.png)
In this session, panelists Jeffrey Huang, Director, Employee Engagement & Events at Salesforce, Tamar Mahru, Senior Director, Workplace Experience at Grammarly, and Alaina Tobar, Director, Employee Experience at Workday, shared how small but strategic teams are creating meaningful employee engagement through focused programming and creative partnerships. With teams ranging from one to ten people, they discussed how to scale connection across thousands of employees while maintaining intentionality.
Each panelist operates with a lean team and a global footprint. Jeffrey shared that Salesforce's employee engagement team is made up of just ten people supporting more than 76,000 employees across 45 countries. Tamar explained that Grammarly has only one dedicated events professional for 1,300 employees, supported by site leaders and passionate volunteers. Alaina added that Workday’s employee experience team consists of seven people serving over 20,000 employees across 60 locations.
The common thread was clear. Small teams succeed by empowering local champions, aligning closely with culture, and setting focused priorities.
Alaina emphasized the importance of clarity. Her team clearly defines its mission, program goals, and the boundaries of its work. This allows them to prioritize more effectively and confidently say no when needed. She also highlighted the value of consistency. Regular, low-lift activities like trivia or mini-tournaments help sustain engagement without draining resources.
By anchoring their year around these simple but effective moments, the team creates dependable rhythms that employees can rely on. Larger events are layered in throughout the year to deliver peak moments of connection without overwhelming the team.
Tamar described how Grammarly amplifies impact by tapping into the energy of its people. Site leads and local culture carriers are key to activating events in ways that feel personal. This grassroots approach has enabled her small team to prioritize quality and relevance, even without a large budget. Investing in locally resonant programming has often been more impactful than organizing one big, centralized event.
Jeffrey shared that Salesforce has built a network of over 1,000 cultural ambassadors and Epoch admins to extend the reach of their programming. With these distributed partners, his team supported more than 4,500 events in a single year. Their success depends on enabling others, not doing it all themselves.
Measurement and feedback are essential to program success. Jeffrey shared that every Salesforce event includes a short survey sent through Epoch. Two of the most important questions ask whether the event helped attendees feel more connected to the culture, and whether it influenced their desire to come into the office. The team uses this data to evaluate effectiveness and report on impact.
Tamar noted that Grammarly is building similar practices, using feedback to inform future programming and align efforts with broader company goals.
One email, every month.
.png)
.png)
.png)