Blog | Connect to HR | Strategic HR Advisors & Executive Coaching

Looking for a New Opportunity? Start by Gaining Clarity!

One of the trends I’ve noticed so far this year is that people are on the move. With the unemployment rate still low, more people are feeling that the time is right to search for a new opportunity. And I’ve had a number of calls asking for my advice on how to start the search, as part of my executive coach offerings.

Searching for a new opportunity can be both exciting and overwhelming. To make it more of the former and less of the latter, you need to have clarity, focus, a compelling message and a strategic job search plan.

Start by gaining clarity. What do you want to do next? What are the skills, experience and competencies required in order to achieve that? What kind of work environment do you prefer? Big company? Small company? Structured? Start-up? What are the roles, type of leadership, work culture, and experiences from your career so far that brought you the most satisfaction?

Take inventory. What are the skills, behaviors and competencies that have helped you succeed in the past? Which of those map to what you want to do next? Where are the gaps? What are the beliefs and/or behaviors that may have held you back so far from getting to where you want to be? Do you have skills or knowledge that you haven’t been able to leverage so far in your career but want to?

Create focus by identifying a target. Based on what you want to do next and your inventory, select a couple of target organizations/roles that are a potential match. Focus is incredibly important in your search for a new opportunity. It’s tempting to just throw out a big net in search of “a job” but if you want to have a fulfilling career, focus on the companies/roles/experiences that will propel you toward your personal career “vision.”

Develop your personal marketing campaign. This includes a compelling message about the value you bring to the table, and will include your resume, LinkedIn profile, a personal “elevator pitch,” and a list of people in your network (and in their networks) who might connect you to an opportunity. An important note about resumes. Remember that the purpose of a resume is to pique the interest of a recruiter or hiring manager so they will contact you for an interview. Keep it clean, concise, achievement oriented, forward looking, and error-free. It should not be a job description, but rather an account of what you did that made a difference to your role, your team, the organization.

Design your search plan. Once you’ve developed these components, create the action plan that will put them to work for you. Commit to paper your target, your key message, and your daily activity goals for your search. Keep active. Do something related to your search every day. Small steps every day lead to big results.

And remember, working with a coach can help you create your plan and accelerate results. If you find that your search for a new opportunity is leaning more toward the overwhelming side of the equation, contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

A Coach Can Help You Take the Next Step in Your Career

Advancing in your career doesn’t have to mean finding a new job in a different company. Often there are opportunities to grow right within your own organization. And companies who provide those opportunities are more likely to engage and retain their top performers. One of the challenges that organizations face, however, is creating a clear path for employees to traverse toward that next step in their career.

Whether you are an organization looking to retain top performers, or an individual wanting to move up within your organization or at another company, a good career coach can help you meet your goal.

Here are some ways a good career coach can help.

Provide clarity. Before you even begin to look for your next opportunity, you need to gain clarity around your target. What do you really want to do? What do you definitely NOT want to do? A coach can help you filter through your skills and experience and map them toward opportunities that have the potential to be fulfilling next steps in your career versus “just a job.”

Help you strategize. A good career coach will identify the skills and behaviors you need to move up within the organization, and help you create a plan to develop those skills and behaviors. They also know what works and doesn’t work in the job search process. So if you’re looking for a new job they can offer real world insight and ideas. Either way, they will help you put together a targeted, effective plan that will get you in front of the right people for the right opportunity.

Polish your pitch. A targeted, concise, compelling resume is your first opportunity to impress a hiring manager and differentiate yourself from other job seekers. Whether you are moving up within your organization or moving on, you should always have an up-to-date resume. A good coach will help you create a resume that gets results.

Keep you accountable. A good coach will keep you on track, encouraging you to make the regular small steps that will lead to the big result. They will celebrate your successes with you, and help you keep going when things don’t go as planned. They’ll help you tweak your strategy as necessary to achieve your goals.

Provide support. Your coach is there to help you succeed. They can be a sounding board if you get discouraged. They can connect you to resources within their network. Many will do mock interviews with you to help you prepare. They can give you objective feedback on your plan, your pitch and your approach.

Are you an organization looking to retain your top performers? Or an individual ready to take the next step in your career but don’t know how to get started? Do you know someone who is looking for a job but getting little or no results? I have worked with many senior leaders to help them develop and successfully implement an effective plan to get “unstuck” and take that all-important next step. Contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com

New Year New You? Start with a Plan!

January is the month of fresh starts. The month when we typically pack up the previous year and shift our attention to hopes and dreams for the 12 months ahead. Whatever your vision (or goal) is for a “new you” this year, it’s much more likely to become a reality if you make a plan. Remember, a goal without a plan is just a wish. Here are some guidelines to creating an effective plan.

Keep it simple. Make a list of what you want to accomplish or change this year, prioritize it, and then reduce your list to the 3-5 things you can realistically achieve.

Devote some time to it. Think it through. If you’ve been making the same goals/resolutions every year but not getting anywhere, you didn’t spend enough time making your plan. Research shows that 80% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by February. Why? Because they were too broad and didn’t include a plan.

Write it down. For each item on your list, add two or three specific actions you need to take to reach the goal. Give each item a reasonable due date. Remember to start with simple steps and one action at a time. Simple actions over time lead to big results.

Share it. Hearing your goals said out loud as you share them with someone else has a way of igniting your self-accountability. Sharing them makes them more real. Consider asking someone to be your accountability partner. Ask them to check in with you periodically to see how you are progressing.

Keep it visible. Post it in your workspace or keep it in your planner or whatever works for you in terms of keeping it visible. The more you see it the more likely you are to get it done. Use an app to help you keep track of your goal.

Be forgiving. Don’t beat yourself up if you get off track or miss a target date. Review your plan and see what adjustments you need to make to get back on track.

Celebrate! When you hit one of your goals, give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done!

In my work with individuals and organizations I’ve learned that the start of a new year is often when people begin seriously thinking about changing jobs or going after that promotion they’ve been wanting. Both of these efforts require a solid plan and can be facilitated by working with a coach. In my next blog I’ll share some tips on job searching or making a career change and how working with a coach can make the process shorter, easier, and more successful.

In the meantime, if you or anyone you know needs help in creating a plan for a job search or career change, please contact me at michelle@connecttohr.com.

Happy Holidays from Connect to HR

Season’s greetings! It’s hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. This has been a very busy and exciting year for Connect to HR. It’s been fun coaching, mentoring and guiding my clients as they implement new HR programs or deal with a lot of change in their organizations. Also, I have really enjoyed coaching senior executives and leaders. It’s been an honor to be a safe, confidential place for my clients to talk about what’s really going on in their organizations and to help them strategize a solution. I look forward to continuing this important work in the New Year.

I also want to express my deep gratitude to you, my loyal readers, for being part of the Connect to HR community. I hope that through my blog articles I’ve been able to keep you engaged and informed. I look forward to continuing the conversation in 2019!

All my best wishes for very Merry Holidays and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Most Popular 2018 Topic for Connect to HR: Leadership

It’s hard to believe that another year is coming to an end. This has been a very busy and exciting year for Connect to HR. As I announced a few months ago, I’ve added a new service – Executive Adviser and Coach. It’s a role that I’ve already been performing for many of the senior executives and leaders I’ve worked with, and now I’ve made it official!

My typical clients are not new executives. They are well established in their careers – CEOs, Presidents of small to mid-size companies, and Managing Directors, Senior Directors, VPs, and Executive Directors of nonprofits. They’re facing challenges such as:

Effective communication – What they can say or not say, what they can do or not do – and they’re feeling unsettled, possibly for the first time in their career (and thus can benefit from an external adviser)
Being assigned a role that’s not what they’ve done before – with little to no mentorship
A restructuring that leaves them with more responsibilities than ever, without much guidance or room for error

I’m excited about adding this new offering to my list of HR consulting services and I look forward to working with leaders to help them navigate challenges and reach their full potential.

As I’ve been looking back over my blogs this year it’s clear that leadership has been a very popular topic. In case you missed them, here are a few of Connect to HR’s most popular blogs in 2018.

5 Key Characteristics of an Effective Leader
In the work I’ve done with leaders over the years in both corporate roles and as a consultant, I’ve identified five common characteristics among those whom I consider to be effective leaders. That is, whose employees are engaged and loyal, whose teams are high-functioning, and whose organizations are thriving. Read more

Successful Leaders Listen More, Talk Less
Successful business leaders know that to engage employees, meet customer needs, and stay ahead in the marketplace, they need to listen more than they talk. Read more

Top 3 Reasons to Hire an Executive Coach
There was a time when leadership coaching was reserved for those leaders who needed to “shape up” in a particular area before being shown the door. That’s not the case today. In fact, most senior leaders attribute at least part of their success to having worked with an effective executive coach. Read more

Empathy: An Essential Skill for Leaders
Empathy has been called THE skill for the 21^st century. Learning to understand others’ point of view – to figure out “where they’re coming from” – has myriad benefits in the workplace and in life in general. It improves interpersonal relationships, teamwork, negotiations, collaboration, sales, customer service, even parenting! Read more

Do you or another leader in your organization need help navigating challenges or developing in a specific leadership area? I can help! Please contact me at michelle@connecttohr to set up a free consultation.

Use It or Lose It

Still have dollars left to spend in your Human Resources budget this year? This is the perfect time to invest those dollars in the needs or challenges that are still on your TO DO list.

Do you need help with…

An experienced executive who is struggling as a leader and needs coaching and guidance?
A recently-promoted manager who needs support and guidance as they transition
to leadership?
Someone new to HR who needs to be quickly brought up to speed?
That innovative, highly impactful HR program you haven’t had time to implement?

Whatever the challenge, Connect to HR is here to help! We’ve achieved outstanding results for companies facing these same situations.

Contact Michelle at michelle@connecttohr.com TODAY to schedule a FREE consultation.

What Our Clients Are Saying About Connect to HR

“Michelle’s approach, ideas and fostering of my own insights pushed me forward as a boss, helped our organization and was quite meaningful to me.” – Jake L., CEO of Intact U.S.

“Michelle is a leadership development professional who looks at the total organization, the individuals and the current dynamics to align the best possible scenarios for the Executive, and for the vision of the governing board.” – Lisa C., Former Executive Director, SCA

“Before we started working with Michelle, we had looked at HR platforms, but Michelle was a live person with experience and knowledge, who could share examples with us, versus us interacting with a computer screen. She’s a great sounding board as different situations come up. Thanks to Michelle, I’ve gained confidence in what I’m doing and how I handle situations. I also know that as new issues come up I can reach out to her for advice. She’s accessible and easy to work with.” – Marci H., HR Manager of IDW Publishing

“As a trained chef and business owner with no HR experience, I had to learn HR on the job. Michelle was a great teacher in that she walked me through things step by step. She was thorough and comprehensive, yet kept it simple: here’s your issue, here are some scenarios, here are the rules. She didn’t throw a lot of legal language at me.” – Lourine W., Owner (Left Coast Catering)

For These Companies, Giving is a Year-Round Event

As I discussed in my last blog, consumers and job candidates are increasingly looking to do business with and/or work for companies that demonstrate they care about their communities. Do they give back? How do they treat their employees, customers, suppliers and partners? What are the company values and are they adhered to?

For many, these factors are key in their decision process. Companies that are socially responsible have a better public image – with consumers and in the media; have more engaged employees, are able to recruit higher quality talent; and are better able to attract and retain investors. In fact, 55% of consumers say they are willing to pay more for products from socially responsible companies. And, according to a study by Cone Communications, 62% of Millennials would be willing to take a pay cut to work for a socially responsible company.

Here are some examples of companies that practice giving and social responsibility year-round.

Kendra Scott. Kendra Scott grew her jewelry company from a $500 home project to a billion-dollar fashion brand, all the while keeping philanthropy as one of her core values. The company’s annual impact includes more than $4.5 million in monetary donations, $10 million in in-kind contributions, 2,000 employee volunteer hours and more than 10,000 philanthropic partnerships.

cuddle + kind. cuddle+ kind is a family-run business that sells handmade knitted dolls. For every doll sold, the company gives 10 meals to children in need. Not only that, each doll is handcrafted by women artisans in Peru, providing them with a sustainable, fair trade income.

TOMS Shoes. TOMS’ social responsibility model started with them giving a pair of shoes to someone in need for every pair of shoes sold. TOMS’ giveback model has since expanded to include coffee (providing water where needed), bags, eyewear and apparel. “With every product you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. One for One®.”

Glassybaby. Glassbaby provides glassblower artisans the opportunity to continue their craft, and donates 10% of every glassbaby to the Glassbaby White Light Fund to help people, animals, and the planet. Glassbaby gives back almost $2 million annually. Glassbaby employs more than 80 glassblowers at their locations in Seattle and Berkeley.

As you think about your organization’s plans and strategies for next year, give some thought to how you can create and maintain a culture of giving.

“We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” – Winston Churchill

Creating a Culture of Giving and Kindness

This is the time of year when many organizations and their employees open their checkbooks and contribute their time to help those in need. There are multiple opportunities to volunteer and streamlined processes to donate during this traditional season of giving.

But here’s the thing: Need isn’t seasonal. It’s an equal opportunity to give, all 12 months of the year.

I’d like to suggest that instead of focusing all your organizational and employee giving efforts just in the months of November and December, you instead create a culture of giving all year round.

How do you do that? Here are some ideas.

At the beginning of the year, select a charity to support through donations and/or volunteering for the year; encourage employees to make individual donations to the charity selected
Ask employees to recommend charities to support and then select a different one each month or quarter to contribute to
Set a company fundraising goal for a particular cause and ask employees to help you reach it
Match employee individual donations
Give employees a set number of hours per year that they can use to volunteer
Have a team competition to see who can raise the most money for a cause or charity

Many people make their buying decisions and their job decisions based on a company’s reputation for giving back. This means that in addition to a giving culture helping those in need, it also provides many intrinsic benefits for your company and your employees.

Consumers want to buy from you
Job candidates want to work for you
Employees feel good working for a company that cares

Another thing about a giving culture is that giving is usually a demonstration of kindness. And it’s clear that in our current divided and often mean environment we can all use a lot more kindness. To those in need and among ourselves.

Leaders, it starts with you. Set the example by treating your individual employees, your team, your customers, your vendors, your job candidates, everyone, for that matter, with kindness. Lead with the question, “How can I help you?” instead of “How will this transaction help me?” Encourage employees to be proactive in helping each other and recognize those who consistently demonstrate that spirit.

Just think about it. Giving and kindness within the organization and giving and kindness to others. What a wonderful world it would be.

A Culture of Empathy Starts at the Top

Research shows that companies who demonstrate they care – about their employees, about their customers, about their community – significantly outperform their less-caring peers. People want to work there. Customers want to buy there. And they all want to tell their friends.

So what’s the magic formula? Building personal connections and developing strong and enduring relationships. When leaders connect with their employees by showing empathy, listening to them, recognizing the value they provide to the organization, and providing growth opportunities, those employees are more likely to care about their work, their customers and the business.

One example of a company that understands the importance of building connections is Zappos. They provide 24/7 customer service – by phone. Zappos encourages phone calls because they enable in-depth conversations with customers and a better opportunity to create personal connections. A June 2017 Forbes article described Zappos’ model this way: “When that one call comes in, Zappos will do anything to make sure it’s an engaging and personable experience for the customer, in the hope that a single great phone interaction will serve as a proxy in the customer’s mind for the overall personality of this company.”

Making personal connections and building relationships have traditionally been relegated to the “soft” side of business skills. But as described in a recent article in Chief Learning Officer Magazine, there’s “hard” science evidence indicating that “our brains are wired to be social” and that we can leverage that information to learn how to create personal connections and build lasting relationships.

According to the article, KPMG partnered with the head of the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania to evaluate the strength of their relationships with clients and within the organization. One of the outcomes was “an instructional program on applying practical insights from neuroscience to build trusted relationships.”

Some of those insights were:

Initiating a relationship. The brain seeks social cues – “the real-time behaviors that display connection.” When you first meet someone, make eye contact. Smile, and pay close attention to them. Listen. “Failing to look and listen reduces information flow into the social brain, limiting the potential for building connections, establishing trust and working together.”

Engaging emotionally. Don’t jump into a business conversation. Engage in a conversation to get to know the other person better. Adapt your communication style to theirs – for example, if they’re soft spoken and you tend to be loud, lower you voice. Build rapport by finding things in common.

Engaging cognitively. This is where empathy plays a big part. Ask about and listen to their perspective. Try to see things from their vantage point. “Activating perspective-taking engages the social brain, which enhances your ability to develop understanding, and helps to achieve common goals.”

A culture that fosters strong, trusting relationships – both internally and externally – begins at the top.

As the old adage says, “If you take care of your people, your people will take care of the business.”

Empathy: An Essential Skill for Leaders

Over the past few months I’ve been talking about the skills required to be an effective leader. So far I’ve talked about listening, self-awareness and conversational intelligence. Another skill that is being increasingly recognized as an essential leadership skill is empathy. Although we’re not seeing it demonstrated much on the national stage, empathy has been called THE skill for the 21^st Century.

A recent Forbes article describes empathy as “the ability to understand, recognize and appreciate the way others are feeling, even if it is different from what you are feeling.” A more visual description is from the book To Kill A Mockingbird, when Atticus Finch says, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view – until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”

Learning to understand others’ point of view – to figure out “where they’re coming from” – has myriad benefits in the workplace and in life in general. It improves interpersonal relationships, teamwork, negotiations, collaboration, sales, customer service, even parenting!

And empathy (which is one of the components of emotional intelligence) can be learned, according to a study conducted by Cambridge University. In the largest study ever conducted to determine whether the ability to show empathy is based on genetics, results showed that the ability to do so is only 10% genetic. So…90% of the time empathy can be learned.

It requires practice. So how do you do it? International Executive Coach Dr. Melinda Fouts has developed an Empathy Self Audit to help “assess your empathy and do some self-reflection.” Here are a few of the questions in her self-audit:

Are you aware of how others are feeling? Or are you oblivious?
Do you try to avoid hurting the feelings of others?
Do you respect the way others feel, or do you put them down or tease them?
Do you care about the feelings of others?
Does the display of strong emotions bother you, or do you understand and appreciate what they are experiencing?
Are there times you are not sensitive to someone’s feelings? If so, why?
Can you reflect back what you heard the person saying using the same adjectives that the person used to express their emotions?

Spend some time thinking about these questions. What stands out to you? Do your mounting responsibilities, deadlines, or stress get in the way of your being sensitive toward others’ thoughts and feelings? If so, take a step back and think about how you can practice empathy. As a leader in the 21^st Century, it’s a key gateway to your personal and career success.

Next time I’ll share some examples of how integrating empathy into the culture leads to organizational success.