Molly Johnson-Jones

Flexa

Co-Founder & CEO

11:FS

Senior Research Strategy Lead

Stone & River

Senior Consultant

Consultant

GlobalData Retail, formerly known as Conlumino and Verdict Retail

Lead Food Retail Research Analyst

Nomura International plc

Food Retail Analyst

Deloitte

Scholar

Rothschild

Intern

Hello, I'm Molly, CEO and Co-Founder of Flexa.

At Flexa, we're revolutionizing the future of work by showcasing what makes companies unique and bringing much-needed transparency to the job hunting process. With 3 million users globally, we partner with esteemed brands like Airbus, Mars, BT, and Verizon to create inclusive employer brands that attract the right talent. If you're keen to get your company on Flexa, reach out to Poppy at poppy@flexa.careers.

As one of the UK's foremost thought leaders on the future of work, I’ve been featured in major media outlets like Forbes and The FT. I’ve headlined talks at prestigious events such as Sifted, Recfest, and RunningRemote, and appeared on BBC News and TalkTV. I run workshops on a variety of topics, including EVPs and DEI, which I’ve delivered impactfully for GWI and Microsoft. Additionally, I’ve partnered with industry leaders like Mercer, Intel, Awesomic, and Samsung, consistently achieving excellent results for their campaigns.

If you're interested in collaborating on an influencer campaign or booking me as a speaker, please reach out at hello@mjj.work or connect with me on LinkedIn. Let’s build the future of work together!

Building a culture remotely is hard, they say.

WELL 

Not if you rank your employees’ fighting skills in a league table and a 158 message, very animated, discussion ensues.

CEO & Co-Founder @ Flexa | Future of Work Speaker & Creator (100k) | Employer Brand | DEI | Talent Intelligence

At 23, I almost had to stop working full time.

I’d just been diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease that affected my mobility. 

Some days, I couldn’t walk. Others, I felt completely fine. The inconsistency frustrated me so much.

Not just physically - but professionally.

I ended up losing my job because of it - because I needed to work from home one day per week .

The traditional world of work wasn’t built for people like me.

I’d sit in interviews, trying to understand if flexibility was offered without directly asking for it.

Because I didn’t want to be seen as a risk or someone who would work less hard than their able bodied counterparts. 

I didn’t want to be ruled out before I had the chance to prove myself.

And that’s when the idea for Flexa started.

Because if I was struggling to find a company where I could thrive, how many others were too?

One of the best things that came out of building Flexa was that people no longer have to choose between:
 
- Working and being well
- Ambition and flexibility
- Salary and representation
- Culture and progression

And today, over 4.3 million people worldwide use Flexa to discover companies where they can do their best work.
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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like hybrid working and autonomy)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

When women are assertive, we're called aggressive.

When women get frustrated, we're called irrational.

When women are confident, we're called arrogant. 

When women are resolute, we're called cold.

When women are direct, we're called rude.

When we disagree, we're called difficult. 

Women are expected to be warm, submissive, non-confrontational, and passive.

And when we aren't, we're penalised.

It's time to challenge stereotypes by double checking whether you're judging people differently because of their gender. 

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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like gender equality)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

CEO & Co-Founder @ Flexa | Future of Work Speaker & Creator | Employer Brand | DEI | Talent Intelligence

Most people aren’t asking to WFH for an easy life. They’re asking because real life isn't easy, and flexibility is the only way work and life fit together.

But WFH isn't the answer for everyone. There are people who don't live in environments conducive to work, who thrive in structure and routine.

People are like plants; we thrive in different environments. 

The most powerful thing a company can do is be clear on their approach, so that people can make an educated decision about whether your company is right for them. 

________________________

👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like remote, hybrid, or office based companies)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

Women’s hormone cycles impact far more of our working lives than we were ever taught. 

I've struggled with PCOS, PMDD and suspected endometriosis for most of my adult life. No one tells you how your hormones affect your ability to show up, get work done, and succeed professionally.

I spent years struggling against pain and all of the sh*t that hormonal changes throw at you. Although these things will never disappear, I've found that there are ways to work with your cycle, rather than wasting time fighting against it:

Week one (period):

Uncomfortable, but strangely clear-headed. It’s often the best time to do focused work, make practical decisions and plan ahead. Emotions feel more stable, even if the physical symptoms aren’t.

Week two (follicular):

High-energy week. Confidence rises, motivation is easier, and resilience is stronger. This is when big pitches, strategy, difficult conversations and anything that needs bravery and energy suddenly feel far more achievable.

Week three (ovulation):

Bloating and soreness. A noticeable shift in empathy and social awareness. It’s a great week for one-to-ones, coaching, collaboration and anything that benefits from being more attuned to other people.

Week four (PMS):

The worst week, but it’s often when intuition is sharpest. You can spot issues quickly, simplify messy ideas and do early-stage creative thinking. Avoid big conflicts, high pressure meetings, or emotionally detached decisions.

None of this means women have one “good” week and three bad ones. It means our strengths change, yet we were never taught to recognise that.

Most workplaces still treat hormonal health as a taboo topic despite the fact it affects how millions of women work every single month. 

Work is better when we design it around how people actually function and we have empathy for something 50% of our working population goes through. 

___________________________

👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like companies that support women's health)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

I hired one of my best friends, and it totally changed our friendship. 



People always warn you not to hire your friends, but the truth is that you just shouldn’t hire the friends you can’t work with. 

I've known Beth Carter since I was 19. Three years ago, we hired her as our Head of Growth. Today, she’s heading off to something new... and we'll remain friends. 

It’s made me think about why it worked, and what actually happens when you blur the line between friend and colleague.

The friendship didn’t stay the same, and we never expected it to. 

It changed drastically.

Working together meant seeing each other fully: the strengths, the weaknesses, the stress patterns, the way we each respond when things get messy or urgent. 

You can’t learn that over dinners or holidays. You only learn it when you’re solving real problems side by side.

And, strangely, that made the friendship stronger overall rather than putting it under strain. We understand each other better now because we’ve had to be honest, clear, and occasionally very direct (although that's probably not that occasional for me). 

We’ve had to face difficult situations and get through them. We've had to navigate complex power dynamics. We’ve had to give each other feedback without tiptoeing around it. We've had to shift the way we do things to prioritise the business as well as our friendship. We've had to support and pick each other up from places you'd rarely see a friend. 

Not every friendship can hold that. Some depend on avoiding tension or keeping things easy. Some thrive on fun and spontaneity. Others are an escape from work.

Those friendships don’t survive working together.

But when a relationship is built on trust and clarity to begin with, working together adds something meaningful to it. It gives you a different kind of respect for one another. 

It deepens the friendship because you’ve moved beyond the polished version of yourselves. 

The work changed the friendship, and the friendship shaped the work.

Hiring a friend isn’t the risk. Hiring the wrong friend is.

She’s off to an exciting opportunity, and the friendship is stronger because of the three years we spent working together. And her friendship with my husband, Maurice, another co-founder, has grown over that time too. 

That feels like the best possible outcome.

Good luck, Beth 🍀 
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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like cultures built on trust and respect)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

One of the best employers I’ve come across lately wasn’t a tech company or a start-up. It was a rail operator... here's why:

We’ve just onboarded Northern onto Flexa, and I’ve been genuinely impressed by how much they offer. 

They aren't just things that sounds nice on paper, but things that actually make a difference to people's lives. 

Here’s a snapshot of what they provide:

• 9 months of enhanced maternity leave on full pay
• Pension contributions matched at 1.5x
• Compassionate leave
• Various options for flexibility
• Emergency leave
• Carers leave
• Pregnancy loss leave
• Early careers opportunities across graduates and apprentices
• Neonatal leave
• Leave for fertility treatment
• Paid volunteer days
• Veteran communities
• Clear and transparent representation goals

None of this is box-ticking. It’s the kind of support that acknowledges people have families, responsibilities, health challenges and ambitions outside of work.

And it’s a reminder that great workplace culture isn’t confined to tech, or start-ups, or the industries people normally point to. Every company has the potential to be truly inclusive, no matter the industry. 

I’m really pleased to have Northern on Flexa – and I think a lot of companies could learn from what they’ve put in place.

You can read more about them on their profile page on Flexa... you know where to go!

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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like inclusivity)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

I’ve never been convinced by the idea of work-life balance.

It suggests work and life sit in two separate buckets, and that the goal is to keep them perfectly level. But most people’s days don’t look like that. Things don’t politely wait their turn until 6pm. Life spills into the working day, and work spills into life, and pretending just makes everyone feel as if they’re doing it wrong.

And our brains don’t really work in those neat blocks either. Many of us think better when there’s some variety in the day: a mix of focus, admin, movement, and actual life. That isn’t a distraction - it’s normal.

This is why I prefer work-life integration.

It’s more realistic. It acknowledges that people have dogs to walk, kids to collect, parcels to sign for, or simply a moment in the afternoon when they’re better off doing something else and picking work up later.

And the point isn’t that work should take over your life, or that life should take over your work. It’s that you don’t need to sacrifice one to make the other function. You can have both, as long as the way you work actually suits you.

Integration gives you the best of both worlds (if you thrive in that style of working). For a lot of people, it removes the constant tension of trying to force real life into a timetable designed around office hours and commuter trains.

Work and life don’t need to be balanced like scales - they just need to fit together in a way that feels workable.

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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about  (and like work life balance / integration)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

Post number one on my journey to unpick WHAT ON EARTH is going on with the LinkedIn algorithm at the moment? 

I don't really know where to start with this. I love(d) Linkedin; I had an audience of super engaged followers, which was growing by c.80-100 per day, and consistently achieved over a million impressions a week. 

Then towards the end of last year / early this year, that dropped off a cliff. I'm lucky if I get 100k impressions in a week and my follower growth is now c.20-40 a day. 

This isn't new - I'm sure you've seen everyone is posting about it. 

I noticed that that it's mostly women that are suffering with reduced reach, but some men were too. The men who were complaining tended to post about more traditionally "female" topics, and the women who were most affected talked about women's health, equality, flexible working, ethical p*rn, and more. 

There are still dozens of people smashing it here, but I had a hunch that proxy bias was at play, and I was ready to post about it. A big shiny opinion led post. I even changed my gender as I thought that it would prove my point. 

But I was wrong. Although nothing happened for a month, but my posts are back to performing significantly better than they have done over the past 6 months. 

To make it a fair test I did not mention me changing my gender for LinkedIn (because of course that kind of content will catch people's eyes) and my topics have not moved away from my usual future of work and equality posts. 

One of my posts was very clearly about equality, and it was one of my best performing posts in a long time. It's too small a test to base anything on yet, but I've been working away in the background for 2 months trying to understand what on earth is going on. 

There are nuances to every opaque topic like this, and it's crucially important not to oversimplify what is happening here, because blanket statements are easy to pick holes in, and holes means the very valid concern of censorship on LinkedIn will be taken less seriously.

I'm going to post openly and honestly every week until we work this out. I'll share my findings so far, evidence, opinions of other people, and thoughts as someone who has posted over 700 times on LinkedIn over the past four years until we suss it out. 

Yes, this is a bit WAGAtha Christie, but in a world where free speech is used as an excuse for saying whatever people want, yet certain views are being genuinely censored, I think it's incredibly important we don't let suspicious activity slide. 

Please feel free to follow me, join in the conversation, and share your views... The greater the variety of opinions, the better, and hopefully we'll find some answers.

After managing dozens of people, hiring teams, and building a company, I’ve realised most people miss the one thing that actually moves their career forward:


✨ Make your work visible ✨ 


When I first became a manager, I didn’t really understand just how invisible good work can be.

Before you manage people, you assume great work naturally speaks for itself. 

You believe that if you deliver something brilliant, the right people will notice.

But inside a business, things move too quickly for that. Everyone is juggling their own priorities. No one has the full picture. And “great work” can easily sit quietly in someone’s inbox, unseen.

As a manager, I started to realise that the people who removed friction - the ones who communicated clearly, surfaced context early, and didn’t make you guess - were the ones I valued instantly. 

Not because they were loud, but because they made everything around them work better.

Fast forward to being a founder at Flexa, and that finding has become even more true. 

The people who are indispensable to the business aren’t the ones shouting about how busy they are. They aren’t performing hard work; they’re doing it, and they make their impact easy to understand.

- They make decisions visible 
- They complete work without being chased
- They give clarity before the question arrives
- They make collaboration feel smooth, not like a fight
- They tell you what’s happening so you don’t have to go digging
- They start discussions early, showing how they work as well as what they do

As a founder, that is gold. Those are the people you build the company around.

Those are the people you give bigger opportunities to because you trust the way they work, and you never have to dig around to understand their impact.

The truth is: people are recognised and rewarded based on the work they can actually see, not the work they hope is being done somewhere in the background. 

It’s the same as building an incredible product and refusing to market it because “people will realise how good it is eventually.”

It's highly unlikely that they will. 

Not because they don’t care, but because that product / person just isn't at the front of their mind.

Visibility often carries the negative connotations of self-promotion, but it's only ever a positive trait in the workplace. 

So, if you want to progress, get a bonus, or negotiate a payrise, make your work easy to see, easy to understand, and easy to build on.

That’s what people notice and that’s what makes you indispensable.

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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like career progression)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

Here are some of the brilliant companies investing in women's health, and therefore the resilience of their workforce:


🛍️ Deliveroo offer pregnancy support and fertility benefits 

🩺 Patchwork Health have an incredible range of benefits, including pregnancy loss leave, fertility treatment leave, menstrual leave and more

🚢 A.P. Moller - Maersk give their employees women's health leave and a private GP service

🖥️ EY with their surrogacy leave and menopause support

💧 Anglian Water Services offer fertility treatment leave and a private GP

🧠 Amplifi (Europe) give women's health leave, pregnancy support, and more

💰 ClearBank have an amazing offering, from pregnancy loss leave through to fertility treatment leave 

🤝 Brit Insurance offer fertility treatment leave, pregnancy loss leave, menstrual leave and more

💻 SAP offer fertility benefits and fertility leave, as well as a range of other women's health benefits

Given that 50% of the working population will experience one or more of periods, pregnancy, fertility struggles, and women's health complications, it's amazing to see so many companies recognising that support is invaluable. 

___________________________

👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like all of these wonderful benefits)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

My post about our unhinged Slack conversation went viral - apparently people are desperate to find employers with equally unhinged cultures.

You asked, and we delivered. 

No matter your preference on company culture, you can find your perfect match on Flexa (alongside hundreds of other super useful filters from location flexibility to pet friendliness). 

We're currently the only ones with that filter on... who else has a company that should be discovered by the unhinged filter? 

You only qualify if you'd publicly rank your colleagues by how they'd fare in a company-wide fight. 

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👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like unhinged cultures). Join 4.3 million people conducting over half a million searches every month and find your perfect match. 

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

The challenging job market this year has driven some fascinating shifts in talent demands:

- Gen Z's demand for in-office work has risen 3x during 2025; likely driven by a challenging jobs market, fewer graduate roles, and an awareness that in person time is crucial for learning. 

- Demand for part-time work is up 39% and job sharing is up 66% across all groups (up 78% for parents); likely driven by the need to stay economically active while juggling household responsibilities, and an increased demand for better work-life balance. Often, the two compete, but in alternative working patterns they better align. 

- Demand for flexible hours is up 28% for women, and set hours is down 46%; likely driven by needing more flexibility in terms of time without the greater abundance of remote working that we saw over the past five years. 

- Demand for benefits is down 25% across all users and reward & recognition is up 118%; this shows that not only are monetary incentives far more valuable during a cost of living crisis, but people want their hard work to be recognised. It's not all a pound for pound game - when people work hard, it's natural to want to feel valued. 

What we're seeing this year strongly suggests two things:

1) People are trying to make work work for them while batting increased strain from cost of living increases and demands from health and family. 

2) There's an increasing awareness of what is realistic in a tough job market, without totally sacrificing your ideals. 

My themes for 2025 are therefore "realism" and "juggling". 

I talk more about this in our 2025 talent data webinar, where I'm joined by Miranda Tate - Global Head of TA at Merlin Entertainments, Mark Crompton - VP Talent Attraction at Leonardo, Chris Woods - Recruitment Marketing Leader at Mars. 

Watch on demand here: https://lnkd.in/epNXPmRR

We've seen significant investment into creative benefits this year, so I thought I'd do a run-down of the areas that market-leading companies are investing:

🩺 Comprehensive health and wellbeing support:

From Deliveroo's private GP with specialist menopause support to A.P. Moller - Maersk’s women’s health leave, and BT Group’s paid carers leave. These are the benefits that recognise people have lives beyond work.

⛴️ Global mobility and travel support

At companies like Adaptavist and Camunda, employees aren’t limited by location. Whether it’s work from anywhere setups or support to work across regions, mobility is built in.

🐶 Pet-friendly perks

Goodlord and Mars have shown how far pet benefits can go, with benefits like pawternity leave and dog-friendly offices, acknowledging how important the relationship with our pets is.

📚 Learning and personal development

From Northern’s free travel on their trains to NHBC personal development days, and Boomi’s investment in apprenticeship and internship programmes, these benefits build careers, not just CVs.

💳 Financial support

Mondelēz International's enhanced pension contributions, Brit Insurance's L&D budget, and EY's wellbeing support stipend show that some companies really do invest into our futures. 

👶 Family friendly benefits 

We've seen this come on leaps and bounds over the last few years, and some great examples are SAP's on-site childcare, ClearBank offering fertility treatment leave, and Boomi's eldercare leave. 

As investment into these kind of benefits grow, you'll find all of them and more on Flexa where you can filter for your next company using 452 different filters 

________________________

👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about 

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

ad | Burnout gets talked about so casually now that we’ve almost lost sight of what it really is. Real burnout isn’t “I’m a bit tired”: it’s debilitating. It can hospitalise people. It takes months to recover from. 

And that’s partly why this stat stopped me in my tracks: Deloitte research in 2024 estimated the cost of poor employee mental health (including burnout) at £51 billion.

Not because everyone is burning out all the time, but because when it does happen, it’s catastrophic for the individual and expensive for the organisation. 

Lost knowledge, spiralling recruitment costs, teams absorbing extra load… it adds up quickly. 

But if we agree that true burnout is severe, surely the answer isn’t just to get better at catching people once they fall. It’s to stop them getting anywhere near that point. 

That’s why I’ve been looking at what Bupa and YuLife are doing, and am now proud to be working with them. Clinical support when you genuinely need it packaged with daily engagement that people actually use to deal with the early stage signs of burnout. 

Half of their members opening the app every day is unheard of for a health benefit. In a good way. Because it hints at something we’ve been missing: consistency beats crisis response. 

Supporting people shouldn't be about wrapping them in cotton wool; it should be about making the everyday healthier so the extreme moments are far less likely. 

At Flexa, when we talk about building sustainable companies, this is what we mean: designing work in a way that prevents problems instead of just reacting to them. 


#workplacewellbeing #futureofwork #employeebenefits

Brand partnership • CEO & Co-Founder @ Flexa | Future of Work Speaker & Creator (100k) | Employer Brand | DEI | Talent Intelligence

Good morning to everyone except people who speak so slowly you almost want to climb inside their mind and speak for them. I cannot 1.5x you and it makes my brain hurt.

Gen Z aren't lazy. They're just done with your outdated workplace BS 💪

I'm tired of hearing Gen Z being called "the lazy generation" when they're actually doing what the rest of us were too afraid to do - demanding better

They're asking the questions previous generations were scared to ask. Can I work remotely? What are the growth opportunities? How does this company support mental health? What's your DEI commitment?

And here's the thing - by being vocal about these needs, they're making work better for EVERYONE. Not just themselves.

Our data shows what Gen Z actually wants from work:
💰 Salary: 75% (obviously)
🌍 Location flexibility: 57%
👩‍🎓 Personal development: 53%
🩺 Benefits: 30%
🤝 Mission: 23%

They're not asking for ping pong tables and free snacks. They want fair pay, the freedom to work where they're productive, and real opportunities to grow.

In this week's newsletter, I'm breaking down:
📊 What Gen Z actually prioritise at work (backed by real data) 
🚀 How they're redefining work for the better 
🎯 How to actually attract Gen Z talent (hint: be transparent) 
💡 What every generation can learn from Gen Z employees


Read the full newsletter below 👇 



#GenZ #FutureOfWork #EmployerBrand #WorkplaceCulture #DEI

Hello and welcome back to my newsletter! I write about the future of work, flexible working, startups, and DEI. If you've been forwarded this newslett

Open article: Gen Z in the Workplace: The Ambitious Generation Redefining Work by Molly Johnson-Jones • 8 min read

Gen Z in the Workplace: The Ambitious Generation Redefining Work

Accessibility shouldn't stop at the interview 

Too many companies treat accessibility like a checkbox during hiring and then forget about it

But accessibility needs to show up every single day. In your culture, in your operations, in your EVP

Our data shows candidates with disabilities prioritise:
Diversity: 58% above average
Dog-friendly workplaces: 52% above average
Core hours flexibility: 43% above average

And with 20% of the working age population being disabled, companies that ignore accessibility are excluding massive talent pools

This week's newsletter breaks down: 
♿ Why accessibility is a business advantage, not compliance 
🔄 How to make it an everyday priority (not just at onboarding) 
💼 How to embed it into your EVP authentically

Because disability inclusion shouldn't be a nice-to-have. It's essential.

Read the full newsletter here 👇


#DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility #DEI #EmployerBranding #WorkplaceCulture

Hello and welcome back to my newsletter! I write about the future of work, flexible working, startups and DEI. If you've been forwarded this newslette

Open article: The International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Why workplace accessibility must go beyond compliance by Molly Johnson-Jones • 10 min read

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities: Why workplace accessibility must go beyond compliance

What do you think ranks after salary and flexibility for candidates?


It's career progression! With 36% of people saying that it's a non negotiable for their next company.

When companies make career progression a real priority, it turns into a powerful retention and attraction tool.

Here are some brilliant Flexa verified employers recognised for investing in development and progression 👇

📊 EY – structured career paths, professional qualifications and opportunities for international mobility

✈️ TUI – skills development and progression opportunities including hackathons, L&D budget, in house training, language lessons and further education support

🛩 Airbus – clear progression frameworks, apprenticeships, graduate programmes and internal mobility across engineering and innovation

🍫 Mars – investment in career development and leadership growth at all levels, including lunch and learns, in house training and studying sabbaticals

💻 SAP – continuous learning programmes, L&D and personal development budgets, study support, hackathons and in house training

📱 Vodafone – personal development days, LinkedIn learning licenses and clear progression routes

📡 Virgin Media O2– structured development programmes, internal opportunities and leadership training

🚆 Northern – clear pathways, apprenticeships and study support and sabbaticals and financial coaching

📞 BT Group – career mobility, internal learning platform, L&D budget, coaching and mentoring and LinkedIn learning licenses

🏦 ClearBank – personal development budgets, financial coaching and in house training

Career progression shouldn’t depend on luck or how loud you shout. It should be designed into the company culture.

________________________

👋 I'm Molly and I run Flexa, the platform that enables you to filter for your next employer based on what you really care about (like career progression)

🔔 Follow me for musings on the future of work and equality

Annual reviews aren't enough and here's why 📊

We've seen a 60% increase in demand for reward and recognition throughout 2025. And honestly? It makes sense.

Waiting until the end of the year to tell someone they're doing great work is like only checking your car at the MOT and ignoring everything in between. By the time you notice the problem, it's too late.

Annual reviews still have their place, but they can't be the only moment that matters. Real development happens through ongoing conversations, not once-a-year check-ins.

This week's newsletter breaks down:
📊 Why demand for recognition has jumped 60% this year 
🗓️ The real problems with annual-only reviews
💫 How to shift to year-round performance conversations 
⭐ Companies getting reward and recognition right

Because recognition shouldn't be seasonal. It should be constant.


#EmployeeRecognition #PerformanceManagement #FutureOfWork #Leadership

End-of-year reviews have been around for a long time, and most companies still treat them as a core part of performance management. But how often do w

Open article: Recognition all year round: why employee appreciation shouldn't be seasonal by Molly Johnson-Jones • 5 min read

Recognition all year round: why employee appreciation shouldn't be seasonal

NielsenIQ

When I joined NIQ’s Global Brand Marketing Center of Excellence, the mission was clear:
→ Strengthen and amplify global brand narrative in a crowded, competitive space.

So I led the charge, designing global social campaigns that aligned with our corporate narrative and amplified brand visibility across CPG and retail industries.

→ Rolled out employee advocacy initiatives that turned associates into brand ambassadors—driving 10–30x more visibility than corporate channels.
→ Scaled executive visibility and strengthened market positioning, leading to a 600% lift in impressions per post compared to benchmarks.
→ Linked social impact to business growth, achieving a 157% increase in webinar registrations, with 18% of sign-ups sourced directly from social media.

At NIQ, we don't just post. We build influence, drive demand, and grow our market leadership, one story at a time.

Senior Social Media Brand Manager | Global Brand Marketing

There wasn’t a true employer brand function when I joined NIQ, just fragmented efforts and a half-built EVP waiting for a bigger vision.

So I built it from the ground up:

→ Took a draft EVP and fully rolled it out across 100+ markets, embedding it across the candidate journey.
→ Designed and led training for 120+ recruiters, transforming them into brand storytellers through social selling and personal branding strategies.
→ Built and grew our social presence from scratch: driving a 150% YoY increase in career site traffic and a 33% YoY increase in applications.
→ Developed an HR brand architecture that raised Glassdoor reviews by 152% and improved our global rating from 3.8 to 4.0.

When NIQ merged with GfK, I led the employer brand integration, ensuring our combined story resonated across teams and markets.

Awards:
•  2024-2025 Great Places to Work certified in India
• 2024 Built In Best Places to Work
• 2023 Top Employer for Latino Leaders
• 2023 Built In Best Places to Work
• 2022 Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion
• 2022 EBNavi Employer Branding Stars

Global Head of Employer Branding

Anna Bertoldini

Most professionals have the skills.

What they lack is a story that makes the world notice.

I coach ambitious professionals to build personal brands that turn LinkedIn views into career-defining opportunities.

→ Delivering 1:1 personal brand and career coaching, strategic personal brand frameworks, and LinkedIn optimization to help clients land promotions, leadership roles, and career pivots.
→ Leading workshops for corporate teams and communities like Engel & Völkers, Glovo, CHG Meridian, Les Amis, The Cover, LEAD Network, EGALA, and Danfoss to drive brand awareness and individual visibility.

Recognized as one of Influence Digest’s Top 15 Coaches in Barcelona in 2024, I believe that when your brand speaks, opportunities listen.

Personal Branding & Career Coach | Workshops

Glovo

When I joined Glovo, employer branding didn’t exist yet. No EVP, no talent marketing channels, and no unified message to candidates.

The challenge?
→ Build the employer brand function from scratch and position Glovo as a top global employer across competitive markets.

So I built it, fast and strategically:

→ Created and launched Glovo’s first global Employer Value Proposition (EVP) and rolled it out across markets.
→ Led the full redesign of our career site, improving functionality, content, and storytelling, driving 93% of applications through the site.
→ Built the @LifeAtGlovo brand from the ground up, launching a new social media presence and growing global visibility.
→ Designed candidate journeys that connected brand, culture, and experience across every touchpoint.

The results spoke for themselves:

→ Grew LinkedIn company followers by +72.5% in 2020 and +53% in 2021.
→ Reached a 4.9% average engagement rate, beating major competitors.
→ Elevated Glassdoor ratings from 4.1 to 4.4 through employee advocacy.
→ Supported business expansion across EMEA, LATAM, and Western Asia through targeted recruitment marketing.

This wasn’t just about campaigns. It was about becoming the voice of Glovo’s global brand and creating a story people wanted to be part of.

Awards:

• 2021 EBNavi Employer Branding Stars 
• 2020 Universum Spain's Most Attractive Employers for Students
• 2020 Breakout List Great Companies to Work for in Europe
• 2020 Top Spanish Startups to Follow

Global Employer Branding Manager

Global Employer Branding Specialist

BlackRock

When I joined BlackRock’s Talent Acquisition Strategy and Initiatives team, the mission was clear: strengthen the company’s reputation as a top employer globally.

The ask:

→ Create authentic narratives that showcased BlackRock’s inclusive, global culture.
→ Grow our social presence to recruit the best talent in key talent markets. 
→ Open a brand-new office in Atlanta with zero local brand recognition.

So I led employer branding campaigns that did exactly that:

→ Orchestrated targeted paid media campaigns to build a talent pipeline in Atlanta, combining data with storytelling to drive awareness and applications.
→ Partnered with creative agencies to develop editorial, video, and photography assets that captured the essence of BlackRock’s culture.
→ Contributed to the complete redesign of BlackRock’s career site, improving candidate experience and aligning the digital journey with the brand’s values.

The result?
A stronger employer brand presence, an energized new office launch, and global recognition.

Awards: 

• 2019 Top Rated Workplaces
• 2019 Forbes World's Best Employers
• 2019 Glassdoor Top Rated CEOs
• 2014-2020 Fortune World's Most Admired Companies

Associate, Global Employer Branding

Intel Corporation

At Intel, I had the opportunity to bring data-driven marketing to life across EMEA markets.

My role:

→ Analyzed campaign performance data to uncover insights and optimize future marketing strategies.
→ Provided strategic recommendations that sharpened brand messaging and customer journey mapping.
→ Supported the planning and execution of the Intel Retail Executive Conference 2018—strengthening executive engagement across EMEA.

It wasn’t just about running campaigns. It was about refining how Intel connected with customers, more insightfully, and more effectively.

EMEA Marketing Strategy and Campaign Activation

WeAreDevelopers

WeAreDevelopers was poised for rapid growth, but their brand presence hadn’t caught up yet.

What was needed: 

→ Build a stronger B2B and B2C content strategy from the ground up.
→ Expand lead generation efforts and amplify event visibility.

I stepped in and:

→ Launched and managed WeAreDevelopers’ first employer branding blog, boosting B2B engagement and generating new business opportunities.
→ Led the content and social strategy for the WeAreDevelopers Conference 2017, an event hosting over 3,000 IT professionals and global tech giants.
→ Strengthened the company’s PR and online presence, setting a foundation for sustainable growth.

This role taught me early on: a strong brand voice, and the right story, can open doors at scale.

Content Manager

United States Department of Defense

Even at an early stage in my career, working at the U.S. Department of Defense in Vicenza, Italy, taught me critical lessons:

→ Precision matters.
→ Service excellence matters.
→ Communication matters, especially across cultures.

Serving both American and Italian communities, I delivered efficient, high-quality service with accuracy and professionalism every day.

Pathways Program Intern

ITSLIQUID Group

In Venice’s vibrant art scene, ITSLIQUID needed someone to connect artists with global audiences.

My mission was to expand the reach of international art exhibitions and amplify attendance.

I stepped in to:

→ Research, select, and connect with global artists for major exhibitions.
→ Organize exhibition openings and market events through strategic digital promotion.

Here, I first realized the power of storytelling to bridge industries, cultures, and communities, an insight I carried into every future role.

Marketing and Communications Intern

The Walt Disney Company

At Disney, delivering exceptional guest experiences wasn’t just encouraged, it was required.

As a Cast Member:

→ Delivered fast, thoughtful, and joyful service to an international guest base.
→ Trained in corporate communication, HR management, and cross-cultural awareness at Disney University.

Disney instilled in me something foundational: every experience is a story, and every interaction shapes it. 

It was a masterclass in high standards, positivity, and the importance of creating magical experiences, even in the small moments.

Disney College Program Intern

Global Brand Marketing @ NIQ | LinkedIn Top Voice | Personal Branding & Career Coach | Brand Content & Communication Strategist | Speaker | Storyteller

Strong brands aren’t built by accident.

They’re built by consistent storytelling, strategic content, and a clear message that earns trust, and drives action.

As Senior Social Media Brand Manager at NIQ, I lead content development and strategy across our global channels, amplifying our brand story at scale. Sitting within the Brand Marketing Center of Excellence, I design social campaigns that connect the dots between brand visibility, executive thought leadership, and commercial outcomes.

From launching global brand campaigns to scaling executive presence and employee advocacy, I help NIQ translate complex data into compelling, high-performing content, fueling awareness, engagement, and ultimately, market leadership.

Because when content is clear, strategic, and deeply human, it doesn’t just get seen. It moves people.

That belief also drives the second half of what I do.

Outside my 9-5, I’m a Personal Branding & Career Coach. I help professionals build personal brands that reflect their value and attract the right opportunities, without sounding like everyone else.

Through 1:1 coaching, workshops, and content frameworks, I’ve helped professionals land promotions, shift industries, and gain visibility in competitive markets—using the same principles I apply in global brand strategy: clarity, storytelling, and trust.

How I can help you:

▪️ LinkedIn profile/CV optimization
▪️ Custom personal brand strategy
▪️ Custom career coaching
▪️ 1:1 ongoing coaching
▪️ LinkedIn personal branding workshops

📆 Let’s build your LinkedIn brand together:
→ Book your 1:1 with me: https://ad63175ve4y.typeform.com/to/wSoVQy2N

What drives me:

Whether for a Fortune 500 brand or a rising industry leader, my mission is the same: to make brands (and people!) visible, impactful, and unforgettable.

If you're ready to tell a story that grows your brand, or your career, let’s connect.

Awards & recognition:

2024 Influence Digest Media Top 15 Coaches in Barcelona
2024 LinkedIn Top Community Voice for Brand Strategy
2023 Favikon Top 200 Most Influential LinkedIn Creators (Top 70 Spain)
2023 Flexa Future of Work Pioneer Award
2023 Frontify Top 30 Brand Visionaries

She/her/ella

DISCLAIMER: Views and opinions expressed are my own and not those of current or previous employers or LinkedIn.

It took me 48 hours to figure this out, but it will save me hundreds of hours this year. And I'll explain how my new automation can do this for you too. 

So yes please be proud of me because I built my first (semi) complex automation yesterday on Make.com 😍 

Here's what I did:

I realized I was losing hours every week just transferring notes from calls into candid, personal follow-up emails. I wanted to be present with the person, not worrying about capturing every bullet point.

So, I built an automation to do it for me (for free).

Note: I use Google Workspace outside of my 9-5, for networking, consulting, etc. - so Gemini is omnipresent in all of my documents, emails, calls, and workflows now. So this applies to Google users.

Here is the exact workflow I built using Make.com:

1. When I use Google Meet for my calls, Gemini transcribes the call.

2. The trigger: that transcript automatically lands in a specific Google Drive folder named "Meet Transcripts" (it also gets sent to my email). 

3. I set up a scenario in Make that watches that folder. When a new file lands, it sends the text to Gemini to analyze the Google Doc with a specific prompt: "Summarize this conversation and write a warm, relevant follow-up email based on the action items."

4. Gemini knows my voice and crafts the email, but doesn't send it (that would be dangerous). Instead, I set it up so it creates a Draft in my Gmail.

The result: I finish a call. I grab a coffee. By the time I sit back down, a perfectly written draft is waiting for me. I tweak it to add my personal touch, and hit send.

Why does this matter? Follow-ups are important, they build trust. 

If you drop the ball on follow-ups, you're missing a huge opportunity. 

Automation doesn't replace the human connection, it removes the friction so you can actually maintain the connection.

It took me 48 hours to build this and lots of tests. Some paid tools do this but I wanted a free one, Make.com allows for up to 2 scenarios for free :)

I’m honestly so proud of this little system!!

Curious, what is the one "boring" task you wish you could automate right now?

Global Brand & Communications Leader @ NIQ | Human-First, AI-Driven Brand Marketing | Storyteller | Speaker | Personal Brand Coach

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