Courage

Is it possible to have a favourite competency? A competency is just a name to describe a behaviour. For example, "organising" is a competency to describe a person's ability to pull together resources, such as people, money and support, to get things done*. So, is it possible to have a favourite behaviour? Do I sound like a HR nerd? Don't answer that.

image credit: www.blastr.com

Anyhoo, I have one. It's called "managerial courage" and it's hard to come by. What is managerial courage? I know you want to know. Lominger define it as:

• Says what needs to be said
• Gives feedback that is current and actionable
• Directly deals with people issues
• Making hard decisions when needed*

The thing is though, you don't see much managerial courage in organisations. Maybe we don't see much in society in general. I see a lot of people who won't take tough stands, who won't give feedback when needed, won't step up to and deal with issues, avoid conflict and won't take the heat. Leaders who hide behind the decisions of others and blame others for decisions. Leaders who are highly critical of their peers but are unaware of their own behaviour and it's impact.

Every now and again you do come across someone who has courage. It's usually not the beating on your chest, superhero type of courage. It's usually quieter, honest and with humility. I like the term wobbly courage. I have written about it in another blog for a leadership development program, and I was reminded of this term this week.

Wobbly courage is a term I love. I think it perfectly sums up the kind of courage we need to have to be successful and to be a good leader. Leadership is very little about that superhero type of courage where you become your alter ego, puff out your lycra swathed chest and swoop in to save the day in a difficult and dangerous situation. 

A discussion with an underperforming employee or a challenging customer is never like this. Giving feedback to someone more senior or providing some development ideas to a peer can be tough. Good leaders will have the courage to have these types of conversations but can you say you have felt like Superman or Wonder Woman? I can’t. Many times when I need to have a difficult conversation with someone or have to terminate a person’s employment I feel sick and want to put it off. Sound familiar? I have definitely gotten better at these conversations and working through these processes and so probably seem confident, but I’m very wobbly on the inside.

What is Courage?

There are all kinds of competency models that give examples about what managerial or leadership courage is. The Lominger Competency Libray is a good one but HR people like me also spend lots of time and energy developing them. They are usually boring. 

What are some of the things that resonate with me and some of the leaders I work with?

1. The ability to make tough decisions and follow through (even when you are feeling wobbly)
2. Saying the things that need to be said (even when it’s really hard)
3. Dealing with the hard situations (even when you don’t want to and it sucks!)
4. Showing up and facing up (when you would rather stay in bed with the covers over your head)
5. Knowing that you don’t and can’t know everything (the more you know the less you know)
6. Being generous with your time and knowledge
7. Including others in your problems (we seriously can’t do it all ourselves)
8. Being open, not defensive (see number 5)
9. Being able to look people in the eye and speak to them from the heart (being  authentic)
10. Having standards both personally and of others, and expectations of meeting them....but courage to accept when we fall short.  

What would you add?

*Definition taken from Lombardo, M M. and Eichinger, R W. FYI For Your Improvement: A Guide for Development and Coaching (2009)

Leaving basics

Joining a new company in a new job is usually pretty exciting. Also nerve wracking but the unknown newness of it all is great. Well I think it is. Usually when we are joining a company we are on our best behaviour and out to impress. Some of us when we leave, are not. That's not to say that managers and companies always treat their employees well when they leave. They don't. Some examples I have seen:

• Being critical of an employee choosing to leave when obviously* said company is so good that how could anyone want to leave! I mean really.
• Lying about the reasons an employee is leaving the company because, again, how could anyone want to leave such a great company*
• Excluding the employee from all meetings that employee would normally attend during their notice period even though the employee did a good job during their service.
• "walking" an employee because they resigned. I understand this if the employee is in a sales role or going to a competitor, but in some cases it just seems, well, a bit not nice. In these cases the employee doesn't get to say goodbye to their peers and/or direct reports and I think that reflects badly on the company to the employees left.
• Attempting or actually withholding benefits that the employee is due.

*said with extreme sarcasm

Sometimes it's hard to leave some companies with dignity but I think you should. If you can. Here are some tips:

1. Un-subscribe from all your email lists - this includes shopping sites, hotel deals and holiday teaser type emails. The trouble with these lists is that once you have left your email will be forwarded to someone else in the company, for business continuity. If your email is filled with such emails the company may have wished you had left earlier. That's what personal email addresses are for. Only use your work email address for work related content.
2. Do not send one of those parting emails to the CEO or equivalent where you tell him/her and usually a number of  other senior people what you really thought about working for the company. Worse if your company hasn't shut this down, do not send an email to "all users". Most of us work in pretty small industries. This one will come back to bite you at some point.
3. Don't steal stuff. Customer lists, stationary, products or work that you have done including documents. If you want to take examples of your work, just ask. I have never been refused. Stealing some suff will just piss annoy your previous employer. Stealing some things will cause legal action to be taken against you.
4. Return all the company property in your possession.
5. Keep up the good work. If you can and if it's possible. Leave on a good note.

Would love to hear the stories you have about people leaving companies badly! Hit me up.

Change the routine?

Wow I’m tired. I’m feeling ratty. I need a holiday. I get to this point every year about this time. I think we all do. The difference for me this year is that I haven’t really had a holiday all year. Work has been crazy busy with lots of changes and in July my family and I moved countries. Pooped I tell ya!

On Wednesday I changed something in my routine. It was a small thing but it made me ridiculously happy. What was it? I had lunch at McDonalds. Yep. At this point, if you were hoping for professional and exacting insights into human behavior and how to manage yourself, you should probably leave the building.

You see I was just sick of everything. Sick of work, sick of not exercising, sick of the food I was eating and the clothes I was wearing. Just sick of everything. Have you been there? Just changing one thing made a big difference. Normally I have lunch with a work colleague and we visit one of the many hawker centres around the industrial area of Singapore we work in. The food is cheap and delicious and the service is quick.

On Wednesday being completely sick of everything, including Asian food, I just wanted a Big Mac from McDonalds. And that’s what I had, with fries and a coke and some nuggets with sweet and sour sauce. Followed with a festive chaser from Starbucks. It. Was. Awesome. I got back to the office and was able to focus and get some work done that I had been putting off, and I don’t think it was due to the 2 days of calories I had just consumed. I was so into my work that I worked past when I should have left to pick up my son. Was in the zone all because of a small change in routine. 

Yesterday I wore jeans to work. On a Thursday. I'm changing it up all over the place!

When has a change in routine made the difference for you?

Me or Team?

I was having a great conversation recently with a leader. He was telling me about a conversation he had with one of his team. The team member was telling the leader about all the things that he had done and achieved. He constantly said “I” did this, and “I” did that. The leader was not impressed.  You see the team member was leading a large team of employees, all working towards the same goal. The Manager was taking all the credit when he couldn’t have done it all by himself.

The same leader was also telling me how he emailed his boss to tell him about the great work his team had done. He boss replied with praise for the work he had done leading them. When the team does well it reflects positively on the person leading them. Conversely, if the team is struggling and directionless the leader will be blamed.

Is this a contradiction? What am I trying to say?

Well the thing is, the great leaders I have worked with and respect, don’t take credit for the work their team has achieved. Instead they praise and point out their great work to others, particularly those more senior in the organization. They are generous and modest.

Of course really good leaders have had a role to play in their teams doing well. They set the direction, showed the way, helped set goals for their team, gave feedback against their progress, listened and coached….

Less than good leaders and managers tend to either micro manage tasks, do the work themselves and take all the credit. They want to control seeing this as a form of power, which it is just not a very effective one.

So when can you talk about your very own achievements? When can you take credit?

Well, in a performance review you should point out the things you have done well. Definitely. But if they are the things your team should be doing you are in trouble. Also in a job interview you should talk about the things you did. Not the things we did. Interviewers always want to know the role you played in the success of the team or the organisation so they can see how you would fit.

In October I attended a HR Conference and I can tell you that sometimes it’s not that exciting. But sometimes it is and sometimes the speakers challenge me and how I view my work in the organization I work within. Professor David Clutterbuck spoke about talent and how we define talent, the definition is that it’s contextual and very, very difficult to define.

But something stuck. The thought that “talent” is not achieving for yourself but achieving for a greater cause or purpose. The same applies for leadership and that's the stuff I'm talking about here. Great leaders help people do better and always are complimentary and modest.

The Interview Series - what to wear

Tricky. Tricky. Tricky.

I think most people struggle to put a decent outfit together on a daily basis let alone for something important as a job interview. I mean you just have to look at people on the streets of any major city at lunch time. Unkind but true. Have some pride people! There is no need for dressing shabbily even if you don't have a lot of money. In Australia Target and K-mart have great pieces for work as do many of the slightly more expensive chain stores. Rant over.

So, unless you are going for a very creative job I think it's best to err on the side of conservative. You want the interviews to be interested in you and what you are saying, not be distracted by what you are wearing. Though having said that I did go to my last job interview with pink hair....more on that later.

The most conservative and dressy type companies include finance and banking, accounting firms and consultancies and some technology companies. Wear a suit in a dark colour and a nicely pressed shirt or women could also wear a business type dress like this:

Actually this kind of outfit would suit pretty much all interviews and companies unless you are going to a job at a funky creative cutting edge company.

But you don't always have to wear a suit. It's just an easy option. Other options include:

For men: dress pants or suit pants and a long sleeve business shirt. For a more casual company you could possibly do a short sleeve shirt but I can't say I like them. Lace up brogues or slip on more business type shoes. No sneakers. No thongs

For women: Tailored skirts or pants and a blouse or top, no t-shirts. Closed in court shoes. No sneakers and no thongs.

The last interview I went to I didn't have anything that resembled a suit in my wardrobe. I had been working in an industrial part of Sydney for an industrial distributor and suits weren't really the expectation. Plus I'm not really that fussed about suits (even though I am recommending them here). I also had pink hair. My sister was horrified! "what are you going to wear?"

I think I wore a red jacket and black pants to that interview, with the pink hair. You see I figured that this was me. I had really good experience for the job and figured that if they had an issue with my hair, well then maybe that company wasn't for me. You can only be this bold if you are confident in your abilities and yourself generally. I got that job but don't recommend you turn up with coloured hair or lots of facial piercings and visible tattoos. Most interviewers are still very conservative and even though these things don't affect your ability to do the job in most cases you won't get the job. Some exclusions are funky cool hairdressers, where coloured hair, tats and piercing are expected. As well as sneakers or thongs.

If you need some inspiration head over to Pinterest and do a search on work wear or work fashion.

Lisa x

Did you ever have a boss who changed your life?

Have you ever come across Gretchen Rubin? If not you can learn about her here and here. She is most famous for The Happiness Project and I wrote about it a bit here.

Any-hoo, I was on LinkedIn the other day, trying to find something interesting, which at times (in my opinion) can be difficult,  and came across a question posed by Gretchen. She asked "Did you ever have a boss who changed your life?"

Immediately I thought yes. Many have. Some good and some bad and most taught me something and as a result, changed my life and career in some way. Here are the three bosses that immediately came to mind.

1. The Store Manager
This boss was a Store Manager when I worked in retail. I was her Assistant Manager and despite her liking me, she didn't want to teach me anything and she was often rude to customers. She was insecure and nervous and I think quite a bit worried that if she taught anyone anything they might take over her job. I wrote about her here. She was very worried when she went on holidays back to the UK for a 6 week trip that we would all get along without her and she wouldn't be needed. Myself and the rest of the team really enjoyed that time she was away. We actually worked as a team and had happy customers.

How did she change my life? She taught me all the things not to do as a manager. She taught me to be generous and teach other people what I knew and to not be insecure about doing that. Managers and leaders who are generous with their time and knowledge will always be valued.

2. The Difficult Manager
I started work at this Australian listed company and from day one I knew it wasn't for me. I didn't fit the culture and my manager was a difficult person from start to finish. She was diagnosed with a debilitating illness when I worked there but I suspect I would have still struggled to work with her demands and style despite that. I tried lots of different things to work with this manager but in the end I just couldn't do it any more. I also wrote about her here

How did she change my life? She taught me that despite being able to work with pretty much anyone, if I don't fit the organisational culture I would fail from the start. I learnt that organisational fit is really important and that there are just some people that I won't be able to work with, and to keep trying is very unhealthy.

3. The Challenging Manager
There are challenging people who are bad for your career, and challenging people who are good for your career. This is a tale of someone good for my career. This manager was open to a debate, a verbal sparring and it was great. If I didn't believe in something I could speak up. He also made me realise the importance of the role of HR. I have worked in many organisations where it wasn't valued that much, but having someone point out that I helped manage the most expensive part of running a business was enlightening. This person was also the first to treat me as a true business partner and confidant, and I learnt so much about the business by just being there to listen.

How did he change my life? He gave me confidence to be me and to not be afraid of conflict, as conflict can help relationships in the workplace.  I also improved my spreadsheet skills immensely!

Did you ever had a boss that changed your life?

Lisa x

Interesting Articles - Weekly round up

During the week I often come across interesting articles on the web which I don't usually have time to read. You too? Sunday is the perfect day to catch up on your reading, so here are the top three articles from this week I thought you might enjoy.

1. Why getting fit makes you smarter

I have unscientifically written about this concept before. About how important it is to exercise to be good at your job and to feel good in life. I wrote about keeping your mind fit and taking a break.

2. Taking control of your career

Written by a company I have used for outplacement, this is a concept I truly believe in. We all must take control of our own career and life balance to be successful. Outplacement is a service designed to help people with their resumes, interview skills and to  find work when they have lost their job.

3. Career tips from successful Australian Women

This post is one of my favourite fashion bloggers Phoebe Montague a.k.a Lady Melbourne. You would think I would be following more HR type bloggers but man are they boring! Lady Melbourne is great blend of vintagy cool fashion.

Happy Sunday

Lisa xx

The interview series - 8 things not to do

Interviews can be nerve racking and hard, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't behave yourself. Demonstrate some common sense. The thing about common sense is that it's not common. Here we go. Don't do these things in a job interview. Please.

1. Throw a tanty
Well this seems obvious doesn't it? I've had a candidate do it though. When I was the HR Manager for a project in India we had arranged for the candidate to come to our Sydney office to be interviewed face-to-face with me, and on video conference with the Project Director in India. So firstly video conferences are often always a pain to set up, and secondly the video conferencing links in India are notoriously dodgy. In fact lots of things only work sometimes in India including power and internet. The day of this interview was no different. It took at least 30 minutes to get the video conferencing working and for the interview to commence.

While I was madly trying to get it all to work the candidate decided to throw a tantrum about the fact that I couldn't get the technology to work. Unfortunately for him this situation was a realistic example of what it would be like to work on the project and all the frustrations that go along with that. In no uncertain terms I told him that this was EXACTLY what it would be like working for this company and in the role he was interviewing for. He settled down and the interview commenced. The Project Director in India who has missed the tantrum liked him. I filled him in on the pre-interview behaviour. He didn't' get the job.

2. Interrupt the interviewer. A lot.
I had this happen to me recently. Was interviewing with two other senior people for a senior type role. The candidate was particularly obnoxious and actually held his hand up to stop me telling him something. He also interrupted the group of interviewers a number of times.  We couldn't stand this guy for an hour and there was no way we wanted to work with him. Ugh.

On the positive side we have a good story to tell over drinks with other work colleagues. Always a silver lining.

3. Be late
Don't be late. Ring if you are going to be late. Don't be late. Get your shit together. That is all.

4. Talk too much
If you go on too much the interviewers will switch off. They will start skipping questions and try to wrap up the interview early. Practice answering the questions succinctly. Having recently sat through a number of interviews with candidates who went on and on,  I can attest to the fact that you won't get the job.

5. Talk too little
There's a balance between talking too much and not enough. If the interviewers have to drag out information from you, it will be too much like hard work.

6. Ask too many questions
OMG. I once had a candidate come in for a first interview with a list of 20 questions. Let's get something straight, a first interview is a bit like speed dating. The company is getting a feel for you and how you will fit with the company. For you, it's about learning about the company and people and whether you can work there.

You should have some questions to ask. Genuine questions that you would like the answer to. 2-4 questions is way enough. If you turn up with a list of 20 questions wanting to know the ins and outs of everything, the interviewers won't be impressed, they will be wondering if you have a personality disorder that needs treatment.

If you are invited for a second interview you will have an opportunity to ask some more detailed questions. This is like a dinner date. There is more time to get to know each other and you can explore more about the company and job.

7. Criticise the company
Really? If you have turned up for an interview surely you might want to work for the company? Mr Obnoxious above (see point 2) also arrived at the interview with very detailed company information to grill the interview panel on why we had done things the way we had. There was a definite implication that stupid decisions had been made. We were definitely sure we didn't want him working with us.

8. Ask about salary in the first interview
The first interview is too early to ask about money. The company is still deciding whether you will fit the company and role so don't ask about what salary they are offering. This may depend on the skills and attributes on the best candidate.

If the interviewer asks you what salary you are looking for though, you should have an answer that is well researched based on your skills, experience, qualifications and what the market generally pays. You can work this out by reviewing the pay offered by various roles on online job boards.

So, have you done any of these things? I went to an interview once feeling very unwell and sneezed so hard in an interview that I ended up with a big handful of snot. I didn't get the job.

When did you not get the job? What did you do?

Lisa xx

Guest Post: The LinkedIn Approach for You or Your Business

Hands up? Who knows what to do with LinkedIn? I don't. I have a profile and all and I can see who looks at it but so what? I like to keep track of people I have worked with in the past, and it's good for that. I also post my blog updates on LinkedIn and have joined some groups that, well....they are kinda boring. Sometimes I read articles that other's have shared but after that I have no idea of how to get the best of out it. I feel that LinkedIn could be really powerful if only I knew some of the secrets.
 
Luckily last month I attended the Problogger conference on the Gold Coast and luckily I met Merril DeFiddes who runs The Social Media Training School. Merril and her team specialise in helping businesses small and large with training and managing their social media needs.

I was talking to her about LinkedIn and that while I am ok at using other forms of social media like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram, I really don't know what to do with LinkedIn and I suspect that many others don't either. I asked would she be interested in writing a post on my blog about it. Luckily she was!

So meet Merril. Whether you are just trying to improve your personal profile or if you are using LinkedIn to improve your business profile this is a great post to get you started on LinkedIn.

Merril DeFiddes from The Social Media Training School

Why should anyone be on LinkedIn? I hear people say often, “It is just another platform that I have to manage, and I don’t have time” - The value you and your business will achieve from LinkedIn is worth the time and the small amount of effort you apply to it. However, LinkedIn needs a good solid foundation, just like any other social media platform and once it is well formulated, and you have put all the elements together, you and your business can be catapulted in the right direction of your hottest prospects.

Yes, you do need a LinkedIn Profile, no question about it, whether you are a small business or a CEO of a large corporation, if you have recently left a job or are looking for a particular position. LinkedIn will help you , when you have the groundwork and a strategy in place.

It all begins with a great LinkedIn profile.

We all have heard that 1^st impressions count. When people find you on LinkedIn you need to be that someone that the audience of LinkedIn notices.

How is Your Head Shot?
The first thing people see when they are looking and researching a prospect or connection is our image. Not everyone has a “corporate “shot in the top draw. However, with our iPhone’s and android phones, all with some amazing camera capabilities, that given the right situation, lighting and dress code, they will produce a great shot for you.

·         Make sure that your photo fills the image space

·         Don’t stretch the image

·         Don’t use a small image

·         Make sure the lighting is good in the picture

·         A nice smile will go a long way

·         Make sure it is a current photo of you , not one taken 15 years ago or so.

 

Is your professional Headline current?
Create a winning headline that tells others what it is you do. Depending on your reason for being on LinkedIn your may want to state what benefit your connections will get if they want to work with you.  

·         Ensure your headline epitomizes your core principles

·         Detail your expertise within the headline. Showing that you are the “owner of XYZ etc” is not letting your connections know what it is your can do for them

·         Depending on your profile you may use you job title

·         You have a 120-character limit within your headline – utilise this valuable space.

·         Treat your headline with respect  and don’t be too “salesy” – this has the capability to turn people away from you.

 What does your Summary look like?

This is a valuable piece of “LinkedIn Real Estate” that I see so underutilised and has so much power.  You have the opportunity to use 2000 characters to send a message to the people connecting with you. Use every character to help you build that important connection or next big lead.

·         Do not leave it blank!

·         Write your summary in a conversational tone

·         Share accomplishments and your story, but make it catchy.

·         Seek a copywriter who can help you if you get stuck

·         Your summary is a first chance opportunity – develop it well

·         Use headers or icons to draw attention to specific areas of expertise

·         Use a call to action in the last sentence, a  further way to connect  with you.

·         Write in the first person

·         Use of keywords wisely to shape your summary

·         Make sure your keywords are relevant and kept within the conversational tone of your summary  - this will help will propel your profile  with easy SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

·         Revision is always possible, so tweak your summary until you are happy with.

·         Have it critiqued by a colleague

·         Don’t try to be too “fluffy” and “gushy”. Your summary needs to depict a personality within it.

·         Add extra content by adding links to a video, image, document, or presentation.

By establishing a well-crafted LinkedIn profile you will develop your unique presence. Many people fail to take full advantage of their LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is advantages for generating rewarding leads, and to market your business’ brand.

LinkedIn is  the premier social networking site for businesses and business professionals, however, it is fabulous for the job seeker as well. 

By focusing on these 3 tips to begin with, they will help you to develop your LinkedIn presence further.   

LinkedIn is a very powerful social media tool and has been a great avenue for my business. With a solid structure , a strategy and social media marketing plan in place, then your LinkedIn presence will certainly get you in front of the people you need to be connecting with.

 Merril

Guest post: the problem of part-time work

I'm so excited to have my first guest blogger on I-develop-me, Jacqui Simpson. I met Jacqui about 13 years ago when we both worked at P&O Ports. She is one of my favourite people and is an awesome HR Director. I wish I could see her more but it's tricky with her being in New Zealand and me being in Singapore.

Jacqui and I both have two boys and have faced similar challenges at work. Here she writes about part-time work which is a hot topic for any working mum. I ranted wrote about it over here. Make sure you leave Jacqui some feedback.

Take the floor Jacqui!

A couple of weeks ago I asked my manager if I could reduce my hours from full time (40 hours a week) to about 60% of a full time week.  It didn’t go down so well.  

I have two young children, Oscar who is nearly 8 and at primary school and Reuben who is nearly 4 and still at Kindergarten. To cut to the chase, the juggle of two full time working parents with children’s commitments and needs was starting to wear a bit thin.

Don’t get me wrong, we are pretty lucky on the childcare front because we do have a nanny, she works about 32 hours a week for us and we also have my husband’s mother who drops my children off to their respective school and kindergarten one morning a week and does one pick up and afternoon care, dinner, baths, showers etc a week, but that can be a stretch even for a fit and reasonably healthy eighty year old. The thing is, when your kids get sick, or they need extra support with homework, or they are just having a hard time with something…it’s not child care they need, its parenting.

While all that’s going on, my husband and I both have fairly senior roles, he is a principal engineer in a global engineering consulting company and I’m an HR Director for a global health care company. We both love our jobs and we are committed to our careers, but it’s a major juggle, more so when one of us is travelling out of town or overseas with our jobs but also just in the every day.  I also constantly live with the guilt that I’m not putting in enough time at work, or enough time at home. 

The contradiction to this all is I also see it from the organisation’s side, only today I asked why we had a leader in one part of our business working just 16 hours a week and commented that it was pretty challenging to delivering in that role on such low hours (yes call me a hypocrite). It’s also more expensive in direct costs for organisations to have part time workers. When we organise training, events, conferences or any type of face to face communication (which we do a lot of) with our geographically dispersed workforce, having a high number of part timers (which we do) adds a huge amount to the overall cost in flights, travel, meals and accommodation. In my 20 plus years of HR experience, the real commitment I have seen to part-time or flexible work practices in organisations is still in its infancy.  

I’ve worked in part time mode myself in a previous role and have managed people in my own team who were part time as well as working with colleagues who have been part time.  One of the challenges is that in the end all meetings and interactions end up needing to work around the part time person and their needs, it’s creates inequity and over time other employees get very resentful of this. When I was working part time, I never really hid it, but I also didn’t shout it from the rooftops. If people asked if I could attend a meeting on my day off, I could then decide if I thought it was worth me shuffling child care to attend, or if not, I would simply say I was not available on that day, just as I would if I was not available due to other work commitments. In doing this, I know it didn’t advance the cause of part time workers, but I needed to make it work for me and that was what I found to be effective at the time.

I’ve long believed that the companies who can nail the whole part time work issue will access an amazing talent pool; I’ve met so many awesome women who completely opt out of the workforce sometimes for a few years and sometimes for much longer after they have children, because they just can’t find hours that work with their parenting commitments, but who would take on a part time job if the hours and the tasks were right (they don’t want to go back to a role that does not utilise their capabilities either). These people are no less committed to their careers or their organisations; generally I’ve found them to be more committed. All the mum’s I’ve ever worked with are incredibly efficient in the hours they work, quite simply they have to be because you can’t leave a 3 year old standing in the dark outside a closed kindergarten just because you didn’t get your work finished on time!

I don’t know yet what the answer is to this challenge, but one thing is clear to me, there is a major paradigm shift required, the 40 hour week is a man-made creation which is great because it also means we can un-make it. Our thinking (including my own!) is that ‘normal’ is someone being available for 40 hours a week.  We must work harder to change this thinking and find ways to make it work for organisations. But what’s the sweet spot? Where part time or flexible work can function really well for organisations but also is good for the people? What if we said a normal week was 20 hours but you could work more (or less) if you wanted? How would that change our perspectives and make work a more human place?  Keen to hear your thoughts. 

Jacqui.

The Resume Series: Resume Basics - content and structure

There are any number of websites, blogs and career pro's who will tell you how to put your resume together. There are templates you can download and advice you can seek, but here are the basics for the content and structure of your resume as I see it.

• No matter what job you are applying for, some stuff should be the same. This is the basic skeleton of your resume - name, contact details, qualifications, job position and company, format and length. Some parts should change depending on the role.
• Put your qualifications, if any, up front. Put your most recent and senior qualifications first. To clarify, a qualification is something achieved through a university or college or school.  No one cares that you attended a course on PowerPoint and this is not a qualification.
• After your name and qualifications you may want to list up to five career highlights. There are achievements that stand out from everything else you have done. These should be in dot-point-style and succinct. These should be tailored depending on the job you are applying for.
• Next start with your most recent role stating the company, month and year you were there and your role

ABC Equipment Hire
Operations Manager
May 2008 - current  

•  Under this you might like to start with a couple of achievements and then list your main responsibilities. Again you could tailor this section depending on the role to highlight what's relevant. Some people also like to include the reason for leaving but as you will be asked about this anyway, I don't think it needs to be included. Do this for each job.
• I like reading resumes that don't have big paragraphs of words. Short summaries and dot points are best. A resume is like a taste of who you are and what you have achieved. If you get to the interview stage you will be able to elaborate.
•  It's ok to have one or two gaps in your resume. Perhaps you went on an overseas trip? Perhaps you were on maternity leave? Perhaps you took time out to study? Perhaps you were just unemployed? It's all ok. Just be honest. Good people will understand.
• Once you have followed the above format for all your main roles you may want to add something about your other interests but do so carefully. Read point number 6 in this post if you aren't sure.

Anything you would add?

Lisa x

The Resume Series: Resume Basics - the 5 don'ts

So back over here I gave you some tips on what you should do if you are pulling together or updating your resume. Sometimes it's easier to say what not to do (and infinitely more fun!). Here we go!

1. Don't include referee contact information: If the company wants to do reference checks they will ask you. This will give you time to chose the best people to speak about you for that specific role, and give you time to contact them. This is also important if they are travelling or overseas where you may need to provide different contact details. You don't want your referees being contacted without your permission.
2. Don't include a photo. Seriously. Unless you are a model about to go to a casting, this will just give recruiters and HR people the chance to roll about the floor grabbing their stomachs in mirth make fun at your ill chosen photo. Stop it. Do have a photo on your Linkedin account. A professional one. Not one holding a cocktail. Not one where you eyes are red from a flash and not one with someone's arm around you, that you have cleverly cropped out. It's not clever.
3. Lose the fancy fonts (thanks Rob). I like me a fancy font. I do. Fancy fonts look great on Pinterest and craft blogs. But unless you are going for a creative type role leave them to the creative types. I recommend just using one font, two at a stretch if you are a little creative. That is it. Also use a fairly normal one. If your resume gets pulled through expensive recruitment software basic fonts and formatting will be your friend.
4. You don't need to detail your family situation or age. Most employers don't care if you are married, separated, divorced, with 2 kids, 3 dogs, a cat and 2 budgies or whether you are living with an alien. If they do care it's none of their bee's wax and in most developed countries it's illegal to ask. In places where it's not illegal they can ask you at interview where you can tell them in person to mind their bee's wax. It's not relevant to the job.
5. Don't send the same resume in for every job. Tailor it to each company and opportunity, AND
6. Yes I know I said 5 don'ts but a friend who works in recruitment (thanks Lynette) made a suggestion about another great don't. It's the section on your resume about your interests. I personally think you should leave this out altogether. If interviewers are interested in you personally, they will ask. If you have to include interests don't put things like "watching TV" or "sleeping" I mean really? One resume I read told me that the person liked to do massage, both kinds. What was I supposed to think about that? I don't remember interviewing that person.

So there you have it folks. Got any other don'ts?

Lisa x

The Resume Series: Resume Basics - the top 10 do's

In times of change and organisational restructuring a good resume is the ticket to your next role. Over this week and the next I'll be covering the basics of resumes. Here is my first post on the topic - the top 10 do's!

Lets face it. Resumes are hard. They are hard because we don't do one very often. They are hard because they get out of date quickly and they are hard because mostly we don't know what a prospective employee is looking for. The job ad may detail a number of things and you may have addressed them in your cover letter and/or resume and you still don't get an interview. Ugh!

I would like to say the process of choosing candidates for interviews is scientific but often it's not. I mean, there is a correlation between choosing resumes that match the selection criteria but it's sometimes a little random. Humans are not particularly rational (despite what some humans tell you) so no matter how closely your resume meets the specification you may or may not get chosen. That's life and unless you have been discriminated against you should just move on. Big companies now use sophisticated resume selection and recruitment software but I'm a little sceptical about how effective it is, though there isn't much choice when you receive hundreds of applicants for any given role.

So what are my top tips for creating or updating your resume?

1. Include basic contact information:  You don't need to provide two email addresses, two phone numbers and your home address. Cut it down. I think a mobile phone number and an email address is adequate. Put them in the header or footer. Will look good and be easy to find.
2. Have a "normal" email address. No bunnybuns69@hotmail.com and no sexymamma81@gmail. Also don't use your current work email address. That's just bad form.
3. Be crystal clear. You can always say something in less words. Make sure you do. Be succinct and if you are not good at this get a friend to read it for you and ruthlessly edit.
4. Be short. I have seen a candidate for a senior role get the job on a one page resume. It can be done. I think 2-3 pages is fine. No more. 
5. Stick to the highlights. No one wants to read War and Peace. No one. I promise, your work history is not that interesting.
6. Be relevant. To the job vacancy. That is all. You look like an idiot when you apply for a job with nothing that matches what the company is looking for. Overseas students pay attention.
7. Spell check. I can forgive one, maybe two spelling mistakes or typos. More pedantic people will not and if writing is part of the job, you are done for.
8. Only include your highest and most relevant qualifications. A massive list of certificates obtained by attending time management 101, team building for dummies and "intro to excel" have no place on your resume.
9. Don't flick it. Online job boards make it very easy to apply for jobs. Don't apply for everything that looks even slightly up your alley. It wastes everyone's time.
10. Tailor your resume for every role you apply for. That might sound like hard work but you should be choosey what you apply for and not apply for that many roles at the same time. 

 What would you like to hear about in regards to resumes? What do you struggle with?

Lisa xx

Day 5 Small wins - A day in the life of a HR Director

Some days it all comes together. You put on an outfit that makes you feel great (today ripped jeans with circles of gold sequins on them. Too much streetwalker? ) You leave home on time.  You pay attention to where you are driving. The traffic is good. You arrive at work early, and instead of fiddling with emails, you get straight into the hard stuff and get. it. sorted.

Welcome to my Friday. I sorted the very important spreadsheet including the problem with none of the formulas working unless every cell is entered manually, before 8.30am. I sorted 2 difficult expat payroll issues that have been driving me crazy, and got a nice thank you for one of them. Had a great and funny conversation with one leader and a nowherenearasbadasIthought conversation with another. Got out an employee communication and moved forward a difficult issue that should be resolved early next week.

Left work early to pick up Aiden from school who has had a hard week, picked up some medication from a medical centre that have been ringing me every week for, oh about 4 weeks, picked up keys to our mail box so we could actually get out mail (looooong story) and was home in time to take both boys for a swim.

Got to speak to one of my favourite friends Laura, who is coming to stay in a few weeks and the whole day would have been perfect if I could have actually played a movie for the boys and I tonight on the stupid big TV. Had a movie night with popcorn in my head as a nice end to the week. No popcorn was in stock and obviously the technology or my intelligence was lacking, and it didn't happen. Boys watched the movie on a laptop screen, one of the smallest screens in the house. TGIF

Day 4 Glamour in pictures - A day in the life of a HR Director

Thursday 4 September
 After the highs of hump day - lunch not at my desk, Thursday dawned with possibilities. What could happen today? Will there be any glamour to speak of? Let's see shall we?

Left home at 7am to beat the traffic. Don't pay attention to where I'm going or what I'm doing and I end up on a road that I don't know. The phrase "I'm never going to learn the streets of Singapore" runs through my head. Turn on GPS. It takes 25 minutes to get on the road I should be on. And when I get on the "AYE" (no idea what this stands for) but it could be "Annoyingly really congested road that Yes takes me to work Even though I wished I worked in the city"



Isn't it pretty?

Arrive at work and no one else is there. Look how lonely my car looks.

View from my office window. Natural light people!

I basically spent the whole day writing documents and working on spreadsheets. I gotta get me some people action!!

As a distraction I head to the kitchen (we call it pantry in the far east), and discover a new snack. Encouraged by "Aunty" (that's what we call the cleaner/helper in the far east) I take a handful to try. They are a bit like chips with a sweet and spicy flavour. Really nice until they have been in  your mouth for oh about 2 seconds and then they taste like fish. These are the ones I didn't eat!

Then I think, "I bet my readers would like to see where I work". I don't like to disappoint so here it is:

 

You can see here that I'm still waiting on a monitor. FYI For Your Improvement books are fantastic at helping people to develop. Also fantastic at propping up my laptop so it's at the right height. If I have a "development" emergency they are also close to hand. There is always a silver lining.



Here you will see my Houston Rockets bobble head, a free gift from my first visit to Houston and my extensive collection of coloured pens. I keep them there in case I get inspired and need to write in colour. Practically, they get the most use if any kids visit the office.

So there you have it folks.

Lisa x