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20 essential KPIs you should be tracking to improve your marketing

Looking to learn about KPIs and how you can use them to improve your marketing? Then this article is for you!

    What is a KPI in marketing?

    KPI stands for key performance indicators.

    A KPI in marketing is a measurable value tied to the specific objectives of a marketing campaign.

    KPIs help measure marketing effectiveness at the end of a campaign.

    KPIs vs marketing metrics

    Isn’t KPI the same as marketing metrics?

    No, it’s not and you must be able to know the difference between KPIs and marketing metrics.

    Marketing metrics are measurable values that include everything from the number of followers of the brand’s page on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok to website traffic, email subscribers, MQL (marketing qualified leads) and the list can continue. It’s everything you can measure at any given time.

    The KPI belongs to the marketing metrics category, it is indeed a marketing metric itself.

    The difference is that the KPIs are tied to a specific goal of a specific marketing campaign whereas marketing metrics are not tied to a specific goal of a specific marketing campaign.

    Every marketing campaign has one or several marketing goals. To measure how effective your campaign was to achieve your goals, select the appropriate KPIs.

    How are KPIs used to measure performance in marketing?

    Before we talk about how to use KPIs to measure and track performance in marketing campaigns, it’s essential to understand the brand’s business goals and objectives.

    You cannot measure progress if you don’t know what progress looks like. Or what success means for your business.

    So, if you are the leader of your team, share the brand’s business goals for 2021 with your colleagues.

    They could focus on revenue (increase sales), suppliers (replace old suppliers with new, more performant ones), employees (reduce employee turnover), profit (increase profit margin) or market (increase market share).

    Once everyone in your team is aware of the business goals they need to achieve, you can move on to the next step: establishing marketing goals.

    Here are some of the common marketing goals:

    • Increase Brand Awareness
    • Lead generation
    • Promote new products/services
    • Target new customers
    • Increase website traffic
    • Grow your email list

    If your business goal is to increase revenue, what marketing campaigns your team needs to create and run in order to achieve it?

    You could consider implementing several marketing campaigns. For example, a marketing campaign targeted at new customers or a marketing campaign targeted at your current customers with the goal of upscaling. What would you like them to do: buy more in quantity or buy products that are more expensive?

    The KPIs tied to this particular marketing campaign could be 20% new leads generated or 20% customer conversion rate.

    20-essential-kpis-to-track-in-2023-min

    Here are 20 essential KPIs that you should track to measure your marketing performance:

    1. Email open rates
    2. Email click-through rates
    3. Email forward rates
    4. Newsletter signup conversion rate
    5. Social media engagement rate
    6. Social media conversions
    7. New leads generated
    8. Cost per lead
    9. Customer lifetime value
    10. Returning website visitors
    11. Goal completion rate
    12. Marketing revenue attribution
    13. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
    14. Landing page conversion rates
    15. Traffic-to-lead ratio
    16. Lead-to-customer ratio
    17. Customer retention
    18. Content downloads
    19. Referral traffic
    20. Net promoter score

    1. Email open rates

    You worked hard to gain new subscribers to the company’s newsletter, but all is in vain if your emails remain unopened.

    Optimize your headlines. Are you sending too many emails per week? If you do, but your subscribers don’t click the unsubscribe button, then they wish to receive your emails but they are too often which leads to email fatigue.

    2. Email click-through rates

    Your subscribers are opening your emails – that’s great! One of your email campaign goals is to drive website traffic so the email clickthrough rate is an important KPI.

    If you note this particular indicator is unsatisfactory (what value did you set for email clickthrough rates?) because the subscribers are not clicking on the links, you should consider the content and the copy. Is the linked content relevant to subscribers?

    Re-write the copy: don’t use ‘learn more’ to persuade the subscriber to click the link. Get creative!

    3. Email forward rates

    The email forward rate is one of the most important KPIs if you are looking to grow a community for the brand.

    Opening the email and clicking on the content links inside is one thing, but making your message so relevant to your subscribers that they forward it to someone else is a great achievement.

    4. Newsletter signup conversion rate

    How many people did your email subscribing campaign convert?

    This KPI shows how well you were able to find a match between the brand’s offering and their interests, to speak to their values and show them your solution to their pain points.

    5. Social media engagement rate

    They say liking a post is the easiest engagement action that your followers can take whereas commenting is the hardest.

    Having followers that take the time to express their opinion in a comment to your post is more valuable than receiving likes. It also tells the algorithm that this piece of content is sparking conversations which prompts it to show your post to more people.

    6. Social media conversions

    It’s nice to have a big number of followers on social media accounts, preferably in the millions. It is an indicator that the brand is popular and a lot of people want to stay connected with the brand.

    After having said that, let’s also not forget that the algorithm shows your content to a small number of people. Some say it’s under 1%. So this vanity metric is a nice-to-have feature, but it is not essential.

    What is instead relevant is how many conversions does your social content drive? How many clicks to the website? How many email subscribers? How many leads does it generate?

    7. New leads generated

    Generating new leads is paramount for every brand. You need to constantly show your products or services to new leads gently nudging them to the next step in your marketing and sales funnel.

    Check this to get your creative juices flowing: 5 fast ways to generate leads on your website

    8. Cost per lead

    Lead generation is important, but if the cost of acquiring leads is high, you need to take a step back, analyze every stage of the process and see where you can improve it.

    The Pirate Funnel may help you pinpoint where your business is losing customers.

    9. Customer lifetime value

    Customer lifetime value is the total revenue you can expect from a customer during the period that they remain a customer. Or simply put: how much are they worth to your brand? For example, Amazon Prime members are worth twice as much as non-Prime shoppers. Prime shoppers spend $1,340 annually, more than twice as much as non-Prime shoppers, who spend $650 annually.

    10. Returning website visitors

    Having a good amount of website traffic is necessary if you want to run ads, show up in organic search results and gain email subscribers.

    Your website is owned media, it’s where you control the content – your brand is not at the mercy of any social media algorithms. It’s important to measure the number of new visitors your website gets every month. But equally important is to track how many visitors return to your site.

    Returning visitors tell you that your website is a relevant and valuable resource for them. It’s how your brand stays top of mind. It’s also easier to convert returning visitors to leads and then customers.

    11. Goal completion rate

    Marketers set a goal for every marketing campaign they run. The goal completion rate is a KPI that measures the number of people that complete a specific marketing goal.

    How many people subscribed to the brand’s newsletter? How many people have signed up for your freemium offer? It is an important indicator of your brand’s ability to influence to get from the awareness stage to the consideration stage in your marketing funnel.

    12. Marketing revenue attribution

    Every marketer wants to know how much profit their campaigns have generated. The marketing revenue attribution KPI does exactly that: it tracks and credits the company’s marketing efforts with the generated revenue.

    If you are running mobile campaigns, marketing revenue attribution can prove to be a challenge. There are platforms to help you out, it’s only a matter of finding the right one for you.

    13. Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

    Do you know how much it costs your company to acquire a new customer?

    As a business person and a leader, it’s one of the most important numbers you should be aware of. This KPI can be calculated by dividing all costs spent on acquiring new customers (advertising spend, the marketing and sales department salary costs) by the number of customers. Now that you know what your company’s CAC is, if it’s too high, you can start looking for ways to lower it. 

    14. Landing page conversion rates

    Your team has designed a beautiful landing page for your company’s latest offering of products or services. And you are running a campaign to send leads to that landing page with the goal of converting them to customers. The landing page conversion rate KPI shows the performance of the landing page.

    If the page has a poor conversion rate, analyze it to see if the graphics and the copy can be improved.

    15. Traffic-to-lead ratio

    This KPI tells you how many of your website visitors convert to leads. First, you need to establish what exactly means a lead for your brand.

    What do you want your website visitor to do? Depending on what your company offers through its website, it could be anything from a newsletter subscribing, downloading a PDF paper, answering a survey or registering for a 7-day free product subscription.

    If this ratio is unsatisfactory, one of the main questions you should ask yourself is ‘Are you attracting the right people to your website?’

    16. Lead-to-customer ratio

    Now that you have established the traffic-to-lead ratio, the next step is to establish the lead-to-customer ratio.

    From the total number of leads, how many convert into paying customers? How many push the Buy button? What are you doing to convince them to become customers? Are your leads qualified? A qualified lead is someone who could become a potential customer to you, based on criteria and identifying information that they have freely provided.

    17. Customer retention rate

    The customer retention rate indicates the brand’s ability to serve and satisfy its customers so well over a given period of time that they have become loyal.

    It’s every brand’s dream: customers that are happy to continue to do business. If this KPI is high, then you are doing something right. You may also consider designing a brand ambassador program as your next step. We all know that acquiring new customers is more expensive than retaining existing customers. 

    18. Content downloads rate

    Downloadable content is usually hosted on a landing page as a lead magnet. It helps marketers establish if the content is relevant to the page visitors and if the copy is effective. The visitor who downloaded the content is now a lead and the brand can begin a conversation which could eventually result in a sale.   

    19. Referral traffic

    Directing people to your website is hard work and it usually takes 6 to 12 months to see results for some companies or 3 months for other companies depending on the industry.

    Referral traffic is one of those results and describes the people who come to your website from other sites, without searching for your brand on Google. It could be a link on your social media post, or in a blog published by one of your clients. If they are linking back to your website it means your content was helpful to them which in turn helps your brand increase awareness and domain authority. 

    20. Net promoter score

    When we are satisfied with a product or service, we recommend it to our friends and family. It’s one of the most powerful ways a brand can attract customers – word-of-mouth marketing.

    The Net Promoter Score assesses the customers’ overall satisfaction and calculates the likelihood of recommending a company or its products.

    Get the chance to win 100 books on business & personal development

    Winter holidays are upon us and everyone is preparing for a mental wrap-up of 2022 (with all its ups and downs) and making plans for the new and hopefully improved year of 2023. 

    And what better way to prepare for the new year and its challenges than by developing your professional and personal skills? 

    You know what they say: preparation is the key to success. 

    To help you achieve your goals, we are launching today a special challenge: buy at least 2 tickets to BRAND MINDS 2023 and you could win BRAND MINDS’ 100-book library for growth. 

    BRAND MINDS 100 books for growth

    Yes, we are giving away not ten, not fifty, but one hundred books including bestsellers by Brene Brown, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk, Nassim Taleb, Gabor Mate, Jordan B Peterson, Seth Godin, Arianna Huffington, Mark Manson among others. All books are translated into Romanian.  

    If you’re thinking this library could be especially useful to your team, you are correct! 

    The books in our library are carefully selected to help every member of your team because they provide the best A-to-Z business education your team needs to become successful and high performing. 

    Your team will learn:

    • How to grow the business through innovative business strategy frameworks
    • Sales techniques to increase sales conversion
    • Actionable marketing frameworks to generate more revenue
    • New techniques for team engagement & motivation
    • How to become better leaders
    • Tools to ignite their creativity & innovation

    Also, it’s important to note that more tickets means more chances to win: 2 tickets provide one chance to win, 4 tickets – two chances, 6 – three chances and so on. 

    Another advantage is that companies buying tickets for their teams benefit from group discounts.

    Check this page to learn everything you need to know about the challenge

    Good luck to everyone participating!

    6 phrases every good team leader should say to their team

    You have my full support.

    Any good team leader is their team’s first and most enthusiastic supporter. To be a successful team leader, you need to have a successful team. It’s not enough to manage your team, assign tasks and oversee their performance. You need to help them achieve their team goals and individual goals. It’s your responsibility to set them up for success and get them the resources and tools they need to do their job.

    Here are a few ways you can show your support for your team:

    • Communicate on a regular basis and whenever necessary. Don’t tell them I’ve sent every information you need by email, hold a 10-minute meeting to make sure every member of your team understands correctly the project and their tasks.
    • Do 1-on-1 meetings with every team member where they talk and you listen. 
    • Advocate for your team to top management. If they have come up with a strategy to improve the company’s operations, pitch the strategy to top management and find arguments to support the strategy.
    • Create development opportunities. The team who grows together is more agile, creative, has a higher performance rate and brings in more results. Create opportunities for mentorship inside the team and help more experienced team members share their skills with less experienced colleagues. This will nurture trust, skills growth and increased confidence.

    Let me start by bragging about you and this team.

    Take every opportunity presented to you to congratulate your team on their achievements. There’s always something positive you can say no matter how difficult things are. Take a team-focused approach and also an individual-focused approach. The team is successful as a team because team members work together, communicate effectively and care about meeting their goals. That’s something that needs to be acknowledged in front of the top management and the rest of the company.

    I am sorry.

    Team leaders are human beings and like any human being, they can make mistakes. If you have wronged your team or any of its members, take a step forward and come clean. Saying these three little words can be very powerful and have a lasting impact on your team. It shows you are emotionally mature enough to admit your mistakes and being vulnerable in front of your team is actually a sign of strength. No one is right all the time and admitting that would persuade your team to respect you even more than before.

    Tell me more.

    It’s so easy to show your team members that you care about them. Just invite them to talk about themselves and their lives without any judgement coming from you. ‘Tell me more’ is the magical combination of words that encourages them to open up and share essential insights of their lives. It convinces them that you are a leader who cares about them and their interests or about the situation they are going through at the moment. And it feels so good to know that they are more than just employees and that the company cares about them beyond ROI or KPIs. It strengthens the bond between them and the company. 

    What can I do to help you be more successful?

    All employees want to be successful at their jobs and be seen by their team leader and top management. So ask them what being successful means to them and how you can help them achieve their goal. It’s a great opportunity to listen carefully and take notes. Do they need the help of a digital tool to increase their productivity? Do they need to take on fewer tasks so they can focus on one or two projects and acquire the mental space they need to be more creative? Do they need to acquire new skills? Would they like to move to a new department or receive new responsibilities? Once you know what their needs are, map the steps or actions you will take together to help them achieve their professional goals.

    What’s one thing you did recently you are proud of?

    No matter how small, every member of your team is proud of something they did lately. Whether it’s completing an individual task on time, helping a team member or just writing a very good email headline, let them tell you what they are proud of. It’s a great way for you to learn what’s important to them and discover small wins that you might not be even aware of. Life happens when we take small steps. We improve with every small achievement we write on our success list. And you, as their team leader, should celebrate with them.

    8 must-read stories about our speakers for 2023

    James Clear – from nearly dying when he was 15 to holding several sports records before graduation

    On the last day of tenth grade, James Clear took a full-force baseball bat in the face from one of his classmates: the bat had accidentally slipped from his hands and hit James right between his eyes.

    The accident was horrific: the blow crushed the bones in his nose causing instant swelling in his brain. He had multiple skull fractures, a swollen nose and shattered eye sockets. He gave wrong answers when asked by the school nurse what year they were in and what President was in office. It took him ten seconds to remember his mother’s name. After that, he lost consciousness and was rushed to the emergency room.

    Shortly after he arrived at the hospital, his body collapsed: he stopped breathing and was hooked to a ventilation machine. The seizures started. The hospital wasn’t equipped to manage his particular situation so he was flown to a bigger hospital where he was placed into an induced coma and underwent emergency surgery to reconstruct his skull.

    The surgery was successful, but the recuperation was long and difficult. He had always dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player and that dream seemed impossible to achieve now. Still, he was determined to get his life back.

    Six years after the accident, he became the best male player at his university and was selected for ESPN’s Academic All-America Team, a unique recognition enjoyed by only 33 athletes in the country.

    By the time he graduated, James had records in eight different sports categories. He received the Presidential Medal, the highest honour in academia.

    He achieved all that after discovering the power of good habits and putting together a system of meeting goals. He never realized his dream of playing in a professional baseball team, but what he did was more important than that: he realized his potential.

    Learn how tiny habits can lead to remarkable results in life and career from Bestselling Author of ‘Atomic Habits’ James Clear, at BRAND MINDS 2023.

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb‘s first two books almost didn’t get published

    Nassim Taleb has confessed in a recent article that writing was a childhood dream. He had always wanted to produce literature. Nothing surprising about that. Except for the fact that his idea of literature was quite unique.

    According to Taleb, “literature should not have explicit boundaries”, a point of view which you can imagine, didn’t go well with publishing houses. His first book, ‘Fooled by Randomness’ was, in his own words, “practically impossible to publish”. The book was a collection of autobiography, philosophy (of probability), mathematics, inductive logic, musings on historical events and financial markets and parables with fictional characters. Publishing houses said the book confused the reader.

    “What’s wrong with confusing the reader?”Taleb answered them unwaveringly in his determination to resist every attempt of editing coming from editors at publishing houses.

    Why? Because he wanted to write his own version of literature, one freed from the limitations of subject and style. This led to his books gaining an aura of ‘unpublishable’ status and Taleb receiving many rejection letters in which editors described with an abundance of details how the books would fail. At that time, book publishing was still a type of business where local bookstores were an important part of the ecosystem.

    While Taleb was struggling to get his books published in Europe, in the US, a new disruptive force was rising: Amazon. Amazon’s ability to connect authors to readers in other parts of the world convinced Taleb to leverage its power and gain awareness and readership.

    Becoming antifragile in a world dominated by uncertainty and risks is essential for the survival of the company.

    Renée Mauborgne has created 20 strategy tools to help businesses adopt the Blue Ocean Strategy

    Blue Ocean Strategy is based on a 10-year study of strategic business moves across 30 industries.

    What prompted this study?

    Seeing American companies lose customers and market shares, in the early 1990s, to a new competitor who was coming from outside of the country: Japanese companies.

    Global competition was changing everything for companies anywhere in the world. The markets were becoming crowded. For the first time since World War II, demand didn’t exceed supply. Businesses were entering a new era and the old business strategies were becoming obsolete. It was time to design new business strategies.

    Renée Mauborgne’s and Chan W Kim’s Blue Ocean Strategy concept was powerful and research-based and was soon embraced by millions of executives around the world. But while they saw the value of the strategy, they didn’t know how to adopt it. That’s when Renée and Chan created templates and frameworks to help businesses shift from red oceans to blue oceans.

    These strategy tools are: Value Innovation, Strategy Canvas, Buyer Utility Map, Three Tiers of Noncustomers, Six Paths Frameworks, Four Actions Framework, ERRC Grid, PMS Map, Price Corridor of the Mass, Sequence of Creating a Blue Ocean, Five steps to a Blue Ocean Shift, Three Components of a Blue Ocean Shift, Three Components of Humanness, Four Hurdles to Strategy Execution, Fair Process, Tipping Point Leadership, Blue Ocean Leadership v Conventional Leadership, Leadership Canvas, Leadership Grid and Costs of Disengaged Employees.

    At BRAND MINDS 2023, Bestselling Author of ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ & ‘Blue Ocean Shift’ Renée Mauborgne taught participants how to uncover new markets and create exceptional business growth.

    Neil Patel began learning digital marketing at 18 to market his company

    Growing up, Neil Patel was surrounded by family members running multiple companies and being successful entrepreneurs. When he was a little boy, he was always thinking about what he could do to become an entrepreneur. He did odd jobs for a while like selling vacuums or working at a grocery store.

    Not yet 18, he started his first company, a job board, called Advice Monkey. He quickly realized that if the company was to be successful, he had to market the company’s website on the internet.

    He hired an internet marketing firm to promote his company and fired them a few months later when the firm didn’t deliver any results. Neil went on to hire two more marketing firms with the same result: they took his money but didn’t deliver results. Since all three marketing firms couldn’t bring him relevant results, he decided to learn digital marketing and market the company himself.

    Fast forward two decades and Neil Patel is one of the world’s most experienced digital marketing experts. His website neilpatel.com is one of the top 10 marketing blogs in the world and has been selected by President Obama in the Top 100 entrepreneurs under the age of 30.

    At BRAND MINDS participants learned how to reach more customers from Digital Marketing Expert Neil Patel, live, on stage.

    Lynda Gratton’s insights and vision helped Japan design a new human resources strategy for its citizens of all ages

    ‘The 100-Year Life’, Lynda Gratton’s book about longevity and societal change was published in 2016 and earned modest sales. But when the translated version was published in Japan a few months later, it quickly went on to become a national bestseller. The country with the world’s highest number of senior citizens acknowledged the issues presented in the book and recognized the immediate need to design a nationwide strategy for its people.

    In September 2017, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe established the Council for Designing 100-Year Life Society whose goal was to create a society in which all citizens are dynamically engaged and equally contributing to the country’s development. Lynda Gratton accepted his invitation to serve on the Council and help him outline a revolutionary human resource strategy to reform the work style of the Japanese people and increase productivity.

    The Council’s reforms have yielded positive results: they introduced the concept of lifelong learning, future of work and increased employment rate among senior citizens.

    Learning new strategies for employee engagement and retention from Future of Work Strategy Expert at London Business School Lynda Gratton was highly appreciated by participants at BRAND MINDS 2023.

    Anne-Marie Imafidon made history in England when she became the youngest girl ever to pass A-level Computing at the age 11

    And she was only 20 when she got her master’s in Maths and Computer Science from the University of Oxford. She worked for a number of investment banks but then in 2013 set up Stemettes, an award-winning social initiative, dedicated to inspiring and promoting the next generation of young women in the STEM sectors.

    She was 27 when she was awarded an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) for her services in UK tech. Other MBE holders are multiple Grammy winners Adele and Ed Sheeran.

    At 30, she was voted the most influential woman in tech in the UK by Computer Weekly. She has 6 honorary doctorates, is the President of the British Science Association and was listed as one of the BBC’s 100 inspirational and innovative women. She has achieved what others achieve in a lifetime and she is only 32.

    How did this extraordinary life begin?

    Anne-Marie was born in London, to Nigerian parents, the eldest of five children. Education was very important to her parents. She grew up in a progressive environment where she and her siblings were allowed to experiment with everything. One of her earliest memories is playing on her dad’s computer when she was four or taking apart the VCR to see where her favourite animation characters came from.

    Drawing from her wealth of knowledge and experience, Tech Leadership Expert Anne-Marie Imafidon has seen how Artificial Intelligence is influencing the future of work and the business environment and had unique insights to share with participants at BRAND MINDS 2023.

    Blair Singer has been advising Robert Kiyosaki on sales for over 25 years

    Blair Singer first met Rich Dad Poor Dad Bestselling author Robert Kiyosaki in 1980 when they were both struggling entrepreneurs.

    Blair became a Rich Dad Advisor in the early 1990s. The team was originally assembled by Robert Kiyosaki to provide him with business and investing advice. Blair’s role in the team is that of the Business & Sales Expert. The team meets once a week and Blair’s responsibility is to teach Robert and the rest of the team about sales.

    You could say that seasoned experts like Robert Kiyosaki and Blair Singer don’t need to learn anything new and you would be wrong. The Rich Dad Poor Dad Advising team nurtures a culture of continuous learning. Every member of the team is both a teacher and a student. Because no one knows everything because knowledge has been growing exponentially.

    That’s why it’s essential for professionals, juniors or seniors to keep learning from experts and each other.

    World Famous Sales Expert Blair Singer shared his proven sales process to increase sales.

    Duncan Wardle convinced NASA to send Buzz Lightyear, the beloved Toy Story character…into space

    ‘Toy Story’ was Disney’s one of the most successful and highest-grossing animation films of all time. In 2008, a new attraction based on the film was launching at Disney Parks and Duncan Wardle and his team were tasked with promoting the new experience.

    A fan of ‘Toy Story’, Duncan knew that Buzz Lightyear’s dream was to fly into space. Though nothing but a toy, many girls and boys loved Buzz and shared his dream. Why not realize his dream and show every boy and girl that if a toy can do it, they can do it too and they should keep dreaming about it?, thought Duncan.

    But how are they going to get NASA’s approval on this “crazy” project? By finding and solving one of the agency’s pain points. At the time, NASA had many challenges they were struggling to overcome one of which was the waning interest of Americans in space exploration. Little interest meant little to no funding from Congress. So Duncan pitched the heads of NASA that sending Buzz Lightyear to space was a great way to introduce a new generation of kids to space travel and to build interest in STEM skills for youths across the country. NASA agreed and Buzz Lightyear spent almost one year and a half in space at the International Space Station firing the imagination of kids and grown-ups alike through contests, learning games and many other activities. The project was a huge success!

    What amazing achievements could your team unlock? Participants discovered first hand at Duncan Wardle’s Innovation & Design Thinking Masterclass, on Day 2 of BRAND MINDS 2023.

    BRAND MINDS is the complete business training your team needs to supercharge your company’s scale-up.

    Share these stories with your team leader.

    3 best creative advertising campaigns of 2022

    McEnroe vs McEnroe for Michelob ULTRA – It’s only worth it when you enjoy it

    John McEnroe is one of the world’s all-time best tennis players. Very talented and hard-working, John was famous for his intense playing style and confrontational disposition which earned him the nickname Superbrat. During his 18-year career, he won many championships, but he didn’t seem to enjoy playing tennis. Now a retired professional athlete, does John still feels the same about playing tennis? Light lager beer brand Michelob ULTRA, whose brand message is It’s only worth it if you enjoy it, reached out to John McEnroe and invited him to share his thoughts on his life and career from a fresh perspective in a very special campaign with the help of high technology. 

    Brand: Michelob UTRA & ESPN

    Campaign type: Sports event

    Awards: 5x Cannes Lions, 1x FWA

    Results:

    10 million views across ESPN’s channels

    Viewership overtook the 2021 NBA finals, making it the year’s most-watched sports event

    Tip to spark your creativity: Find a powerful insight related to your customer that is in line with your brand value and message; find an innovative way to present it to your audience by using the technology available to you.

    Trapped in the 90s for IKEA Spain

    They say you don’t appreciate the things you have until they are taken away. Are you a morning person? You couldn’t imagine your life without your espresso machine which makes the best cappuccinos in the world. Or your healthy veggie shake which you make at home, on your easy-to-use blender. You grab it before heading to the office and puts a smile on your face. Brands are part of our lives and give us pleasure and comfort. What would your life be without them? That’s what IKEA Spain wanted to find out in celebration of 25 years since the brand’s arrival in the country. 

    The year IKEA came to Spain is the year a new generation was born, Gen Z. The Gen Zers grew up with the level of comfort and design provided by IKEA products. What if we showed them what was life like in the 90s before IKEA? And that’s exactly what the creative team behind Trapped in the 90s did. They picked six Gen Zers or IKEA natives, as they named them, and invited them to participate in a reality show where they have to “survive a house with an explosive stove, heavy itchy blankets, rotary phones, smoky mirrors, and dim lights…” The goal of the campaign was to showcase the iconic brand’s impact on people’s daily lives. The participants who won the challenges prepared for them by the IKEA team were given IKEA products making their lives a bit more comfortable. 

    Brand: IKEA Spain

    Campaign type: Reality Show

    Awards: 2x Cannes Lions 

    Results:

    169% increase in deliveries

    Time spent on the IKEA Spain website – from 2 minutes to 18 minutes

    +1.8 million minutes of content watched

    1400% more interactions on social media

    Over 1.5 million euros worth of new products were sold in the first-week

    Tip to spark your creativity: Help your customers see what their life would be like without your brand

    Under Armour: The First Meta Sneaker 

    Whether it’s Second Life, GTA, Minecraft or The Sandbox, virtual world games are all the rage right now with millions of people playing them. The Metaverse has been a hot topic for the past two years and things got more serious when brands joined the conversation. BMW, Gucci, Nike, Disney and Coca-Cola are just a few examples of brands using the Metaverse and creating events inside established virtual worlds like Roblox or Decentraland. The problem with multiple metaverses is that you cannot take your assets from one world to the other. That’s a problem that Under Armour solved by building Genesis Curry Flow, the first wearable NFT with the ability to move between virtual worlds. 

    Brand: Under Armour

    Campaign Type: NFT collection

    Awards: 1x Cannes Lions

    Results:

    The NFT collection sold out

    Raised 1 million US dollars for charity in just 10 minutes

    Tip to spark your creativity: Solve your customer’s problem in an innovative way

    7 key work habits to help you get noticed by top management

    Good habits bring many benefits not only to your life but to your career too. Build the following work habits and you will get noticed by top management.

    7 work habits to help you get noticed by top management

    Work Habit #1 – Respect and achieve deadlines. Speak up if the deadline is not realistic.

    First, make sure you understand the nature of the task at hand and if it’s within your area of expertise.

    Second, ask yourself: Is it necessary to use specific platforms or tools to achieve the project? Tell your manager about that. Does it take more time than estimated? Tell your manager and set a new deadline together. 

    Work Habit #2 – Work intently. What does it mean?

    Don’t work just to check off one task on your list of tasks for the day. Always do your work with the bigger business or team goal in mind.

    Often there are differences between business perspectives inside the company: top management sees things from one vantage point while employees have an equally valuable different touchpoint with the market depending on their job roles (customer service or sales). Whatever the task, find relevant information and extract the insights necessary to help you get closer to your business goals. 

    Work Habit #3 – Ask open questions to uncover areas in need of improvement

    When you ask questions about the company, the business or your job role, you show interest in your employer, and you get noticed as an engaged and motivated employee. You should be able to ask questions whenever you need context or additional information to meet your objectives.

    However, the best time to ask relevant questions is in the first 30 or 60 days as a new hire. Why? Because you speak from an unbiased perspective and provide top management with a fresh overview. This is the perfect time to recommend changes. It’s the now-or-never-moment when you can ask Why do you do this or that operation like that? and if you receive the Because that’s how we’ve always done it answer, come up with improvement solutions.

    Work Habit #4 – Help your team members succeed

    In this time and age, when moving fast and breaking things is essential to the success of companies in every industry, people don’t work in a bubble, they work in a team.

    Successful teams are the ones whose members learn something new from each other every day. In these teams, employees first grow individually, as a professional, and second, collectively as a team. Help your team succeed by sharing relevant info or knowledge with your team members.

    Because teams who learn together, grow together.

    Work Habit #5 – Write improvement proposals in your area of expertise

    The company’s top management is responsible for establishing policies, guidelines and strategic objectives. They set the company on the path to achieving business goals, allocate resources and value employees who are committed to the company’s mission and values.

    Employees who are creative and are always looking for ways to use their experience and expertise to help the company scale up get noticed by top management and are more likely to advance in their careers. 

    Work Habit #6 – Identify problems and come up with at least one solution

    Leadership and top management have an overview of the company and where the business is headed, but they can sometimes have a blind spot concerning areas that need development.

    They simply cannot see what the company is missing, but employees can. If you identify areas where the company is struggling or could use improvement, take one step forward and talk to management about it. Prepare yourself for the meeting: gather stats, relevant insights, talk to colleagues and present at least one solution.  

    Work Habit #7 – Search for professional development courses to hone your craft

    Successful professionals never stop learning. Developing your skill set provides you with the opportunity to become a better professional and improve your results. Search for professional development courses in your industry and show top management how they help you boost performance and achieve business goals.

    Exit Interview: 17 essential questions to ask

    It’s difficult when a good employee announces they are leaving and gives you their 2-week notice. It’s especially hard when they have been working for a long time and have been a valuable member of your team and their decision comes as a surprise. When that happens, you should conduct the exit interview. 

    But first I believe a little context is in order.

    What is the exit interview?

    The exit interview is a one-on-one meeting between HR and the employee. It shouldn’t be conducted in the presence of or by the employee’s direct supervisor or manager.

    The interview consists of HR asking the employee open questions with the goal of understanding why the employee is leaving and what the company can do to improve the environment for the current and future employees.

    HR then forwards the gathered information to upper management so that they can make the necessary decisions to change the company for the better. Employees should also be informed that exit interviews are optional.

    Is the exit interview useful or useless?

    Opinions on how employees should answer the exit questions are divided.

    There are experts who say employees with one foot out the front door should not be honest in their answers for fear of burning bridges even when they have a lot to say about their experience. You never know what will happen in the future so why jeopardize your chance of coming back or lose the opportunity to get a good recommendation for future employers? 

    Others recommend the opposite. If the employee has collected many frustrations and disappointments during the course of their employment with the company, they will more likely want to share them.

    You can recognize the first type of employee by the kind of answer they give which is something along the lines of I’ve enjoyed my time with the company and am ready for the next chapter. They often believe that it’s not their responsibility to help the organization they are leaving and that, anyway, nothing would change if they did. If they cared so much they should have asked me questions when I was still working for them. 

    Stay Interviews or Exit Interviews?

    This brings us to the following question: should companies focus more on Stay Interviews rather than Exit Interviews?

    Stay or Retention Interviews are better tools HR specialists have to discover potential problem areas and practices within the workplace. Stay Interviews help HR to avoid a high turnover rate of employees in the company.

    But do companies conduct Stay Interviews? As per a recent survey, only 28% of respondents’ organizations conducted Stay Interviews in 2020.

    If more companies had done Stay Interviews, would we still experience now the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting? It’s certainly something to think about. 

    If the employee isn’t talking about their experience truthfully, the Exit Interview is pointless and a waste of time for both the employee and HR. 

    To solve this type of situation, the company has a few options. The first is outsourcing the Exit Interviews to independent experts which carries many benefits:

    1. The employees are provided with the psychological safety of being honest about their experience
    2. Because the interviewer is a non-employer, they are not biased which means they are open to hearing whatever the former employee has to say
    3. The employer gets more hard data

    The second option is to wait for 60 days and contact the employee at their new job. The advantage of this solution is that the employee is in a different state of mind, less focused on transitioning to a new job and has now been given the chance to put things in perspective. 

    17 essential questions to ask in the exit interview

    1. Why are you leaving?
    2. How long have you been thinking about it?
    3. What made you make this decision? Was it a specific situation that prompted you to make this decision?
    4. What was your favourite part about your job?
    5. What was your least favourite part?
    6. Name the main challenges that you faced here
    7. how could the team here have supported you more?
    8. Do you feel your worth was being seen?
    9. What could we have done better?
    10. What was your relationship like with your manager?
    11. What was your relationship like with your colleagues?
    12. What could the company have done differently?
    13. What could we do to improve the company in the future?
    14. Would you ever consider returning to the company?
    15. Would you recommend this company to others?
    16. What made you accept the new job?
    17. What is it about the new job that is better than what we offered you?

    Is TikTok replacing Google in search? Yes, according to Google itself

    Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan, who runs Google’s Knowledge & Information organisation, mentioned in a conversation at a tech conference earlier this year, that the search behaviour of young people, especially Gen Z and Alpha is changing.

    He said this:

    In our studies, something like almost 40% of young people when they’re looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search. They go to TikTok or Instagram.

    FORTY PERCENT.

    TikTok picked up on this change in behaviour faster than Google and is adjusting accordingly.

    What’s TikTok’s primary goal?

    To keep users on its platform as long as possible.

    TikTok and all the other social media platforms are looking for ways to make users’ experiences so fun that they don’t WANT to leave. They are also searching for new ways to cater to users’ every need so they don’t HAVE to leave. Looking for a new exciting place to eat out? Don’t need to search on Google, you can search on TikTok!

    TikTok’s latest update confirms its focus on developing its search feature

    To support this new behaviour, TikTok recently announced that its latest update allows users to post up to 2,200 characters in a video description. This means that with more text TikTok can better index search results.

    With the average user spending almost 2 hours on TikTok as per Sensor Tower and Gen Z spending nearly 3 hours according to eMarketer, it’s a golden opportunity for marketers to get on the app and create content for the relevant keywords.

    Here’s another statistic relevant to the amazing influence of TikTok on its users: there are over 24 billion views of #TikTokmademebuyit with users buying all sorts of products ranging from cat brushes to levitating light bulbs.

    For some of these products, TikTok was a powerful sales generator after they went viral.

    Like Clinique’s Black Honey Lipstick, which launched fifty years ago. Last year it was discovered by Gen Z and went viral on TikTok causing it to sell out in every store, including Clinique. Check out #cliniqueblackhoney, it has over  83 million views.

    Another product that blew up on TikTok, also from the makeup vertical, is Maybelline’s Sky High Mascara. Where did it originate? A short analysis shows that it might have begun with this user trying the product on. Her video has 1 million views, the #skyhighmascara has now 711 million views.

    Users searching for products and services on TikTok instead of Google coupled with TikTok giving users bigger video descriptions have huge implications for B2C brands. If you are a marketer working with B2C brands, take a closer look at TikTok and ask yourself and your team these questions:

    Is our customer base on TikTok?
    After seeing our product on TikTok, will they go I gotta have it!
    Are there influencers with engaged communities relevant to our product? Should we work with them?
    Should we build a community on TikTok yourselves or rely exclusively on influencer-led campaigns?

    Before making a decision, here are 2 more insights to provide further guidance:

    TikTok Communities

    Surprisingly, #comedy (1722 billion views), #makeup (307 billion views) and #fashion (185 billion views) are not the only growing communities.

    You should also know about #BookTok, the TikTok community where users share their favourite books. Videos labelled with this hashtag have 79.5 billion global views.

    Recently TikTok announced a new feature dedicated to book lovers in this community developed in collaboration with Penguin Random House. “This feature allows users to link their favourite Penguin Random House books within their videos. Clicking the link directs people to a dedicated page with details about the book, including a brief summary, and a collection of other videos that linked the same title,” said TikTok in their announcement.

    #momsoftiktok is another community of engaged creators with 144 billion views. Surprising, isn’t it? Gen Z is not the only generation on TikTok, Gen Xers and Millennials are on the app too.

    Does your product fall in any of these categories?

    If it does, log into TikTok and see what creators in these communities are talking about.

    What are TikTok creators looking for?

    tik-tok-gen-z-statistics

    Gen Z TikTokers are using the app to express their creativity and find inspiration.

    They are also more likely than other TikTok generations to discover new brands and products on the platform.

    And another insight from TikTok: they love creating tutorial videos about their favourite finds.

    What they expect from brands is to be authentic, entertaining (which doesn’t mean doing comedy) and show real people.

    tik-tok-millennials-statistics

    Millennial TikTokers go on TikTok to watch entertaining content and content that aligns with their interests.

    6 in 10 Millennials on TikTok are parents so they are also watching videos related to parenting (#momsoftiktok, 144 billion views).

    Other video categories include music (63%), food/cooking (60%), comedy (58%), film/tv (55%), sports (53%) and health (50%).

    Top 10 essential leadership skills for managers for 2023

    The top 10 in-demand job skills for 2025 list reported by World Economic Forum (WEF) is outdated.

    There are new job skills employers are looking for and we present them in this article.

    The world is changing at a breakneck pace. New technologies are disrupting industries, different generations with different values are working together in the same office and people are using new ways to communicate and express themselves.

    The workplace is not the same as it was two years ago, let alone five or ten. Leadership and people management are today at a crossroads (see our piece on quiet quitting) and the skills employers are looking for in new hires are changing almost every year.

    That’s why we believe the list of top 10 in-demand job skills for 2025 that the World Economic Forum published two years ago needs updating.

    The Top 10 in-demand job Skills for 2025 Before the Great Resignation

    Every year, the World Economic Forum publishes the Future of Jobs report which showcases various highly useful statistics and data including the top skills required for jobs five years in the future.

    Here are the WEF’s recommendations for 2025:

    1. Analytical thinking and innovation
    2. Active learning and learning strategies
    3. Complex problem solving
    4. Critical thinking and analysis
    5. Creativity, originality and initiative
    6. Leadership and social influence
    7. Technology use, monitoring and control
    8. Technology design and programming
    9. Resilience, stress tolerance and flexibility
    10. Reasoning, problem-solving and ideation

    The problem with the latest report of the forum is that it was published before the Great Resignation and its impact on the global workforce, which began in early 2021. It’s 2022 and the business environment is struggling with a new trend: Quiet Quitting.

    Both the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting are symptoms of the same problem: lack of good leadership.

    It’s not that before the pandemic employees didn’t have leadership. They had. But in today’s world, a world of work-from-home, work-from-everywhere, with a healthier work-life balance, a new type of leadership is required.

    The type of leadership Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School and BRAND MINDS 2023 speaker Lynda Gratton writes about in her article for Harvard Business Review, Managers can’t do it all.

    The Top 10 essential leadership skills for 2023 after the Great Resignation + Quiet Quitting, for Managers

    What are employees looking for in their job roles?

    Values alignment. Millennials and Generation Z are now the largest segments in the workplace. What countless surveys and reports have found was that the members of both generations are seeking jobs in mission-driven companies whose values align with their own. When companies fail to live up to their own values and the employees’ expectations, the employees will take it to the street with protests and call-outs. And I give just two examples: the Google walkouts in 2018, and more recently, the pressure employees and customers have put on brands still doing business in Russia.

    Flexible work schedules. Millennials with families expect their jobs to provide them with a healthy work-life balance where they can spend quality time with their children and spouses. Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z’ers want to run their own business, and the vast majority of them have one pet hobby they would like to nurture and manage so flexible work schedules are important for them too.

    Professional Growth & Development Opportunities. No one wants to do the same job for years and then retire. Employees want to grow as professionals and advance in their careers. They expect employers to provide them with on-site training or offer a training allowance they can use to develop their skills further. According to LinkedIn statistics, Gen Z learners watched 50% more hours of educational content on LinkedIn. Improve my skills to improve your company.

    Opinion heard and Initiative welcomed. There is no bigger satisfaction than working in an environment where your opinion is heard, your input is valued and you are expected and encouraged to improve how the company is doing email marketing, or customer service or product design. When you see how your work contributes to the organization’s larger purpose, it’s the best feeling.

    What skills are managers expected to acquire or develop?

    Performance development. Managers need to shift from performance management to performance development. It’s not enough to monitor and assess performance, they need to support employees in developing their skills which leads to increased performance.

    Communication, Empathy and emotional support. Gallup recommends that managers have one meaningful conversation per week with each team member — 15-30 minutes. They found this helps employees reduce disengagement and burnout.

    S-curve employee learning management. The S learning curve strategy is a great framework to build a winning team and a highly efficient tool for employee development. This framework is the essence of professional development for employees at every stage of their careers. The manager identifies any skills gap the employee needs to close.

    Diversity and inclusion management. Generation Z is the most diverse generation we have ever seen. Managing and nurturing the development of these workers needs to align with the company’s business goals and the development needs of other generations working together in the same office.

    Top 10 essential leadership skills for managers for 2023, BRAND MINDS edition

    1. Performance development
    2. Peer-to-peer and team coaching
    3. S-learning curve management
    4. Communication, Empathy and emotional support
    5. Employee growth culture
    6. Engagement and retaining
    7. Retraining and career coaching
    8. Diversity and inclusion support
    9. Skills gap anticipation
    10. Agility

    Gen Z: 30 consumer behaviour insights

    Gen Z refers to the generation born between 1997 to 2012. The oldest members of Gen Z are 25, have recently entered the global workforce and their annual spending power has been estimated at over 140 billion US dollars, as per Business Insider.

    If Gen Z is your consumer, share these consumer behaviour insights with your team to help you market your product successfully.

    Gen Z: 30 consumer behaviour insights

    1. They are the mobile-first, digitally native generation;
    2. 73% of Generation Z consumers are willing to pay 10% more for sustainable products (Bloomberg);
    3. 53% of Gen Z want brands to offer personalised or customised products (World Advertising Research Centre);
    4. A brand’s ethics and behaviour concerning environmental and socio-political issues are important decision-making factors for Gen Z (PWC);
    5. They are more economical and price-sensitive, and spend less generally; 19% of Generation Z are willing to buy on credit, compared to Millennials, where 30% are inclined to do the same (APPTUS);
    6. They use social media to seek inspiration, research products and connect with their favourite brands (APPTUS);
    7. 60% of Generation Z in the US use Instagram to discover new brands, products and services (APPTUS);
    8. Nearly 40% of Gen Z members (born from 1997 to 2012, according to the Pew Research Center) prefer TikTok for online searches (ABC News);
    9. Compared to older age groups, Gen Z shoppers are less likely to trust companies. Instead, they choose to follow influencers on Instagram and YouTube;
    10. Generation Z embraces mobile payments like mobile apps and mobile wallets;
    11. Gen Z is focused on individual expression and identity in their content consumption. They are more likely to advocate for specific causes that they have researched through online media platforms. And they are more open to discussion with others of differing values and belief systems (Content Science);
    12. YouTube is the most used platform overall with 88% of respondents using it since 2020 – rising to 93% in Gen Z adults (aged 18 – 29) (Exchange Wire);
    13. 62% of Gen Z teens use Instagram, 59% use Snapchat, 67% use TikTok (Pew Research Institute);
    14. Gen Z customers value one thing above all else: flexibility. This is why offering BNPL options, like PayPal’s Pay in 4 solutions, is crucial for attracting the Gen Z market (The Financial Brand);
    15. Gen Z is now spending 43 minutes more per on online shopping than they did before the COVID-19 outbreak (5WPR);
    16. Gen Z trusts influencers the most, with 11% using them as their trusted source for product recommendations – compared to 7% in millennials and 3% and lower in 40+ consumers (Survey Monkey);
    17. 5 things Gen Z will spend money on Electronics and Technology, Discounted Goods, Health and Wellness, Small Businesses, Education (5WPR);
    18. Education: Gen Z is also likely to invest in courses or educational programs that will advance their future earnings (Hubspot);
    19. LinkedIn Learning: Gen Z learners watched 50% more hours of educational content on LinkedIn (LinkedIn);
    20. Gen Z spends 12% more of their time on LinkedIn Learning building their hard skills when compared to the average learner (LinkedIn);
    21. 69% of Gen Zers say they want to learn about a topic they are personally interested in (LinkedIn);
    22. Gen Z strongly prefers learning on mobile devices (LinkedIn);
    23. Gen Z is almost twice as likely as millennials to make a purchase based on a recommendation of an influencer. Brands should look to activate influencers with highly engaged followers that share a natural affinity for their products or services (Rolling Stone);
    24. Gen Z buys from Gen Z. Whether you’re using an influencer or an agency, make sure the authentic Gen Z voice comes through loud and clear. Find people who speak — not mimic — the language (Rolling Stone);
    25. Nearly 1 in 5 Gen Z’ers want to run their own business, and the vast majority of them would like to turn pet hobbies into full-time careers (WGU EDU);
    26. Today’s online influencers don’t have to demonstrate proven expertise in an area or a high-profile endorsement deal. Instead, when it comes to shaping the views of Gen Z consumers, it’s enough for today’s influencers to have an online following around a specific topic, lifestyle, experience, product, service, or outcome;
    27. Gen Z prefers real content over branded promotions. There is a growing trend on this platform called ‘TikTok made me buy it’ with almost 24 billion views (World Finance);
    28. Gen Z’s purchase decisions have not been shaped by advertisements or brand promotions, but ‘normal people’ and some influencers talking about the products and the companies making the product;
    29. Generation Z adults—individuals who are between 18 and 25 years old—proved to be more financially sophisticated than any previous generation was at their age (Investopedia);
    30. About a quarter of Gen Zers hold cryptocurrencies and stocks, and one in 10 own NFTs (Investopedia).

    What is the happiness formula?

    I see myself as a pretty laid-back person, the type of person for whom the glass is half full.

    When I find myself in an unfortunate situation, I always think of ways it could have been worse and I feel a little better instantly. Did I spill coffee on myself? At least it wasn’t hot enough to burn me, I can get the stain out later. Did I forget to pay for the cable subscription this month? No worries, I have so many good books to choose from, I’m actually better off reading than watching some entertainment shows.

    A few years ago, I did the Wheel of Life with a couple of friends as an exercise of personal introspection and discovery.

    The Wheel of Life is a template used by development coaches and anyone looking to assess one’s life and level of satisfaction and happiness.

    I was surprised to find out I had the highest scores among my friends. The dimensions where there was room for improvement were Fun and Recreation, Physical Environment and Finances, where instead of 10 I had chosen 8. So nothing dramatic: who doesn’t want to have more fun with their friends, upgrade their home and have more money to spend? I started thinking: was I really happy with my life or just content with what I had? Am I not ambitious?

    Should I set higher goals for myself? Is achieving them going to make me happier? These are a few questions I still think about now and then.

    Social psychologist Jonathan Haidt believes happiness is achievable and it even has its own written formula.

    Author of The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business and has a PhD in social psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

    In The Happiness Hypothesis (a book I believe belongs in every home), he goes through 500 years of ancient wisdom and classical thought on happiness and presents arguments to support or break ideas that are living or have lived in our collective consciousness, at one point in time.

    Is happiness about having more? More money, more influence, more power. The fault in having more is that nothing will be enough and it will leave you feeling empty because you’re trying to fill your cup with the wrong valuables (I first heard the term filling one’s cup on Oprah, and I loved it. Who else got their first lessons in self-awareness from Oprah, raise your hands!) It’s like trying to plug a hole in the sink with a sieve – pointless.

    Is happiness about being more? It could be if you replace more beautiful with more empathetic; swap a stronger physique with being strong for your loved ones in need. Of course, you can have both; striving to get only the first part will leave you unsatisfied and sad.

    Is total detachment from people and every riches the world has to offer a good solution? Not everyone can be a monk (or a Jedi, whichever you prefer).

    We can also talk about how some people are not happy because they expect the world to conform to their desires. Thinking that the world owes them something or that someone else is always to blame for whatever happens in their lives is a source of pain and unhappiness. Once they make the switch from I want control to All I can control is myself, the rain stops and the sun breaks free from behind the clouds.

    What Jonathan Haidt found in his research is that happiness is strongly determined by human bonds and meaning.

    Here is the formula for happiness:

    H is the level of happiness, S is your happiness genetic setting, C stands for the conditions of your life (sex, age, race, disability etc) and V is for voluntary activities.

    Jonathan found that our level of happiness is determined by our genes, the conditions of our life and the voluntary activities we choose to do.

    We cannot change our race, age or undo our disability; we can only adapt to them.

    However, some conditions are sources of stress and we should do everything in our power to change them.

    They are:

    Noise: variable and intermittent noise interferes with concentration and increases stress.

    Commuting: commuters driving in heavy traffic arrive at work with higher levels of stress.

    Lack of control: changing an institution’s environment to increase the sense of control among its workers, students, patients or other users is one of the most effective possible ways to increase their sense of engagement, energy and happiness.

    Shame: feeling shame about our body is a powerful source of stress. When the orthodontic treatment is successful, not only it results in a beautiful big smile but it also leads to the feeling that a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. It’s freeing to smile and not think about your crooked teeth.

    Relationships: good relationships make people happy. Adapting to bad relationships is not possible. That’s why people divorce, become estranged from their origin family and leave the company because of a bad manager.

    So there are conditions we cannot change and conditions we can change. Imagine having a thermostat in your brain. Some brains are set at 40 degrees (happy people) while other brains are set at 10 degrees (depression-prone people).

    When we improve the environmental conditions, we influence our brain setting (which is more of a range than a set point) and our level of happiness will follow.

    We’ve now arrived at V for voluntary activities.

    Jonathan found that happiness is about doing activities which leverage your strengths and tighten your bonds with your loved ones (friends and family).

    Find activities that make you lose track of time and fully engage your attention: painting, dancing, and having a deep and meaningful conversation with a friend or mentor.

    Being in the flow is one of the most satisfying and rewarding states a person can feel. If people fill your cup, find out how you can contribute to your community.

    Your employees are quiet quitting. How to stop quiet quitting in your company.

    Gallup: Globally, 79% of employees are either not engaged or are actively disengaged at work

    I’m sure you’ve heard the term quiet quitting by now, it has been popping out in the media and on our social media feeds since the beginning of this year’s summer.

    On TikTok especially there are over 140 million views of #quietquitting videos at the time of writing.

    Quiet quitting refers to employees doing the work that is in their job description and not going above and beyond for their employer as they have done previously.

    Source: Gallup

    The various meanings of quiet quitting

    Some creators are talking about “Act your wage, ” a slogan that has been gaining momentum lately. It’s a creative wordplay that links the lack of going above and beyond to the amount written on the paycheck. It’s worth noting that managers are quiet quitting too with only 1 in 3 managers being engaged at work (source).

    Other creators explain the quiet quitting trend by rejecting burnout, finding a healthy work/life balance and saying that they are no longer “subscribing to the hustle culture mentality that work has to be your life”.

    Survey reports show that this trend has been growing especially among Gen-Z employees with polls on LinkedIn showing that quiet quitting is a strong indicator for employees eventually leaving the company and joining the Great Resignation, the trend that’s been sweeping the world for the past two years.

    In my opinion, quiet quitting takes on different meanings depending on the industry and the job’s specifics. For some professionals, it’s not about staying late, working weekends or taking on work that is not in their job descriptions – unpaid work. This is not what is happening.

    How ‘quiet quitting’ is hurting employers

    It’s about losing the enthusiasm of being part of a greater mission, of knowing your work has a higher meaning and your contribution is appreciated. It’s about not offering solutions, not taking the initiative and coming up with fresh ideas on how to achieve business goals.

    It’s about being passive and a Yes man. It’s about giving up and not caring if the business fails or succeeds. And it’s more dangerous for the employer because creativity and innovation stem from being proactive and saying what if we do this or I’ve been thinking about a new way to delight our customers or the x trend is coming, we need to prepare for it or I have an amazing idea for our next marketing campaign.

    When you hear crickets at the next team meeting, know that your employees are quiet quitting and you are in the middle of a burning house.

    But there’s still time to put out the fire.

    brand-minds-fiedlers-contingency-model-of-leadership-min

    Why quiet quitting is especially high among Gen Z employees and why employers should pay attention

    The latest piece on quiet quitting doing the rounds on social media is this opinion article where the author says employees are not ‘quite quitting’, they are in fact working and suggests we use a new term: work for grown-ups.

    The author says that both employers and employees should see the job as a “contractual relationship of mutual respect and clearly defined obligations “ and nothing more. And that employers shouldn’t concern themselves with whether or not employees “love them”, their work has a purpose, and all they need to know in terms of engagement is if they think their work is harming their health if they have a “decent line manager” and if they think they’re paid fairly.

    My thoughts reading this were that the author is oblivious to key traits of employees in Gen Z who will make up 27% of the workforce by 2025 in OECD countries.

    And also that we’re soooo past “decent line manager”. It’s not the 80s anymore!

    I’ll mention just 3 traits influencing Gen Z’s outlook on work-life:

    They want to work for a company that fits their values
    Work-life balance and diversity in the workplace are paramount
    They are expecting opportunities to learn and grow from the employer

    Gen Z is influencing the future of work for everyone in the workforce (Are you concerned about how the future of work influences your workforce? Check this out!).

    Now replace “loving” the company with having shared values, “harming their health” with having a healthy work/life balance and the “decent line manager” with a manager actively invested in their professional growth and we have a view closer to reality as employers.

    How to stop quiet quitting in your company

    The solution is to raise engagement.

    HRs have been traditionally tasked with employee engagement.

    Among Gallup’s findings shared in its 2022 report on employee engagement, one fact stands out:

    Employee engagement is not HR’s job; it’s the manager’s. 

    Because the manager assigns the tasks to team members and knows the workload of every one of them, what are their strengths, what are they struggling with at work and their life outside of work.

    The cause and the solution of quiet quitting is leadership. It’s time for people leading people. 

    How should managers nurture and maintain employee engagement?

    Through ongoing coaching conversations with employees.

    Here are Gallup’s recommendations:

    Managers must see engagement as one of their primary responsibilities;
    Managers must have one meaningful conversation per week with each team member — 15-30 minutes, to help employees reduce disengagement and burnout;
    Employees must see how their work contributes to the organization’s larger purpose;
    Managers need to create accountability for individual performance, team collaboration and customer value.

    Gallup: 12 elements of employee engagement that predict high team performance in critical business outcomes including retention, productivity, safety, sales and revenue

    Source: Gallup’s Building a High-Development Culture Through Your Employee Engagement Strategy Report

    Future of Work Strategy Expert @London Business School LYNDA GRATTON: Focus on your managers

    Lynda Gratton is an award-winning Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School.

    She designed the ‘Human Resource Strategy in Transforming Companies’ programme and has since led it for over 20 years. The programme is considered one of the world’s leading programmes on people and organisations.

    Lynda Gratton has chaired the World Economic Forum Council on Leadership and is currently co-chair of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Work, Wages and Job Creation.

    In her latest article for Harvard Business Review published in the March-April 2022 issue of the magazine, she stated the following findings:

    75% of employees reported that the most stressful aspect of their jobs was their immediate boss
    weekly one-to-ones with managers during uncertain times have amazing results:

    54% increase in engagement,
    31% increase in productivity,
    15% decrease in burnout,
    16% decrease in depression among employees

    As the saying goes, people join companies and leave their managers.{…} Having good relationships with their managers is the top factor in employees’ job satisfaction, which in turn is the second-most-important determinant of their overall well-being.

    Lynda Gratton

    Managers’ role needs to change from traditional, performance management, to what today’s and tomorrow’s workforce needs, performance development.

    Are you an employer? Now is the time to develop your managers’ leadership skills!

    BRAND MINDS 2023 is the best business event for your managers.

    Your team leaders will learn new strategies to grow employee retention and engagement from Future of Work Strategy Expert Lynda Gratton.

    Human Resources managers who have sent their managers and teams to past editions of BRAND MINDS have noticed a significant increase in employee engagement and motivation.

    The participants’ feedback is that BRAND MINDS is a great reward for their hard work and the acknowledgement that their employer cares for their professional growth and development.

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