This post will conclude a series on Twelve Lessons I Learned or Re Learned this Year. These final two are lessons that I am reminded of often. Within these two, I find challenge and reward.
This is installment two of a blog series about lessons I learned this year. Most of the lessons were just reminders of things that I learned awhile ago, but 2011 served as a as a year to be reminded of them. Below is a list of three more lessons all dealing with change.
s the year comes to a close and I begin to reflect on the previous twelve months, I realize as adults we are always learning and re-learning important lessons. Many of the lessons I learned this year were simply reminders of lessons learned years ago. Below is the beginning of my list and will serve as part one for the Twelve Lessons I Learned (or Re-Learned) This Year blog series. These lessons are universal in many areas of life.
How often does this very notion go on in your organizations? When was the last time you tried to sell your employees on some magic? Surely you can think of time when you spun the message to sound more positive or left out some details in a communication. Eventually like the kids, they will figure it out. However, unlike the kids, they can leave. Or they can stay and offer just a little more effort and put in a little less time.
In my last post, I discussed the positive effects of gratitude. During this time of Thanksgiving, it is easy for us to be thankful for the things in our life that we love and enjoy. However, how often do we show gratitude and give thanks for the things that were difficult for us or for things that were unpleasant? It reminds of the commonly used notion of Feedback as a gift. As much as it is, it can be hard to realize it when the gift you are receiving is negative or unflattering.
Last November in honor of Thanksgiving, I discussed the need to practice gratitude in a post. Studies on gratitude show that people who practice it have lower levels of stress hormones in their blood, are in better physical health, sleep more and are happier (The Positivity Company). And while these benefits of gratitude affect the practitioner of gratitude(sometimes referred to as one having a gratitude attitude) they also have an impact on the receiver of the practice. As mentioned in my post last year, it creates a win-win. In HR we are often looking for the win-win and we spend hours trying to figure out ways in which to create it and build it into our cultures.
In this journey we are taking our differences aren’t negatives. They have made us a better team. Understanding that differences make a stronger unit or team is an often missed concept in many organizations. People like to be around the like-mined individuals and people often hire those who are more like them. However, failing to work in a group with members who compliment your areas of opportunity means your team is weaker than it could be. Don’t get me wrong, the foundational stuff has to be the same. If it is, then it will override the little stuff and comprise and compliment will result in a perfect match.
Change is constantly around us. In our daily lives, we experience change in almost every aspect. In order to adapt to the changes around us we learn. Adults are constantly learning and adapting. In HR, we must adapt to changes in business needs and priorities and to changes in resources and functions. We must also be prepared to learn new technologies and new business tools that will enable us to meet the changing demands of our organizations and the people they employ. So how do we keep in front of changes and stay alert to where our profession is headed?
We learn. How do you keep up to date? My suggestion is simple: Get out of Your Office.
Before cell phones and mobile devices, decisions sometimes had to be made at a moment’s notice by someone other than the boss, or the leader, or the person in charge. As a result, I think we spent more time developing the people who might have to make those decisions. And people were learning from having to make those decisions. And succession planning was occurring very naturally. And leaders had time to think and to reflect.
I read. I read a lot. I read a lot of books, blogs, magazines, whitepapers, and articles on a variety of topics related to HR, talent management, training and development, metrics, leadership, and management (I am sure there a few more I missed). I have read a million buzz words in the past several years and hundreds of works that discuss why HR will never have a seat at the table. In fact, I have written a few of these works myself. Recently, I keep reading and hearing a phase (you know all those free webinars which are really just audio white papers that allow for a few minutes of questions at the end) over and over.
Sheri Mazurek is a training and human resource professional with over 15 years of management experience, and is skilled in all areas of employee management and human resource functions, with a specialty in learning and development. [Read more ...]Provided by
