Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Beyond Work

Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.

  • Authenticity During Employee Hardships

    Authenticity During Employee Hardships

    I recently read an article written by Amy Morin, a psychotherapist who lost her husband suddenly at age 26. She talked about how her company provided her with the bereavement leave she needed to grieve, but more so about how they handled her return. She spoke of how her manager let her ease back into work by starting on a Friday and not having too much on her plate her first few days in the office. And she talked about how that manager asked her prior to her return how she wanted the topic of her husband’s death to be handled around the office. Did she want employees asking her about how she was doing, or expressing their condolences? While it didn’t ease her pain, it made her return to work so much easier.

    As leaders, we often have a difficult time knowing how to handle employee hardships. Leaders have to look at what impact there will be to the company if the employee needs to take leave, while also considering how to be supportive to the employee during a difficult personal experience. And as is human nature, when someone is suffering, we often have a difficult time knowing how to react or what to say.

    Here are a few ways leaders can be authentic when handling employee hardships.

    • If an employee needs to go out on leave, take the time to provide them with their options and put it in writing so that they can review it later. Chances are they’re not fully able to focus on the information you have provided them verbally. Follow up with them after a few days to see if they have any questions.
    • Reach out to them shortly before their return and discuss when and how they will return to work. Will they start back at the end of the week or part-time for a couple weeks to slowly ease back into the swing of things? Do they want to just jump right back in? Do they want co-workers approaching them about the situation or would they rather it not be addressed?
    • Be empathetic and be patient. Let the employee know through your actions that while you may not understand what they are going through, you understand it is a difficult time for them. Don’t expect them to be back to full capacity on day one of their return, whether their leave was due to a death, a health issue, or another type of hardship, they may take some time to get back up to speed.

    Too often leaders view an employee’s need for leave as an inconvenience, failing to be empathetic to what the employee is going through. This lack of empathy and accommodation will eventually have a negative impact on how employees view the culture of the organization.

    Is your organization’s culture supportive and empathetic to employees during personal hardships?

    To read Amy’s article, click here.

  • Revisiting 4 Tips to an Awesome Job Shadow or Informational Interview

    Revisiting 4 Tips to an Awesome Job Shadow or Informational Interview

    A couple of years ago, I worked with a student who participated in a job shadow offered through a program at her school. She was interested in the medical field. However, during the job shadow, she realized it was not for her. The eye-opening experience helped guide her to another path.

    Summer is almost here, and now is a great time for recent grads and college students to consider a job shadow or internship! If opportunities for those are not available, an informational interview is another option. All of these are valuable components of career exploration. I would argue they are just as important as interest assessments.

    Where do you begin? Talk to your high school counselor or a career advisor to brainstorm ideas. Then, revisit our blog “4 Tips to an Awesome Job Shadow or Informational Interview.”

  • What do you value most?

    What do you value most?

    Values – integrity, authenticity, honesty, loyalty, service – and the list goes on. Values are what make each person unique. Individuals want to work in organizations that prioritizes values, and companies seek out individuals who add value to their organization.

    A Career Decision Making Tree is one tool we use at Horizon Point in guiding individuals in career planning. We share this in our career development course with other professionals; it’s available in our workbooks also. The idea is to determine what you value most in a career, which are the roots of the tree (i.e. career must haves). Then, you can narrow down your list of careers. We often facilitate this after a formal interest inventory assessment.

    Satisfaction in your career is closely connected to values. Doing work that you are passionate about and that you find value in often predicts job satisfaction.

    Unsure of what you value in work? Use this free assessment at Career One Stop to find out: https://www.vawizard.org/wizard/assessment-combined.

  • Increase the Value of your Organization’s Biggest Asset

    Increase the Value of your Organization’s Biggest Asset

    “Train people well enough so they can leave. Treat them well enough so they don’t want to.” – Sir Richard Branson

    As another school year comes to a close, my boys have already started getting that end of year fever. To them the end of the school year means a break from learning. To me it means a summer filled with opportunities to teach them things they can’t experience in a classroom. With that comes the opportunity to encourage them to challenge themselves and set personal goals for what they want to accomplish during the summer (besides sleeping in).

    Performance reviews are a great opportunity for leadership to sit down with employees and not only review their past performance, but to also help employee set personal learning goals for their future as well. While employees are an organization’s best asset, those assets are only worth what an organization puts into them. The more an organization encourages employees to seek out continuous learning opportunities and the more resources an organization provides for employees to do so, the more valuable the employees become to the organization.

    There are countless ways for an organization to provide continuous learning opportunities. Regardless of the size of your organization, there are ways to help your employees grow in their careers. Some options include:

    • Tuition Reimbursement Programs
    • In-House Training Programs
    • Webinars & Conferences
    • Lunch and Learn Sessions
    • Vendor Presentations (these are often provided for free)
    • Mentor/Shadowing Programs
    • Monthly Informative Newsletters

    Providing training opportunities to employees not only helps them to increase their knowledge, it helps them feel more connected to the organization. Leaders can encourage employees in their efforts through continuous feedback and review of the goals set during the performance review process.

    Are you increasing the value of your organization’s biggest asset through continuous learning?

  • Making Passion a Priority in Work

    Making Passion a Priority in Work

    I recently wrote a blog about “People First” and I how I feel we do that well at HPC. You can check it out here: People First.

    Of course, as with anything, there is always room for improvement. One company value that I personally would like to improve upon is “Passion”.

    Passion. We believe passion should be a key driver in the workplace. Therefore, we demonstrate passion in the work we do, hire individuals who are passionate about the work our organization engages in, and strive to help our clients discover, develop and maximize their passion through career and talent development processes. In order to help drive passionate decisions, we foster a value for creating self-awareness, developing personal and professional mission statements as well as values that govern mission.

    Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague who shared she had experienced a form of burn-out which is always a result of a catalyst. As our conversation continued, we discussed getting organized in our home offices and going through recredentialing processes and the pains that go along with such. Her epiphany on how “just getting organized” made a difference in her outlook completely resonated with me.

    As I’ve shared before, I enjoy my work and the work we do at Horizon Point. However, sometimes, the day-to-day rush of work mixed with life can lead us to forget why we do it all in the first place. So, I have thought through some steps to help when we feel like we are “in a rut” and are forgetting what why we do what we do (our passion):

    1. Organize one file, process or space in your office each week. Within a couple of months, you will be so glad you did!
    2. Keep your mission statement in a place where you can see it daily. Mine is in my office right above my desk. Don’t have a personal mission statement? Check out my blog about developing one here: Developing a Personal Mission Statement to Prevent Stress & Burnout.
    3. Schedule downtime every week. At least one day per week, I try my best to not schedule any appointments or calls. This a great way to build in catch-up time.
    4. Set goals, work towards those goals, and have an accountability partner to help you. Check out The Point Blog for goal setting tips.
    5. Make continuous learning a priority. Allowing yourself time to learn and grow can often times feel like a break from the rat race. Attending a short conference can do the trick, and if you happen to schedule one close to the beach, you get a mini-vacation – BONUS!

    Is passion a key driver in your workplace? If not, contact us at Horizon Point. We would love to help!