Education-forward approach to sociotechnical systems strategy.
Social selling, communication, & people operations for hybrid and remote organizations
founder, Caitlin Begg
Combining 8+ years of client experience and in-house sociological research
AREAS OF FOCUS
PEOPLE OPERATIONS
increasing employee engagement and reducing attrition, through integrative sociotechnical methods (including AI and analog methods)
COMMUNICATION STRATEGY
for global hybrid and remote organizations, drawing on 7+ years of client experience and in-house sociological research
SOCIAL SELLING
design • enhancement • mapping • GTM • drive revenue • sociotechnical approach to AI adoption
everyday learning as a vehicle for growth and change, starting with each organization’s approach to digital and physical conversation
A small selection of our current and former clients, partners, and research affiliations. Many current and former clients choose to remain anonymous due to the sensitive nature of the engagement. Other detailed, anonymized, and approved client cases available upon request.
Our story
Founded in 2016 after Harvard undergraduate sociology thesis
Authentic Social Founder Caitlin Begg started Authentic Social in 2016 after writing her Harvard sociology thesis on virtual impressions and how technology affects communication + relationships.
Left LinkedIn in 2017 to pursue Authentic Social full-time
We've been in business for 7+ years without any venture capital or outside funding because of our research-first approach and proven client outcomes.
Over the last seven years, we noticed that many organizational issues can be traced back to some type of interpersonal or intersystem conversation dysfunction, especially within the contexts of hybrid and remote work.
As an extension of her 2016 Harvard sociology thesis, Caitlin now researches technology's effect on conversation and sociotechnical systems. Within these contexts, further areas of research include the future of work, artificial intelligence’s impact on conversation, and more. This research is constantly integrated into processes and methods for Authentic Social, and she presents the research around the U.S. and Europe.
WHAT IS SOCIOTECHNICAL
SYSTEMS STRATEGY?
WHAT IS SOCIOTECHNICAL
SYSTEMS STRATEGY?
Sociotechnical systems strategy involves prioritizing the joint optimization of social and technical systems for organizational success - through detailed qualitative assessments, learning, implementation, and more.
In simple terms: aligning people and technology to optimize performance, engagement, satisfaction, and reduce inefficiencies.
More about the history of sociotechnical systems, dating back to the 1950s
Members of Authentic Social's fractional advisor network come from many top institutions and organizations, including:
Prioritizing education & implementation through founder-led projects, supported by Authentic Social's robust network of fractional advisors
Large consulting companies
Large consulting companies can charge up to six figures a week, and often staff employees who, while incredibly intelligent, can lack specialized social selling, digital communication knowledge and/or interest in your organization's specific needs. Their staff may not be truly invested or passionate enough about your org's space to sustain the creative and complex problem solving necessary to ideate and execute strategy that will actually create lasting organizational change.
Authentic Social
The Authentic Social approach = founder-led project execution, with the support of fractional advisors whenever needed. For the past seven years, we have leveraged a robust network of knowledge experts to ensure your projects get any additional resources it needs.
For example, our robust network of knowledge experts and advisors (combining academic and industry insights) consists of:
- PhDs and academic experts in a variety of fields
- Former McKinsey, Blackstone, etc.
- Oxford, Harvard, Penn, Cambridge, Stanford, Penn M&T (& more), Columbia, UNC alums
- Former senior project managers at top tech companies including Amplitude
Authentic
Social
Method
1 - ASSESSMENT
To begin, Authentic Social conducts a proprietary sociotechnical and qualitative analysis of the organization to properly identify areas for improvement. Some organizations choose to just engage on this level, although we recommend all three steps for optimal engagement success.
2 - IMPLEMENTATION & EDUCATION
Customized to fit your organization's needs and timeline, Authentic Social then implements the recommendations from phase one through a deliberate and educative process tailored to your organization. This includes regular meetings, hands-on approach, and onsites whenever possible.
3 - ADVISORY
To ensure the continued success of your engagement, Authentic Social can then stay on in an advisory capacity; working with your team to ensure success. The timing and intensity of this can be adjusted according to your organization's unique needs.
When most organizations want to optimize sales or communication processes, they usually:
Ignore the problem and focus on only technical solutions (The flawed "ANOTHER SOFTWARE WILL FIX THIS!" mindset)
Sign a lengthy and expensive contract with a big-name consulting company, whose staff often lack sales and communication-specific knowledge, research, and practical know-how
Work with a "sales / communication guru" who promises (and then inevitably fails) to solve all of your organization's woes overnight
Select Client Examples
44% reduction in employee attrition YoY on average for Authentic Social clients.
Our work with clients involves impacting recruiting processes, implementing ongoing learning programs, and increasing employee satisfaction.
Linking employee learning and lead generation positively impacts revenue and workplace satisfaction.
Several clients, especially those in B2B technology, have been able to link Authentic Social's methods and work to decreased digital communication dysfunctions as well as increased lead generation and downstream revenue.
Overhauled social selling and communication processes, with a focus on hybrid and remote work, increase lead volume by an average of 34% in the first two quarters of engagement with Authentic Social.
Said engagements emphasize education + implementation of sociotechnical processes.
3x increase in appointments for top partner of Fortune 1,000 B2B tech company.
Worked with large team of reps across business lines to increase business development effectiveness. Within first quarter of engagement, 3x increase in appointments. Over the course of a year, 5.2x increase in appointments YoY.
Fortune 100 B2B tech sales leadership benefitted from sociotechnical selling training, leading to improved cross-functional knowledge, communication, and performance.
In work with company's sales leadership, focused on sociotechnical selling training, leveraging technology, sociological methods, and a relationship-forward approach for improved social selling strategies.
32% increase in response rate, 8x increase in appointments for B2B tech startup.
Trained new and existing business development representative team. Organization was having major issues with pipeline and outbound leads - an average of ~1.2 appointments / month per business development representative. Extremely low response rate (single digits). Within a quarter of engagement, response rate drastically increased and resulted in a 8x increase in appointments.
Research
Learn more about founder Caitlin Begg's independent sociological research at
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