Yearly Archives: 2023

Welcome toBreaking the Blueprint — a blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of underrepresented business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.

Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities, originating from around 20 diverse countries, have a long history of exclusion, strict immigration laws, and discrimination. When immigrants, like my grandfather, from East and Southeast Asia made it into America in the 19th and 20th centuries, most of the available jobs were backbreaking labor.

When access to employment was slim, or wages were low, many newcomers relied on building small businesses to provide for their families. Those businesses have become deeply rooted in the day-to-day life of American society–restaurants, nail salons, doughnut shops, dry cleaners, spas, markets, and many others.

Still, obstacles have continued to exist. The National CAPACD analyzed federal and membership data on AAPI small businesses and noted gaps in access to funding, a recent rise in hate crimes, and language barriers. Despite these challenges, the U.S. Census Bureau has reported around 2 million AAPI-owned businesses across all industries, from entertainment, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, real estate, tech, and more. Countless household names, like YouTube, DoorDash, Old Navy, Peloton, and Notion, were founded by Asian Americans.

Another roadblock that prevents entrepreneurs from growing successful companies is the need for more awareness of available resources. In this post, discover advice, organizations, and services that exist to meet the unique needs of AAPI business owners.

Learn From Successful AAPI Founders and Executives

Read books and articles or listen to podcasts, like this one featuring HubSpot’s CEO Yamini Rangan, to learn stories about how successful entrepreneurs have built and kept their enterprises afloat. They’ll have real-life lessons and perspectives to help you make the right decisions for your ventures.

I connected with a few AAPI founders whose companies have blossomed in the past couple of years. Here is some of their wisdom to encourage your success.

1. Don’t wait too long to start building your teams.

Sandro Roco, founder and CEO of Sanzo, says, “Don’t wait too long to start building the right team. Especially in a tight labor market, it takes time to find, recruit, hire, and onboard the right team members. And so if you wait too long, you’re actually behind. No brand or company that ever made it big did so with just the original founding team, and so it’s important to hire well.”

2. Fight for abundance.

Kim Pham, the co-founder of Omsom, says, “Fight for abundance. My sister and co-founder Vanessa and I fought deeply internalized scarcity from being daughters of Vietnamese refugees, and it pervades so much of our decision-making (especially in the early days) –– but to truly build the company of your dreams, you need to fight for that abundance and play to win. That means taking big swings and risks, but also choosing rest, joy, and celebration.”

3. Practice intention and mindfulness.

Lucia Tran, creative producer and founder of Her Studio, says, “Everything I do has to be more than just about creating photos and videos for companies. Otherwise, what are we doing but selling yet another product? There has to be intention and mindfulness in what we offer to the world – build equity in your company, care about the people you hire and the people you’re targeting, and work to bring joy to the world. I’m in the business of uplifting those who need a hand.”

4. Believe in yourself.

Steffi Lynn, illustrator, muralist, and founder of Have A Nice Day, says, “Believe in yourself, believe in what you’re doing, and keep going. Put yourself out there and be ready for anything that comes your way, because you never know what is available for you unless you try.”

Get Involved With Your National and Local Asian Chamber of Commerce

A Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit business network, not a government entity. Businesses, organizations, and individuals can become chamber members to advocate for economic development, job creation, community stability, and representation of their legislative agendas at local, state, and national levels.

In addition to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are local chambers across the country, including ones for minority communities. Becoming a member usually includes access to relationships with other businesses, discounts on services, a boost in visibility, and opportunities to have your voice heard.

Find the local Asian Chamber of Commerce in your city or state by searching the Chamber of Commerce Directory, and also check out the below organizations:

1. National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship

(National ACE) is an organization that advocates for economic development and community building for the current and next generation of AAPI entrepreneurs. With relationships with Congress, the White House, and federal agencies, National ACE leads multiple initiatives that provide grants, training, events, and amplification of AAPI voices. You’ll read about a few of their programs in the following sections.

2. US Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce Education Foundation

(USPAACC) is a nonprofit that serves as an educational and networking organization with a gateway to corporate and government contracts, suppliers, and Fortune 1000 companies. USPAACC’s programs include business matchmaking, leadership series, legislative advocacy, pitch competitions, conferences, and awards.

Grow Your Network and Sharpen Your Skills

The National CAPACD reported that AAPI business owners primarily rely on family and friends for advice and money.

Still, a critical step in business growth is broadening your network, accumulating more opportunities, and learning new skills. Attending events, signing up for workshops, and joining organizations can introduce you to people and resources that will make the entrepreneurial journey less lonely and mysterious. Here are some networks to consider:

The National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development’s (National CAPACD) Small Business Program provides financial education, coaching, and peer technical assistance for AAPI entrepreneurs and small business owners to help them build credit and capital. The majority of the business owners the program serves are immigrants or refugees.
ACE NextGen is a community of young AAPI entrepreneurs striving to have more leadership presence in America while feeling fulfilled and supported in their careers. Membership includes educational programming, conferences, retreats, and access to invite-only networking spaces in person and online. ACE NextGen members also have the opportunity to work with National ACE and Fortune 500 companies to impact business policies. 
Gold House is best known for increasing the representation of API voices and faces in media and entertainment, but it also invests in Asian and Pacific Islander-founded companies. Its Futures Accelerator is a 12-week program with masterclasses, 1:1 advising, fund investments, fundraising support, and a community of start-up entrepreneurs. Gold House also hosts the Multicultural Leadership Coalition, a union of funds that helps place leaders from underrepresented communities on the Board of Directors and Advisory Boards of leading private companies.
Asian Business Association educates its members on government policies on small businesses.It is active with several community organizations, public agencies, and corporations to represent the views of Asian American business owners. Members of the association are also encouraged to do business together, attend events, and recruit new talent by listing positions on ABA’s job board.
The Asian American Pacific Islander Business Summit is a free virtual event hosted by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Experts lead presentations, panels, and workshops across four tracks: Business Communication and Marketing, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Government Contract and Business Certification, and Small Business Financial Management and Investment Trends. In 2022, the summit will take place on November 13 and 14, with presentations in English and a few translation options.

Apply For Funding

Whether applying for grants and loans or securing funding from investors, having more capital will help speed up the process of acquiring the necessary components of running your business—for example, production, staff, and marketing.

Gold House Ventures connects industry-changing entrepreneurs with investors to accelerate company growth.
National ACE’s small business resource center provides virtual training on accessing capital, applying for grants, understanding government funding, marketing, and more. It also has a program called AAPISTRONG, which works with 100 of its affiliated Asian chambers of commerce to aid businesses negatively impacted by the pandemic, racial bias, and anti-AAPI hate.

Proudly Share Your Business and Be Easily Searchable

Some people are eager to support minority-owned businesses and often seek them out. Google launched the capability to add an “Asian-owned” attributeto business profiles, making it easy for customers to find businesses like yours using Google Maps and the search engine. When executing your traditional and digital marketing, feel free to affirm your AAPI roots.

There is space for your business to flourish, and an important step is seeking assistance from services and organizations created for that exact purpose. In time, these resources may help you build a strong business foundation for generations to come.

We all know “good boss energy” when we see it.

Maybe it’s the boss who begins each 1:1 by checking-in with you and ensuring you don’t feel too overwhelmed or stressed.

Or, perhaps it’s the boss who goes out of her way to find new growth opportunities for you, and is always your biggest champion.

If you’re a leader, it’s critical you demonstrate qualities related to good boss energy. But those qualities can be difficult to pin down — which is why I spoke with nine HubSpot leaders who were nominated by their direct reports as leaders with good boss energy.

Here, we’ll dive into how those leaders believe they foster good boss energy in their roles — and how you can, too.

Act Like a Leader, Think Like a Leader: Data from 500+ Marketing Executives on How to Get Ahead in 2023

What is “Good Boss Energy”?

Before we dive into HubSpot leaders’ tips for embodying good boss energy … Let’s cover what it is.

The term was started by HubSpot’s Social team as an opportunity to introduce positivity when it comes to discussing corporate culture on social media.

Leslie Green, HubSpot’s Managing Editor of Brand Social, told me, “#CorporateTok is the internet’s favorite work vent venue. But to grow better, you have to do things differently. When we entered TikTok, we saw a huge opportunity to flip the script on corporate negativity and celebrate all things ‘good work’ and ‘good leadership’ by introducing ‘Good Boss Energy.'”

She continues, “Good Boss Energy is our Culture Code in action. HubSpot’s culture is driven by a shared passion for our mission and metrics. It is a culture of amazing, growth-minded people whose values include using good judgement and solving for the customer. Good Boss Energy highlights the importance of authenticity in leadership and having HEART (being Humble, Empathetic, Adaptable, Remarkable, and Transparent.)”

To launch the campaign, HubSpot’s Social team leveraged creators of all sizes — including TikTok superstars Rod and Natalie — to fill the For You Page with inspiring and educational #GoodBossEnergy videos.

As Green puts it, “By creating our very own Good Boss Energy ambassadors, we filled #CorporateTok with much-needed positivity, established HubSpot as our audience’s growth soulmate, and demonstrated how growing better can start with you. The water cooler really is half full when you have Good Boss Energy around!”

Next, let’s dive into how you can display Good Boss Energy — including both authenticity and HEART — in the workplace.

How to Give Off Good Boss Energy, According to 9 HubSpot Leaders

1. Having good boss energy means having good people energy.

Resa Gooding, a Principal Manager on the Customer Success team, told me that she started off her week with two of her direct reports resigning.

Admittedly, this made her question whether she was, in fact, giving off “good boss energy”. If she was, why would those employees leave?

“I was tempted to berate myself and ask, ‘What did I do wrong? Why are they leaving me? Was I such a bad manager?'” Gooding told me.

However, she realized her direct reports weren’t leaving her … They were leaving their jobs. As she puts it, “Sometimes, circumstances happen and life has a different calling for you. And it’s okay to answer that call. That is growth and progress — learning to move out of your comfort zone and get uncomfortable again.”

She adds, “Both individuals were very smart and good at what they did, and I believe my role was to help them work on other aspects of themselves that would empower them to become risk-takers.”

Good boss energy means helping your employees learn and grow. It’s vital as a leader you look for ways to develop each employee’s strengths — and if, in the end, those strengths take them in new career directions, that’s okay, too.

Gooding says, “In the end I consider my ‘good boss energy’ to be really a translation of ‘good PEOPLE energy’. We need to remember that whether you are a boss or individual contributor, our purpose should be to leave everyone we come into contact with better off than when we met them.”

2. Having good boss energy requires you to listen well.

Kyle Denhoff, Director of Marketing for HubSpot’s Media team, believes that being a great listener helps him give off good boss energy.

He told me, “I pride myself on this. My mother is a clinical social worker and she taught me how to listen to people and truly understand how they see the world. While many leaders have skills and experience to direct the team, the best leaders listen first.”

He adds, “You’ll want to meet with team members 1:1 and ask thoughtful questions. Get to know them as a person, and try to understand their pain points and motivations. Be an active listener and ask follow-up questions. You’ll also want to help your team members see the wider context by connecting the dots for them — It will help them understand how they contribute to the larger goal. Once you have this skill, you will notice that your team members trust you more.”

Listening is ultimately a vital skill for building any good workplace relationship. We’ve all been in situations where we’ve felt our managers aren’t truly listening, and it can come across like they don’t care about our progress, our challenges, or even us as people.

Irina Rosenblit, Senior Director of Partner Success, agrees that listening well is a major component of good boss energy. As she puts it, “Being a good boss is hard. It requires a lot of intentionality in the way you approach problems, team members, and communication. For example, to help a team member truly feel heard you need to listen without interrupting and then repeat back what you understood to make sure you’re on the same page.”

Rosenblit adds, “I also find it valuable to be vulnerable and acknowledge what body language you’re observing or if you’re picking up on things not being said as a way of opening the door for team members to be more open with their reservations.”

Practicing active listening takes time, but it’s easier if you limit distractions during 1:1s. Close all tabs on your screen besides Zoom, and take handwritten notes if it helps you concentrate on your direct reports, rather than the emails in your inbox or the other tasks on your to-do list.

3. To have good boss energy, show empathy.

Customer Onboarding Specialist Manager Rory Kelly believes that having good boss energy is actually very simple … As long as you demonstrate empathy.

As he puts it, “We’re naturally social and empathetic creatures and that must translate to the workplace … it’s probably one of the most important environments to actually ‘be human’, considering we spend most of our lives in this space and with other people.”

He continues, “As a leader, I try to just be human — which means meeting people where they are, considering an issue from their perspective, taking a genuine interest in them, and understanding their ambitions, goals, and even what causes them anxiety or stress. Empathy is something you can’t fake. If you want to give off good boss energy, you need to look in the mirror every morning and ask yourself, ‘Do I care about my team because I have to, or because I want to?’ The correct answer is because you want to — with that mindset, you can build truly outstanding teams.”

Empathy is a vital component of leadership success — in fact, a recent survey found that 80% of CEOs believe empathy is a key driver of success, as it builds trust, prevents a toxic workplace, and helps increase employee retention and engagement.

Katie Walsh, HubSpot’s Sales Director, agrees that empathy is critical. She says, “You need to step outside of the numbers and the data and remember it’s all about your people. If you genuinely care about your people, they feel it and appreciate it. Then, as a leader, you can lean into that emotion to ignite a fire within your people to help them achieve what they once thought was impossible.”

It’s a misconception that strong leaders shouldn’t be too compassionate towards their employees for fear of being seen as ‘weak’. Instead, empathy and compassion can help your team members feel valued, which is vital for ensuring they perform to the best of their abilities.

4. Being a good boss requires you — sometimes — to entertain the possibility that you might not be one.

Humility is a core principle of good leadership. Humility leads to a more authentic leadership style, which can help your direct reports connect with you and trust you more.

Principal Manager, Mid-Market Sales, Raleigh Dugal told me, “Being a good boss probably starts with entertaining the possibility that you might not be one. I’m leading a relatively large number of direct reports at any given time who are all going through their own individual stressors and celebrations, trials, successes, failures, and the appropriate (or not so appropriate) emotions that accompany them.”

He continues, “Trying to be mindful of where people are coming from during any given engagement is crucial — maybe they had a tough day and aren’t ready to hear any feedback today, maybe they really need to just vent about stuff not even related to work. Or maybe they need a deep dive on a problem they’ve been trying to solve for weeks and you need to sideline less urgent items.”

To demonstrate humility as a leader, you might:

Ask for help from your peers
Admit your mistakes or when you don’t know the answer to something
Encourage new ideas and alternative perspectives from your team
Show your enthusiasm and support for each team member
Take accountability when issues arise

Dugal adds, “If you operate under the assumption that you won’t always, or even often, get everything right, that’s going to support a professional environment built on trust that gets as much as possible right, as often as possible.”

Additionally, being a good leader means fostering your employees’ growth and helping them scale-up on their strengths.

Dugal says, “The biggest yardstick I measure myself against is how my direct reports are developing. Are they overcoming obstacles, taking on new challenges, and growing in places that are going to help them reach achievements that motivate them on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. How am I keeping those lines on my deliverables to the organization at large? If all of that is reconciled, everything falls into place for everyone.”

5. To demonstrate good boss energy, test out strategies that help them feel challenged and empowered, like “voluntelling”.

Holly Park, Principal Manager of Customer Onboarding, told me, “Of all the strategies I employ as a manager to release this potential, the one that comes up most often from former team members is my ability to ‘voluntell’ them for special assignments. Apparently, I have a way of volunteering my team members for a stretch project that feels both empowering and challenging. It is in that discomfort that my team members grow.”

She continues, “How do I go about matching team member potential to opportunity? I keep a very short list of skills and ambitions of my direct reports and even their direct reports. That way, when I hear of an opportunity, I can do the matching in my head. The key to this is to match someone to something that is novel but still leans into their skillset. Then, when you hand it to them, express your confidence in their abilities and why this is an opportunity for them. After that, continue to offer support. As one mentor told me ‘get good at delegating and not abdicating responsibility’.”

In other words: Looking out for new opportunities for your employees to grow isn’t the same as handing them tasks from your to-do list that you don’t want to do. It’s about being thoughtful and intentional about identifying their areas for improvement, and then finding projects that help them flex that muscle.

6. To exude good boss energy, be authentic.

Paul Weston, Senior Director of Product for HubSpot’s Service Hub, believes that authenticity is the key to being a good leader.

He says, “Don’t we all have imposter syndrome from time-to-time? I’m at my best when I’m just being myself, not overthinking or ‘acting’ like a leader. In that sense, authenticity is key. I think that people appreciate that realness, positivity, and reliability. Over time, this leads to trust and psychological safety as relationships grow.”

Weston adds, “My team knows that I’m always available to work through hard problems together, and willing to get my hands dirty. Even when work gets busy, I make room for async catch ups, quick Zoom calls, or a whiteboard session. This also helps me to stay plugged in and shows through actions how important the work actually is. The truth is that building great relationships takes time and a lot of behind-the-scenes hard work. Throughout it all, it’s important to lead with humility, clear expectations, and positive ‘we’ve got this’ energy.”

7. To give off good boss energy, be direct.

Kyle Denhoff told me that one of the most important components of a strong leader is someone who can be direct with his or her team.

He told me, “Whether it is positive or constructive feedback, it’s always best to be direct. Give people feedback in the moment. Help them understand the ‘why’ behind the feedback. If you would like to see a change in behavior or output, coach them by setting clear expectations.”

He adds, “Everyone wants to succeed and they appreciate when you help them move forward. I personally like to coach people by showing them ‘what good looks like’ — provide them with an industry example or show them something you have done in the past. Side-by-side is best.”

Being direct and offering constructive feedback can feel challenging, but it’s one of the most important traits of a strong leader and will ultimately help your team members continue to feel engaged and challenged in the workplace.

8. To give off good boss energy, check-in with your team’s well-being.

At the beginning of each 1:1, my manager starts with, “So, how are you feeling this week?”

I love this question. My answer — whether it be stressed, productive, overwhelmed, or excited — can help inform my manager on what I need from her, and can give some context on how best to coach me.

Similarly, Alanah Joseph, HubSpot’s Head of Creator Partnerships, believes it’s vital to allow her direct reports to make mistakes and be human, and she sees it as her responsibility to give them (and herself) plenty of grace.

As she puts it, “Being a ‘good boss’ has never been my goal. Instead, it results from a lot of self-work and my daily practice of giving myself grace. In battling my own perfectionism, I’ve heightened my self-awareness around my own humanness. I am allowed to my mistakes. Bad days are never ideal, but everyone has them. Learning curves are exciting because you’re developing new skills, but inevitably you will fail along the way.”

She adds, “The best thing I can do for my team is to be transparent and afford them the grace that I give to myself. My gut feeling is that if you ask your team to do their best, but provide a safe environment for people to be human, you will end up with a high-performing team. So far it’s worked for me.”

For Joseph, this includes starting each of her weekly team meetings with “Red light, green light,” as a wellness check. Green light means you’re doing great, feeling motivated, and ready to tackle the week. Yellow light means you’re close to bandwidth or you need additional support. Red light means for whatever reason (no need to disclose), you can’t do your full workload that week.

Joseph says, “When a team member calls a red light, the rest of the team splits up their work. We very rarely have red lights, but it’s important to me that I afford my team the opportunity to be transparent and authentic. We’re just human.”

What “Good Boss Energy” Means to HubSpotters

When I was collecting submissions on which HubSpot leaders’ exemplify “good boss energy”, I also got some fantastic responses from HubSpotters on why their manager had good boss energy.

For instance, Megan Scott, a Mid-Market Growth Specialist, recommended her manager Raleigh Dugal because, as she puts it, “There was one point when I felt like I was being high maintenance on his already packed calendar. He reminded me that out of all his responsibilities, helping me succeed was his top priority.”

Similarly, Principal Customer Onboarding Specialist, Bridget Donelson, says:

“Amanda Volk is my manager and she is amazing! She has super good boss energy. Examples of her awesome boss energy:

Always being available for me to ask a question and NEVER dropping the ball.
Commenting back to me on a Sunday night when I say I will be late to start on Monday.
Having my back 100% and bolstering my confidence when I am experiencing imposter syndrome.
Being able to be myself with her and bring all of my energy!
Doing a psych safety check in weekly and increasing her 1:1s with me when I was having a rough time.
Always asking about my kids and husband (caring about me as a person)
Offering constructive feedback and helping me create a plan for growth and development in my role mastery.  Plus, being able to admit to my weaker areas without worries of negative repercussions!
celebrating my achievements with me and posting recognition in our team channel.”

Ultimately, giving off good boss energy takes time, effort, and intentionality to do effectively, but it pays off by inspiring your team to take bigger risks, encouraging them to be more engaged and excited about the work at-hand, and letting them know they can feel comfortable being honest with you when mistakes arise.

This past year we’ve seen the effects of the pandemic in labor shortages, the Great Resignation, and signs of another recession — now’s the time to rethink recruitment and hiring strategy for 2023.

While we can’t predict the future, we can identify and interpret the biggest hiring trends we’ve seen emerging at the tail end of 2022. In this post, we’ll go through the most talked about topics that can improve your hiring strategy and get your business off to a great start.

Recruitment Strategy Trends

1. Economic uncertainties will affect hiring.

As a possible recession looms and inflation rises, candidates and employers can expect economic uncertainties to impact their ability to find work and hire in the coming year. Many industries are experiencing budget cuts amidst slowed economic growth and inflated pricing — and across all teams, especially hiring, have to rethink their approaches for 2023.

2. Candidates are looking for more competitive compensation.

Candidates are entering the new year expecting salaries that can sustain them as best as possible amidst inflation concerns. Recruiters should expect to negotiate between candidates with more than one offer on the table and provide offers that reflect their level of experience, education, and mindset.

3. Gen Z will be joining the workforce.

According to Forbes, Gen Z will make up 27% of the global workforce by 2025. The new wave of employees will come with a different set of workplace expectations and priorities than the generations before.

4. Employer branding will be more people-oriented.

Your brand identity is how candidates will perceive you at first glance. They’ll look at your company values and goals when they visit your website or landing page. Suppose your brand lacks an ethical or people-oriented motivator. In that case, it won’t appeal to the newer wave of job seekers — especially those driven by social responsibility.

5. More streamlined interview processes will be necessary.

54% of Gen Zers won’t complete an online job application if the hiring process is too long, antiquated, or complicated. Prioritizing a straightforward interview process, with proper communication through each step, will help recruiters reach talent while they’re still engaged.

6. Remote and hybrid work isn’t going away — it’s getting more popular.

The push for workplace flexibility will only become more popular in the new year. In 2022, there was a lot of controversy on whether in-office work was more productive, but on average, remote work productivity was higher than those in-person. Hiring managers should keep hybrid work or work-from-home as an option to attract top talent with varying priorities.

7. Incorporation of social media for recruitment.

Social media is a powerful hiring channel, and it works both ways. Candidates can digitally showcase their talents in more ways than job boards, while recruiters can post information about newly published jobs and opportunities in relevant online communities.

Candidates can learn about opportunities in more spaces and showcase their work experience for visibility. At the same time, recruiters can share job listings in online communities centered around their target demographic.

8. Data-centric recruitment is a priority.

When posting job listings, you want to use technology that targets suitable candidates with the skills and previous experience that your business needs without the manual hours to sift through each application. Resume screening that runs verifiable and accurate historical data can be a major tool to invest in to improve the quality of hire.

9. Businesses are increasing the use of AI and HR automation tools.

Hiring managers are looking to optimize their time better when scouting candidates. In fact, 67% of HR professionals believe that AI has many benefits and a positive impact on the recruitment process.

Streamlining your recruitment and interviewing process can reduce the time and labor needed to identify your top candidates and help them secure a job smoothly. Automatic resume vetting can reduce the time to hire.

10. Hiring for soft skills is on the rise.

Soft skills are quickly rising in importance to companies across the globe. The pandemic brought about a skills deficit and decreased the amount of business done in person. While this may not have hindered their ability to learn hard skills, candidates proficient in soft skills are becoming more scarce.

The top soft skills to look for in the foreseeable future are:

Collaboration
Problem-solving
Communication

Employee Retention Trends

11. Talent pools are more relevant.

Today’s labor market is experiencing a skills deficit, and talent pools offer companies an effective way to address their labor needs. Offering current vacancies to pre-existing talent pools like intern alums or agency workers encourages talent retention and increases company loyalty.

12. Upskilling will lead to internal recruitment more often.

Companies should be trying to train up their employees for leadership positions. Not only is it more cost-effective than hiring externally, but you’ll reduce employee turnover by offering upward mobility. Candidates well-versed in your product, systems, and processes may already be sitting on ideas to innovate and improve your business.

13. More companies will look into rehiring former employees over new ones.

Remember to consider the benefit of a boomerang employee. Throughout the “Great Resignation,” one in four employees regret their decision to leave their company amidst quarantine. As businesses try to fill in pre-existing or new roles into the new year, make it a priority to reach out to former employees.

Diversity and Inclusion Trends

14. More emphasis on inclusive language.

Candidates want to apply to companies with clear values that will make them feel safe to be themselves. After all, you can only do your best work if you come as you are. Hiring teams will have to be more attentive in hiring automation tools and during interviewing to be respectful of more diverse pools of applicants.

While it may seem like a small detail, it could be a barrier that stops top talent from considering a position.

15. Salary transparency is becoming more critical.

Some states, like California or Colorado, have laws requiring employers to provide salary ranges in job listings. This is a massive shift from the typical guessing game that candidates play as they’re well into interviewing. Candidates don’t have time to start interviewing for multiple businesses only to be presented with an offer that isn’t near their expectations.

In addition, salary transparency also leads to more diverse candidates and more equitable pay for women, people of color, and other historically underpaid groups to gain fair wages.

What do hiring trends mean to your business?

Despite the uncertainty of 2022, hiring managers can adapt their strategies to find candidates to help your business succeed. We hope this post helps you boost your talent search and build the employee pool you need for the new year.

The average marketer spends almost a third of their time completing repetitive tasks. Marketers already have enough responsibilities — and can’t afford time mismanagement on busy work.

Marketers should spend their time driving company growth and visibility, — and in this post, we’ll give you our best tips and tools to help you minimize your time doing busy work and center your real priorities.

Busy work prevents marketers from focusing on the more important or urgent tasks like working on the next big campaign, strategizing, or content creation. Luckily, we know ways to cut down busy work so marketers can get back to productive projects.

Tips for Reducing Busy Work

1. Determine how you’ll prioritize your workload.

Chances are you have more than one type of deliverable if you’re a marketer. Take the time to analyze and prioritize which parts of your job duties are most important to least as a general framework.

Focus on the most critical or time-bound tasks first, making the busy work seem less tedious when you get to it and giving you designated time to address it.

Pro Tip: Avoid the myth of multitasking. Otherwise, you risk jumping from project to project without finishing notable work, thus extending the time spent on busy work.

2. Create a routine with daily to-do lists.

Making a to-do list is easy, but adhering to one is not. Marketers should carve out time at the beginning of their week to delegate daily tasks. It can promote better time management — something that often gets away from us when consumed by busy work.

You can also easily use many work management tools to create complex to-do lists. For example, one of my favorite tools is Asana.

Whether you prefer a list view or shuffling a digital dashboard, this tool can help marketers stuck on uncompleted busy work to cross them off and stay on track.

Pro Tip: Make your to-do lists actionable. Start your task titles with action words like “Design,” “Create,” or “Submit” to give you an at-a-glance insight into what’s on your plate.

3. Add focus time to reach goals on your calendar.

The average employee spends 28% of their time dealing with unwanted interruptions. Combine that with boring busy work, and your day might seem less promising.

We know you can’t avoid all interruptions all the time, but you can schedule blocks of time for uninterrupted work on your daily projects. For example, if you block out two-hour chunks on your calendar a day where you can work without interruptions, you’ll give yourself a chance to get meaningful work done. And to avoid falling back into busy work during those time frames, including the type of work delegated in the calendar description.

Online meeting scheduler tools also share this functionality, and HubSpot’s Meeting Tool can be an excellent place to start.

Pro Tip: Be reasonable with the time you allocate yourself. You still want team members or other stakeholders to be able to reach you when necessary.

4. Automate manual processes.

According to the Zapier How We Work Report, 74% of workers say they’d prefer to stay in their current position than pursue a new opportunity. That number increases to 90% for those who started using automation in the last 18 months.

Busy work is typically related to outdated systems or processes that could use marketing automation. These tools help you manage and triage marketing tasks without the time needed manually.

A tool that can help marketers to automate work processes is the HubSpot Marketing Automation functionality.

It’s a master tool that can help marketers set up email list autoresponders or build an innovative and complex network of rules designed to target specific users with the correct email, live chat, website experience, and more.

5. Learn when to ask your team for help.

When things get overwhelming, and you have more busy work than you can handle, there’s no shame in turning to your team for a lending hand. Asking for help can foster a collaborative work environment between coworkers and minimize the intimidation of taking on all the responsibility on your own.

Pro Tip: Be mindful of your coworker’s workload when you ask for help. You don’t want to come off as irresponsible to your leadership. And if you are having cyclical issues keeping up with busy work, then it may be in your best interest to talk with your manager about a reduced cadence.

Spend More of Your Day Marketing, Without All the Fuss

While marketers can’t get rid of all the data, reporting, and busy work from the job, we can change how we approach it. We hope you apply our tips to your routine to get you back on track and less overwhelmed with busy work.