Employability

A few weeks ago I received an invitation to talk about "employability" to a group of final year university students. I was pretty chuffed and have crossed off another of my 2014 goals -"Speak/present at 3 different events during the year, either on improving your career, being a full time working mum who travels a lot or something HR related." I have now spoken at 2 events which is pretty cool!

Employability - the ability to get employed, is a pretty hot topic for students. It can be hard to secure that first role when you effectively have no experience and no idea how the degree, which you have worked hard for, will translate into the workplace. I had no idea what I wanted to do when I finished my first degree and certainly no idea how I was going to get a job to go with it.

The thing is, the stuff I spoke about to these students applies to anyone, in particular if you are trying to change the focus of your career. This is what I spoke about:

How important is your degree? 

Well it is and it isn't. It's SO important and also not so much. How does this work? A tertiary qualification is a great thing to have in that it shows you can stick at something, juggle priorities, think critically and argue your point, present, and hopefully write well. All good things. However a degree without any kind of work experience can be a bit empty.

I've done quite a long post on this topic, which you can read about here.

What is your purpose?

I have written a bit about this topic. Do you understand your why? and Working out your purpose: 3 ways

The thing is though, do students finishing their undergraduate degree know what they want to do with their career? The question was asked of the group I presented to and around a third did. Great. Awesome. Not sure I believe them but great, awesome. Of course there are some people who know at 16, 18 and 20 what their passion and purpose is, but really, I think that's pretty rare.

So for those who don't know your purpose, I think that's pretty normal. I think you need a bit of life experience to work this out. You need to have worked in a few crappy jobs (even to work out what you don't want to do) and learnt a bit more about yourself. If you have been in the workforce for a bit the only way to work out what you think you want to do is to try lots of things, think about what makes you happy and what doesn't, and get some feedback. Hop to it!

Developing your skills

If you don't know your purpose and someone has told you that your degree may not be that important (me) what do you do? Well get a job. Some sort of job. Particularly if you haven't worked during your degree. I reckon working is better than not working, even if you are doing something you don't love. The trick is to understand what you can learn from that job. When I finished my undergraduate degree I took at job in retail. I knew that I didn't want to work in retail long term but I was lucky enough to be offered a place in the company management development program. I thought that would be a good experience and it was. I also knew that retail would help me develop communication skills, conflict management skills and I would have an income while I worked out what I really wanted to do. 

When developing skills it's also important to think about breadth and depth in your career. Experiences in different size organisations and in roles that give you experiences across organisations and also deep in a particular area, are great for your career.

Social media: friend or foe?

I love social media, as many people do. Tools such as Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more, help us to stay connected, inspire and keep us informed. However......when trying to get that coveted first job out of uni, or the next step in our career, social media may not be your friend.

When helping managers recruit people into their team, they are sometimes tempted to do some extra research. Privacy legislation says we can only collect information on candidates that is relevant to the role we are recruiting for. In this context, checking out someone's Linkedin profile is OK. Trawling through their Facebook page, is not.

My advice is make sure your Linkedin profile is complete, up-to-date and presents you in the most professional light. Use a high quality photo, preferably taken by an actual photographer (not your friend using an iPhone) and have it cropped so it looks good on Linkedin. A head and shoulders shot is your best bet. Photos taken "out on the town" while you were drinking cocktails (where you have cropped out most of the person with their arm around you ) is NOT appropriate for Linked in. Just saying. 

What else?.....lock down your other social media accounts if they contain photos and information that is not relevant to your job or career. What I mean is, find the privacy setting and make sure only people you let see your profile can see it. Maybe you don't have anything too exciting on your Facebook page: what you ate for lunch; how many km's you walked today...but think about it from an employers point of view (who shouldn't be looking at your page but they will). I don't do anything exciting on social media but I probably follow some people and businesses that my employers may not want to be associated with. Think about it. 

Lisa xx

We're all walking on quick sand

"We're so stupid if we think we can control,

 All the dark matter in this black hole. 

It's going to pull us under if we don't let go, 

We're all walking on quick sand".

This is a line from a Delta Goodroom song "God Laughs". It's a song she wrote about her parents marriage split but I think it applies to life in general, and certainly life in big organisations.

So what made me think of this song? It's fair to say there has been some change going on at work. Most of this change over the past 18 months I have been involved with, with our leadership team. Being in control of the change, while difficult, is often easier than being part of the group of employees who have had the change inflicted on them. I'm sure you agree.

The most recent changes has got many of the team I work in, unsettled and unsure. There is a feeling of things being temporary and ambiguous . What's going to happen next? If that can happen to that person, it could happen to me too! Some of the changes have shown the way in the organisation and highlighted opportunity. Other changes have been perceived very negatively. This is normal.

I have been surprised by my own reactions and those of the leadership team. I somehow expected that experienced and well seasoned leaders would be better equipped to deal with change. But people are people no matter the age or experience. We all feel unsettled by change, by things happening which we didn't expect and things we don't want to happen. We wish things to be different or to stay the same.

I have spoken before about how often I come across people that want certainty and stability in their lives, their work and careers. Many want to know that when they go to work each day, they know what their job is, they know where they get to sit and they don't need to learn anything new. I find this somewhat unrealistic and hard and.... well, a bit sad.

But what do you do when you are in the middle of unsettling and upsetting change? What do you do when everything seems temporary and nothing seems certain?

1. There is always something not changing (I hope). For example, if work is upsidedown, how is home? Is it stable at the moment? What about your family and friends? Are they still there? It's important to maintain connections that remain stable in times of change. Seek these people out. They should help you keep things in perspective.
2. Even at work, if things are seeming a little ambiguous, there will be other things that are not. You still need to deliver on your plans, deliver to your goals, sell what needs to be sold, deliver on the strategy, even if these things are short term. Identifying the things that remain the same and focusing on these are really important. Particularly if you are a leader.
3. EXERCISE! I bang on this a bit. I'm not a fitness freak I just think that exercise makes a massive difference to how we feel about our world. Wrote a post here about keeping your mind fit. If there is ever a time when you need to keep your mind fit it's during a time of change. When I found out about a recent change that effected me I walked every day for a week! 
4.  Reflect on where you want your career to be. Has the change derailed this? If it has are there other things you can learn that you didn't expect? Not long after I moved to Sydney I completed a leadership program. It came at just the right time with a coach as part of the program. This coach had some great little techniques for dealing with stuff. One that relates to change which I use on myself and talk to others about is - even if you are not where you want to be and may be struggling a bit, make a deal with yourself about how much time you will stay in the same situation. Work out the things you are going to learn and pick a date to review. When you get to that point in time, things will have either improved or you can decide to do something else. At least you gave it a chance.
5. Get networking. This is helpful in creating connections that may help with your career, and helpful to understand that most organisations are going through uncertainty and change. Many industry organisations hold professional networking events that help people connect. Is it time you built up your network?

 

Feedback

Feedback

Ah a word to strike fear into any self-respecting employee. Who doesn’t feel anxious when they are about to get some feedback. Who doesn’t feel nervous and/or defensive. It’s natural isn’t it?

Often the feedback we receive is part of an ill organised, poorly trained  process called “Performance Management”. Sometimes we are lucky enough to work with peers or Managers who are skilled at giving feedback and genuinely care about you and are invested in helping you improve. Such a gift.

No matter how skilled or how good the intent of someone giving you feedback, the effect relies a lot on our ability to receive it. Common reactions are:

·         To be defensive and argue

·         To say nothing and skulk away to lick our wounds

·         To cry

·         To be angry

·         To ignore it

·         To bitch about it with our friends

BUT, what if it could help you develop? What if it doesn’t?

My top 5 tips for dealing with feedback

1.   LISTEN. That means shutting your mouth and stop your brain from thinking about how to defend what someone is telling you. Just listen. Take it in. Write it down. Don’t talk.

I had a great Manager in my first HR job. He cared about me getting better and he gave me lots of great feedback. I repaid his kindness by arguing, defending myself and generally being a pain. He used to hold his hand up as if staying stop. Well he was saying stop. Stop talking and start listening!

 

2.   ASK QUESTIONS. Not defensive angry questions like “how you can say that?!” but curious and enquiring questions like “could you tell me more about that? Do you have an example to illustrate what you are talking about?”

3.   PROCESS. Think about what the feedback means to you. Is it helpful? Is the person genuinely trying to help? I once had a peer who told me I spoke too much during the team meeting. I really reflected on that feedback. No one had ever said that to me before and I really didn’t think I talked too much in our meetings. On reflection  I think the problem was that this person needed to speak more in the meetings but blaming me was an easier option than owning their behavior. I thought about that feedback for more than a week and then decided it wasn’t about me and discarded it.

Other feedback I received I really took to heart and thought carefully about how I could integrate it into my style.

4.   SAY THANK YOU It’s pretty hard to give another person feedback. Sometimes that person has agonised about how to deliver the message so as not to upset you (or themselves). They have demonstrated courage and that they care for you, your wellbeing and your career. Thank them.

5.   OWN IT. It’s relatively easy to give positive feedback but people don’t generally like to give feedback that might be perceived as negative or could cause conflict. If someone has taking the time, you should try and own it. You could ask others for their opinion. The more you own your own behavior the better chance you have to do something about it

 

Would love to hear your feedback stories!

2014 Goals update

Every January there is a flurry of information and fluff about new year's resolutions and goals for the year. 2014 was no exception and I found my social media channels filled with information on this topic. I wrote a post about my goals for this blog in January.

Much of the problem with setting goals and new year's resolutions is the probability of actually achieving them! Keeping motivated is about checking in with where you are at with your goals. What progress have you made? Great video here about motivation!

Is too much travel getting in the way of me achieving my goals?

We are nearly 3 month's into the year and what have I achieved? My goals for this blog are as follows:

1. Once a month feature a video interview someone interesting about how they are got to where they are in their career..I'm going to learn how to shoot and edit videos.

Update: So far I have asked one person to let me interview them on video. Since that time I have been travelling so much that I haven't been able to organise this.

Status: Behind. WAY behind! 

2. Blog at least once a week. I lost my way in about September last year and never got my blogging grove back.

Update: So I should have written about 11 posts by now. I have written 6 including this one.

Status: Behind. WAY behind! 

3. Speak/present at 3 different events during the year, either on improving your career, being a full time working mum who travels a lot or something HR related. I'm open people and I work for free!

Update: Last week I spoke at a small Learning and Development Forum. I spoke on advancing your career and included topics on knowing your purpose, breadth and depth in your career and building credibility and influencing (potential future post). I think it went well.

Status: On track.

So having one goal on track and two behind is not a great start to the year. I didn't anticipate how busy work would be during the first quarter of the year and I may have been unrealistic with some of my goals, which is a common thing that happens when setting goals. What to do? Well, I'm going to get focused on writing a blog post each week and I'm going to set a date to do my first video interview.

How are your 2014 goals tracking? Would love to hear.

Lisa

Travel for work: the positive stuff

So a while back I wrote this post on travel. This is another post on travel for work but more from the perspective of how good it is for your career. Over the years I have interviewed many people for roles that require some form of travel or another. Many people don’t want these kind of roles. Some do, but many don’t. My hardest sell was for roles requiring lots of travel to India.

  

Last week I was in Houston (Texas), for work, and I was reflecting on how lucky I have been in a couple of my roles to travel internationally. My first real business trip in my career was to London, travelling business class. That was awesome. I love the perspective you gain from these kind of trips. Experiencing a different part of the business and a different culture. I think it makes you a better leader.

Without doubt some of my best work and career development opportunities have been because I got to travel. The things I most remember were the interactions with people and the things I got to experience. 

Some examples…..

Longest most amazing day ever

While in India where I was doing some HR Audit work (kill me) I got to travel to a little known and remote place called Mundra, located in the upper north-west corner of India.  The landscape resembled roadrunner country and to get there the plane landed at an airforce base. The company I was working for at the time had developed the operation there as well as the housing and amenities for the employees they had to attract to the area to work. The HR Manager’s role went well beyond what you would expect. She was responsible for ensuring employees had adequate housing, providing education for their children, and more.

The longest most amazing day ever started with completing the HR audit at the work location and then going on a tour of the employee housing and the school. Lunch was followed by a long drive, on a road shared with buses, trucks, motorbikes, cows and elephants. Yep. The purpose of the trip was to visit a palace which provided the set for many Bollywood movies and then we had a drink on the beach while camels meandered past. We were invited to meet the Maharaja of Kutch and share a meal. When I finally returned to my hotel room that evening I couldn’t believe the day I had just experienced. I felt that time had been stretched (as I often would feel in India) and I could not have fitted in anything more varied and different to what I did that day. It seems surreal when I now think of it.

What did I learn?

The day was about learning how time is viewed in India (everything will happen in it’s own time) and gave me great insight into companies who provided more than just a job for employees. The leaders of this business were not just managing a workforce, they were managing a community.

As a tourist I would never had such an amazing experience.

Working with team members on the other side of the world!

Probably one of the hardest things in global organisations is developing relationships when you don’t get to see people! Geographical separation coupled with cultural differences mean that misunderstandings can be blown out of proportion and the ability to get things done can be hampered. One company I worked for would have me travel to their overseas head office a couple of times a year for 2 weeks at a time and that made a massive difference to our team getting to know each other and being effective. It also gave me visibility to other leaders in the business.

Last week I was at a global meeting (which happened at about the same time last year) and our team were able to continue to build the relationships we had already established. I got to connect with some other corporate people who I had met previously and met some people who I have only had contact via email. I also went to my first Rodeo and saw REO Speedwagon perform. They still got it! I learnt a lot this week and am leaving with a very clear focus and a very tired head. All good.

What did I learn?

Despite advances in technology for communication and collaboration, I just don't think they can beat meeting in person on regular occasions. 

You can always communicate!

By far the biggest learning experience I have had working and travelling overseas was in China. One particular trip I was being picked up by my local contact who didn't speak English. He bought with him a young Chinese woman who speaks about 6 words of English. I speak 2 words in Mandarin and had Charlie with me who was 4months old and still being breastfed! I flew into Guangzhou not knowing what Hotel I was staying in but also knowing that I was having dinner with a group of Chinese people who also didn't speak English. Who would do this?

It helps that the Chinese love babies and children!

It turned out to be a great dinner and trip. We all seemed to be able to communicate over a meal and Chinese wine and these people left the young Chinese women to stay with me in the hotel so I would be safe. I'm really not sure how much use she would have been (seeing as she was half my size and we couldn't really communicate) but it was a kind gesture.

The next morning my interpreter joined me, which meant the standard of communication improved, particularly on a business level. In the end it was a successful trip.

What did I learn?

Speaking the language is really just one way to communicate. There are many other ways and strangely on this trip I think relationships were built during the times we couldn't use language to communicate. These were often over meals, which seems to be a universal way to build and strengthen relationships, no matter what country you are in.

So what's the point?

Travelling for work can be hard. It messes with any sort of routine, it's very tiring and can be difficult if you have children that need care. If you can work with all these challenges then the difference it can make to your career can be massive. Don't rule it out!

Part-time work

I’m about to be controversial. Probably*

Recently one of my friends on Facebook  shared this story on part time work. It made me mad.

 Part time work has been around for a while now. It’s usually the reserved for the new mum, trying to cope with small children, running a household and also trying to earn some money to provide for their family.

I have worked part time and it’s hard. There’s a  premise is that you have more time to spend with your family. Quality family time. It’s a crock really. Well maybe not. If you can work in a role where there is a definite start and end, it’s probably ok. Shift work might work. A role where you don’t have to take work home or you don’t need to travel. I’m sure there are some jobs where part time works. I haven’t really had one of these.

This article makes the point that you end up squishing full time hours into the part time hours the organizational has agreed you can work. I think that for the most part this is true in my experience.

When I had Aiden, and he was 4 months old I returned to work 3 days a week, and then 4 days and said I would take phone calls on the other days to support the organization. I also took calls while I was on maternity leave and did some work that I could do from home, which was my choice but I must admit I was worried that I may not have a job to return to. I took phone calls from employees about their redundancy package while I changed Aiden’s nappy as he screamed. I don’t know how the employee didn’t notice the crying on the end of the line. Maybe he was too worried that he was losing his job? Maybe he didn’t care? I also took calls standing outside one of my new mummy friends’ houses to talk to a manager at length about terminating someone’s employment, when I desperately wanted to be inside learning about how other mummies were coping with breast feeding and very little sleep.

I stayed up late and got up early to “express” on a trip to Perth so I could continue to breastfeed my son when I returned to Sydney. I was exhausted. I also attached myself to the pump while sitting in a storeroom at work with no lock, so I could provide some breast milk at least part of the time he was at daycare.

When I did return to work and I was so tired that each day I wanted to crawl under my desk and sleep and was so upset that the business head didn’t even remember I was coming back that first day.  I wanted to crawl under my desk and cry. I guess they didn’t realize the stress it put on my family to turn up that Monday morning. It’s a big deal returning to work. There is no formula to work it out and there are very few women to show you the way. When you manage to get your shit act together it’s an amazing feat.

We are so far away from supporting women to return to work after having children that it’s really not funny. We now have paid maternity leave, which is great but what we really need to better access to childcare and better strategies to support women. We need to change the conversation. Instead of people saying:

·         “Do you think you spend enough time with your boys?”

·         “Have you asked to work part-time yet? (when I was working full time with 2 boys under school age)”

·         “Oh those boys must miss you when you are away” (reference to me travelling to do my job. No one asks a man that)”

·         “I’m so glad my wife didn’t have to work” and “I couldn’t have stayed home when the kids were sick” , comments from men .

 I have all these comments said to me. They are mostly well meaning and definitely not helpful.

But my biggest gripe is with this article where it says that when you work part time you should not take on anything extra, and push back…..WHAT?!  Seriously? Look if you work and career is not that important and it’s just a means to an end, fine.  But if at some point you want to progress why would you sit back? Why would you not contribute more. THIS. IS. DUMB. ADVICE. You need to lean in. I see the difference between how women are perceived when they hold fast to their part time hours and those who go beyond. Let’s face it, many of us working in full time roles go beyond these hours, particularly as roles become more senior. Across the board, employees who are more engaged and who contribute more will always have more opportunities.

While I’m on the soap box I also want to talk about managing your part time work. The reality is the organisation is unlikely (unless they have an evolved HR and management team) to be forthcoming in working out a part time role for you. YOU NEED TO DO THIS. You shouldn’t have to. I know, but this is reality. Also, I have seen some women return to work 2 days a week. I’m sorry. This is stupid.  What value does it bring to you? (not much money) What does it bring to the organisation? (not much value).  Childcare is expensive and oversubscribed but try and work it out if you can.

If you are returning to work:

1.       Have a plan. Ask other women how they did it. Get on with it. It will be hard. You will be tired. It will get better. Promise.

2.       Your partner must help and you must ask them to help, even if you are working part time. You must let them do things the way they do them, not the way you do them. Let it go.

3.       Do not stop contributing. There are times when it will be tough. There will be times when you have to juggle. Men don’t have to do this and it’s not fair. Get on with it.

4.       In my view, if you can make it work, get back to full time work as soon as you can. I think it’s a poor bet to leave work and let someone else support you indefinitely. Keep your finger in something that is valuable. It might be part time work, it might be community work.  What happens if your relationship breaks up? What happens if your partner passes away? What will you do? You have kids to support and you need something for yourself.

*This is my opinion and my opinion only. I truly support the choices any woman makes in relation to their children, their family, their work and their career.

Capturing opportunities

When I finished school and headed to Uni I had no idea what I wanted to do, or be when I grew up. I'm sure there are thousands of 17 year olds out there who are feeling exactly the same way right now. I figured that doing a degree would be a good thing, and it would delay me having to make a decision about my life for 3 years. At the end of 3 years I still had no idea.

I got a job in retail. I knew that this was not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life but I figured I would learn great skills, and I did. I eventually became a store manager and along the way I learnt about customers and running a business, and managing people and understanding the difference between revenue and profit and what drives both. I learnt how to deal with conflict. Fast. An angry yelling customer standing right in front of you with only a glass counter as a barrier, means you work this stuff out pretty fast.

During my time in retail I became interested in how businesses manage people and get the best out of them. I went back to Uni and study Business and Human Resource Management, part time. Studying part-time takes a looooong time. As I neared the end of my second degree I started to wonder how the hell I was going to convince a company to employ me in a HR role. I got determined because I had been working my butt off working full-time and studying part-time. I wasn't going to let that go to waste.

I set about to look for any opportunity to get any sort of HR experience in any context. I took a casual job in the university business school with one of the HR lecturers doing filing and photocopying and finding HR articles. I participated in a mentoring program run by the university and was so lucky to be paired with a HR Manager working at a sugar mill. He took me to meetings and asked my opinion about things. I attended training sessions with Managers at the sugar mill. I attended free and very cheap Industrial relations and human resources networking and training events. Anything that was remotely related.

I then set about trying to work out how my retail management experience related to the discipline of Human resource Management. When you work in retail other companies don't tend to acknowledge the value of the skills you learn dealing with the general public day-in and day-out. Communication skills, conflict management skills, dealing with difficult people, how to manage people......

I was so proud when I landed my first entry level HR job (which paid more than my retail Store Manager job) and I got the job not because I could demonstrate experience in HR, but because I could demonstrate my tenacity and attitude.

More recently I decided I wanted to improve my photography skills. I'm an OK amateur photographer and am very critical of the shots I take. I get frustrated when the image doesn't turn out the way I see it in my mind or what's in front of me. Despite this, friends will say, "how did you get so good?" I look for opportunities to practice my skills that are real and challenging. I participate in "photo a day" challenges, I have attended a number of courses at Sydney Photographic Workshops including an introduction to digital SLR photography, so I could actually use my camera! I also looked for opportunities to take photos at events like conferences and work events. These experiences feel REAL and force me to take photos that I hope will create a record that are special for the person or the company. Offering to take photos for people has also had unintended and generous consequences. I had the opportunity last week to take photos for a very special book launch and in return I have been offered a place in an Executive Women's development program.

I certainly don't want to become a professional photographer but I want to take better photos of my family and to illustrate my blog posts. Opportunities like these are forcing me to learn and be a better photographer.

So what do you want to do differently? What do you want to learn? What do you want to be better at? How can you seek out opportunities to gain practical experience or demonstrate your tenacity and focus? Would love to hear about it!

#hashtag #getfocused

Last week I discovered an article in the Australian Financial Review titled "#boredatwork means #yourfired". The gist of the article was that over 300,000 people had used the hashtag #boredatwork on Instagram during their first week back at work this January. #hatemyjob and #hatemyboss were also popular.

What’s a hashtag you say? Check out Wikipedia

Returning to work after the Christmas/New Year break is tough, particularly in countries like Australia sitting squarely in the beautiful summer weather. A couple of weeks lolling about eating and drinking, having afternoon naps and if you’re lucky lying by the beach or having swim is often what is needed at the end of a busy year. Many of us find it tough returning to the reality of work and paying the bills.

My first week back was tough. The weather was fantastic in Sydney which I could witness from my office window. If there was ever a disadvantage to having an office with natural light, this was it! I wasn’t really ready to be back at work, like most of the office. I wanted more holidays but I don’t have much leave accrued and my oldest son Aiden starts school this year, so I need to save what I have for this school holidays.

Boredom at work can strike at any time. Not just on returning from holidays. We all have times at work that aren’t that interesting or fun so what do you do when they strike? Here's my top 3 suggestions:

1.      Keep off social media. While it’s tempting to slip your phone out and have a cyberspace vent, it’s really stupid. HR people like me get calls from Managers having to deal with this kind of stuff. Seriously, if you #hateyourjob are #boredatwork and #hateyourboss you may find yourself #unemployed. The saying “If you can’t say something nice….” applies to social media.  Also prospective employers will often go online and check applicants Facebook or Twitter accounts during the recruitment process. While I ask Managers I'm working with on recruiting roles not to do this, it still happens. What kind of image do you want to portray to the world?

2.      Remember why you’re here. What’s your career plan? What are you trying to achieve? What do you need to learn? Get focused and get moving. I spent my first weeks back from leave planning what I need to achieve during the year. While not that exciting it has got my head into the right space and I feel like I'm on the way to achieving what I need to.

3.      Deal with your boss. If you seriously have issues with your boss read this post

We are nearly through January and what have you achieved? How are your 2014 goals tracking?

2014 Goals

Oh I know. Boring. Another post about new years resolutions and goals for the year. Pffffft!

The thing is though if you are going to keep track of your career and where you want it to be, you have to take time to reflect on what you have achieved and what you wished you had done better. Sometimes we don't realise how much we have achieved or how far we have come. A little bit of looking back is a good thing.

I wrote a post here about what I achieved and what I was grateful for in 2013.

I also looked back on my most popular blogs posts. Here they are:

• My top 7 interview tips is worth a read if you are thinking about looking for a new job in the new year.
• Managing your career: keeping your mind fit. Many of us make resolutions about our physical health in the new year. What about your mental health? 
• Is 2014 the year to do something about your Manager? Read My top 3 tips for dealing with...well..a crap Manager!
• Take a break. Most of us in Australia have a break over the Christmas/New Year period but maybe this is the perfect time to plan your next holiday?
• 5 ways to future proof your career.  Have you done this yet?

But what of 2014? Nothing better than a new year full of possibilities. A year when you could achieve anything or be anyone, though I recommend working out your purpose and being (the best version of) yourself.

I have set some goals for this blog. I originally started the blog because honestly, I was sick and tired of employees I work with expecting other people to somehow look after their career. My philosophy is that while there are people who will help you with your career and your goals, you have to take responsibility for your own development. This blog is about helping people do that.

I also started this blog to develop my blogging skills in a different content area. I write over at Secret Homes of Glebe but wanted to try my hand at something more in my career area. I also wanted to raise my profile as a HR professional. While I will continue to do this my goals for 2014 for the blog are:

• Once a month feature a video interview someone interesting about how they are got to where they are in their career..I'm going to learn how to shoot and edit videos!
• Blog at least once a week. I lost my way in about September last year and never got my blogging grove back.
• Speak/present at 3 different events during the year, either on improving your career, being a full time working mum who travels a lot or something HR related. I'm open people and I work for free!

What do you want to achieve in 2014?

Limping towards 2014?

I haven't blogged since September. I feel really bad about that. Writing and blogging is a creative outlet for me and it seems I've lost sight of that.

Yep. That's a warehouse. Pretty huh?

You see, I'm tired. Who isn't you say? It seems like every year I limp towards Christmas and New Year waiting for work to be over for another year. You too?

It's been a massive, massive year. Work has been great and exhausting. I have probably developed personally more this year in my career than any other. I have had the opportunity to work on lots of things I have never done before and learnt massively as a result. I have worked with some fantastic people who have helped me grow, develop and challenge the way I do things and I'm very grateful for that. I haven't had that in my career for a very long time.

That's all positive. But it has come at a cost. Lots of travel and time away from home. I became a platinum frequent flyer recently with Qantas and I'm not sure it's an event I should be excited about. Some of the things I have worked on during the year have been stressful and completely the opposite reason to why I work in HR. But I guess you get that.

The weeks leading up to Christmas were spent travelling and recovering from traveling and I'm pooped. Completely and utterly pooped. Usually I'm good at recognising I'm tired and do some things to help. Exercise is a good thing. Some weeks I manage to ride my bike to work one or two times and I usually try to walk a few times in the evenings. The week before Christmas? Rode my bike to work once, one way. That's 10kms. Training for the Tour de France, not. I also managed one walk and spent the whole time thinking about how tired I was. Ugh.

Sleep is also a good thing when you are tired. Being completely jet lagged for at least 2 weeks of December has meant I have been at the mercy of my completely mucked around body clock. By the time I finished work for the Christmas/New Year holiday I had decided to pursue afternoon naps every day.

My temptation is to have a big whinge. Having a whinge is a great Aussie past time and can be cathartic but there is a point where whinging just starts to make you feel worse. So I'm not. I'm going to tell you all the great things 2013 brought in terms of my career;

1. I had the opportunity to get better at some things I'm not very good at. How cool is that? If someone had asked me 18 months ago what were the 2 things I'm not very good at in terms of Human Resources I would have named the things that I have consistently worked on over this time. Was a great opportunity to round out my skills.
2. I got to work with two people in particular who have regularly coached me, challenged me and generally help me be better at what I do. I have found people like this to be very rare. In my very first HR job I had a great manager who played this role and I still think back to his advice now. Since then and now I don't feel like I have much of that. Much of my career development has been because I have worked autonomously and had to work out stuff for myself or because I worked with some very challenging and difficult people. This was great career development but it's nice to have some people who are looking out for your best interests.
3. I got to travel. So while I'm tired and need some time out, the travel I have done during the year has allowed me to meet and work with a greater cross section of people and challenged me to be the best when I'm tired and travel weary.
   
4. I got to use some skills that I'm really good at. This year more than any other I have done lots of writing at work. Employee communications, announcements and was able to create a blog for our Leadership Development Program. Do what you love and love what you do. I also feel like I have been able to bring together lots of skills from across my career.
5. I got to experience some things that made me better at work. Attending the Problogger conference on the Gold Coast was fantastic. So many inspirational and purposeful people all doing what they want to do and so willing to share their knowledge and experience. I'm sure this overflowed into my everyday work.
6. I attended the OneDay NewWays conference. For the second year running Amanda Webb and her team at OneDegree HR put on this great day. Not only were the speakers inspirational and interesting, I was able to use my photography skills to provide a record of the day for OneDegree HR. My favourite speakers included Dr Jason Fox, Tanya Diesel and Yamini Naidu. I encourage you to attend next year.
7. I attended the International HR Directors Forum Leadership conference, over 2 days in Bowral. I met some fantastic colleagues and learnt things that I was able to apply immediately. Return on investment realised!

How was 2013 for your career? What were you able to achieve?