (2) Quick Kudos: Swift praise is so important. Timeliness in recognition makes it feel authentic and maintains high motivation levels. (3) Tailored Cheers: Personalize your appreciation. Crowe's "Recognize Alert" system enhances recognition by transforming client praises into celebratory moments, encouraging recipients to pay it forward. (4) Genuine Thank-Yous: Don't underestimate the power of small gestures. Regular acknowledgments, whether through handwritten notes or intranet shout-outs, create a culture where appreciation is commonplace. You do it, others will do it too. (5) Big Picture Praises: Connect individual achievements to the company’s larger mission. Texas Health Resources celebrates personal milestones with personalized yearbooks that link each person’s contributions to the organization’s goals. Using these practices genuinely and consistently can make every team member feel truly valued and more connected to the collective mission. Each act of recognition builds a stronger, more engaged team, poised to meet challenges and drive success. #Recognition #Appreciation #FeelingValued #Workplace #Culture #Innovation #HumanResources #Leadership Source: https://lnkd.in/e8jUtHZH

Making effective product decisions and securing the necessary buy-in can be hard. Imagine that you are running a product roadmapping workshop to which you’ve invited the key stakeholders and development team members. At the end of the session, you ask, “Is everybody OK with the roadmap changes?” As nobody says anything, you assume that everyone agrees, and you close the meeting. But in reality, most people are still thinking about the changes proposed. To make things worse, it’s not clear who has the final say on the roadmap changes. Is it you, the person in charge of the product, everyone attending the workshop, or the management sponsor? But if you want people to move forward together, they must understand who decides and if a decision has been made. In my latest video, I explain how you can achieve this by using the right decision rule. Here are the five rules I discuss: 1️⃣ Unanimity: Everyone required to make a decision agrees with the proposed solution and is happy to support it. Great for setting the product vision and creating a new product strategy. 2️⃣ Consent: Nobody disapproves or objects. Helpful for making product roadmapping decisions like the one in the scenario above. 3️⃣ Majority Vote: More than half of the people vote for the proposal. Suitable for lower-impact decisions such as setting a sprint goal. 4️⃣ Product Person Decides after Discussion: The person in charge of the product makes the decision after an open discussion. Beneficial when a decision must be made quickly, for example, in an emergency. 5️⃣ Delegation: You empower others to decide, for instance, a cross-functional development team to make UX design and technical decisions. Hope you'll find the video helpful! #productmanagement #decisionmaking #innovation #stakeholdermanagement #decisionrules

Let’s face it - current headlines spell a recipe for employee stress. Raging inflation, recession worries, international strife, social justice issues, and overall uncertainty pile onto already full work plates. As business leaders, keeping teams motivated despite swirling fears matters more than ever. Here are 5 strategies I lean into to curb burnout and boost morale during turbulent times: 1. Overcommunicate Context and Vision: Proactively address concerns through radical transparency and big picture framing. Our SOP is to hold quarterly all hands and monthly meetings grouped by level cohort and ramp up fireside chats and written memos when there are big changes happening. 2. Enable Flexibility and Choice: Where Possible Empower work-life balance and self-care priorities based on individuals’ needs. This includes our remote work policy and implementing employee engagement tools like Lattice to track feedback loops. 3. Spotlight Impact Through Community Stories: Connect employees to end customers and purpose beyond daily tasks. We leveled up on this over the past 2 years. We provide paid volunteer days to our employees and our People Operations team actively connects our employees with opportunities in their region or remotely to get involved monthly. Recently we added highlighting the social impact by our employees into our internal communications plan. 4. Incentivize Cross-Collaboration: Reduce silos by rewarding team-wide contributions outside core roles. We’ve increased cross team retreats and trainings to spark fresh connections as our employee base grows. 5. Celebrate the Humanity: Profile your employee’s talents beyond work through content spotlight segments. We can’t control the market we operate in, but as leaders we can make an impact on how we foster better collaboration to tackle the headwinds. Keeping spirits and productivity intact requires acknowledging modern anxieties directly while sustaining focus on goals ahead. Reminding your teams why the work matters and that they are valued beyond output unlocks loyalty despite swirling worries. What tactics succeeded at boosting team morale and preventing burnout spikes within your company amidst current volatility?

59% of global workers are disengaged at work — known as quiet quitting. For most employees, it's easier to: ↳ Not show initiative to avoid micromanagement, ↳ Never speak up because they know no one will listen, ↳ Avoid taking risks and making mistakes to dodge criticism, ↳ Not share ideas because they feel no one will accept them. To pull employees out of this "quiet mode," leaders must learn to: ⇢ Truly listen, ⇢ Lead by example, ⇢ Stop micromanaging, ⇢ Welcome others' ideas, ⇢ Support employee initiatives, ⇢ Mentor rather than command, ⇢ See mistakes as opportunities to learn, ⇢ Create a safe space for sharing opinions, ⇢ Celebrate team achievements and successes, ⇢ Ask for feedback regularly and use it to improve. The reason for quiet quitting is simple: Employees do the bare minimum at work, because leaders do the bare minimum for company culture. ♻️ Share this post within your network to stop the epidemic of quiet quitting. ☝️ For more valuable content, follow me Victoria Repa.

I think we’re measuring the wrong stuff… and it’s quietly killing momentum. 2026 has to be the year we fix it. Impressions. Clicks. MQLs. “Engagement.” The real game is happening in DMs, Slack threads, forwarded newsletters, and meetings. Here are 6 metrics I’d focus on in 2026 GTM (and why they matter). 1) Conversations → conversions What it is: Of the conversations your content starts, how many turn into a real next step (intro, meeting, opp). Why it matters: Content doesn’t “generate leads.” It generates conversations. Pipeline comes from what you do next. How to track: Tag every inbound convo (DM/email/reply) and mark the outcome: no fit / nurture / meeting / opp. 2) REAL ICPs engaging with content What it is: Not “engagement.” Engagement from the right people (titles, seniority, company tier, intent). Why it matters: 1 CFO at a target account > 1,000 random likes. How to track: Maintain an ICP list (titles + account tiers) and measure: % of engagers who match ICP of target accounts engaged per week repeat ICP engagers (X touches in 30 days) 3) Brand mentions inside ICP-relevant conversations What it is: How often your brand comes up when your ICP is discussing the problem you solve (not when you post). Why it matters: This is the difference between “content that performs” and a brand that gets recommended. How to track: Collect signals: customer calls (“we heard about you from…”), community moderators, partner chatter, dark social screenshots, and sales intel. Even a simple monthly “mention log” works. 4) Conversation velocity What it is: The speed from publish → first qualified conversation, and from convo → meeting. Why it matters: Velocity is the earliest indicator your messaging is landing. If it’s slow, you’re not sharp enough yet. How to track: time-to-first-ICP-convo after a post/report time-to-meeting after first touch “conversation depth” score (comment → DM → problem share → meeting ask) 5) Brand + category position What it is: Are you being associated with a clear “lane” (category/point of view) or just “a vendor who posts”? Why it matters: In 2026, positioning is distribution. If people can’t summarize your POV in one sentence, you’re invisible. How to track: Quarterly “message recall” check: ask prospects/customers: “What do we do?” “What do we believe?” “What are we known for?” 6) Dark social + word-of-mouth What it is: The off-platform sharing that actually drives deals: forwards, screenshots, Slack drops, “my friend sent me this.” Why it matters: A huge percentage of B2B buying happens in private. If your GTM can’t see dark social, you’re flying blind. How to track: “How did you find us?” (mandatory field) inbound screenshots / Slack mentions private replies after posts If your 2026 GTM dashboard doesn’t include conversations, ICP quality, dark social, and category position, it’s going to keep optimizing for attention… while someone else captures intent.

Steps to Set Credible Sustainability Goals 🌎 Setting credible sustainability goals is essential for organizations aiming to drive meaningful, lasting impact. By following a structured approach, companies can ensure their commitments are robust, actionable, and globally relevant. Here’s a streamlined pathway for establishing effective sustainability goals. First, align with global standards. Anchoring sustainability goals to frameworks like the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or the Paris Agreement places these efforts within a global context, signaling a commitment to shared challenges and providing a framework for tracking progress. The next step is conducting a materiality assessment. This process identifies the most critical environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues for the organization and its stakeholders. Focusing on these priorities directs resources toward areas with the greatest potential impact, ensuring the organization addresses what matters most. Setting SMART goals—Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound—makes sustainability commitments clear and actionable. Well-defined objectives provide a foundation for tracking performance, showing stakeholders tangible progress, and reinforcing accountability. Engaging stakeholders is also crucial. Involving employees, customers, suppliers, investors, and communities ensures the organization’s sustainability goals reflect diverse perspectives. This collaborative approach fosters broad support and encourages long-term commitment. Benchmarking against industry peers further strengthens these goals. Understanding where others in the industry stand allows an organization to set competitive, relevant targets. Benchmarking demonstrates a commitment to improvement and alignment with best practices. Finally, seeking external validation enhances credibility. Consulting with experts or using third-party assessments provides an objective review, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement. This validation builds stakeholder trust, showing a commitment to high standards. By following these steps, organizations can set credible sustainability goals that are both impactful and achievable. This structured approach ensures initiatives are grounded in best practices, aligned with global standards, and supported by stakeholders, paving the way for lasting positive change. #sustainability #sustainable #business #esg #climatechange #climateaction #strategy