Hello Community,

Something changed in how HR thinks about engagement in 2025.

Last week, we explored the cost of disengagement (estimated at $438 billion in lost productivity) and how managers are taking more responsibilities and operating with wider spans of control.  

Managers account for 70% of team engagement and have less time for reinforcement.

Under these pressures, engagement design moved to the intersection of three forces: Culture. Cost. Connection.

Together, these forces are redefining how HR leaders and teams build and sustain engagement.

In this edition, we explore the model behind that shift.

🗞️ In case you missed it: You only have four days left to enroll in the SAIL (Strategic AI Leadership in Business) Micro Certificate Program! 

▶️ Download the syllabus and enroll here

Now let’s unpack the model that redefines how culture, cost, and connection come together in high-performing organizations.

According to the Employee Recognition Trends Report, over 90% of organizations measure recognition outcomes. 85% of HR leaders measure employee engagement as a primary recognition outcome, and 42% track retention and turnover rates. 

Employee recognition has emerged as one of the most effective levers for employee retention, motivation, and productivity. Why?

Because recognition stands at the intersection of human need and organizational intent. Managers operationalize this virtuous cycle by nurturing psychological safety and consistently reinforcing behaviors that align with purpose and values and move the organization forward.

Level 1 — Aligned Recognition: Recognition fulfills a fundamental human need: to be seen, valued, and connected to meaningful work. When aligned with mission and values, it strengthens identity and a sense of belonging.

Level 2 — Engagement: Recognition generates energy. It reinforces behaviors, increases morale, and signals care. When recognition is distributed not only top-down but also peer-to-peer, it strengthens team cohesion and shared accountability.

Level 3 — Growth & Commitment: Sustained engagement through recognition becomes possible when there’s space for growth. When people can experiment, innovate, and develop professionally, they see a future within the organization, and talent retention becomes the natural outcome. Retention without growth and alignment is stagnation, not commitment.

Level 4 — Sustainable Performance & Profitability: Growth-driven commitment leads to stronger collaboration, customer impact, and long-term performance. As performance improves and contributions are recognized again, the cycle reinforces a sense of meaning and belonging.

Under economic pressure and managerial strain, recognition becomes the connective infrastructure in organizations: stabilizing culture, strengthening belonging, and sustaining performance.

The 2025 Employee Recognition Trends Report explores how organizations are redesigning recognition to enable managers and drive impact. If you’re rethinking how recognition operates inside your organization, the findings offer practical insight into what’s working.

👉 Read the Employee Recognition Trends Report

If you’re rethinking how systems enable culture and performance, this next event is for you…

In two weeks, we kick off the HR Technology, AI, and Digital Transformation Summit! This event is fully virtual, and we invite all HR and business leaders to join us! Across three days (March 3-5, 07:00 AM - 11:25 AM Pacific Time), HR leaders, CEOs, and technologists from across the globe will gather to discuss how to move from experimentation to building real capability.

This event is brought to you by Spark Hire and iSpring.

Topics on the agenda include:

The discussions in the panels aim to enable HR to operate at a new level of strategic influence. If you are responsible for driving technology, AI, or digital transformation in HR, don’t miss this event!

📜  All attendees who participate live or watch the post-event recordings may download a certificate of participation.

👑  Premium members of our community also gain HR Credits (13.5 SHRMs + 13.5 HRCIs + 13.5 IHRMs) and a Credly badge.

Strategy is so much sharper (and FUN!) when you build it with others. Here’s how our global community is creating spaces for connection, experimentation, and shared learning.

For years, Hacking HR has proudly called itself a global community: a network of people leaders, HR professionals, and changemakers collaborating to shape the future of work.

Now, we're expanding how "community" happens through two dynamic and complementary structures that form a global ecosystem where local and thematic communities connect, learn, and co-create.

🌐 Hacking HR Chapters (geographic communities): This is where our global community meets local action. Each Chapter serves as a local hub for collaboration, learning, and connection, bringing together people leaders, HR professionals, and changemakers to share ideas, build relationships, and create impact within their regions.

🎙 Hacking HR Learning Pods (thematic communities): These are spaces for collaboration, discussion, and learning around a specific topic that matters to HR and people leaders—practical, relevant, and shaped by the community itself.

👉 Click here to explore the Hacking HR chapters and Learning Pods.

In a few days, we will be holding a virtual Open House on Communities. If you have questions or would like to know more about the avenues to participate in communities, JOIN US!

📅 When: Monday,  February 23, 2026, 09:00 AM Pacific Time 

➡ Register here

Change sticks when leaders look inward. Before asking your teams to adapt, pause and assess your own readiness to lead the shift.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT

THE ADKAR MODEL

Most change frameworks focus on what employees need to do differently. But real change starts when leaders embody change. During the People and Culture Strategy, one of the speakers (Thank you, Mehvish!) reminded us of ADKAR, a model that explains how people move through change, in four stages: Awareness. Desire. Knowledge. Ability, and Reinforcement.

This model can be really powerful when you turn it inward and use it as a self-check. It helps you examine whether your own clarity, decisions, and support are enabling execution or slowing it down. Use this one-pager to pause and expand your thinking to other areas that may require your attention:

💡 What behavior do I need to model consistently as a leader?

💡 Where might I be unintentionally reinforcing the old way of working?

💡 How do I create the conditions, the clarity, the capacity, the psychological safety for others to follow and trust in following me as a leader?

😂 Spoiler Alert: The self-check is included in our new ebook, “Harnessing the Power of People and Culture to Solve Business Challenges,” based on insights from the People and Culture Strategy Summit. 👉 If you want, download it here

If recognition is infrastructure and change is leadership behavior, capability becomes the multiplier. Here’s where you can deepen your expertise in 2026…

ALL these Certificate Programs are included in our Premium Membership.

▶️ To check out the syllabi and enroll, log in to the Hacking HR LAB and visit the Learning Center / Certificate Programs

💬 Do you have questions? 

Join us at the Hacking HR March 2026 Open House and ask us anything!

📅  When: Mar 12, 2026 | 07:00 AM - 08:00 AM Pacific Time

Register here

And because every HR leader deserves a little personality in their workspace…

😂 Yep.

The most trusted voice in HR. 🐾 Available in the Hacking HR Store.

👉 Visit our store

Thousands of HR executives will gather at these upcoming summits in 2026 to shape the future of work:

If your company provides solutions in HR tech, benefits, people analytics, DEI, or workforce strategy, these events are your opportunity to connect with the exact decision-makers who control HR budgets and are actively searching for partners.

👉 Book an Intro Call with Laurie Baggarly: [email protected] to explore sponsorships and secure visibility at the summits where HR leaders are making buying decisions.