New Research: The Strategic Role of Employee Recognition in the Modern Workplace

Ben Eubanks is an author, speaker, and researcher living in Huntsville, AL. His team surveys thousands of employers and workers each year to understand the latest workplace trends and changes. His latest bestselling book, Talent Scarcity, explores how to hire and keep workers during a talent shortage. He also founded HR Summer School, an event with more than a million minutes watched in 2023 alone. In addition, he hosts We're Only Human, a podcast focusing on improving human resources, one HR pro at a time. When he's not speaking or writing, he spends time with his four kids and runs in a variety of outlandish races for fun.

Holly McIlwain is the founder and chief cheerleader of the Brave Women Project. She is the author of “For She Who Leads: Practical Wisdom from a Woman Who Serves” and leads the Talent Development platform for Winner Partners. She is a subject-matter expert in the usage of behavior assessments as part of coaching and development plans, in addition to talent acquisition engagements. As a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach, working with individuals and organizations to build a better world and sustainable business solutions is her passion. What’s not exciting about that? This enthusiasm comes with Holly into each coaching session, team workshop, search opportunity, and speaking engagement. It carries right over into the Brave Women Project. Nothing excites Holly more than inspiring women to do brave things. One of the brave things she did was partner with Amy Hooper Hanna to create "For She Who Grieves: Practical Wisdom for Living Hope". ​ Developing leaders who change lives is Holly’s passion and professional purpose. She has studied and written about topics such as: Leadership and Mission, Bravery in Business, and Managing Human Relationships. As a recognized subject matter expert, Holly has spoken at numerous conferences and on Sirius XM Radio. She holds an advanced degree in Organizational Leadership from Robert Morris University, and is certified as a DISC Behavior Analyst and a Driving Forces Behavior Analyst. ​ Holly invests herself to expand the reach of those organizations she serves and has a long record of engagement in the region. Holly functioned as a lead consultant in Organizational Management and Leadership Development for one of the largest non-profits in the world and spent 15 years in the non-profit sector. After studying with Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation, she invested her time and professionalism in the Pittsburgh region, consistently seeking ways to challenge leaders to become fully engaged in transformation. In 2020 she began serving as Pittsburgh Leadership Foundation Faculty and became a DDI Certified Facilitator. Holly is an expert in the value of dynamic onboarding as part of the foundation for fully engaged employees and served in Human Resources at Robert Morris University and Franciscan University. She previously served as Director of People & Culture for Wolfe.com, an INC top 100 fastest growing company! Currently she leverages her subject matter expertise through conducting management training and corporate learning and development workshops.

As Bonusly's Chief Customer Officer, Debra combines her passion for an exceptional customer experience with her drive to empower companies to connect, motivate, and engage their employees to build winning workplaces. Prior to Bonusly, Debra was the VP of CS at Beamery and the Chief Client Officer at Namely, to name a few. She has over 25 years of experience in senior leadership roles in Human Resources ranging from in-house HR leadership to HR Consulting, Outsourcing, Client Services, and Customer Success working directly with HR teams across a variety of industries. She currently resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her husband.