Career Blog
Whether you’re just getting started in the field of HR or wanting to take charge in your new role, you may be asking yourself this question: how to navigate the world of HR? If you want answers or maybe some motivation to start your day, here are five resources that will enrich your knowledge.
1. What it Takes to Be Successful in The New World of Work?
James Fulton, Chief Learning Officer at Goldman Sachs, dives into the new world troubles of HR. He states that “There has been a shift in HR; executives have realized that diversity and agility have become front-row players in the workplace.” As 2020 comes to an end, executives say goodbye to the old, separated workplace culture and hello to small group focus sessions where employees not only connect as teams but on a personal basis.
2. Burnout to Breakthrough
“Burnout is the true occupational hazard”, claims Eileen McDargh, Chief Energy Officer at The Resilience Group. She highlights that wise leaders must now ask themselves: “What value is the work we give bringing to our employees and our business?” Leaders and employees must begin to rethink business processes to make them more effective.
3. Goal Setting and Performance Management
Robert St-Jaques, Director of Customer Success at 7Geese, focuses on HR transformations. He has been changing the traditional system of yearly goal setting and employee feedback. Companies must start breaking down objective timelines and feedback into pieces. Employees want achievable expectations. With timely feedback and shorter objectives or goals, it is easier to catch up or if they are ahead they can start on the next pieces of the big puzzle, measuring what matters.
4. Experience Rise Above 2020
Samuel Isaac, Head of global marketing and strategy at Neeyamo, touches on the uncertainty of how long COVID-19 will continue to affect HR Management, how can forward-looking organizations tackle these new challenges? Organizations must continue to retain customer centricity through device programs, change management, communication, and stop being afraid to change commercial operating models. He states there must be agility in being able to adapt and change, just as fast as the world around us changes.
5. Re-Skilling the Workforce and Community Building
Robotizing the workforce? Enrique Rubio, Founder and CEO of Hacking HR, touches on how to combat the looming threat of tech advancements and talks about creating a blend of quantitative and qualitative skills. The way to remain relevant does not only rely on better understanding technology but understanding how to be better humans through empathy, cultural understanding, and collaboration.
With many uncertainties ahead, it can be clear that HR Management will be met with some challenges. I hope that you have been inspired to be a part of the new generation of successful HR Management.
HRchat Podcasts - https://open.spotify.com/show/1Swgoe9gy5b9ftJd1obBZa?si=0CL41LowS5WHfBBrmJUJgQ
HR Leaders Podcasts - https://open.spotify.com/show/2W0e5BGna5KHJUTrITcs3o?si=ikUFkpVSTg6JCBhbY2i2qg
When is the last time you thought of your dream career? Dream salary? Dream lifestyle? With our busy lives as students, once a new school year starts we don’t often think about our big-picture career goals. A vision board can change that.
What is a vision board?
A vision board, as the name implies, is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of one’s vision, dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation. Not only can it be used to visualize general life goals, it can also be specific to your career goals. The idea is to create a visual of all the images that remind you of your dream career and that will motivate you to achieve your goals. This vision board will help you bring your dreams to life by using the power of visualization.
Here are the steps to follow to make your very own career vision board:
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Ask yourself the important questions
- Before collecting pictures and putting together your collage, you need to establish your career goals. If those are not clear to you, ask yourself the following questions: “What goals would I like to achieve during my career?”; “Where do I see myself in 3, 5 or 10 years?”; “What values are important to me in an organization?” It could take you a couple of days to find the answers, but it should help you determine what your perfect career would look like.
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Collect images
- Collect pictures that remind you of your goal: the logo of a company, the title of the position you would like to have, images of an ideal office space, pictures of cities you would like to visit with work, etc. The options are really unlimited. You can even add quotes or beautiful pictures that speak to you and motivate you. What you want is a visual that motivates you each time you look at it.
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Create the vision
- You can choose to create a physical or virtual vision board. Typically, vision boards look very similar to a collage, but the goal is for you to see it every day. So if you spend a lot of time on your computer and less time in your room, you can choose to make virtual career vision board and make it your desktop background. You can always change it or add to it.
Once you have completed your vision board, use it to motivate you to reach your career goals and make career decisions.
Sitting in the car, on the bus or in the library? Maybe you are going to the gym or just lying in bed. Do you need some career advice, motivation, or entertainment? Here are my two favourite fun and motivational career podcasts!
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The School of Greatness – Lewis Howes
Lewis Howes had a rocky childhood as he dealt with bullying and abuse. But he had his mind set on becoming a professional football player. After a life-changing injury, he became a New York Times best‑selling author and the owner of a seven‑figure, multimedia business. In The School of Greatness, he invites various celebrities such as actors, athletes and business moguls to talk about their story and their successes in business. Every Friday, he also posts 5‑minute videos with advice on topics like leadership and public speaking.
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Safe for Work – Liz Dolan and Rico Gagliano
Hosted by Liz Dolan, former Chief Marketing Officer of world-class brands such as NIKE, OWN:The Oprah Winfrey Network, and National Geographic Channel, and Rico Gagliano, a writer for the Wall Street Journal, this very funny and entertaining podcast talks about the little problems that may come with working a 9 to 5 job. They talk about things like asking for a raise, dealing with public-speaking fears, achieving the perfect work-life balance, and even how to fake an illness when calling in sick! They also take calls from listeners to answer their own career and work questions whether that is dealing with a crazy boss or dealing with a distracting coworker.
lewishowes.com/blog
www.themuse.com/advice/6-careerboosting-podcasts-youre-going-to-love-listening-to
It is March, when all of your midterm exams, assignments and projects are piling up before the term ends. Then comes the dreaded month of April, a stressful period of final exams. It is hard to stay balanced and focused on the end goal when all of these impeding deadlines are fast approaching and when summer is just around the corner.
The key to finishing the school year off strong is to take a minute to reflect on what your personal, academic, and professional goals are, and on what you want to achieve this term. Are you trying to land a dream job that could kick‑start a successful career? Do you want to further your education through a Master’s degree? Is there a specific scholarship on the line? Whatever is your goal, keep at it and never give up.
In this article, I am offering you some tips on how you can stay motivated over the next few weeks and complete this term on a high note!
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Prioritize
Everyone always says prioritizing is a crucial step in completing and meeting all deadlines; it is most definitely true! Although we all have our own unique way to keep track of everything, I find that writing down all the daily tasks I have to complete is the most efficient way to visually see what needs to be done. Crossing off tasks (even the smallest ones) is satisfying, and it motivates you to continue being productive. In addition, try to allot an estimated time for each task (block it either in your electronic calendar or on your list).
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Adjust
Although it is important to acknowledge what learning and studying strategies work best for you, sometimes it can be beneficial to adjust to new environments. Through university, I have gathered a variety of studying techniques that are useful for various courses. For example, when the content is math-heavy, I use a dry-erase board and continually repeat practice problems from my lectures and textbook. For other courses that require more memorization, I find that reading my notes aloud and retyping them are the most useful methods. Changing up your studying environment is also important to being productive. Switching location when studying allows your mind to take a break and to adjust to the new environment, providing you with a new sense of energy. It is equally important to determine the time of the day when you feel most productive and to take advantage of that time to finish as much as you can. For example, I have noticed that in the morning, I tend to be more alert and can complete tasks more efficiently. When the weather is nicer, I enjoy going out for a short walk to clear my mind off, after which I feel rejuvenated and ready to continue studying.
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Focus
When I feel overly stressed out and that there are too many deadlines to meet in the short amount of time left, I take a couple minutes to breathe deeply in order to relax and refocus my mind. It is important to recognize the finish line and the steps leading to it. Take a few minutes to focus on your goals for this term, and think about how you will feel once you have completed everything.
With only a few more weeks left this term, you can do it! Keep going and finish this school year strong!
What does it mean to be a leader?
A ‘leader’ doesn’t just ‘lead’ the group. A ‘leader’, is not just someone who has followers that look up to them. A ‘leader’ isn’t just someone who knows how to delegate.
A leader is someone who strives to make other leaders. As a leader, your first goal is to empower your team members.
But how can this be done? Here are things I learned as a student in a leadership position.
Delegate, delegate, delegate
This doesn’t mean to simply boss people around. Delegation is how any organization moves forward, and is one of your key roles as a leader. However, it is important to find a balance between lack of involvement and micromanaging when you are delegating. Your team members need to learn for themselves and go through the same struggles you went through in order to grow both professionally and personally, but they need to be able to use you as a resource. It is important to find that balance between delegation and micromanaging. You want to give your employees their space to do their assignments how they want, but still be near in case they encounter challenges. This can be done by asking your employees what they need help doing, what they are finding easy or hard, how their tasks have been proceeding so far, etc. Then you can step in as you see appropriate.
Motivate your team
This is probably the most important takeaway. Motivating your team can be difficult, but isn’t impossible. Firstly, encourage your members. Remind them of the importance of their work, remind them that they are a crucial part of the organization. Second, celebrate their successes. Make them feel proud for what they have accomplished. Doing this will give them the confidence to aim even higher next time. Finally, show that you rely on them and trust that they will do the best job possible. By doing this, they won’t want to let you down and will put their highest efforts towards their tasks.
Be approachable and understanding
Your team members will make mistakes and it is important that they feel comfortable coming to you when encountering challenges. You can do this by speaking to them on the same level. Don’t let your ego of being given a leadership title get in the way of the success of the organization. A strongly divided hierarchy is intimidating and makes you look more unapproachable. Don’t be afraid to share your mistakes or admit when you are wrong. By doing this, your team members are less likely to hide their mistakes too. Finally, encourage a strong team dynamic; you want to be friends with your team. This can happen by planning team socials, celebratory dinners, and talking about things not work related- actually getting to know your team members will make you more approachable.
To conclude, leading a team cannot be taught in a short blog, it is something you learn overtime. Remember these three points, and you will be off to a great start. When in doubt, remember every leader, manager, or supervisor you ever worked under: what did they do to (de)motivate you?