Horizon Point Consulting

Category: Personal Development

We all need a little personal development mixed in with our professional and career development. Read blogs in this category for stories and best practices for personal wellness and wellbeing, skills improvement, and  more.

  • Networking During the Holiday Season

    Networking During the Holiday Season

    For job seekers, the holidays can put a hold on the job search. So, what should you do while everyone is enjoying time off from work? Since more than 50% of jobs are filled through networking, use this down time to network, network, network!

    Networking can be intimidating. The best way to overcome the fear is to develop an elevator speech, practice, and network every chance you get.

    The University of Denver offers these guidelines for developing an elevator speech:

    • Keep your commercial simple and brief, and always include who you are, what you want to do and why it matters (or what the employer/client will get out of it).
    • Use a story or example to demonstrate your best qualities.
    • Use strong, action-packed words and speak in a confident, personable tone.
    • Be relevant. List the accomplishments (paid, unpaid, work, education or life experiences) that are relevant and compelling to your audience.
    • If job searching, be clear about the job title, function and industry you are interested in.
    • Practice your commercial, but don’t memorize; you want to sound natural!
    • Make a connection between yourself and your new acquaintance. End with a question to draw the contact into the conversation.

    Source: https://www.du.edu/career/networkingandevents/networkingtips/elevator.html

    Here is a list of networking opportunities to get you started (note the opportunistic ones!):

    • Personal Relationships (family, close friends, social groups)
    • Professional Relationships (colleagues, professional associations)
    • Associations (alumni, community, licensing, etc.)
    • Opportunistic (a woman you meet on the bus, a man next to you at the gym, online networks, etc.)
  • Jump start your 2018 professional growth now!

    Jump start your 2018 professional growth now!

    Have you ever wanted to start your own business?
    Jump start your 2018 professional growth now!

     

    Introducing new coursework available,
    Getting Off the Ground: 7 Steps to Developing a Successful Business

    Entrepreneurship is one of our passions.
    First taught at Professional Development Institute (PDI)
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    Customized for Career Development Facilitators.

    Take advantage of this opportunity now!

    If you missed it at PDI, you can now benefit from the course at your own convenience at an even lower cost. The course is set-up on Udemy.com for easy processing, payment, and participation.

    Get here: 7 Steps to Developing a Successful Business

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  • The Unattainable Work-Life Balance

    The Unattainable Work-Life Balance

    Is our elusive hunt for a work-life balance causing us undue stress in our lives and the lives of those around us?

    Generation X introduced the philosophy of the work-life balance in the 1970’s, and organizations and employees alike have spent the last few decades searching for that balance. But can anyone say they’ve found it?

    The major flaw with the work-life balance philosophy is that it’s based on the premise that your work self and your life self are two separate entities and to achieve balance, you must maintain that separation and seek a level of equality between the two.

    A study published in 2015 by the Harvard Business School and Stanford University showed that workplace stress can be just as harmful as second-hand smoke. If we’re bringing that stress home, imagine the impact it must have on our families.

    It took my thirteen-year-old son’s insight to show me that the struggle to achieve a work-life balance doesn’t just affect those trying to achieve it, it also affects everyone around them. About a year after moving to Huntsville from Northern Virginia I asked him if he was glad we moved. He told me that he was glad we moved and that his friends here were very different than his friends in Virginia. He explained how his friends here are more laid back, he could be more open with them without fear of them judging him, and how his friends from Northern Virginia were much more rigid and easily offended. His response both shocked me and made me realize just how much of an impact living in the rat race of the D.C. area had on my children.

    As the Indian Yogi and Poet Sadhguru said “There is no such thing as work-life balance- it is all life. The balance has to be within you.”

    The reality is that our work self and life self are two parts of the same whole and can never be fully separated. The Millennials have figured this out and taken the work-life balance philosophy and given it an overhaul. They have introduced us to the work-life integration philosophy. The work-life integration philosophy is a more synergistic approach, in which we must learn to blend our work self and life self into one cohesive unit.

    Many organizations are starting to buy into this concept and provide benefits to help employees integrate their work-life selves.

    • Evernote, a software company, provides their 250+ full-time employees with bi-weekly housecleaning services free of charge, $1000 annual vacation stipends, and a baby bonding program that provides an additional six weeks of paid leave.
    • SC Johnson & Son provides employees with concierge services, on-site childcare, flexible work hours & compressed work weeks.
    • Google provides on-site physicians, free lunches, massages, car washes, up to 12 weeks of paid leave, as well as $500 in “Baby Bonding Bucks” for new parents.

    While these examples are from larger companies, there are benefits that smaller employers can offer as well. I currently work with a client that offers their employees PTO hours in addition to vacation time. These hours are to be used for things such as doctor’s appointments, hair appointments, and parent-teacher conferences. They also provide a car wash service that comes onsite and employees can pay to have their car washed while they work.

    What benefits can your organization offer employees to help them achieve a work-life integration and reduce stress?

  • Career Development: A Resource For Talent Retention

    Career Development: A Resource For Talent Retention

    Guest blog written by: Steve Graham

    In a recent study, conducted by the Work Institute, career development was identified as the top reason people leave or remain with organizations. In their study titled, 2017 Retention Report, 240,000 employees were interviewed about factors that were most influential in their decision to stay with or leave an organization.

    For decades, organizations that have invested in developing their people also experienced higher market shares and lower turnover than competitors. Despite the positive data to support career development, many organizations continue to fall short.  Lack of growth is a common reason given during exit interviews for leaving. In a study conducted by Empxtrack, reviewing data from over a number of years and involving approximately 52,000 exit interviews, the research identified lack of growth opportunity as the second most given reason for leaving an organization. The study indicated that 22% of job exits were directly related to growth.

    The good news is that with a little more focus on helping people develop their careers, organizations can reduce turnover.  Fears that investing in an employee and then having them leave the organization is one of the most common excuses for not offering training or other development opportunities. The truth is that people will leave anyway, to find an organization that offers them opportunity.  Having a well-trained and engaged workforce does not happen without an emphasis on career development.

    Career development initiatives include: formalized training programs, mentoring, internal coaching opportunities, and other opportunities. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) offers resources in integrating career development within an organization.  According to SHRM, having a designed career development path for employees allows managers to address gaps in training.  This is helpful in preparing people for promotions as well.

    Career development impacts performance. When people feel like their organization cares, and is focused on their development, it creates a deeper level of engagement. This increases the level of commitment on reaching individual and organizational goals.  Helping people become their best can help your organization stand out.  Designing a culture that supports career development also enhances your employer brand.

    Here are some basics steps in creating a career development focus:

    1. Know your people. Take time to learn them as individuals.
    2. Conduct a career path inventory and find out where they want to go.
    3. Use technology to create learning opportunities.
    4. Search for outside assistance and resources.

    Resources include, but are not limited to, workforce development programs, degree programs, mentoring, and career coaching.  The National Career Development Association (NCDA) is a great place to start.  The world of work is changing and organizations need to be in better alignment with the needs of their people. If an organization is not offering career development, people will find it elsewhere. They will seek places of employment that embrace their individuality, interest, and goals.

     

    About the Author: 

    Steve Graham serves as vice president for marketing, HR business partner and college instructor. He holds graduate degrees in management and higher education. As a life-long learner, he has additional graduate and professional education in executive and professional coaching, health care administration and strategic human resource management. Steve is also the Founder and President of Valiant Coaching & Talent Development, LLC.

    He is a certified HR professional with The Society for Human Resource Management, certified coach with the International Coach Federation and a Global Career Development Facilitator. His professional memberships include: The Society for Human Resource Management, the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, Association for Talent Development and International Coach Federation.

  • 4 Tech Solutions that help you Hire for Fit AND Diversity

    4 Tech Solutions that help you Hire for Fit AND Diversity

    Most people live in an “or” world.   Whether we like it or not, we think in terms of always having to choose between two or more options or paths, rather than thinking in terms of “and”.      

    I was reminded of this when hearing the CFO of Eli Lilly, Derica Rice, speak to a group of college students who have received scholarships he and his wife fund. He told them that he always thought in terms of “or”.  I can have this career “or” that, but not both.  I can have this life “or” this one, but not both.  But one day, he said, his wife told him that he had earned the right to live and think in an “and” world.   

    This is a powerful message to us all, particularly to the minority students he is seeking to help.  I’ve found that it is also helpful to extend his point in inspiring diversity to the need to hire for both diversity AND fit.  

    And technology can actually help live in an “and” world when it comes to hiring for diversity and fit instead of relying on human, subjective judgments.

    Here are four tech companies that are doing just this:

    BLENDOOR  Using technology, Blendoor hides data that’s not relevant (for example name, graduation year and photos) and highlights data that is in order to reduce unconscious bias.

    You can view a video that explains their merit based hiring here.

    TEXTIO– With a slogan that reads, “In hiring, every word counts,” Textio focuses on helping companies write the best job postings.   In doing this, better word choice leads to more applicants, and more diverse ones at that. In particular, the company touts a 23% increase in women applicants.

    This graphic on their website says it all.

     

     

    PYROMETRICS–  Founded by a Harvard and MIT PhD in a Neuroscience team,  the company uses gamification, machine learning & artificial intelligence and unbiased algorithms to match potential employees with employers.  

    You can request a whitepaper from them on gender equality related to the science they use at the bottom of this page.

    HireVue.  When I first heard about HireVue, I thought their key value proposition was to reduce recruiter time in hiring, in particular interviewing.  Upon learning more, I realized they are also helping to reduce bias in hiring by using data (according to their speaker at HRTech, a 15 minute interview generates more than 25,000 data points) to identify best-fit for companies.

    You can read more about how using their (and Pyrometric’s) artificial intelligence helped Unilever increase their diversity hires by 16% (among other positive outcomes) here.

    Choose to live in an “and” world and the possibilities for solving problems are endless.

     

    How do you kill two birds with one stone by thinking “and” instead of “or”?

     

    Like this post, you may also like:

    You can hire for fit AND diversity: How the most innovative companies hire right

    Diversity and Inclusion in My Eyes and in the Eyes of My Children 

    What is Diversity and Why Does It Matter? 

    3 Ways to Embrace Diversity and Inclusion in Career Development

    Creating Community in Your Organization