Category Archives: B2B

As marketers find more innovative ways to attract audiences, video has become a meaningful part of the strategic conversation.

Video marketing is no longer an “up-and-coming” content strategy. It’s here, and it’s an increasingly powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects.

The HubSpot Blog surveyed 550 marketers to learn about the latest video trends. The most recent data shows that video content isn’t just effective — the demand for it is growing at an impressively rapid pace. Here are the key video marketing statistics you should keep in mind to inform your strategy.

General Video Marketing Stats

1. 36% of marketers say the primary goal of their company’s video marketing efforts is to increase brand awareness and reach new audiences.
2. 37% of companies exclusively create video content in-house, 14% rely on an agency, and 49% share a mix of both in-house and agency-created video content.
3. 69% of marketers say their company owns the production equipment used to create video content.
4. The most popular video editing software is Adobe Premiere Pro, which is used by 61% of marketers.
5. 44% of marketers use an iPhone as their primary camera for video content.
6. 88% of companies surveyed have a team dedicated to creating video content, and 45% of companies with dedicated video support have a team of two to five people.
7. 81% of marketers say their primary company has a budget specifically for video marketing, and 52% of marketers said their video marketing budget remained the same for 2022.
8. 42% of marketers surveyed say creating video content through an outside agency has resulted in better videos.
9. 69% of marketers claim the biggest benefit of creating video content in-house is having more creative control and flexibility.
10. When asked what the biggest benefit of working with an agency to create video content is, 68% of marketers point to higher-quality videos that look more professional.
11. 77% of marketers say their company uses YouTube to host marketing videos.
12. 14% of marketers say their company spends between $7,000 to $10,000 to produce a video.
13. When asked how long it takes to create a marketing video from start to finish, 30% of marketers say it takes two weeks.
14. According to 65% of marketers, production (filming, lighting, and audio) is the most expensive part of the video creation process.
15. 38% of marketers say pre-production (ideation, writing the script, and casting) is the most time-consuming part of the video creation process.
16. 74% of companies optimize videos for silent auto-play.
17. 78% of companies leverage accessibility features in video content. The most common accommodation is video captioning, which is used by 65% of companies.
18. 31% of brands publish two to four videos per month.
19. 29% of companies started prioritizing video marketing in 2019.
20. When asked what the three biggest challenges are when creating video content, the top responses were lack of time to create video content (39%), difficulty creating an effective video strategy (33%), and inadequate budget to create video content (31%).

Video Marketing Performance Stats

1. According to marketers the top three most important factors for creating effective video content are capturing viewers’ attention in the first few seconds (36%), effectively promoting videos (36%), and keeping videos concise (33%).
2. The most effective video promotion strategies according to marketers are promoting videos on social media platforms (63%), adding videos to the company website or blog, optimizing the title and description for SEO, and running paid ads for videos (47%).
3. 44% of marketers describe creating video content as somewhat easy.
4. 59% of marketers found video marketing to be somewhat effective for reaching their company’s overall business goals.
5. 47% of marketers say video marketing is moderately important to the overall marketing strategy at their company.
6. 55% of marketers claim video marketing has an average ROI, and 41% of marketers report video marketing having a high ROI.
7. 32% of marketers found the most effective way to generate leads from marketing videos is to place links to landing pages on social media video ads.
8. The top metrics marketers use when measuring video content performance are view count (44%), watch time (43%), and engagement (41%).
9. 36% of marketers say the optimal length of a marketing video is one to three minutes.
10. 39% of marketers report that short-form videos generate the biggest ROI.
11. 64% of marketers surveyed claim say the optimal length of a short-form marketing video is 20-60 seconds.
12. 41% of marketers found the average watch percentage of their short-form videos is between 61-80%.
13. 26% of marketers say the optimal length of a live video is seven to nine minutes.
14. 40% of marketers claim the biggest benefit of creating video content is to help customers understand its products and services. 36% of marketers say the biggest benefit of video content is that it gets more engagement than other types of marketing.
15. 68% of marketers say content showcasing their products and services generates the biggest ROI.
16. Per 63% of marketers, content related to cultural moments and news stories generates the most video engagement.
17. 59% of marketers have created a video that has gone viral.
18. According to marketers, the most important factors in creating a viral video are making relatable content (28%), keeping videos short (27%), and capturing viewers’ attention in the first few seconds (26%).
19. 24% of marketers say funny content is most likely to go viral.

Social Media Video Marketing Stats

1. According to 58% of marketers, short-form videos (such as TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts), are the main video format they leverage in their roles.
2. The top channels for sharing or hosting marketing videos are social media (76%), blog or website (55%), email (44%), and Vimeo (31%).
3. 67% of marketers say sharing marketing videos on social media (YouTube, Instagram, TikTok) has the biggest ROI.
4. The top social media platform for sharing videos is YouTube (70%), followed by Instagram (60%) and TikTok (35%).
5. 54% of companies plan on increasing their investment in videos for TikTok this year.
6. 64% of marketers say their company has the highest engagement when sharing marketing videos on Instagram.
7. According to marketers, the top social media platforms for generating leads from videos are Instagram (66%) and YouTube (59%).
8. 56% of brands plan on increasing their investment in videos for Instagram this year.
9. When posting marketing videos on social media, 55% of marketers say they leverage a mix of organic and paid content.
10. 27% of marketers said YouTube is the platform they plan to invest the most in for sharing marketing videos in 2022.
11. When comparing the two platforms, 78% of marketers said YouTube was more effective for reaching overall business goals, compared to 8% of marketers who felt Vimeo was more effective for reaching business goals.

As online platforms and consumer habits trend towards video, brands will need to invest in the medium to keep the attention of audiences and grow their reach.

There‘s much more to email campaigns than drafting up some copy and hitting send.

One of the most crucial components is email cadence: the pulse, pace, and playbook of a successful email campaign. In other words, if you can get the right emails to the right customers at the right time, you can get a lot of mileage out of your email marketing efforts.

Let‘s take a deeper dive into what an email cadence is and establish the fundamental principles of structuring a successful one.

The success of an email campaign can hinge upon the effectiveness of its cadence.

If your cadence is too intrusive, obnoxious, or directionless, you can lose out on opportunities to guide leads through their buyers‘ journeys. If potential customers feel pestered or confused by constant, irrelevant newsletters and promotions, they probably won’t stick around to hear what you have to say.

Email Marketing Frequency

In a recent HubSpot Blogs survey of 300 marketers, a whopping 95% reported their email marketing strategy was effective in 2021. Let’s take a look at where (and when) they’re finding success.

When it comes to frequency, here are a few stats to know:

• Emails sent on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday get the most engagement.
• Marketing emails sent from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Tuesday garner the most engagement, followed by Monday and Wednesday at the same time.
• The weekend is a dead zone for engagement — Friday, Saturday, and Sunday have the lowest open and click-through rates.

Another study by Databox found that 33% of marketers send weekly emails, while 26% send emails “multiple times per month.” In addition, 63% said they adjust their send frequency for less engaged subscribers.

Of course, some marketers send emails more than once a week, while others send less. As you‘ll see later, the “right” email frequency is not an exact formula. Instead, it depends on your business and audience.

Here are some best practices to employ to ensure your next campaign‘s email cadence is the best it can be.

1. Understand your goals.

What do you want out of your email cadence? You need to understand where you’re trying to lead your prospects and customers. Are you looking to improve traffic to your blog? Drive e-commerce sales? Schedule meetings? Close deals?

An email cadence guides buyers from point A to point B. You can‘t do that if you have no idea what “point B” is. Your ultimate goal will dictate the strategy behind your cadence. If you‘re trying to do something like increase traffic to your blog, you can stand to lose more subscribers than you would if you were trying to court a group of sales leads into scheduling demos.

If you‘re sending emails purely for the sake of sending emails, your cadence will be aimless and haphazard. Plus, you‘ll waste a lot of time and resources on email campaigns that go nowhere.

2. Try to understand each customer’s mindset.

The whole point of having an email cadence is to hone in on messaging that will resonate most with a specific customer at a given point in time. That means one-size-fits-all, “throw everything at everyone,” impersonal emails won‘t cut it. You need to send your recipients something relevant to who they are as a customer. That often means understanding where they are in their buyer’s journey.

The buyer‘s journey is the process buyers go through to become aware of, evaluate, and ultimately decide to purchase a new product or service. It‘s divided into three stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.

You can‘t expect to target buyers in all three stages with the same message and have it immediately register with them across the board. Different stages — and engagement levels within those stages — warrant different messages.

Additionally, through the wonders of automation, coordinating this kind of strategy is possible. Several kinds of email and marketing automation software allow you to set up the proper infrastructure to tailor email content and timing to suit different leads’ behavior and interests.

3. Personalize when you can.

Think back on all the targeted emails companies have sent you over the years. How inclined have you been to click through ones addressed to “valued customer,” or “to whom it may concern?” I don’t think it‘s outrageous to assume the answer is “not often.”

Why would your customers be any different? A successful cadence relies on your leads clicking through your emails and progressing through their buyer‘s journey. If you‘re sending impersonal mass-email blasts, crossing your fingers, and hoping for the best, your prospects may wind up suspended in buyer‘s limbo.

Fortunately, there‘s a variety of email software that allows you to personalize your subject lines and email content to cater to specific leads.

4. Don’t be too shy.

When planning an email cadence, you shouldn‘t err too much on the side of “I don’t want to bother you.” It‘s easy to get anxiety about losing leads by coming off as obnoxious or intrusive, but you have to understand there‘s a difference between being pushy and professionally persistent.

You’re missing out on sales opportunities if you’re not consistently sending out emails. A big part of email marketing is keeping your prospects and customers engaged. You might become an afterthought if a lead only gets an email from you once every two months.

Email cadences are a matter of strategically striking while the iron‘s hot. You can‘t do that if you‘re too reluctant to strike at all.

5. Don’t be too aggressive.

Even though you shouldn‘t be too passive, you don’t want to be overly aggressive. There‘s a movie from the 80’s called Say Anything. It has an iconic scene where the main character stands outside his love interest‘s window and serenades her by blaring a song called “In Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel from a boombox he‘s holding over his head. She swoons over it, and they ride off into the sunset together on a lawnmower ( … for some reason).

It‘s romantic and compelling. But, if he did that twice a day, every day — playing similar, anthemic 80’s rock songs on her front lawn — she‘d be over it pretty quickly. He‘d have to take his lawnmower and Peter Gabriel cassettes somewhere else.

That‘s essentially what sending emails too frequently in your cadence is like. If your leads receive obtrusive, daily reminders and promotions from you, they‘ll unsubscribe from your mailing list.

6. Hone in on the right frequency for your business.

There‘s no magic figure when it comes to email frequency. It‘s going to vary from business to business. It may take some time to get the right feel for how often you should be sending your emails.

Studying your industry averages for email frequency can provide a solid place to start. A prominent fashion brand routinely sending out new promotions and coupons probably isn‘t going to have the same email frequency as a midsize B2B SaaS company looking to set meetings with decision-makers.

Email frequency isn‘t an exact science. It‘s probably going to take some trial-and-error before you find one that best fits both your business and customers‘ interests.

7. Give your subscribers autonomy.

Always give your subscribers the option to control their own email frequency. Giving them this kind of autonomy can keep them from unsubscribing from your mailing list outright if your email frequency seems like a bit too much for them. Include a link to allow them to update their email preferences as they see fit at the end of your emails.

Customers don‘t always approach email frequencies in absolutes. Even if they‘re overwhelmed by how many emails you‘re sending them, they still might want to keep hearing from you. Give them the freedom to pump the brakes. If they don‘t have the flexibility to do that, they‘ll probably just cut you off.

You should always be putting the customer first. Their personal interests take precedence over what you might believe to be your preferred email cadence.

Back to You

Finding your ideal email cadence might not happen with your first series of automated emails. Still, there are certain actions you can take to take to put yourself in the best position to find the one that works best for your business.

Your main priority should always be your prospects and customers‘ interests. Try to understand where they’re coming from, where they stand in terms of buying your product or service, and what they might want out of you and your business, and cater your email cadence around that.

Worry often comes along with the excitement of a new job. What if you can’t adapt to new people, processes, and team-wide dynamics quickly enough to make a great impression?

Fortunately, there’s a way to organize and prioritize your time and tasks, helping you seamlessly adapt to your new environment: The 30-60-90 day plan. Creating and following an effective plan enables you to soak in as much information as possible, master your core job responsibilities, and make a lasting impact on your new team.

In this post, we’ll cover everything you need to know about building the best 30-60-90 day plan for your new job.

Learning the nuances of your new role in less than three months won’t be easy. But crafting a strong 30-60-90 day plan is your best bet for accelerating your development and adapting to your new work environment as quickly as possible.

There are two situations where you’d write a 30-60-90 day plan: during the final stages of an interview process and during the first week of the job itself. Here’s how each type can be executed:

30-60-90 Day Plan for Interview

Some hiring managers ask candidates to think about and explain their potential 30-60-90 day plan as a new hire. They want to see if they can organize their time, prioritize the tasks they’d likely take on, and strategize an approach to the job description.

For a new hire, a well thought-out 30-60-90 day plan is a great way to help the hiring manager visualize you in the role and differentiate yourself from all other candidates.

Of course, it can be difficult to outline your goals for yourself before you accept a new job. So, how are you supposed to know what those goals are? Start with the job description. Normally, open job listings have separate sections for a job’s responsibilities and a job’s qualifications. Work to find commonalities in these two sections, and how you might turn them into goals for yourself staggered over the course of three months.

For example, if a job requires three years of experience in Google Analytics, and the responsibilities include tracking the company’s website performance every month, use these points to develop an action plan explaining how you’ll learn the company’s key performance metrics (first 30 days), strengthen the company’s performance in these metrics (next 30 days), and then lead the team toward a better Google Analytics strategy (last 30 days).

30-60-90 Day Plan for New Job

The second situation where you’d write a 30-60-90 day plan is during the first week of a new job. If you’re the hiring manager, this plan will allow you to learn how the new employee operates, address any of their concerns or preconceived notions about the role, and ultimately help them succeed.

If you’re starting a new job, and are not asked to craft a 30-60-90 day plan during the first week of that job, it’s still a good idea to write one for yourself. A new job can feel like a completely foreign environment during the first few months, and having a plan in place can make it feel more like home.

Even though 90 days is the standard grace period for new employees to learn the ropes, it’s also the best time to make a great first impression.

The purpose of your plan is to help you transition into your new role, but it should also be a catalyst for your career development. Instead of just guiding you over your job’s learning curve, the goals outlined in your plan should push you to perform up to your potential and raise your bar for success at its every stage.

Parts of a 30-60-90 Day Plan

An effective 30-60-90 day plan consists of three larger phases — one for days 1-30, one for days 31-60, and one for days 61-90.

Each phase has its own goal. For example, the goal in the first 30 days is to learn as much as possible about your new job. The next 30 focus on using learned skills to contribute, and the last 30 are about demonstrating skill mastery with metrics and take the lead on new challenges.

Each phase also contains components that help define goals and describe desired outcomes. These parts include:

Primer

The primer is a general overview of what you hope to achieve during the current 30-day period. It’s worth sitting down with your manager to pinpoint a primer that’s in line with both your goals and desired company outcomes.

Theme

The theme is a quick-hitter sentence or statement that sums up your goals for the period. For example, your theme might be “find new opportunities”, “take initiative,” or “be a sponge.”

Learning Goals

Learning goals focus on skills you want to learn or improve to drive better outcomes at your job. For example, if you’re responsible for creating website content at your company, you might want to learn new HTML or CSS skills.

Performance Goals

Performance goals speak to specific metrics that demonstrate improvement. These might include making one more content post per week or reducing the number of revisions required by management.

Initiative Goals

Initiative goals are about thinking outside the box to discover other ways you can contribute. This might mean asking your manager about taking ownership of new website changes or upgrades with a specific deadline in mind.

Personal Goals

Personal goals focus on company culture — are there ways you can improve relationships with your team members or demonstrate your willingness to contribute?

30-60-90 Day Plan for Managers [Template]

Almost all 30-60-90 day plans consist of a learning phase, a contributing phase, and a leading phase — which we’ll go over in the example plan below. This includes plans that are designed to guide people in new management roles. What sets apart a manager’s plan from any other is their obligation to their direct reports and the decisions they’re trusted to make for the business.

If you’re accepting (or hiring for) a new manager role, consider any of the following goals and how to roll them out at a pace that sets you up for success.

Featured Resource: 30-60-90 Day Sales Onboarding Template

Download the Free Onboarding Template

Get to your know your team’s strengths and weaknesses.

Recommended phase: First 30 days

Everyone is learning the ropes in their first month at a company. For managers, much of that learning happens by talking to the team.

If you’re a new manager, grab some time with your direct reports and get to know their roles. What do they like about them? What are their biggest pain points?

Making your team happy is a hard goal to measure, but it’s an important responsibility to take on as a manager. Your first step is to figure out how you’ll manage and coach your employees through their day-to-day work.

Improve the cost-effectiveness of your team’s budget.

Recommended phase: Final 30 days

Managers often have access to (and control over) the budget for their department’s investments — things like software, office supplies, and new hires. After you spend the first couple of months learning what the team spends its money on, consider using the final 30 days of your plan to make suggestions for new investments or how to reallocate money where you think it needs to be.

Is there a tool that can automate a task that’s taking your team forever to do manually? Draft a financial strategy that includes this tool in the following quarter’s budget.

Help a direct report acquire a new skill.

Recommended phase: Second 30 days

Even though you’re new to the company, you were hired for a reason: You’ve got skills. And you can bring these skills to the people you work with, particularly those people who report to you.

After meeting with and learning about your new colleagues, you might use the second month of your on-boarding plan to find skill gaps on your team that you can help fill.

Do you have expert-level experience with HubSpot, and your new company just started using HubSpot Marketing Hub? Teach them how to do something in the platform they didn’t know before.

Draft a training strategy that can help guide your direct reports into new roles.

Recommended phase: Final 30 days

You won’t be expected to promote people in the first three months of your new job, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have learned enough about your team to decide who’s good at what and how to coach them to where they want to be.

In the final 30 days of your 30-60-90 day plan, you might agree to a goal to develop a training strategy that outlines how to manage your direct reports, and ultimately how to guide them into new roles in the future.

30-60-90 Day Plan for Executives

Executives are a little different from managers in that there are higher performance expectations coming in. As an executive, you’ll need to be highly engaged with the organization from the first day and implement high-impact changes in your role as soon as you can. At the same time, context is important, and you’ll need to understand the culture, team, current operating processes, and challenges before you solve for them.

Here are some critical steps to include in your 30-60-90 day plan in an executive role.

Soak up as much information as possible.

Recommended phase: First 30 days

There’s no point in taking action without context, so start your ramp-up period by gathering information and charting the lay of the land. That means reviewing existing documentation, attending as many meetings as you can, meeting with direct reports and skip levels, and ask a lot of questions.

Create alignment between you and the team.

Recommended phase: First 30 days

In the first 30 days, you’ll be meeting new people and understanding their roles in the organization. Ultimately, your job as an executive is to set the vision for the organization while removing roadblocks for your team as they strategize and execute on it.

One of the best questions you can ask as you familiarize yourself and align with your team is, “In your opinion, what are some existing threats to our business (external or internal)?”

This shows that you care about their opinion and trust their expertise while getting unique perspectives from multiple vantage points in the organization. Plus, if you start hearing some of the same points from multiple team members, you’ll be able to identify the biggest pains, equipping you to make the highest impact changes.

Create goals based on what you’ve learned.

Recommended phase: Second 30 days

When you are interviewing or shortly after you’re hired, you’ll get a feel for the types of pains that the executive team has and the objectives in mind for bringing you on.

Once you have more context about how the organization works, you can take this vision and translate it into concrete, measurable goals that will take your department to the next level.

Identify the A players on the team.

Recommended phase: First 30 days

An A player is a member of your team that goes above and beyond what’s expected in their role. While not every employee will be an A player, you’ll want to ensure that critical roles and teams have at least one A player to lead, inspire, and strengthen camaraderie.

From there, you can figure out the existing gaps in staffing and training, whether it’s team members who need a lot of guidance and must be coached up to performance or empty roles that need to be filled altogether.

Diagnose process issues.

Recommended phase: Second 30 days

Companies of all sizes run into operational issues as they implement processes that are efficient and work at scale. Sometimes, when an executive team isn’t aligned with middle management, processes can become unwieldy.

Learn why things are done the way they are and then figure out if there are workarounds you can implement to streamline operations. Perhaps it’s as simple as eliminating bottlenecks or adding automation to certain functions.

Put together and implement hiring plan.

Recommended phase: Final 30 days

You know your A and B players, and you hopefully have a plan to retain, invest in, and mentor them. However, you’ll likely come across gaps that you need to fill and positions that need to be created to eliminate bottlenecks. From there, you’ll want to create a hiring plan to execute, both for short-term, middle-term, and long-term needs.

Effect changes in operations.

Recommended phase: Final 30 days

Speaking of bottlenecks, your final 30 days of your plan should be focusing on the areas of the business that can achieve the results the fastest. Once you’ve identified these, you can focus on removing these roadblocks to start hitting goals and achieving higher performance.

Contribute to broader company goals.

Recommended phase: Final 30 days

As a member of the executive team, you’ll also be looped in one high-level company initiatives, and the other executives of the company will be relying on you to contribute your deep discipline expertise and experience.

Be ready to lean in on executive meetings and contribute to the vision and strategy of the organization as it moves forward.

How to Write a 30-60-90 Day Plan

No matter what the level of the job for which a company is hiring, improving an employee’s skills requires concrete performance goals, so watch out for vagueness in the objectives you set for yourself.

“Write a better blog post,” or “get better at brainstorming” are terrific ambitions, but they don’t give you a way to measure your progress in them. Set goals that are realistic, quantifiable, and focused. You’ll know exactly how to achieve them and gauge your success.

To write challenging yet feasible performance goals, you need to:

Understand your team’s goals.

Try to understand the purpose behind your team’s goals. It’ll give you more insight into why you and your team should achieve them, motivating you to work as hard as possible to meet those goals.

Identify top priorities.

By connecting your personal responsibilities to your team’s goals, you’ll know exactly how to align your tasks with the needs of the team, which keeps you accountable and compels you to help your team achieve their goals.

Define specific progress measurements.

Tracking your progress helps you gauge your performance and rate of improvement. To see how you’re doing, set up weekly meetings with your manager to ask her what she thinks of your work and track the improvement of your own performance metrics, like the growth of your blog posts’ average views or the amount of qualified leads your eBooks generate.

Reaching your performance goals isn’t the only path toward future success in your new role, though. You also need to study the ins and outs of your team and company, take initiative, and develop relationships with coworkers — all things that a lot of new hires underestimate the importance of.

Consider setting the following types of goals during each stage of your 30-60-90 day plan:

• Learning Goals – How will you absorb as much information as possible about your company, team, and role?
• Initiative Goals – What will you do to stand out?
• Personal Goals – How will you integrate with your company and team?

Aiming to achieve these types of goals will help you hit the ground running in all the right areas of your job. And if you stick to your plan, you’ll notice you’ll be able to spend less time learning and more time executing.

30-60-90 Day Plan Template

Download Your Free Template

HubSpot’s 30-60-90 day plan template includes space for all key elements of your plan — primers, themes, and goals — making it easy for both you and your manager to see exactly where you are in the plan, what comes next, and how things are going so far.

While our template is a great starting point, it’s worth cross-referencing this high-level plan with a more detailed description of your goals and desired outcomes to ensure you’re aligned with company expectations.

30-60-90 Day Plan Example

Using our template, we’ve created a quick 30-60-90 plan example for new employees.

30 Days

Primer

Many new hires are eager to impress, so they dive head-first into their work or try to make suggestions about their team’s process with limited experience in how their new team operates. But have patience.

Understanding your company’s vision and your team’s existing strategy is crucial for producing high-quality work and actually making an impact. If you don’t know the purpose behind your role or the optimal way to perform, you’ll risk missing the mark and your early efforts won’t pay off the way you expect them to.

It’s always better to over-prepare than under-prepare. And it’s okay to take time to learn the ropes — it pays huge dividends in the long run. In the first 30 days of your employment, your priority is to be a sponge and soak in as much information as possible. Once you do that, you can then try to improve more specific parts of your team’s work style.

Theme: Be a Sponge

Learning Goals

• Study my company’s mission, vision, and overarching strategy.
• Read my company’s culture code to learn more about our company culture and why we implement it.
• Read the customer persona and target audience overview to truly understand who our customers are, their pain points, and how our product and content can help them.
• Meet with my team’s director to learn about how meeting our goals will help our business grow.
• Read up on our team’s new SEO strategy, editorial process, and traffic goals.
• Learn how to use the SEO Insights Report to plan and structure blog posts.
• Review my team’s pillar-cluster model overview and understand how to match posts to clusters.
• Meet with my manager to learn more about her expectations.

Performance Goals

• Complete new hire training and pass the test with a 90% or higher.
• Be able to write 3 blog posts per week.

Initiative Goals

• Run the Facebook Instant Article experiment that my manager recommended me to do.

Personal Goals

• Grab coffee with everyone on my team, so I can get to know them on a professional and personal level.

60 Days

Primer

By the end of your first 60 days, you should ramp up your workload, start overachieving, and make a name for yourself on your team.

To do this, start speaking up more at meetings. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas about improving your team’s processes. This shows you’re quickly conquering the learning curve and recognizing some flaws that your colleagues might’ve overlooked. You still have a fresh perspective on the company, so your insight is invaluable.

Theme: Be a Contributor

Learning Goals:

• Learn how to optimize a new post from scratch based on both the SEO Insights Report and my own competitive research.
• Read every other marketing team’s wiki page to learn about other marketing initiatives and how our entire department works together to grow our business.
• Deep dive into my company’s product roadmap and strategy to fully grasp our mission and vision.

Performance Goals

• Be able to write 5 blog posts per week.
• Be down to one cycle of edits per post.
• Understand how to edit a guest post — clean up at least one rough draft.

Initiative Goals

• Share content strategy idea at my team’s monthly meeting and ask if I can spearhead the project to boost blog traffic.
• Ask my manager if I can oversee Facebook messenger and Slack distribution strategy.

Personal Goals

• Meet with my colleagues on other teams to learn about their marketing initiatives and develop relationships outside of my team.

90 Days

Primer

By the end of your first three months, you should have a firm grasp of your role, feel confident about your abilities, and be on the cusp of making a breakthrough contribution to your team. Instead of reacting to problems that pop up at random, be proactive and spearhead a new initiative for your team.

You should also be cognizant of how you can collaborate with other teams to improve your own team’s processes. By taking on some new projects outside of your main role, you’ll start turning some heads and catch the attention of the department at large.

Theme: Be a Leader

Learning Goals

• Do an analysis of my highest and lowest-performing blog post to date. How can I use this information to optimize new content so it performs better out of the gate?

Performance Goals

• Be comfortable with writing five blog posts per week
• Edit one guest post per week
• Try to have 75% of my blog posts not require revisions.
• Write at least one new post that generates over 10,000 views in one month.

Initiative Goals

• Ask SEO team if they want to partner with product marketing team to brainstorm content topics related to our product road map.
• Ask social media team if they’re willing to develop a relationship where we can share each other’s content.
• Ask sales team what our customers’ pain points are, so we can write content that our target audience craves and help them close more qualified leads.

Personal Goals

• Join the yoga club.

30-60-90 Day Plan Team Leader Example

Now, let’s apply that same template to a team leader role with another 30-60-90 plan example.

30 Days

Primer:

During the first 30 days, the goal of a team leader should be to cultivate connections with their team members and discover where they excel, where they struggle, and where they could use help. Creating these relationships lays the foundation for solid communication over time, in turn leading to better results.

Theme: Cultivate Staff Connections

Learning Goals

• Identify strengths for all team members.
• Pinpoint current challenges in accomplishing team goals.
• Encourage staff connections through honest communication.

Performance Goals

• Reduce project completion times by 25 percent.
• Increase team member output by 5 percent.

Initiative Goals

• Establish a mentorship connection with one staff member looking to advance in their role.

Personal Goals

• Arrange one out-of-work activity for staff.

60 Days

Primer:

For the second month, team leaders may want to focus on putting the connections they’ve made to good use and creating a mindset of success across the department. In practice, this means establishing clear goals and specific metrics and working alongside staff to deliver key outcomes.

Theme: Create a Culture of Success

Learning Goals

• Understand where previous team leaders have struggled.
• Identify common themes in goals not being met.
• Clearly define starting points, milestones, and end goals for projects.

Performance Goals

• Ensure current project deadlines are met.
• Deliver at least one project component ahead of schedule.
• Take ownership of one complex task to continue developing team culture.

Initiative Goals

• Based on current project goals, brainstorm two new potential projects.
• Look for ways to integrate current efforts with sales, marketing, or social media teams.

Personal Goals

• Make time for mindfulness practice at work to help improve your focus.

90 Days

Primer:

The last month of your 30-60-90 plan may focus on ensuring the framework you’ve built can be replicated on the next team project and finding new opportunities for your team members to excel.

Theme: Identify New Opportunities

Learning Goals

• Convene with staff to see what worked and what didn’t during the project.
• Look for outcomes that exceeded expectations and discover what sets them apart to help drive improved processes.

Performance Goals

• Become confident in assigning staff specific tasks with minimal oversight.
• Create a regular performance review structure that focuses on helping staff achieve their best work.
• Identify areas for reasonable cost-savings that don’t disrupt current processes.

Initiative Goals

• Look for team members with a passion for leadership and encourage their growth.
• Transition into a more hands-off leadership style that demonstrates trust in employee autonomy.

Personal Goals

• Take up a new hobby to avoid getting burned out at work.

Making the Most of Your First Months

The first few months at a new job are critical in answering key questions: Is the company a good fit? Can you meet (and exceed) expectations? What does your long-term career plan look like?

Building a robust 30-60-90 day plan can take some of the pressure off by providing a framework for success that combines big ideas with specific goals to help drive success.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

If you’re leaving your job, you’re not alone.

The workforce has revolutionized into “The Great Resignation.” Some experts have renamed the recent spikes in employee resignations as “The Great Reimagination” or “The Great Realization.” People are reevaluating how they work, where they work, and why they work.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in April 2021 alone, around 4 million people quit their jobs. That number is the highest recorded since the bureau started recording such rates.

Even though millions quit their jobs every month, we understand that telling your boss that you’re leaving the company is never an easy conversation. A respectful resignation letter can mean the difference between an awkward goodbye and a chance for a long-term professional connection.

Ideally, you’ll provide a resignation letter two weeks before leaving the company. It lets you officially announce your termination at the company and offers essential housekeeping information, like your last day and other details about your departure.

An effective one helps you ensure a positive conversation with your boss and a smooth transition to your next journey.

But how do you write a good resignation letter? What should you include and exclude?

Writing a resignation letter can feel like a daunting task, so we’ve created a professional resignation letter template to get you started and included examples for inspiration.

Resignation Letter Format

A resignation includes a few elements: the greeting, opening paragraph, body paragraph, and closing paragraph. The letter should be detailed but brief. You should want to inform your manager of your decision, but keep it professional if the reasons are less positive.

What do I include in a professional resignation letter?

Writing a professional resignation letter starts with understanding each of its components:

1. Statement of Resignation and End Date

Begin your letter by stating your position at the company. This might seem redundant if you work at a small company and your boss knows you well, but it’s essential to include it since the letter is your official termination. Along with this information should be a simple statement of your resignation.

Also, providing an end date in the first paragraph is helpful since that’s one of your employer’s first questions.

Here’s what this first paragraph may look like in practice:

I would like to inform you that I am resigning from my position as [Position Name] for [Company Name], effective [Date].

2. Gratitude

Take the time to consider how you’ve grown or what you’ve appreciated most about your time at the company. Be as specific as possible. Perhaps the company provided professional development opportunities. Maybe you’ve enjoyed the environment the company fostered and the supportive atmosphere.

It’s also nice for your employer to receive a thank you for the time and resources they’ve used in supporting your career growth. Here’s an example of what this may look like:

I appreciate the opportunities for professional development that you have provided me over the past two years. I have enjoyed my tenure at [Company Name] and feel honored to have been part of such a supportive team.

If you’d like, you can include where you’re heading. For example, if you’re switching industries to pursue a passion or going to graduate school, it might be appropriate to include that. For example:

I accepted a position as a [New Job Title], and I’m looking forward to [pursuing my passion in [X] or continuing my work with a focus on [Y].

However, if you’re leaving the company for a competitor, it’s better to omit such information.

3. Transition Details

In the third paragraph, mention your willingness to make the transition easier. For example:

If I can be of any help during this transition, please let me know. I am available to help train my replacement and ensure that all my reports are updated before my last day of work.

This sentence might look different for you. But regardless of what you write, it’s good practice to include specific details regarding how you’ll help.

As an optional follow-up paragraph, briefly review the work you’ll be surrendering when you officially leave the company. Although it’s technically your manager’s responsibility to pick this work up and determine how it will continue, it’s helpful to list all the projects and tasks you’ve been in charge of to make the transition even easier on the company in the interim.

If you didn’t serve in a managerial capacity or collaborate with other departments, you could skip this part.

4. Personal Contact Information

This last paragraph is optional and doesn’t need to be included all the time, particularly if you have no desire or need to use your former employer as a reference. However, many candidates choose to maintain their professional networks. A closing may look like this:

Thank you again for the opportunity to work at [Company Name]. I wish you all the best and look forward to staying in touch. You can email me at [Email Address].

What Not to Include in a Resignation Letter

1. Future Career Moves

While you can mention where you’re going next, you don’t need to tell your employer about your new position or salary at length. Keep things professional. You can acknowledge how the current position helped your advancement within your industry. Your letter should be direct and reflective in tone to your employer.

2. Distasteful Language

It goes without saying, but a resignation letter isn’t the time to use profanity and obscene language. You need to remain respectful and professional until your end of tenure. Although you may feel the urge to criticize your former job, the resignation letter isn’t the time to air out the dirty laundry.

3. Emotional Attachments

If you’re leaving a supportive work environment, it’s helpful to leave out emotional sentiments in the letter. Be as professional as possible. You can illustrate those emotions through face-to-face meetings with others.

4. Criticism of Coworkers

Your resignation letter doesn’t need to include negative comments about colleagues or managers at the company. The letter is meant to conclude your tenure, not blame others for incomplete tasks.

5. Projecting Bitterness

This is not the time to project your resentment towards your current job. You need to reflect on positive moments and how you gained useful knowledge about the industry and yourself. You don’t have to leave on a sour note with your employer.

Professional Resignation Letter Samples

With the above template in mind, let’s look at a few sample resignation letters for different positions, each taking a slightly different but amicable tone to their resignations.

1. Gracious Resignation Letter Sample

You can share why you’re quitting if they aren’t work-related reasons. The reasons should be positive or neutral. Its tone is thankful that the employer took a chance on you. Most offer an extended hand to train the incoming person. The letter includes a notice of resignation at least two weeks in advance.

2. Brief Resignation Letter Sample

A brief resignation letter will include two important things: your date of resignation and a formal notice to your supervisor. A good letter can also include a “thank you” line, but it’s not necessary. Although you’re ending your tenure with your current employer, you don’t want to burn a bridge without honoring your notice deadline.

3. Immediate Resignation Letter Sample

While the best way to quit a job is to give at least two weeks’ notice and offer to help with the transition, sometimes circumstances make that impossible. If you need to leave your job immediately without notice, you need an immediate resignation letter.

Here is a sample that can help you:

Free Professional Resignation Letter Templates

Download the Templates Now

Sometimes the nature of your position merits a more specific letter of resignation when you leave. Below are a couple of templates that help these more dynamic roles make a graceful departure from the company.

1. Contractor Resignation Letter Template

If you work freelance, you might need to adjust the focus of your resignation letter to address your final assignments and exactly how you’ll be parting ways with your client. This includes your current duties, tasks you won’t complete, and how you’ll accept your final payment.

Image Source

2. Executive Resignation Letter Template

A quick email or two-paragraph notice to your superior might not suffice as an official resignation if you’re in an executive- or senior-level leadership role.

Because these roles are harder to fill, you might play a more significant role in the transition period, especially since you manage more people and decide on the direction of more projects.

The example below separates the resignation into two sections. The first is the resignation itself, and the second is how (and with whom) the resigner’s work will continue. It’s just one of the different templates we have to offer.

Image Source

Ready to Write Your Resignation Letter?

Be polite in your resignation letter no matter your role, state why you’re leaving, and be clear on who you’re informing. Gratitude and support during your departure go a long way with employers, and the last thing you want to do is leave the company on a sour note — even if you’re leaving for unpleasant reasons.

By drawing inspiration from these resignation letter samples and templates, you’ll protect your professional bridges and keep your professional network intact as you start your next adventure.

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Years ago, I worked at an office where the only time I ever heard from my manager was if I fell short of expectations. Without positive feedback, I felt like all of my wins went unnoticed and that they didn’t matter nearly as much as my losses. This caused me to lose motivation and my productivity began to suffer. It also pushed me to leave the company and seek better opportunities elsewhere.

While it’s important to let employees know where there are areas that need improvement, it’s equally important to give positive feedback so they know where they shine. Giving positive feedback boosts morale, instills confidence, and motivates employees to do their best. It also helps you retain great people who will move your business forward.

A survey by the Society of Human Resource Management found that 80% of HR leaders work at organizations that have an employee recognition program.

Of those leaders, 89% reported their recognition program helped improve the overall employee experience. 86% said it improved employee relationships and 84% said it improved employee engagement.

There are many ways to give positive feedback, but first you must understand what it is.

What is positive feedback?

Positive feedback is the act of recognizing and praising someone for their accomplishments, strengths, and talents. Positive feedback tells an employee what they’re doing right and what they should continue to do.

“If you focus on what someone shouldn’t do without also touching on the things they should do or keep doing, you’re only providing half of an instruction,” says HubSpot’s Historical Optimization Team Manager Amanda Sellers. “Good constructive feedback paired with positive feedback, on the other hand, is a balanced way to paint a whole picture, resulting in more effective outcomes.”

In the workplace, positive feedback from leadership can come in many forms, such as congratulating someone on hitting an important milestone. It can also be in the form of highlighting an employee’s important contribution in a team assignment.

“My approach is that any time I get or have positive feedback about someone I work with, whether I’m their manager or peer, I pass it on,” says our Director of English Growth Aja Frost. “This is such a great way to help others understand how they’re perceived and recognize them for their work. I aim to be as specific as possible.”

How to Give Positive Feedback

Though every employee is different, it generally helps to do the following when giving positive feedback:

• Link the positive behavior to business results. For example, explaining that an employee’s understanding of social media algorithms has increased the company’s engagement across platforms.
• Reward them for their hard work with something you know they’d appreciate, such as a digital e-gift card from Rybbon or a gift from Reachdesk.
• Deliver the feedback as soon as possible after noticing the employee’s achievements or strength.
• Whenever possible or appropriate, deliver positive feedback in front of others.
• Be specific and detailed in your feedback. Include the who, what, where, and why of the matter, so the recipient can apply the feedback to future projects.

It’s also important to check in and ask about their preferences. In one of the earliest conversations I had with my manager at HubSpot, I was asked how I prefer to communicate and receive feedback. Did I prefer email, video call, virtual chat, or some other way? This has helped us communicate effectively and I definitely suggest asking your employees the same question early on.

Positive Feedback Examples

Of course not everyone knows the right thing to say in every situation, but don’t worry! Here are some examples of positive feedback that you can give in different scenarios to encourage your employees’ success.

1. When an Employee is Being a Team Player:

“I appreciate your commitment to keeping everyone on your team focused and up-to-date with their tasks. Thanks to your efforts, the project was completed on time and impressed our clients. Thank you so much for your hard work. That kind of team player mentality is an asset our company values highly.”

2. When an Employee Needs a Boost in Confidence:

“Hey John! You’ve been doing an excellent job lately. Since starting here, you have shown so much growth. The quality of your work improved and your ability to multitask has helped our projects run smoothly. Thank you for your hard work, and don’t hesitate to reach out if there’s anything I can help you with.”

3. When an Employee Hits a New Milestone:

“Congratulations to Sarah on leading her first social media campaign. To watch her grow from an assistant to the bold leader she is now has been an honor. I can’t wait to see more of her amazing ideas going forward.”

4. When an Employee Completes a Difficult Assignment:

“Thank you so much for completing this task. I understand it was more complicated than we initially thought and required more time. Your positive attitude through it all and your attention to detail is much appreciated. While this was your first time completing such a task, we knew you were the right person to take it on.”

5. When an Employee Handles Conflict in a Professional Manner:

“Thank you for resolving the issue with a disgruntled client today. It’s not easy to navigate conflict with an unhappy client, but you handled it with such grace. Conflict resolution is an important part of the job and you clearly demonstrated your skills in that area.”

6. When an Employee Helps a Coworker:

“I just want to thank Jeffery for training our new hire, Jessica, and helping her acclimate to both her new role and the company. Jeffery has made himself available for all of her questions and has provided excellent guidance. All this has made Jessica’s transition into the company seamless.”

7. When an Employee Takes on Additional Tasks Outside Their Role:

“I just want to give a shout out to Michael for taking it upon himself to assume some of the responsibilities of the assistant manager while we look for someone to fill the role. His proactiveness has helped us immensely, and because of that we’ve been able to dedicate time to finding a successful candidate for the role without falling behind on our initiatives.”

8. When an Employee Exceeds Expectations:

“I just want to congratulate Laura for finishing strong this quarter soaring past her goal. We initially wanted to increase our following on social media by 15%, but thanks to her hard work we increased by 30%.”

9. When an Employee Takes on More Responsibilities:

“Promoting you to director of sales has proven to be a great decision given how well you adapted to your new responsibilities. Your flexibility as you take on new tasks has really pushed the department forward. We can’t wait to see how you continue to grow in this new position.”

10. When an Employee has Submitted Outstanding Work:

“Excellent job on this report, Adrian! It’s clear you’ve taken our notes into consideration and have paid close attention to detail. The way you’ve organized your finding makes this report easy to break down with the rest of our team. Thank you for your hard work!”

Everyone has their own preference when it comes to receiving feedback. However, always remember to be timely, detailed, and sincere when giving positive feedback to your employees. By doing so, you’ll foster a workplace culture that promotes growth, high morale, and employee retention.

Workplace culture and strong internal relationships are undeniably critical for your company’s long-term success. Focusing your efforts on employee relations, and cultivating good relationships between employers and employees can help your Human Resources department mitigate conflict, build trust between team members, and decrease turnover rates.

If the term ‘employee relations’ makes you furrow your brows in confusion, we’re here to help. We’ll explain what employee relations is and why it’s important below.

Jump to:

What Employee Relations Is

Employee Relations Examples

Employee Relations Best Practices

What is employee relations?

Employee relations is a branch of human resources that deals with policies regarding your employees’ relationships with their employers, and each other.

Essentially, employee relations is any effort or programming a company implements to ensure their employees are treated fairly, feel safe, and are happy in their work environment. Additionally, employee relations cannot be successful unless employees feel there is a level of transparency from management.

Employee Relations Examples

Employee relations programming will vary from one company to the next, however, the issues they tackle are very similar. That said, there are a few common categories most fall under:

1. Unsafe Work Environment

Employers are tasked with providing a safe work environment for employees. If an employee is injured on the job or has an accident, the employer may be liable. Having safety protocols in place and communicating them to the team is a must.

2. Employee Performance

It’s not a fun conversation to have, but there will come a time when an employee’s performance is not up to company standards. Employee relations teams and managers may be tasked with creating a program to address underperformance to get employees back on track.

3. Pay Raises and Promotions

Employee relations may also be involved with career growth and development programs. They are often tasked with making sure pay and promotion guidelines are transparent and communicated properly so employees know what to expect.

4. Sexual Harassment

Employee relations may also work with HR to develop and implement policies surrounding sexual harassment and other forms of abuse. If you’ve ever taken a harassment course at work, chances are it was made possible by the employee relations team.

5. Conflicts Between Workers

While co-workers don’t have to be best friends, it’s important everyone treats each other with respect. Employee relations teams can establish conflict resolution and mediation frameworks to help employees resolve issues in a respectful manner.

6. Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion programs allow employees to bring their whole selves to work. Employee relations teams are responsible for coming up with D&I policies and providing employees with the tools they need to create an environment where everyone feels welcome.

Employee Relations Best Practices

Riley Stefano, a Culture Content Creator at HubSpot, explains employee relations like this:

“At its core, employee relations is about trust and transparency. But that doesn’t just happen overnight — you have to build it. And every department, team, manager, and leader is responsible for building and adding to that culture of trust and transparency. In People Operations, we strive to create remarkable experiences for employees throughout their time at HubSpot so that they can do their best work and help HubSpot grow better.”

How can you ensure your employees can do their best work? By providing them with a work environment where they can thrive. Here are a few best practices to keep employee relations positive.

1. Encourage open dialog.

Employees should feel safe giving feedback, asking questions, and fleshing out ideas. This requires establishing trust. Instead of just saying “we welcome dialogue,” practice it.

Host a Q&A with team leadership and key stakeholders. Using anonymous surveys is also a great tool for getting honest feedback. Empower employees to ask for clarification and share ideas during meetings.

2. Establish a career development program.

When people feel like they have agency in the workplace and control of their career path, companies are more likely to retain them. According to LinkedIn employees that get a new role internally are 3.5x more likely to be engaged and those who participate in Learning and Development programs stay nearly 2x longer than those who do not.

3. Encourage and facilitate a work-life balance.

Work-life balance is a popular corporate catch-phrase, but how many workplaces actually embrace it? This doesn’t mean you have to offer unlimited paid leave, although that is a generous perk.

Facilitating work-life balance can look like:

• Offering a more flexible schedule.
• Not sending urgent emails outside of established work hours.
• Discouraging working after business hours and unpaid overtime.
• Respecting employee vacation time.
• Monitor scheduling and workloads to help prevent overwork.

Implementing these small changes will help your employees prevent burnout and make them more productive.

4. Embrace core values and company culture.

Keeping the company mission and values at the forefront of all initiatives will help create cohesive messaging in addition to promoting a sense of belonging. Employees will feel a sense of camaraderie knowing that everyone is working toward the same goal.

5. Lead with empathy.

As a core component of HubSpot’s culture code, empathy is a strength. It’s not just an important attribute for external business needs, but internally with your coworkers as well. Approaching employee relations from the perspective of an employee will help you develop programs and policies that are more effective.

Stefano adds, “To cultivate strong employee relations, we have to have empathy. We have to listen, share information, take feedback seriously, and adapt with our employees to maintain long-lasting and trustworthy relationships with all of our employees globally.”

How to Implement Programming

At HubSpot, employee relations includes utilizing HR Business Partners and implementing culture programming and events to help build stronger relationships with HubSpot employees.

However, employee relations programming might look different at your company. Perhaps your employee relations efforts include ensuring a good work-life balance for employees, or giving each employee stock in the company, so they are treated as stakeholders in the business.

Alternatively, perhaps you hire an employee relations manager to provide guidance on new and existing contracts and policies so that you can ensure each employee is treated fairly and feels safe in the workplace. Perhaps your employee relations manager can also gather employee feedback, and use it to create new benefits packages that incentivize and properly reward employees for their hard work.

It’s critical you take the time and effort to ensure you’ve cultivated strong relationships between employers and employees. If your employees respect leadership, they’re more likely to work harder, communicate better, and feel more engaged at work. All of these things can motivate employees to go above and beyond in their roles.

Positive Employee Relations is Key to Success

Ultimately, a company can’t be successful unless there’s a universal alignment of vision, goals, and purpose between employers and employees — and that alignment doesn’t happen naturally. It must be cultivated, in large part through strategic employee relations efforts.

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2019 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

Giving your two weeks notice is never easy, particularly if you have a good relationship with your boss and colleagues, or you feel they’ve invested time and energy into your professional development.

If you’re wondering how to give two weeks notice without hurting your relationship with your employer, you’re in luck. There are particular actions you can take to ensure you leave a good final impression with your current employer.

Leaving your current company respectfully and thoughtfully can ensure better long-term connections and references — and, even if you’re switching industries, you never know who could help you down the road. Plus, it’s the courteous thing to do.

Here, we’ll explore the best way to give your two weeks’ notice to maintain a positive relationship with your old employer, while ensuring a seamless transition into your next role.

What is a two weeks notice?

A two weeks notice is when you let your current employer know that you will be resigning from the company in two weeks. It’s a standard method of resignation that can help you leave the company on good terms.

It’s important to remember, however, that if your employment contract or union agreement clearly states how much notice you need to give before resigning, abide by that agreement. If not, two weeks notice is generally accepted as the norm.

In the case of the latter, if your employee asks you to stay longer than the two weeks, you can do so but you are not obligated to unless your employment contract states otherwise.

How to Give Two Weeks Notice

While it can be nerve wracking to give your two weeks notice, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Remember to keep your resignation simple. You may feel like you need to reveal all the details behind your choice to resign, but you are not obligated to share additional information with your manager. All they need to know are the main paint points of interest that pertain to the company itself.

In addition to keeping the conversation simple, follow these six steps to make your resignation easy for both you and your employer.

Step One: Organize an in-person meeting with your boss.

Once you’ve officially signed a contract with your new employer and know your start date, you’re ready to give your two weeks’ notice. The first thing you’ll want to do is write a resignation letter (templates and samples can be found here).

Once you have the letter in-hand, email or slack your manager and set up a time to meet. Say something like, “Hi, I have something I’d like to discuss with you. Do you have thirty minutes over the next couple of days to meet?”

Avoid telling colleagues about your departure until you’ve spoken with your manager. Even if you have a best friend at work, it’s critical your manager hears the news from you. If they hear the news from other employees first, it signals a lack of trust and respect and could harm a relationship you put a lot of effort into building.

Step Two: During the meeting, offer a transition strategy.

When you sit down with your manager, be succinct and clear. Rambling or offering a long speech will only make the conversation more awkward.

Say something like, “I wanted to meet with you today to let you know I’ve been offered a position at another company, and it’s an opportunity I can’t pass up. I am giving my two weeks’ notice. I want you to know this wasn’t an easy decision to make, and I’m so grateful for the guidance and growth opportunities you’ve given me.”

It’s important you don’t focus on the exciting opportunities of your new role. During this meeting, your primary goal should be to express a level of appreciation and gratitude for everything your manager has done to help you grow.

Additionally, it will help alleviate your manager’s stress over losing you if you come prepared with tangible actions you plan to implement to help with the transition. For instance, you might say something like, “During my final two weeks, I plan to help you search for a replacement,” or “I will create a guidebook to help the next person take over my current projects.”

Finally, hand over your resignation letter. The letter will make your two weeks’ notice official.

Step Three: Be prepared for a counter-offer.

You don’t want to be caught off guard if your manager suddenly tells you they will boost your salary, or move you to another role on another team, if you agree to stay. Before you meet with your manager, consider how you’ll respond if they provide a counter-offer.

Take some time to consider why you’re leaving your current role, and what your next role is providing. If there are certain circumstances in which you’d stay at your current company, make them clear to your manager, and only stay if you can get those specific promises in writing.

Of course, this might be impossible if you’ve already signed a contract with the new employer. And, even if you’ve only verbally accepted the offer, changing your mind will likely burn bridges with your new company, so you’ll want to think carefully about your reputation before doing so.

Ideally, if there are certain circumstances that could greatly improve your satisfaction in your current role, it’s better if you approach your manager with those requirements before you sign another contract. You can make it clear that if those needs aren’t met, you’ll begin considering other opportunities.

Step Four: Know the details regarding benefits.

It’s critical you know your options regarding benefits, health insurance, pension, and 401(K). It can be confusing to transfer benefits or healthcare from one company to another. Additionally, your new company might not be ready to offer new coverage immediately.

If this is true, you have alternative options — for instance, if you’re facing a gap in health coverage, COBRA allows you to continue your current health insurance for 18 months, at your own expense.

Take a look at “What Happens to Your Benefits When You Leave Your Job” by Northwestern Mutual, to learn more information regarding your options.

Step Five: Don’t check out—work just as hard in your last two weeks.

It will be impossible to maintain a positive relationship with your employer after you leave, if you check out during your last two weeks and put in minimal effort. First, your employer is still paying you, so they deserve your utmost effort. Second, the effort you put into your role now will go a long way towards sustaining better connections down the road.

Coworkers will remember what you were like at the end. Give them something good to remember. You never know how your positive reputation can help you network in the long-run.

You’ll want to work hard to tie up loose ends and make it easy for the next person to take your place. For instance, perhaps you’ll create a document so your team members know where certain files are, or where you left off on a project.

Additionally, you’ll still want to arrive on time (if not early), leave at an appropriate time, and remain a team player. If the rest of your team is staying late to finish a project before a deadline, you should, too.

Step Six: Offer warm and heartfelt goodbyes.

In today’s business world, it’s all about who you know. You never know if a colleague on your team will end up helping your younger brother get a job or become a freelancer for your new company a few years later. Nurturing those relationships is critical to ensuring success throughout your entire career.

Two Week Notice Examples

It can be difficult to find the right words when you’re resigning, so if you need a little guidance, here are some two week notice examples to keep in mind:

1. Hardcopy

May 2, 2022

John Smith

Regional Manager

XYZ Company

456 Laura Street

Jacksonville, Florida

Dear Mr. Smith,

I, Jane Doe, would like to inform you that I am resigning from the position of Assistant Regional Manager at XYZ Company, effective two weeks from this date. My last day will be May 16, 2022.

The past ten years with this company have been incredibly rewarding. I’ve enjoyed working for you, and I’m grateful to have been a part of an outstanding team that has experienced so much growth and success over the years. Thank you for the amazing opportunities you have provided me.

I will continue to complete all of my tasks with the utmost care and detail until my last day. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to make the transition go as smoothly as possible.

I wish you and the company all the best.

Sincerely,

Signature (hard copy letter)

Jane Doe

[email protected]

2. Email

Subject: Resignation Letter – Jane Doe (Assistant Regional Manager)

Dear Mr. Smith,

Please accept this as my formal resignation from the position of Assistant Regional Manager at XYZ Company. My last day will be May 16, 2022, two weeks from today.

My time with the company has been very rewarding and I’m grateful to have been a part of such an outstanding team of marketers. Thank you for the amazing opportunities you have provided me.

In the meantime, I will continue to fulfill all my responsibilities as the assistant regional manager until my last day. Please let me know what I can do to make this transition go as smoothly as possible for you and the team.

I wish you and the company all the best.

Kind regards,

Jane Doe

[email protected]

3. If You Want to Include Where You’re Headed Next

Dear Mr. Smith,

I would like to inform you that I am resigning from the position of Assistant Regional Manager at XYZ Company. My last day will be May 16, 2022, two weeks from today.

My time with the company has been very rewarding and I’m grateful to have been a part of such an outstanding team of marketers. Thank you for the amazing opportunities you have provided me.

I am leaving the company to pursue my masters degree at New York University and to be closer to my family.

In the meantime, I will continue to fulfill all my responsibilities as the assistant regional manager until my last day. Please let me know what I can do to make this transition go as smoothly as possible for you and the team.

I wish you and the company all the best.

Kind regards,

Jane Doe

[email protected]

When the day comes for you to say goodbye, you should take the time to send thoughtful goodbye messages to your colleagues. You might even send out a farewell email to the team.

Alternatively, you could consider writing a handwritten note or personalized email to members of your team to whom you feel particularly close. Warmly wish them well, and provide contact information like an email or LinkedIn account, so you can stay in touch.

On-page SEO has the power to bring countless new visitors — and customers — right to your website.

Additionally, on-page SEO is also completely up to you: You get to establish what the topic and/or goal of each page will be. You get to decide on the target audience for that page. And you get to choose the target keywords and phrases you want to focus on.

This can be intimidating and empowering at the same time. If you’re unsure how to get started, we’ve built this on-page SEO checklist to help guide you.

Jump To:

What is On-Page SEO?

Why On-Page SEO is Important

On-Page SEO Elements

On-Page SEO Checklist

Google’s algorithm ranks your website on three main factors: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO:

• We’ll cover on-page SEO elements below.
• Off-page SEO refers to social sharing, external linking, and more.
• Technical SEO refers to all the SEO elements not included in on-page and off-page practices, such as structured data, site speed, and mobile readiness — the more technical parts of SEO.

Note: This SEO “trilogy” isn’t always divided into three clean sections; some of these SEO elements will overlap. You’ll see how and why throughout this piece.

Why is on-page SEO important?

On-page SEO is important because it tells Google all about your website and how you provide value to visitors and customers. It helps your site be optimized for both human eyes and search engine bots.

Merely creating and publishing your website isn’t enough — you must optimize it for Google and other search engines in order to rank and attract new traffic.

On-page SEO is called “on-page” because the tweaks and changes you make to optimize your website can be seen by visitors on your page (whereas off-page and technical SEO elements aren’t always visible).

Every part of on-page SEO is completely up to you; that’s why it’s critical that you do it correctly. Now, let’s discuss the elements of on-page SEO.

All on-page SEO elements fall into three main categories:

• Content elements
• HTML elements
• Site architecture elements

You’ll see these elements divided into sections below.

Content Elements

Content elements refer to the elements within your site copy and content. In this section, we’ll focus mostly on crafting high-quality page content that benefits your visitors and tells Google that your website provides value.

1. High-Quality Page Content

Page content is the heart of on-page SEO. It tells both search engines and readers what your website and business are all about.

The first step to creating high-quality content is choosing relevant keywords and topics. Conduct keyword research by searching Google for terms and seeing what surfaces for competitors and other websites. You can also use tools like Ahrefs, AnswerthePublic, and UberSuggest.

Also, read our Beginner’s Guide on How to Do Keyword Research for SEO.

Next, consider how your page content falls into the buyer’s journey and visitors’ search intent. These will impact how you will use your keywords and what types of content you will create:

Stage in the Buyer’s Journey	Suggested Content/Website Pages
Awareness	Blog posts, videos homepage
Consideration	Buyer’s guides, case studies about page
Decision	Product demos, comparison tools product or pricing pages, contact page

Now, it’s time to write your page content or clean it up if you’re currently auditing your on-page SEO.

Here are a few best practices for writing high-quality page content (we’ll touch on some of these in more detail below, in our Checklist):

• Incorporate short and long-tail keywords naturally.
• Add engaging and relevant visual content.
• Write for your specific buyer persona(s).
• Actively solve your audience’s problem.
• Develop content people will share and want to link to.
• Optimize for conversions with CTAs to offers and product pages.

Page content is your opportunity to communicate value to Google and your site visitors; it’s the heart of the on-page SEO process. All other on-page SEO elements stem from high-quality page content, so invest ample resources to develop and optimize it.

HTML Elements

HTML elements refer to the elements in your source code.

Note: To see the source code for any page in your browser, click View > Developer > View Source in the top menu.

2. Page Titles

Your website page titles (also known as title tags) are one of the most important SEO elements.

Titles tell both visitors and search engines what they can find on the corresponding pages.

To ensure your site pages rank for the proper intent, be sure to include the focus keyword for each page in the title. Incorporate your keyword as naturally as possible.

Here are some best practices for when developing a page title:

• Keep it under 60 characters (per Google’s update) to ensure that your titles display correctly. Although Google doesn’t have an exact character limit, its display titles max out at 600 pixels. Keeping your titles at 60 characters or less ensures the title won’t be cut off in search results.
• Don’t stuff the title with keywords. Not only does keyword-stuffing present a spammy and tacky reading experience, but modern search engines are smarter than ever — they’ve been designed to specifically monitor for (and penalize!) content that’s unnaturally stuffed with keywords.
• Make it relevant to the page.
• Don’t use all caps.
• Include your brand in the title, i.e. “The Ultimate Guide to On-Page SEO in 2022 — HubSpot Blog“.

Check out our free data-driven guide to writing effective page titles.

3. Headers

Headers, also known as body tags, refer to the HTML element <h1>, <h2>, <h3>, and so on.

These tags help organize your content for readers and help search engines distinguish what part of your content is most important and relevant, depending on search intent.

Incorporate important keywords in your
headers, but choose different ones than what’s in your page title. Put your most important keywords in your <h1> and <h2> headers.

4. Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are the short page descriptions that appear under the title in search results. Although it’s not an official ranking factor for search engines, it can influence whether or not your page is clicked on — therefore, it’s just as important when doing on-page SEO.

Meta descriptions can also be copied over to social media when your content is shared (by using structured markup, which we talk about below), so it can encourage click-throughs from there, too.

Here’s what makes for a good meta description:

• Keep it under 160 characters, although Google has been known to allow longer meta descriptions. (Note
• Include your entire keyword or keyword phrase.

• Use a complete, compelling sentence (or two).
• Avoid alphanumeric characters like —, &, or +.

5. Image Alt-text

Image alt-text is like SEO for your images. It tells Google and other search engines what your images are about … which is important because Google now delivers almost as many image-based results as they do text-based results.

That means consumers may be discovering your site through your images. In order for them to do this, though, you have to add alt-text to your images.

Here’s what to keep in mind when adding image alt-text:

• Make it descriptive and specific.
• Make it contextually relevant to the broader page content.
• Keep it shorter than 125 characters.
• Use keywords sparingly, and don’t keyword stuff.

6. Structured Markup

Structured markup, or structured data, is the process of “marking up” your website source code to make it easier for Google to find and understand different elements of your content.

Structured markup is the key behind those featured snippets, knowledge panels, and other content features you see when you search for something on Google. It’s also how your specific page information shows up so neatly when someone shares your content on social media.

Note: Structured data is considered technical SEO, but I’m including it here because optimizing it creates a better on-page experience for visitors.

Site Architecture Elements

Site architecture elements refer to the elements that make up your website and site pages. How you structure your website can help Google and other search engines easily crawl the pages and page content.

7. Page URLs

Your page URLs should be simple to digest for both readers and search engines. They are also important when keeping your site hierarchy consistent as you create subpages, blog posts, and other types of internal pages.

For example, in the above URL, “blog” is the sub-domain, “hubspot.com” is the domain, “sales” is the directory for the HubSpot Sales Blog, and “startups” indicates the specific path to that blog post.

Here are a few tips on how to write SEO-friendly URLs:

• Remove the extra, unnecessary words.
• Use only one or two keywords.
• Use HTTPS if possible, as Google now uses that as a positive ranking factor.

8. Internal Linking

Internal linking is the process of hyperlinking to other helpful pages on your website. (See how the words “internal linking” are linked to another HubSpot blog post in the sentence above? That’s an example.)

Internal linking is important for on-page SEO because internal links send readers to other pages on your website, keeping them around longer and thus telling Google your site is valuable and helpful.

Also, the longer visitors are on your website, the more time Google has to crawl and index your site pages. This ultimately helps Google absorb more information about your website and potentially rank it higher on the search engine results pages.

Download our free guide to Internal Linking for SEO.

9. Mobile Responsiveness

Google started favoring sites that are optimized for faster mobile speeds — even for desktop searches.

Mobile responsiveness matters.

It’s critical to choose a website hosting service, site design and theme, and content layout that’s readable and navigable on mobile devices. If you’re not sure about your own site’s mobile readiness, use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool.

10. Site Speed

Whether viewed on a mobile device or desktop, your site must be able to load quickly. When it comes to on-page SEO, page speed counts big-time.

Google cares about user experience first and foremost. If your site loads slowly or haphazardly, it’s likely your visitors aren’t going to stick around — and Google knows that. Moreover, site speed can impact conversions and ROI.

Check your website’s speed anytime using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. If your website is movin’ slow, check out 5 Easy Ways to Help Reduce Your Website’s Page Loading Speed.

Note: Mobile responsiveness and site speed are considered technical SEO, but I’m including them here because optimizing them creates a better on-page experience for visitors.

Now that you understand the different on-page SEO elements, let’s talk through the steps of auditing and improving your on-page SEO.

If you’ve been in search of a solution for organizing and tracking the various on-page SEO elements, you’re in luck. The HubSpot marketing team released an updated version of our On-Page SEO Template, an Excel document that allows you to coordinate pages and keywords — and track changes — all in one place.

Download Now: On-Page SEO Template

In this section, we’ll be using this template as a guide as we walk you through a checklist for your on-page SEO management, step by step. Download the template now and follow along.

Note: The fictional website “http://www.quantify.ly” will be used as an example throughout this post. It’s simply meant to help you imagine how your own website will fit into the template.

1. Crawl your website.

Get an overview of all of your website pages that search engines have indexed. For HubSpot customers, our Page Performance tool (under Reports) will allow you to do this. If you’re not using HubSpot, you can try using a free tool like Xenu’s link crawler.

After crawling your site and exporting the results into an Excel (or .csv) file, there will be three key columns of data that you should focus on:

1. The web address (a.k.a. URL)
2. The page title
3. The page meta description

Copy and paste these three columns into your template.

The URL should be pasted into column B, the page title into column C, and the description into column E.

2. Conduct an SEO audit and define your site architecture.

Now that you have a basic index of your site in the template, you’ll want to organize and prioritize your web pages. Start by defining where within your site architecture your existing pages currently sit.

Do this in column A. Note whether a page is your homepage (ideally you’ll only have one of those), a page in your primary (or secondary) navigation menu, an internal page, and so on.

3. Update URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions.

Review your current URLs, page titles, and meta descriptions to see if they need updating.

(This is the beauty of using a template to organize your SEO: You get a broad overview of the type of content you have on your website.)

Notice how column D and column F automatically calculate the length of each element. The recommended length for page titles is anything under 60 characters. (And, actually, a quick and easy optimization project is to update all page titles that are longer than 60 characters.)

The recommended length for page meta descriptions is 155-160 characters. This is the perfect length to ensure none of the description is cut off by the ellipses. Make sure you’re not too repetitive with keywords in this space. Writing a good meta description isn’t tough, but it deserves just as much consideration as the page content itself.

(Note: For some sites, you may also have to update the URLs, but that’s not always the case and thus was not included as part of this optimization template.)

4. Make sure your keyword is in your URL.

As we mentioned above, add your keyword to your URL. For example, imagine you own a hot yoga studio called ADYoga. You have a web page that includes videos of your classes. The keyword for this page is “hot yoga online classes” — so, you’d want to include that keyword in your URL. The URL for this web page may look like this: www.ADyoga.com/hot-yoga-online-classes.

5. Include your keyword throughout your web page.

In addition to your URL, you’ll want to add your keyword throughout your web page(s). This includes your title and headers. Sprinkle your keyword throughout your content as well where it fits naturally.

6. Track keywords and topics for each page.

Think of your target keyword as the designated topic for a particular page. If you’re using the HubSpot template, In column O, define just one topic per page.

By doing this, you’ll be able to go more in-depth and provide more detailed information about that topic. This also means that you are only optimizing for one keyword per page, meaning you have a greater chance to rank for that keyword.

There are, of course, a few exceptions to this rule. Your homepage is a classic example. The goal of your homepage is to explain what your entire website is about, and thus you’ll need a few keywords to do that. Another exception is overview pages like services and product pages, which outline what all of your products and services may be.

7. Don’t keyword stuff.

We just covered many examples in which keywords are both helpful and necessary for SEO purposes. However, one mistake many first-timers make when improving their on-page SEO is “keyword stuff”.

Keyword stuffing can be detrimental to your website and web page’s SEO and it can feel spammy to readers/ visitors.

8. Establish value propositions for each page.

A very important next step, which is often overlooked, is establishing a value proposition for each page of your website. Each page should have a goal aside from just ranking for a particular term.

If you’re using the template, you’ll do this in column G.

9. Define your target audience.

Define your target audience — do you have a single buyer persona or multiple personas? Keep this persona in mind as you optimize your site’s pages. (Remember, you are optimizing for humans, too — not just search engine robots.)

In column H of our template, you’ll have the opportunity to define your page’s target audience.

10. Plan new page titles.

Now that you’ve documented your existing page titles and have established value propositions and target audiences for each of your pages, write new page titles (if necessary) to reflect your findings.

You can do this in column K of the template — and double-check each title length in column L.

People usually follow the formula of “Keyword Phrase | Context.” The goal of the page title is to lay out the purpose of the page without being redundant. You should also keep the additional recommendations we made above related to titles.

11. Add new meta descriptions.

As we covered above, meta descriptions should be a short, declarative sentence that incorporates the same keyword as your page’s title.

It should not reflect the content verbatim as it appears on the page. Get as close as you can to the 150-character limit to maximize space and tell visitors as much as possible about your page.

If you need to create new meta descriptions, do so in column M of the template.

12. Review and edit page content as needed.

Good copy needs to be thorough, clear, and provide solutions … so, be compelling! Write for your target audience and about how you can help them. Compelling content is also error-free, so double-check your spelling and grammar.

Aim to have at least 500 words per page, and format content to make it easier to read and digest with the use of headers and subheaders.

Columns P through R can be used to keep track of changes that you’ve made to your content or to note where changes need to be implemented.

13. Incorporate visual content.

Content can be more than just text, so consider what kind of visual content you can incorporate into each page (if it adds value and serves a purpose, of course). Columns S and T allow you to note which visual elements need to be added. When adding an image to a page, be sure to include a descriptive file name and image alt-text.

14. Optimize your visual content.

We talked earlier about image alt text. You’ll want to optimize your visual content this way — and be sure to include your keyword in your image alt text. It’ll help with the page’s SEO as well as offer the potential to rank in image search (e.g. on a search engine image results page or image carousel).

15. Add internal links.

As mentioned earlier, incorporating links throughout your pages is a must, but it’s often something that’s easily overlooked.

Make sure that your anchor text includes more than just your keywords. The goal isn’t to stuff in as many keywords as possible, but to make it easy for people to navigate your site.

Use columns U through W to plan for these elements if you don’t already have them, or to document how you’ll improve them.

16. Include external links.

It may seem counterintuitive to include external links throughout your page considering we just covered multiple reasons why internal linking is so important for on-page SEO. However, external links are also important.

By externally linking, to credible and trustworthy sites, Google will know your page is also credible and trustworthy. Not only does Google want to know your site is well-referenced, but your visitors do, too.

17. Optimize for conversions.

If you’re also not optimizing your site to increase the number of leads, subscribers, and/or customers you’re attracting … you’re doing it wrong.

Remember that each page of your website presents a conversion opportunity. That means every page of your website should include at least one call-to-action (CTA), though many pages may have multiple CTAs.

Columns X through AF allow you to plan for conversions.

Be sure that your site has a mix of CTAs for different stages of the flywheel.

(Note: The On-Page SEO Template refers to the stages of the buying funnel — top of the funnel, middle of the funnel, and bottom of the funnel. If you are a HubSpot customer, you can even use Smart Content to display these specific CTAs only to people in a specific part of the funnel.)

Also, as you add, edit, or update CTAs, be sure to note conversion rate changes in columns Z, AC, and AF.

Put Your On-Page SEO to Work

Once you finalize your SEO plans, implement these changes on your website or pass them along to someone to implement for you. This will take time to complete, so aim to work on 5 to 10 pages per week.

Remember: SEO is not a one-and-done deal. It’s something you should continually improve upon. You should treat this On-Page SEO Template as a living, breathing document that will help guide your SEO strategy for months (or years) to come.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2012 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.

Last week, HubSpot wrapped up the third annual World Certification Week – a global virtual event where learners and peers from all around the world connected and grew by dedicating time to their professional development.

This community of people learned about a variety of industry topics, connected with fellow learners and thought leaders, and earned thousands of HubSpot certifications. HubSpot certifications are awarded year-round, but for one week, we donated $5 to education-focused organizations for every certification completed.

The first World Certification Day kicked off in 2020 when a team member bought a “certification day” web domain and we awarded over 2,300 certifications. This event has continued to grow each year, with over 7,800 certifications awarded in 2021 and 11,159 certifications in 2022.

We are lucky to bring people together to share in the sense of community, give back, and grow better. Thanks to you, we were able to donate $10,000 in 2020, $35,000 in 2021, and $50,000 in 2022.

In addition to learning and supporting a good cause, participants from around the world were dedicated to making World Certification Week fun. From learning together in groups and taking certifications live to friendly competitions and certification-inspired videos, participants got creative and made the World Certification Week their own.

World Certification Week Impact

We want to thank the 7,815 of you who took part in World Certification Week and completed 11,159 certifications.

By participating, you advanced your career and gained valuable knowledge while helping others. Your contributions will have a big impact on others as well.

This year’s World Certification Week donations are supporting the following organizations:

• Teach For All is a network of partner organizations that came together to develop collective leadership and to ensure children from all around the globe get the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
• Laboratoria’s mission is to create opportunities for women in Latin America by developing an inclusive and diverse digital economy.
• The Clontarf Foundation aspires to help young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men to improve their education, discipline, life skills, and self-esteem and equip them with the tools to participate more meaningfully in society.
• The Halogen Foundation is a not-for-profit Institution of a Public Character (IPC) charity that aims to help young people reach their potential to influence and lead by becoming positive change agents.

What’s next?

We are already excited about what’s in store for WCW 2023 when more learners, companies, and agencies will take part in this initiative and extend the impact.

Until then, you can take HubSpot Academy courses any day of the year. From Inbound to Contextual Marketing, choose the courses that will help you excel in what you do and grow better. See you next year!

Think of every group project you’ve been in – whether in high school, college, internship, or other.

Often, someone would naturally take the reigns without being officially appointed as the leader – that’s called emergent leadership and it’s something you may want to leverage in your professional life.

Learn the key characteristics of emergent leadership, examples of it in daily life, and the benefits of this approach.

Emergent leadership allows the right leader to be elected once they have demonstrated their potential in group settings. This will be someone who has earned the respect and trust of their colleagues and are able to inspire them.

Too often, companies bring in new leaders and there’s a big adjustment period. They may struggle with communication, understanding their teams’ values, establishing trust, or a number of key elements needed to propel a team forward.

This approach democratizes leadership by letting employees make key decisions regarding not only their leaders but also their projects. As a result, you can get employees who are more invested in the company and serve as its champion.

Promoting emergent leadership within your team is all about fostering an environment of collaboration and ownership. As a manager, you will serve as a resource while allowing your team to take the lead.

By creating this environment, your direct reports will feel comfortable bringing their full selves to work and take the lead whenever their skills align.

To recap, emergent leadership:

• Promotes ownership and independence over one’s work.
• Fosters a collaborative environment.
• Can create a more cohesive team.
• Prevents bottlenecks by empowering employees to be decision-makers.

Emergent Leadership Characteristics

Wondering how to identify a leader within your organization? Here are some key traits to look for.

Influential

A key characteristic of any leader is someone who is capable of impacting someone’s character and/or behavior.

Look for comments from team members like “X suggested this approach,” and “After speaking with X, I…” – Statements like these demonstrate the impact that someone has on other members of the team.

Reliable

If anything, a leader should be reliable as it’s key to building trust. It means you rely on that person to be consistent and dependable. Whether that’s in their work, communication, or another format.

How do your direct reports show up for others? Do they provide resources? Are they available to mentor? Do they follow through? If the answer’s “yes,” you’ve got a reliable person on your hands.

Inspiring

A great leader helps others feel they are capable of more. When you’re evaluating your staff, an emergent leader is someone who brings fresh ideas and perspectives, cheers others on, and is always striving to improve.

Collaborative

Emergent leadership can only happen in a collaborative environment. Look for people who celebrate new perspectives, create space for others, and invite knowledge exchanges.

Emergent Leadership Examples

The most popular example of emergent leadership comes from the famous medical TV drama, “Grey’s Anatomy.” In one episode, residents were tasked with solving a difficult case together. The goal was to help them work better together but also see who would naturally emerge as the leader of the group.

The most extroverted person in the group often seems like the obvious choice but that’s not always the answer. Just like in real life, the emergent leader in the show was the one who displayed an ability to listen, delegate, make decisions, and inspire confidence from others.

Now back to real life.

Photo app VSCO is one company that leverages emergent leadership to encourage brand champions in its own employees.

According to its former VP of People and Places, Katy Shields, the brand believes that giving up control early on in the company’s growth can help it self-correct in the face of adversity.

Back in 2015, Laszlo Bock, former SVP of People Operations at Google explained how Google tackled this.

He said, “What we realized…is that giving up power is just as important to leadership as seizing power.”

Assigned leadership is the straightforward approach most organizations take. However, emergent leadership could prove to be more effective.