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People Magic: How to Build a $1M Community
Amanda was the former head of brand for The Knot – the global leader in weddings. Previously, Goetz served as a startup founder building availability software for the wedding industry after spending years analyzing companies for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year program. She also worked for celebrity wedding planner David Tutera as Head of Marketing developing the go-to market strategy for his brands, licensing deals and client partners. She has built an audience of over 150,000 in the startup and business community, learning to live a life of ambition and success without subscribing to today’s hustle culture. She launched a newsletter called 🧩 Life’s a Game with Amanda Goetz to help high performers learn actionable tips for living a life of intention. ABOUT MIGHTY NETWORKS Mighty Networks is the ONLY community platform that introduces your members to each other—for extraordinary engagement, longer retention, and word-of-mouth growth. You can run memberships, courses, challenges, and events on a Mighty Network—all under your own brand on mobile and web.…
Talent Report+THRIVE
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Content provided by MRA - The Management Association. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by MRA - The Management Association or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Join MRA’s 30-minute THRIVE podcast, your ultimate source for the latest HR trends and best practices. Hear from industry experts and thought leaders as they share insights and expertise on HR services, learning and development, talent management, and total rewards. Get actionable and practical advice to help HR professionals stay up-to-date with the latest HR trends including: innovative L&D strategies, recruitment and retention, and the latest trends in compensation and benefits. Whether you’re an experienced HR professional or just starting out in your career, the podcast offers something for everyone in the HR field. Subscribe to MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE podcast today and join a community committed to helping HR professionals THRIVE!
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86 episodes
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Manage series 3384939
Content provided by MRA - The Management Association. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by MRA - The Management Association or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.
Join MRA’s 30-minute THRIVE podcast, your ultimate source for the latest HR trends and best practices. Hear from industry experts and thought leaders as they share insights and expertise on HR services, learning and development, talent management, and total rewards. Get actionable and practical advice to help HR professionals stay up-to-date with the latest HR trends including: innovative L&D strategies, recruitment and retention, and the latest trends in compensation and benefits. Whether you’re an experienced HR professional or just starting out in your career, the podcast offers something for everyone in the HR field. Subscribe to MRA’s 30 minute THRIVE podcast today and join a community committed to helping HR professionals THRIVE!
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×In this episode, we're excited to welcome Tricia Shields, Chief Human Resource Officer at Navient, as our guest. Tricia shares her extensive experience in HR technology transformation, walking us through Navient's journey from paper-based processes to automation and digitization. This episode provides actionable insights for any organization looking to streamline HR operations. Episode Highlights: • Readiness Assessment: How to evaluate if your organization is prepared for HR digital transformation. • Paper to Digital: Practical steps for converting paper-based processes into efficient digital systems. • Core Implementation Strategies: Implementing document retention, data security, and building a centralized content repository. • Leveraging Existing Tech: Maximizing platforms like OnBase, ADP Workforce, and other vendor tools for automation and electronic forms. • Actionable Advice: Tips for organizations at every stage of their HR tech journey, whether starting from scratch or optimizing current processes. Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.…
1 From Awareness to Action: Implementing Effective DEI Programs 29:06
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29:06In this episode, host Jim Morgan, VP of Workforce Strategies at MRA, speaks with Andres Gonzalez, VP of Community Engagement and Chief Diversity Officer at Froedtert. They discuss how organizations can transition from simply raising awareness to actively implementing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programs. Andres shares insights from Froedtert's journey, emphasizing the integration of DEI initiatives within leadership and organizational strategy. The episode provides actionable strategies for embedding DEI into the core of organizations to create lasting impact on both employees and the community. Episode Highlights: Strategic Alignment: The importance of aligning DEI efforts with organizational goals and ensuring strong leadership support. Employee Resource Groups (ERGs): How ERGs contribute to talent management, development, and community outreach. Culturally Equitable Care: The role of providing culturally and linguistically appropriate care in improving healthcare outcomes. Community Collaboration: The impact of working with community-based organizations to address broader social determinants of health. Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.…
1 Total Rewards: Crafting a Competitive Advantage 22:02
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22:02In this episode, John Komosa, Director of Global Compensation at Generac, shares insights on how the company approaches compensation and benefits in a global marketplace. He discusses key influences like the economy, industry changes, and market alignment across various countries and industries. John also highlights the challenges Generac faces in the competitive engineering and technology job markets. Key Takeaways: The importance of market influences and economic conditions on compensation How Generac aligns compensation strategies globally while considering regional differences The role of benefits in total rewards, tailored to generational and individual needs Strategies to attract and retain talent in a tightening labor market Utilizing compensation surveys and consultants to ensure market competitiveness Tune in to learn how a global company navigates the complexities of compensation! Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce. Related Episodes HR's Role in Corporate Strategy Strategies for Building a Strong Corporate Culture Key Trends from SHRM 2024…
In this episode, we dive into the key HR trends emerging from the SHRM 2024 conference. Join us as we sit down with three SHRM 2024 attendees who share their unique perspectives on the event. They discuss the most impactful sessions, the latest developments in HR practices, and the innovative strategies they plan to implement in their own organizations. Whether you attended SHRM 2024 or missed out, this episode offers valuable insights and takeaways from the forefront of the HR industry. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of HR! Helpful Resources Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce. Related Episodes Voices from SHRM24: HR Stories, Challenges, and Roles Uncovered HR's Role in Corporate Strategy The Road Ahead: Strategic Career Planning and Progression…
1 Voices from SHRM24: HR Stories, Challenges, and Roles Uncovered 24:43
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24:43Join us in this special episode recorded live from the national SHRM conference, where we dive into the heart of HR through the voices of attendees. Listen as professionals share their personal HR stories—both positive and negative—highlight the HR roles they believe would benefit their organizations the most, and discuss the pressing challenges they face in today’s workplace. This episode provides a unique snapshot of the current HR landscape, offering insights and experiences straight from the front lines of human resources. Tune in to hear the candid and thought-provoking perspectives of your peers. Helpful Resources Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.…
Join us in this insightful episode as we explore the pivotal role HR plays in shaping and executing corporate strategy. Our special guest, Amy Jones from Didion, an esteemed MRA member company, brings her extensive experience and unique perspective to the conversation. We'll delve into how HR can drive organizational success, align talent management with strategic goals, and foster a culture of innovation and growth. Whether you're an HR professional, a business leader, or simply interested in the intersection of human resources and corporate strategy, this episode offers valuable insights and practical takeaways. Don't miss it! Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Helpful Resources Get HR assistance however, wherever, and whenever you need it. Plan your organization’s strategies for growth. Find, develop, and retain the right people to build a high-performing workforce.…
1 The Road Ahead: Strategic Career Planning and Progression 21:07
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21:07Join us as we chat with Laura Cullen from JP Cullen about essential career strategies. Laura covers effective onboarding, creating impactful learning plans, and nurturing young leaders. Learn how to develop tailored learning plans and empower emerging talent within your organization. Tune in for practical advice to advance your team! Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA…
1 Succession Planning Trends Explored at MRA's HR Conference 30:47
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30:47In this episode we dive into the latest trends in succession planning as unveiled LIVE at MRA's HR Conference. Join us as we explore expert insights and innovative strategies shared by leading HR professionals. Whether you're an HR veteran or new to the field, this episode provides valuable takeaways to help you ensure your organization's leadership pipeline is robust and future-ready. Tune in to stay ahead in the evolving landscape of human resources and gain actionable tips to implement in your succession planning process. Don't miss this insightful discussion on preparing your organization for tomorrow's challenges today. Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA Succession Planning Resource…
1 Strategies for Building a Strong Corporate Culture 17:21
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17:21In this episode, we sit down with Kelly Kauffman, a seasoned executive from the Milwaukee Bucks, to delve into the secrets of building and sustaining a winning culture within a corporate setting. From fostering teamwork to nurturing employee engagement, Kauffman shares invaluable insights and practical tips drawn from her experience with one of the most successful sports franchises. Whether you're leading a team or aspiring to enhance workplace dynamics, this podcast offers actionable advice to empower your organization's culture and drive success. Tune in and discover how to cultivate a culture that inspires greatness. Contact Your Host, Jim Morgan About MRA MRA can help with Culture, change, & Strategy…
1 Celebrating Transformations: Thriving with Talent Report+ 10:11
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10:11Exciting changes are coming … new content, new host, and new podcast schedule … 30 minutes THRIVE is now Talent Report+THRIVE – get even more Talent Report highlights featuring one-on-one Q&As with MRA members—the expert guests, industry leaders, and change-makers taking on the business challenges of today. Join us for this special episode where we celebrate changes and welcome Jim Morgan as our new host! Reflecting on invaluable insights from the past year and a half, we talk about the lessons learned and unveil the thrilling new podcast format! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sophie Boler for her leadership in guiding 30-minute THRIVE to success, and we wish her the best in her exciting next chapter at MRA. Join us for the next episode of Talent Report+Thrive Podcast on April 24th and get ready to embark on this exciting new direction with Jim Morgan leading the way! Tune in every 4th Wednesday for your next episode. Resources: MRA Membership About MRA Register for the next Talent Report+…
1 Back by Popular Demand: How HR Helps Managers Manage 21:44
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21:44Description: In this episode, we delve into the crucial role of HR in empowering managers to excel in their leadership roles. We explore the various facets of HR support, from department alignment to performance management and employee development, providing listeners with actionable insights and practical steps to enhance their management skills and foster a thriving, engaged workforce. Join us as we unlock the secrets of "How HR Can Help Managers Manage"! Resources: MRA Membership About MRA Let's Connect: Guest Bio - DQ Spencer Guest LinkedIn Profile - DQ Spencer Host Bio - Sophie Boler Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:03 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:49:14 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute THRIVE. Thanks for joining us today. I'm excited for our conversation today because you get to hear from DQ spencer. DQ is an mra. HR Business partner located in our golden valley, minnesota location. But i know you come with a lot of experience and enthusiasm, especially for our topic today, how our can help managers manage. 00:00:49:16 - 00:01:06:08 Unknown Sounds like a big topic, but I'm excited to kind of break it down. I know we're going to run through a lot of aspects of HR and kind of give our listeners some good action items and stuff so that they can walk away with. So I know this is your first time on the podcast, so I appreciate you come on and excited. 00:01:06:10 - 00:01:26:20 Unknown Awesome. Me too, hi podcasters. I know that you recently spoke at an event on this topic actually. So before we kind of kick things off, I'm just curious to know why is this really an important topic for our listeners? Yeah, I know you're right. I did speak on the event. It was an awesome event. 00:01:26:20 - 00:01:49:13 Unknown A lot of energy and enthusiasm. This is a very important topic because a lot of organizations are still struggling with aspect of the function of HR organizations talking about people and people assets being the most important aspect of the company. But they have a hard time showing that people are, because they're the only nonrenewable asset that organizations have. 00:01:49:15 - 00:02:15:23 Unknown You can't copy the processes, equipment, technology, terminology, but you can't really copy people. So that's why this one is very important. Yeah, that's a great point as we kind of dive in. Now, can you explain how HR really collaborates with managers to emphasize their functional strengths? And kind of part two of that question is how can they use those strengths with their teams to achieve those organizational goals? 00:02:16:00 - 00:02:37:16 Unknown Yeah, So as you know, I don't know. I don't know. I have a football background. I like to use sport terminologies. That's great. Yeah, Yeah. So, I mean, HR is part of a team, right? HR is one of the few functions that truly supports the whole organization. So they have knowledge throughout each function, but they're not be the subject matter expert on that function. 00:02:37:16 - 00:02:50:12 Unknown Right? So to probably collaborate with them, you have to just include that clue to include them in our communication conversation and work to collaborate and build that functional component. 00:02:50:14 - 00:03:19:12 Unknown Speaking of teamwork, we're in a world where teamwork is crucial. So how can HR departments kind of facilitate collaboration among their employees and help managers foster that culture of cooperation and teamwork and collaboration? Yeah. So that collaboration comes from that communication, right? And so a big part of HR is communication, and it's talking to the employees, talking to the supervisors, the managers, the leads. 00:03:19:14 - 00:03:43:09 Unknown It's really getting to know your people, your biggest assets. HR is a science and that you'll understand that. I mean, as HR, you have that strength, you have that background of understanding people behaviors, thought processes, patterns and processes. But as a as a functional leader, let's say, in accounting or finance, your your, your function, your strengths are going to be with that. 00:03:43:11 - 00:04:03:17 Unknown So you can you can collaborate with them and to partner with them, engage them. You have to communicate, you have to get in there, you have to go to them. You have to understand what the culture is and how you can THRIVE that. Those behaviors in and and processes to to and build and engage their culture properly. Absolutely. 00:04:03:17 - 00:04:26:22 Unknown And I know as an HR business partner, you work with a lot of different companies, a lot of different HR department. So do you have any examples or success stories, I would say, of kind of where the HR departments work with teamwork and kind of fostering that collaboration? Yeah, I don't know. Somewhere along the line, HR has gotten such a bad rep as as the good Lord. 00:04:27:01 - 00:04:48:07 Unknown Yep. And I've been in HR for about 16 years. I have my my Bachelors of Science in HR McMaster Science and during my doctorate business in HR. And through that, I've learned a lot. But I've also learned just as much through my experience. For example, I worked with an organization known, as you mentioned previous to me joining in. 00:04:48:09 - 00:05:21:12 Unknown It was a very strong union environment and that created a kind of trifecta. Three headed obstacle course because it was the union, it was the business, the factory manufacturing, and it was HR and that's how they viewed it as three different portions, three different aspects of business. And that was a very tall task. So I really had to go in there and work on our collaboration first, partnering with the organization, the plant manager, building that relationship, and then partnering with building that relationship. 00:05:21:14 - 00:05:41:10 Unknown And I was kind of that liaison that brought it all together, you know, that that organization lacked trust amongst the three. So that was that was very challenging. But just working with them, showing my commitment, my dedication, my, my, my, my processes and my procedures, showing them that, hey, you know this, we're a team. We want the same goal. 00:05:41:14 - 00:06:11:01 Unknown We set different paths to get there. Yeah, I'm sure a lot of our listeners can kind of resonate with that and relate to that story too, and how their organization like that. So that's good advice. But we also know that compliance is also a critical aspect of HR, too. So do you have any insights on how HR can support managers and ensuring their teams adhere to the regulations and policies that always seem to be changing and updating? 00:06:11:03 - 00:06:36:13 Unknown Yeah. Yeah. So I'm going to kind of get off topic, but get back to topic is going to be. So when I first started in the HR, I tried to assimilate to that that stereotype, that prototype of a human resource manager saying no and yes, and you can't do this and you can't do that. And I wasn't truly myself and I truly started being successful when I started, you know, venturing on and being original. 00:06:36:15 - 00:06:54:04 Unknown So I took the mindset of that. I wasn't going to tell leaders and managers, No, you can't do this Right off the bat. I was going to tell them, Hey, I want to get that goal that you want, but here's how we can do this. Here's how we can get it done versus knowing. Yes. So it's compliance. It's the same kind of issues in that aspect versus telling them no or yes. 00:06:54:06 - 00:07:13:06 Unknown I'll give them parameters and say, Hey, I see what you're trying to do. This is the most compliant and best way to get there. So let's get it done together. Yeah. So, so running through kind of the task of all the tasks of HR, another one is to motivate employees, which can be kind of difficult. So how can HR 00:07:13:06 - 00:07:41:05 Unknown Professionals and managers work together to keep their teams engaged and motivated? That's that's a tough one, right? Because, you know, I say this all the time is that we're called individuals for a reason. So we're usually created in the we have individual values and views and perspectives. So to have that motivation, it's going to take really knowing and building a relationship with your organization, your culture and your employees. 00:07:41:07 - 00:08:00:07 Unknown So know your employees. One thing I told a member that I talked to, you know, he asked me, how can I motivate my employees? What's going on? They're not gauging. And I you know, I sat there and I said, Hey, you mind if I watch it for a little bit? Watch for a little bit? No problem. No problem. 00:08:00:09 - 00:08:21:09 Unknown So I sat down and took half the morning and just kind of watch his interactions with the employees. And I literally told him, I said, I saw four separate times where people were trying to talk to you and you didn't talk to people trying to walk. My actually, I didn't even look at and on two separate times we were trying to talk to you and you said, you know, you're busy with tomorrow. 00:08:21:11 - 00:08:42:10 Unknown I said, Engagement goes both ways, motivation goes both ways. You have to go and engage with them. Right. As a position of authority. Naturally. I think the way people are going to be timid to engage with you so that you have to said that you're setting a standard. Like I said, the engagement and motivation goes both ways. Show them that you're willing to do what you're asking them to do. 00:08:42:12 - 00:09:02:17 Unknown Yeah, absolutely. I feel like that's a good point. I know a lot of companies right now just have to kind of reevaluate what they're doing. Like you kind of sat in as a fly on the wall and you were able to see it. The HR department may not be able to see it because they're in it. So sometimes you kind of need an outsider almost to come in and see that. 00:09:02:17 - 00:09:32:14 Unknown ALL Yeah. So when it comes to achieving results, alignment with an organization is key, obviously. So how can HR create that alignment between different teams and departments? Yeah, so alignment comes out. You know, I talked about inclusion, communication, conversation alignment comes with understanding the goal, right? And creating processes and procedures that align with that, that THRIVE toward that goal. 00:09:32:16 - 00:09:55:11 Unknown A lot of companies have processes just because they happen. They said, we always have this or this is what we were always. But your goal changed, the business changed. You know, the world of business is very dynamic. It's always changing for you to keep the same processes. It might not make sense to achieve that goal. So I always tell the people, you know, look at what you're trying to achieve, work backwards and this is what we want it. 00:09:55:14 - 00:10:15:18 Unknown This is what we want to achieve. So let's do this. This, this is to get there versus, well, let's do this and go kind of around it, you know, align toward that goal, direct your process, your behavior and your diet and your actions toward achieving that ultimate goal. And just what you said right there, the world of business is very dynamic. 00:10:15:18 - 00:10:47:18 Unknown So I guess that kind of brings us to our next point of how can our assist managers in adapting their strategies and tactics to meet new challenges when business is always changing? Yeah, it's just constant reassessment, right? So like I said, I've been organizations all different functions and industries, and the thing I hear the most is this is how we've always done it or this is what they told us to do versus, you know, having that critical thinking skills, thinking about, hey, this is what they told us to do. 00:10:47:18 - 00:11:03:20 Unknown And so I was done it. But it doesn't kind of make sense. We're trying to do so we're going back to think about this is what we're trying to we're trying to achieve organic business. We're trying to grow. We're trying to we're trying to set customers and employee satisfaction. So what can we do to get better? Understanding your culture. 00:11:04:01 - 00:11:26:13 Unknown Culture is big, so I don't know if you know that I'm a teacher as well. Professor There's that. There's perio, pedagogy and anthropology. The type of learning that adults when when they learn, they want to learn by seeing what you do and looking what you do versus when you're a kid, you do this because you're told to do because you have to go through this. 00:11:26:13 - 00:11:43:23 Unknown You have to work through school, you have to go to high school as adults. They're there because they only want to be there. So let's make it a department that they want to be there right there. It's going to be changing. Not everyone's going to be the same, just like business is going to be evolving. It's going to be dynamic. 00:11:43:23 - 00:12:12:02 Unknown It's going to be contemporary. Some things may stay traditional, but it's going to move. You have to move with flexibility. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I should have mentioned that you were a teacher in the beginning too. I got so many different perspectives now from, well, we've kind of mentioned this throughout the whole podcast, but it seems like employee engagement is often one of the biggest concerns for managers. 00:12:12:04 - 00:12:44:19 Unknown So and you've touched on this briefly, but how can it really assist in measuring and improving employee engagement then to enhance team performance in an organization? Yeah, and that's that's a tough question, right? Because everyone is going to be different. But the thing it can say is, you know, just like business and sales engagement is building relationships, then understanding where you're talking to, what you're talking about, understanding the optimal goal and just building everybody should go toward it. 00:12:44:19 - 00:13:09:14 Unknown And earlier, making that effort to engage with their employees, making that effort to be as transparent. That's transparent as possible. And so you can't be completely transparent all the time, but be as open as possible because more people understand them more than want to THRIVE that goal and helping them get those fingerprints and open and get that engagement and touchpoints within that plan. 00:13:09:16 - 00:13:28:24 Unknown And that also helps, you know, they have a little skin in the game that will help them engage and help them. So, you know, I'm a part of this, right? But it starts and starts with the culture. And how is your culture is an engaging culture. Is it an open door culture? Is it, hey, I know we're business here, but how is your day and how are you doing? 00:13:29:01 - 00:13:45:18 Unknown Look at the example I gave previously. When a manager, you know, shoot people off or was too busy to talk to people or, you know, he walked from his office right to where he needs to go at to engage. You have to show them this is what engagement looks like. You have to show that, hey, I'm motivated to do my job. 00:13:45:18 - 00:14:13:12 Unknown You have to think, what do you think about this? Talk to them and increase that communication, increase that inclusion and then kind of full support. HR Is a big portion of that because a lot of people really don't have that perspective or understanding or mindset. And as a human resource manager, we understand that people are our business and people should be everyone's business because that's what business is created on. 00:14:13:14 - 00:14:40:05 Unknown Even even technical businesses, even process oriented businesses. They're all about people, right? We understand our people. The more we can utilize to take advantage of how great that asset can be and how much we can get to them, how much they can get does Yeah, absolutely. I love that you emphasized the importance of culture and having a good culture because that honestly THRIVEs your organization. 00:14:40:05 - 00:15:07:23 Unknown And you can tell on day one and even probably both before you work at the organization what their culture is because she's a very prominent thing in an organization. So it's like, you know, example that I give, which I've seen many times, is when you're interviewing people, show their best in the best of times and say, Hey, we're going over their culture where, you know, we want to hear everything you're saying. 00:15:08:00 - 00:15:40:02 Unknown But when you start, it's absolutely And I walk down the hall, every door was closed, closed door meetings, Everything feels like it's secretive. It feels like you're very being excluded. And that's absolute culture. So part of my research for my my doctorate was how to decrease turnover. The intention was really, truly millennials because I do my research on generation, but in how to decrease turnover intentionally with the number one decrease, there was the culture right? 00:15:40:04 - 00:15:56:16 Unknown Are you saying you do or are you being transparent? Are you including is are you hiring and retaining people? You need to cultivate that culture and that's a big thing is if you don't have a culture where you if you don't have what you want now, that's not a big deal. A lot of lot religion are in there. 00:15:56:20 - 00:16:18:03 Unknown They don't have what they want to go. They want to achieve. So but how are you going to get that right? What's your plan and how are you communicate and really in that plan, to your people, to your to your managers, and how are they acting on that? Well, you know, it's one thing to say it, but it's another thing to actually let them go. 00:16:18:03 - 00:16:43:00 Unknown I know you've given a ton of best practices and advice and tips throughout this whole podcast, but do you have any best practices for HR Professionals to really identify and leverage the functional strengths with within their organization to THRIVE that success that everybody wants? Yeah. Yeah. So a lot of times i will say this is a very known saying, but get comfortable with being accountable. 00:16:43:04 - 00:17:15:01 Unknown Right? So a lot of times when you talk the functions this is my first experience with my career when I taught the different functions and I wasn't prepared to talk to them about their business or their function. And so that decreased their trust and decrease their trust in me. So the more time to understand it and functions, I can have a direct conversation with about what their strengths were and and they can see that I'm taking that action to really understand what their strengths are and what their function is and what their goal is. 00:17:15:01 - 00:17:43:14 Unknown And the more I understood how they act, how they behave, what their processes were, the more I could create strategy to more insert myself into their function and help them grow. And it helped me grow so much. Understand business financially, understand business through the processes of manufacturing, understand business details and marketing. But I just, you know, like I said, part of the reason why I got my BBA was because I had a master's in science, which is great. 00:17:43:17 - 00:18:11:11 Unknown But I want to understand business as a whole more holistically. And that helped me grow so much, helped me grow immensely understanding different functioning business. And that's what I would give to each age and professional in any, anyone, any function. I try to learn business. Don't try to, you know, obviously, you know, you do. You're your expert at what you do, but be an expert at understanding the business and that will help you grow with your organization. 00:18:11:11 - 00:18:30:01 Unknown There's so much that is great advice. That's something that I'm trying to do too, is just even shadowing an apartment for a day to see what their day in the life is. And that, like you said, will help you understand the business as a whole and will help you do your job better, too, on the long run. Yeah. 00:18:30:01 - 00:18:48:20 Unknown Yeah. And with that is I know it sounds boring, but you know, what do you what's, what's going on in that meeting. I said in that meeting where. Hey, you mind if I, you know, tag along with you? Like I said, Do you mind if I show you? Do you mind if I hang out and kind of the following a little bit and understand what you're going through so I can better help you, better assist you and better support you. 00:18:49:01 - 00:19:09:00 Unknown And that's what it's about. You know, selfishly, I was trying to grow the business, not trying to grow myself, so I was trying to be a better project, better employee and a better person and more advanced to business. Absolutely. Well, as we wrap up your last question, can you share any key takeaways for our listeners on how HR 00:19:09:00 - 00:19:38:00 Unknown Can really be that strategic partner in helping managers manage effectively and achieve the optimal results in their organizations. Bring it full circle here. We'll circle sort of our circle like i would say, kind of like I said, understand the business more. You understand that business and that function and that environment, the more alignment you can create, right? So again, help them understand processes that they don't know the process of, hey, this is what we're doing. 00:19:38:02 - 00:20:08:20 Unknown Is that process, that HR Role. When i don't understand it, then they probably won't rule it out to the best of their ability. They probably won't engage in it to the best of your abilities. So help them understand it, right? Understand their business. They can understand your business. Say that that alignment, that inclusion, you know, still in their meetings, our conversation with them, engage with them, go out of your way, you know, go beyond a little bit to make them feel, you know, that they trust you, that the understanding that they believe in you. 00:20:08:22 - 00:20:30:23 Unknown Because the more trust, more understanding, the more inclusion you have, more transparency, you'll get more engaging, you'll get, the better you be able to help them and support them. And the more the business will be able to grow and that's what it's about, is creating that organic growth and that internal growth as well as that external world. So you can be successful in the business, can be successful decades. 00:20:31:00 - 00:20:54:01 Unknown This was great. I want to thank you for being on the podcast today and sharing all that great content and all the advice on how HR Can really help managers manage. So to our listeners, i would just encourage you if you liked our chat and topic today, comment something new that you learned today or something that you're going to start implementing or anything else that you'd like to add on to the conversation. 00:20:54:01 - 00:21:18:04 Unknown We want to know your thoughts, what you're thinking. If you have any new ideas on this topic. And don't forget to share out this episode, of course, and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. We have all the resources you need in the show notes below. We've also included resources on this topic and DQ's contact info and LinkedIn profile if you want to connect with him. 00:21:18:06 - 00:21:39:18 Unknown Otherwise, thank you so much for tuning in today and we will see you next week. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. 00:21:39:18 - 00:21:44:11 Unknown Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.…
1 The Internship Blueprint: Strategies for Companies 46:44
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46:44Whether you are just starting an internship program or you have one already, discover the key qualities that make interns thrive, learn how internship programs can shape future leaders, and explore innovative approaches to foster a culture of continuous learning and development. We'll share tips on creating challenging projects that elevate interns to showcase their leadership potential. Resources: MRA Membership About MRA Intern Program MRA's 2024 Internship Leadership Program Calendar Recruiting Let's Connect: Courtney’s email Courtney’s LinkedIn profile Transcript 00:00:00:01 - 00:00:05:13 Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything 00:00:05:13 - 00:00:09:22 and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. 00:00:09:24 - 00:00:12:24 Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? 00:00:12:24 - 00:00:14:19 MRA has got you covered. 00:00:14:19 - 00:00:17:17 We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. 00:00:17:17 - 00:00:21:04 I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:22:21 Now it's time to thrive. 00:00:22:21 - 00:00:26:16 Hello, everybody, and welcome to 30 Minute Thrive. 00:00:26:18 - 00:00:29:24 Today we're going to be talking about the ins and outs of internships. 00:00:30:03 - 00:00:34:15 So if you're looking to start an internship program at your organization, 00:00:34:21 - 00:00:37:17 or maybe you have one started already, but you're looking to make it 00:00:37:17 - 00:00:41:13 even more successful, it's a good thing you're here today with us 00:00:41:13 - 00:00:46:04 because we're joined by Courtney Lamers, MRA, senior manager of member Engagement 00:00:46:10 - 00:00:50:08 and MRA's Intern Leadership program organizer. 00:00:50:10 - 00:00:54:10 So Courtney's really here to help organizations 00:00:54:10 - 00:00:58:04 not only design and implement an internship program, 00:00:58:04 - 00:01:02:17 but also help develop existing ones into successful programs. 00:01:02:19 - 00:01:06:06 And having been an intern myself at Emory, 00:01:06:08 - 00:01:09:21 I love this topic, and I'm really excited to talk about it. 00:01:09:21 - 00:01:12:11 So, Courtney, let's start. 00:01:12:11 - 00:01:14:24 Start from the top here. 00:01:14:24 - 00:01:18:22 Those who have never implemented an internship program before. 00:01:18:24 - 00:01:23:22 What are some of the key starting factors that a company would really need? 00:01:23:24 - 00:01:24:13 Absolutely. 00:01:24:13 - 00:01:27:05 Great question. And thank you for having me today. 00:01:27:05 - 00:01:27:13 You know, 00:01:27:13 - 00:01:27:23 it really 00:01:27:23 - 00:01:31:16 is that time of the year where everyone is reaching out about internships. 00:01:31:16 - 00:01:35:09 And it's been exciting to hear from a lot of companies that are just 00:01:35:10 - 00:01:37:05 beginning their internship journey. 00:01:37:05 - 00:01:40:14 So I think it's going to be a really fun summer and I'm super 00:01:40:14 - 00:01:43:14 excited for all of you that have interns. 00:01:43:20 - 00:01:46:08 I think those that have had interns have really found it 00:01:46:08 - 00:01:50:02 valuable and continue to see that year over year. 00:01:50:04 - 00:01:53:12 And so I'm really excited for all of those companies that are starting it. 00:01:53:14 - 00:01:56:04 I think that's a great question to start with, just because we do 00:01:56:04 - 00:01:59:21 see a lot of companies that are starting internship program. 00:01:59:23 - 00:02:03:21 And I would say the key in starting an internship program 00:02:04:02 - 00:02:07:04 and there's a lot of things that go into it, but one of the most important 00:02:07:04 - 00:02:10:24 things is making sure that you have the correct manager 00:02:11:01 - 00:02:15:18 and managers in place to support and intern support their experience 00:02:15:18 - 00:02:17:00 as a whole, 00:02:17:00 - 00:02:18:11 and be able to have some of those 00:02:18:11 - 00:02:21:16 difficult conversation zones where I think we see with companies, 00:02:21:16 - 00:02:27:01 a lot of times managers will come and say, I really want an intern, 00:02:27:03 - 00:02:30:23 but if that manager may not have the culture in the department, 00:02:30:23 - 00:02:31:20 that character may not 00:02:31:20 - 00:02:35:17 necessarily be equipped with the tools to be a great manager for an intern. 00:02:35:19 - 00:02:40:02 Someone companies are having those conversations, so I think manager buy in 00:02:40:02 - 00:02:43:12 and understanding of what it really takes to have an intern is huge. 00:02:43:12 - 00:02:47:22 I think like any new employee, I think interns 00:02:47:22 - 00:02:52:23 take a little bit of extra time and really supporting that experience 00:02:52:23 - 00:02:57:00 from mentorship and coaching and giving them opportunities. 00:02:57:00 - 00:03:00:01 There is a little bit of additional work 00:03:00:03 - 00:03:01:14 for an intern, so 00:03:01:14 - 00:03:05:15 I think we see companies that have super successful intern programs 00:03:05:15 - 00:03:09:22 and what you see behind those are managers and companies that have complete buy in. 00:03:09:22 - 00:03:13:07 So I think honestly, before you even get to the manager piece, 00:03:13:08 - 00:03:17:16 you need to think about and talk with your leadership team and understand 00:03:17:16 - 00:03:22:15 that there is a buy in needed and an investment honestly, 00:03:22:15 - 00:03:28:11 between both time and money and what goes into a great experience. 00:03:28:12 - 00:03:31:08 So I think, you know, really the buy in is the first step 00:03:31:08 - 00:03:35:07 and then there are a lot of steps along the way to get to that manager piece. 00:03:35:07 - 00:03:38:04 But I think that is so key. 00:03:38:04 - 00:03:40:05 Just kind of starting about with the whole experience. 00:03:40:05 - 00:03:42:20 So obviously once you have the manager buy in, that's huge. 00:03:42:20 - 00:03:44:22 Or leadership by an excuse me. 00:03:44:22 - 00:03:48:06 And then I think really think about why you're having an intern. 00:03:48:06 - 00:03:54:04 You know, I think in the past interns have historically been added 00:03:54:04 - 00:03:57:12 to a team to help with some of those, you know, daily tasks 00:03:57:12 - 00:04:00:12 and some of those things that can be taken off of other people's plates. 00:04:00:12 - 00:04:03:20 But we see a lot of companies that are looking to hire 00:04:03:20 - 00:04:06:20 interns for a long term perspective. 00:04:06:21 - 00:04:11:01 So one from a brand awareness standpoint, these interns are going back to 00:04:11:01 - 00:04:14:01 and talking to their friends on campus 00:04:14:01 - 00:04:16:23 and even on social media about their experience as a whole. 00:04:16:23 - 00:04:21:05 So those you know, word of mouth brand, ambassador pieces is a huge part of it. 00:04:21:05 - 00:04:24:20 And we also see interns a lot as their town supply chain. 00:04:24:20 - 00:04:26:20 So really trying to hang on to those interns. 00:04:26:20 - 00:04:28:19 So just really understanding the why. 00:04:28:19 - 00:04:32:07 What's the purpose of your program and then putting some of those structural 00:04:32:07 - 00:04:37:11 pieces around to support the intern throughout the length of their internship. 00:04:37:13 - 00:04:38:10 And then, of course, 00:04:38:10 - 00:04:42:09 thinking about what are those elements that make this an experience as a whole? 00:04:42:09 - 00:04:44:18 So of course there's the work component of it, 00:04:44:18 - 00:04:48:15 but what mentorship opportunities, what networking, professional development, 00:04:48:17 - 00:04:50:24 all of that staff to provide this great experience. 00:04:50:24 - 00:04:54:07 So the interns really want to either 00:04:54:08 - 00:04:57:09 say at your organization or go back and tell their friends all about it. 00:04:57:09 - 00:05:02:01 So long winded way of saying like, there's a lot of pieces to get started. 00:05:02:03 - 00:05:05:09 But the most important one, just having that manager 00:05:05:11 - 00:05:07:07 really be there to support their interns. 00:05:07:07 - 00:05:08:15 Sorry that as long you continue to hear. 00:05:08:15 - 00:05:13:14 Question So there's a lot that goes into starting an internship program, 00:05:13:14 - 00:05:17:22 and like you said before, even thinking about it, it's the whole planning process 00:05:17:22 - 00:05:21:14 and evaluating why am I having interns 00:05:21:16 - 00:05:24:15 who at the company can manage the interns 00:05:24:15 - 00:05:30:16 and has the capacity to do that, and then it's also thinking about like 00:05:30:18 - 00:05:31:21 some companies may 00:05:31:21 - 00:05:34:21 have one intern, but some may have 30. 00:05:34:21 - 00:05:35:16 So it's like, 00:05:35:16 - 00:05:40:14 how do you split that up between managers and and roles and stuff like that? 00:05:40:16 - 00:05:43:04 But once you have that plan 00:05:43:04 - 00:05:47:01 in place, like you were talking about, even then, even if you already 00:05:47:01 - 00:05:51:00 have a great internship program developed, how do you find the interns? 00:05:51:00 - 00:05:56:18 I think that's a huge question, like recruiting best practices. 00:05:56:20 - 00:06:01:20 Do you have any suggestions on where to find interns, when to find interns? 00:06:01:20 - 00:06:05:00 I know now is a great time to start talking about it, 00:06:05:00 - 00:06:08:23 but just looking for any best practices you might have there. 00:06:09:00 - 00:06:09:21 Yeah, absolutely. 00:06:09:21 - 00:06:13:03 Shameless plug for companies Recruiting services team. 00:06:13:05 - 00:06:13:23 They really do 00:06:13:23 - 00:06:18:17 all of their recruiting for interns, so they are a great resource to tap. 00:06:18:17 - 00:06:21:21 But I would say we see 00:06:21:21 - 00:06:26:00 a lot of interns get hired from networking and schools. 00:06:26:00 - 00:06:30:02 We just had a hot topic survey not too long ago 00:06:30:02 - 00:06:33:15 and I think like 87% of our respondents have that. 00:06:33:20 - 00:06:38:04 They find their interns and they have a lot of great luck by 00:06:38:06 - 00:06:41:04 going to job fairs at universities and colleges 00:06:41:04 - 00:06:45:21 and just different locations where they're able to network with people. 00:06:45:23 - 00:06:48:14 I would also say share it out to your LinkedIn page. 00:06:48:14 - 00:06:49:14 You know, 00:06:49:14 - 00:06:54:17 I think we see a lot of interns get hired because of connections they have. 00:06:54:17 - 00:06:55:06 And I 00:06:55:06 - 00:06:59:00 you know, I get we'll find out something about MRA's intern leadership program 00:06:59:00 - 00:07:02:22 and I'll get people come back and say like, well, I don't have 00:07:03:02 - 00:07:05:07 an intern at my company, but I do have a daughter 00:07:05:07 - 00:07:07:17 that's looking for an internship or a niece or a nephew. 00:07:07:17 - 00:07:10:18 And I'm always willing to help pair that. 00:07:10:18 - 00:07:12:23 So you just never know who is going to see some of that. 00:07:12:23 - 00:07:15:23 But like I said, I think for the most part, 00:07:16:02 - 00:07:18:18 people have a lot of luck getting in front of the universities, 00:07:18:18 - 00:07:21:23 the colleges and being on campus in front of the next generation 00:07:21:23 - 00:07:26:02 of talent and just from a brand awareness standpoint, there's always a benefit 00:07:26:02 - 00:07:27:15 there, too. 00:07:27:15 - 00:07:31:09 As far as timing, you know, I think we've seen it 00:07:31:11 - 00:07:35:20 be done successfully at various times throughout the year. 00:07:35:22 - 00:07:36:23 You know, 00:07:36:23 - 00:07:40:14 we are seeing a lot of companies now that are ramping up for summer internship. 00:07:40:14 - 00:07:44:16 So they are starting to just find their interns. 00:07:44:16 - 00:07:48:06 Now, we do recommend a little bit earlier than now at this point of the year. 00:07:48:06 - 00:07:52:23 We'll see some of the schools and the organizations 00:07:52:23 - 00:07:57:02 that have bigger internship programs are starting right after the summer. 00:07:57:02 - 00:08:01:03 So they're starting in September hiring all the way for the next summer. 00:08:01:03 - 00:08:03:15 And I mean, it's a lot of work to fill. 00:08:03:15 - 00:08:08:15 35 internships or however many there are, but a lot of the career 00:08:08:16 - 00:08:12:00 offers happen early in the fall and again in the spring. 00:08:12:00 - 00:08:13:15 So just kind of thinking, 00:08:13:15 - 00:08:16:21 being strategic about that, it doesn't mean you have to start in the fall. 00:08:16:23 - 00:08:19:20 People have a lot of great luck in the spring, 00:08:19:20 - 00:08:22:01 so definitely an option to. 00:08:22:01 - 00:08:26:04 But as far as best practices, I would also say think about your job 00:08:26:04 - 00:08:29:22 description and your job ad and you don't have to put 00:08:29:22 - 00:08:33:18 every single detail, every single project that they're going to be working on. 00:08:33:18 - 00:08:37:23 But some highlight some of those main responsibilities, 00:08:37:23 - 00:08:39:24 of course, but then some of those fun things too. 00:08:39:24 - 00:08:41:10 So like, for example, 00:08:41:10 - 00:08:45:06 we have a company that's participating in the Intern Leadership Program program 00:08:45:06 - 00:08:49:10 that I'm a grant offers, and they put that as part of their job description 00:08:49:12 - 00:08:52:23 in every single one of their interns 00:08:53:00 - 00:08:55:01 that they ended up hiring have said 00:08:55:01 - 00:08:57:15 they had to ask the question, like, Why did you apply for this internship? 00:08:57:15 - 00:08:59:24 And they also had the intern leadership program. 00:08:59:24 - 00:09:02:24 So some of that professional development that's part of that intern 00:09:02:24 - 00:09:06:01 program can be part of the the job at that job description. 00:09:06:01 - 00:09:09:19 So some of those fun key elements in showcasing the mentorship 00:09:09:19 - 00:09:12:09 and networking opportunities that they're going to have. 00:09:12:09 - 00:09:13:19 And also I would just say 00:09:13:19 - 00:09:17:04 if there's an opportunity for them to learn the business as a whole, 00:09:17:04 - 00:09:21:00 put some of that stuff in your job ads as well. 00:09:21:00 - 00:09:25:03 I think interns in general are just trying to gain as much experience 00:09:25:03 - 00:09:26:04 and knowledge as they can. 00:09:26:04 - 00:09:29:04 So if they see that in your job description, in your job ad, 00:09:29:07 - 00:09:32:06 I think that's going to be a huge draw for them. 00:09:32:08 - 00:09:32:23 Absolutely. 00:09:32:23 - 00:09:37:16 I was going to say you're trying to attract these interns like a new employee. 00:09:37:16 - 00:09:43:12 So like like you said, be creative and show off what flexible arrangements 00:09:43:12 - 00:09:46:12 you may have something that's going to attract 00:09:46:14 - 00:09:49:21 an intern to work for your organization. 00:09:49:23 - 00:09:54:16 Well, those are the things that we hear about from the interns, is 00:09:54:18 - 00:09:57:09 they like I mean, they like the flexibility, of course. 00:09:57:09 - 00:09:59:08 But I think some of the struggle is 00:09:59:08 - 00:10:03:06 they really want to learn from others and be mentored. 00:10:03:08 - 00:10:07:08 And it's really hard to do that if they're coming into the office, 00:10:07:08 - 00:10:09:14 which they a lot of them have shown that 00:10:09:14 - 00:10:12:24 they want to come into the office for that mentorship opportunity. 00:10:13:01 - 00:10:14:04 But if they're coming in 00:10:14:04 - 00:10:17:23 and nobody else is in the office, that can be a really challenging thing too. 00:10:17:23 - 00:10:20:17 So if you are able to express 00:10:20:17 - 00:10:24:18 what those mentorship opportunities and those learning opportunities are, that 00:10:24:19 - 00:10:30:23 I think is a great way for them to like, really understand how that could happen. 00:10:31:00 - 00:10:33:03 And the other thing just kind of going back to, 00:10:33:03 - 00:10:36:00 you know, the timing of hiring interns, 00:10:36:00 - 00:10:38:17 we've seen a lot more in the last year 00:10:38:17 - 00:10:42:17 to of companies that are hiring interns and then 00:10:42:19 - 00:10:45:22 they're struggling to retain them, even to start their internship. 00:10:45:22 - 00:10:48:22 So, you know, you have to find that balance of 00:10:49:01 - 00:10:51:21 hiring them early enough, but then also keeping them engaged. 00:10:51:21 - 00:10:54:06 So if you do hire them in January, 00:10:54:06 - 00:10:57:22 that's still another five or six months until they start their internship. 00:10:57:24 - 00:11:00:10 So just think about how you're going to keep them engaged 00:11:00:10 - 00:11:02:19 and excited about your internship experience. 00:11:02:19 - 00:11:05:18 You know, we typically we've seen some data 00:11:05:18 - 00:11:09:01 and we recommend, you know, every three weeks that you're reaching out 00:11:09:03 - 00:11:13:09 or three to every three weeks, you're reaching out to those interns, 00:11:13:11 - 00:11:16:05 you know, with some type of communication, whether it's 00:11:16:05 - 00:11:19:23 their managers are reaching out, whether it's different people on the team, 00:11:19:23 - 00:11:23:16 HR Sharing company newsletters, all of that stuff to keep them engaged 00:11:23:22 - 00:11:26:04 so they're not like i still have this internship. 00:11:26:04 - 00:11:28:18 I haven't heard from them in a couple of months. Like, what's going on here? 00:11:28:18 - 00:11:32:17 So just keeping them excited and engaged is important too. 00:11:32:19 - 00:11:35:23 Yeah, absolutely. Those are all great points. 00:11:36:00 - 00:11:36:15 Let's say you have 00:11:36:15 - 00:11:39:15 your group of hired interns. Now. 00:11:39:17 - 00:11:44:14 What steps are really taken then to integrate them into the company's work 00:11:44:14 - 00:11:47:23 environment and to kind of 00:11:48:00 - 00:11:51:15 what does the onboarding process look like for them? 00:11:51:17 - 00:11:53:23 Yeah, I think, you know, that's a great question. 00:11:53:23 - 00:11:57:00 And I would say I would just start 00:11:57:00 - 00:12:00:09 by looking at what your current onboarding process is for any new hire. 00:12:00:09 - 00:12:03:19 I mean, a lot of that will pertain to them as well. 00:12:03:21 - 00:12:07:08 But then looking at what additional pieces are you going to add? 00:12:07:10 - 00:12:10:15 Again, I think less the internship experience really is 00:12:10:20 - 00:12:12:09 what I just had an experience. 00:12:12:09 - 00:12:15:17 So what are you doing for them on day one 00:12:15:17 - 00:12:18:21 to really provide that impact and get them excited for the summer? 00:12:18:21 - 00:12:20:19 Obviously there are some major 00:12:20:19 - 00:12:21:13 things that you just have 00:12:21:13 - 00:12:24:17 to take care of on day one, but what swag are you giving them? 00:12:24:17 - 00:12:28:08 Are you buying them lunch or are they getting to meet with a lot of people? 00:12:28:10 - 00:12:31:20 You know, I think day one really should be about building some of that excitement. 00:12:32:01 - 00:12:37:02 But then how are they learning and growing throughout their entire summer? 00:12:37:02 - 00:12:40:11 And what is that learning plan and onboarding look like beyond day 00:12:40:11 - 00:12:43:14 one and how to integrate them within the organization? 00:12:43:14 - 00:12:45:11 And of course, every company is different. 00:12:45:11 - 00:12:47:06 And what they need to know. 00:12:47:06 - 00:12:51:03 But I would just really recommend that you look at your own current 00:12:51:03 - 00:12:54:22 onboarding process, how to even enhance that even a little bit further, 00:12:54:22 - 00:12:58:14 like knowing that this a lot of them this might be their first real 00:12:58:19 - 00:13:00:03 job in the workplace 00:13:00:03 - 00:13:03:17 and how do you help them feel comfortable and navigate some of those, 00:13:03:19 - 00:13:08:04 you know, nuances or things that people you assume people just know 00:13:08:04 - 00:13:12:00 by being in the workplace and even just like dress code. 00:13:12:00 - 00:13:14:17 I know that's not the most exciting thing, but like, 00:13:14:17 - 00:13:17:05 you know, we've had a lot of companies say 00:13:17:07 - 00:13:19:00 our interns don't even know what our dress code is. 00:13:19:00 - 00:13:22:20 And, you know, you forget that sometimes this is their first real job. 00:13:22:20 - 00:13:24:05 So having to help them out. 00:13:24:05 - 00:13:26:13 And honestly, the earlier, the better. 00:13:26:13 - 00:13:29:23 That can be something you can communicate even before they start. 00:13:29:23 - 00:13:31:04 So I think really just 00:13:31:04 - 00:13:33:07 how do you assimilate them with your organization 00:13:33:07 - 00:13:36:19 and your best practices within your company and how they can, 00:13:36:24 - 00:13:40:11 you know, feel comfortable and be set up for success from the beginning? 00:13:40:13 - 00:13:41:19 You know, I look at it. 00:13:41:19 - 00:13:45:04 So if you when you were an intern, which was, you know, a while ago now, but, 00:13:45:06 - 00:13:48:06 you know, you texted me and your manager at 00:13:48:06 - 00:13:51:18 the time was like, hey, like we're about a week and a half out. 00:13:51:18 - 00:13:52:15 Like what? 00:13:52:15 - 00:13:54:00 You know, what is the dress code? 00:13:54:00 - 00:13:55:02 And we're like, my gosh. 00:13:55:02 - 00:13:58:00 Like, how did we not even tell her about? Like, that's a great question. 00:13:58:00 - 00:14:00:21 You know, like, you're just trying to be set up for success. 00:14:00:21 - 00:14:05:08 So any of those things that might be on their minds just let those know upfront. 00:14:05:08 - 00:14:08:08 And I think also just a side note of that, it's like 00:14:08:09 - 00:14:10:11 make sure they have your phone number so they can text you 00:14:10:11 - 00:14:12:09 those questions and encourage them to do that. 00:14:12:09 - 00:14:14:12 Because like when you text us, we were like, 00:14:14:12 - 00:14:16:20 my gosh, like, of course, how do we not even think about that? 00:14:16:20 - 00:14:20:08 And obviously it was on your mind because you sent us a message. 00:14:20:10 - 00:14:24:19 Yeah, that's funny because I was going to bring that up as an example here. 00:14:24:21 - 00:14:28:06 Just showing the importance of onboarding in the interim 00:14:28:06 - 00:14:32:24 because like you said, a lot of the time an internship is 00:14:33:00 - 00:14:36:19 maybe somebody's first real life kind of job experience. 00:14:36:19 - 00:14:42:00 So the onboarding process is just as important, as important, 00:14:42:00 - 00:14:44:08 if not the most important stuff, in my opinion. 00:14:44:08 - 00:14:46:08 Just because you want to 00:14:46:08 - 00:14:50:05 make that group first impression and get them excited on day one. 00:14:50:07 - 00:14:54:15 And yeah, I think for my experience 00:14:54:17 - 00:14:59:04 I felt comfortable to text you guys and say, Hey, like 00:14:59:06 - 00:15:03:02 we're a couple days away from first day, what's the dress code? 00:15:03:04 - 00:15:04:14 But then I also remember 00:15:04:14 - 00:15:07:00 feeling very comfortable when I first walked in 00:15:07:00 - 00:15:09:09 because I got to meet everyone at the company. 00:15:09:09 - 00:15:12:19 There is a swag like gift 00:15:12:19 - 00:15:15:19 bag or laid all over my desk. 00:15:15:19 - 00:15:19:00 Just the process of day one one. Awesome. 00:15:19:00 - 00:15:23:06 And I remember also being in the car because 00:15:23:08 - 00:15:28:11 you and my manager took me out to lunch and I remember like taking a picture, 00:15:28:11 - 00:15:33:00 a selfie in the backseat, and I'm like, Mom would be taking me out to lunch. 00:15:33:00 - 00:15:34:23 And I had my name tag. 00:15:34:23 - 00:15:38:02 But it is the little things that make the day 00:15:38:02 - 00:15:41:04 one experience and it gets I don't know, it made me excited. 00:15:41:04 - 00:15:44:10 Hey, to come back day two and like, what's day two going to look like? 00:15:44:10 - 00:15:46:06 What stage three gonna look like? 00:15:46:06 - 00:15:49:20 So kind of like continuously sparking 00:15:49:20 - 00:15:53:15 that excitement to make make the experience great. 00:15:53:17 - 00:15:58:09 And it was also I mean, I think that's so true. 00:15:58:09 - 00:16:02:03 And you know, I think you start to take some of those things for granted 00:16:02:04 - 00:16:03:09 like a business card, 00:16:03:09 - 00:16:07:11 a name tag, like, you know, you've been in in the business world for a while. 00:16:07:11 - 00:16:08:06 And, you know, 00:16:08:06 - 00:16:10:03 I think business cards were such a big deal 00:16:10:03 - 00:16:12:18 when I got them for the first time was like, my gosh, she's an intern. 00:16:12:18 - 00:16:13:22 I have business cards. 00:16:13:22 - 00:16:16:06 And it was like giving them to my family members. 00:16:16:06 - 00:16:19:08 And it's like, you know, it's such a little thing, but it really does. 00:16:19:08 - 00:16:22:08 You're like, my gosh, like I'm an adult now, you know? 00:16:22:09 - 00:16:25:19 So I think, like you said, it's all about those little experiences. 00:16:26:00 - 00:16:26:11 Yeah. 00:16:26:11 - 00:16:31:17 And just to add on to that, to I know we talked about going out to lunch 00:16:31:17 - 00:16:36:01 or doing something special, but even if you have virtual interns 00:16:36:01 - 00:16:39:06 or remote interns, which I think is kind of 00:16:39:08 - 00:16:41:21 becoming the new normal, almost, 00:16:41:21 - 00:16:44:21 you can still do those special things. 00:16:44:21 - 00:16:46:13 Maybe you send them a gift card on day 00:16:46:13 - 00:16:51:05 one to go grab something for lunch or maybe do a virtual lunch with them. 00:16:51:05 - 00:16:54:10 So we were talking about our experience in person, 00:16:54:10 - 00:16:58:18 but this can definitely apply virtually to Absolutely for sure. 00:16:58:21 - 00:17:02:13 I mean, I think gift cards, just DoorDash and something to their door, 00:17:02:15 - 00:17:03:18 There's a lot of there's 00:17:03:18 - 00:17:07:14 a lot of creative things out there that companies are doing, for sure. 00:17:07:16 - 00:17:08:07 Yeah. 00:17:08:07 - 00:17:09:22 So next step here now 00:17:09:22 - 00:17:13:15 we talk about recruiting interns, kind of whole planning process. 00:17:13:17 - 00:17:17:11 So let's say your internship program is established. 00:17:17:13 - 00:17:21:21 How would you really ensure its sustainability and what strategies 00:17:21:24 - 00:17:25:01 would you employ for the continuous improvement 00:17:25:01 - 00:17:29:09 based on feedback and just industry trends? 00:17:29:11 - 00:17:31:04 Yeah, I mean, I always saw companies 00:17:31:04 - 00:17:33:15 like don't be afraid to just ask your interns 00:17:33:15 - 00:17:35:14 what they're thinking and ask for feedback. 00:17:35:14 - 00:17:36:23 You know, 00:17:36:23 - 00:17:41:16 I think some interns are more comfortable than others about giving their feedback, 00:17:41:16 - 00:17:45:17 but I think, you know, even just a full survey every week 00:17:45:17 - 00:17:49:14 or every other week, whether it comes from HR Or the hiring manager, 00:17:49:16 - 00:17:51:19 just giving them an opportunity to share 00:17:51:19 - 00:17:54:19 what's on their mind and what recommendations they have. 00:17:54:20 - 00:17:58:24 We see a lot of companies that typically do you know what is known 00:17:58:24 - 00:18:01:19 as an exit interview where they're just asking for feedback 00:18:01:19 - 00:18:05:13 and the amount of times companies say like, wow, that was such a simple thing. 00:18:05:13 - 00:18:07:22 We could have implemented that if we knew. 00:18:07:22 - 00:18:12:08 So we're even seeing companies that are doing poll surveys like I 00:18:12:08 - 00:18:17:04 mentioned, or a couple of weeks in, like how was your first month on the job? 00:18:17:04 - 00:18:21:08 Is there anything else we can do to support you in For the most part, and 00:18:21:08 - 00:18:25:03 HR Has reported, at least from the groups that i've talked with, 00:18:25:05 - 00:18:27:12 they're getting really good feedback from their interns, 00:18:27:12 - 00:18:29:19 and they're like some of the things are so small 00:18:29:19 - 00:18:32:15 that we can just implement right away, and some of them are bigger picture 00:18:32:15 - 00:18:35:15 that we can take, you know, in a white company. Why? 00:18:35:15 - 00:18:39:03 And so I got to just talk to them, see how they're doing, and give them 00:18:39:09 - 00:18:43:12 an opportunity in a safe space to have those conversations. 00:18:43:14 - 00:18:45:15 I would also just say, 00:18:45:15 - 00:18:48:15 talking to other companies and reading more on best practices 00:18:48:15 - 00:18:50:15 about what other companies are doing, 00:18:50:15 - 00:18:52:10 there's a lot of great information out there. 00:18:52:10 - 00:18:57:11 You know, of course, we have our roundtables and internships 00:18:57:11 - 00:19:00:21 typically come up in a lot of the different roundtables. 00:19:00:21 - 00:19:02:09 So just being able to hear 00:19:02:09 - 00:19:06:02 what cool things other companies are doing are a great way to benchmark, 00:19:06:04 - 00:19:09:03 you know, what your program looks like and what you're providing to your interns 00:19:09:03 - 00:19:10:00 and even just spark 00:19:10:00 - 00:19:14:16 some additional ideas and, you know, help bounce ideas off of each other as well. 00:19:14:18 - 00:19:16:00 Yeah, for sure. 00:19:16:00 - 00:19:19:15 So we've talked about the importance of continuous 00:19:19:15 - 00:19:22:22 learning and skill development with interns. 00:19:22:24 - 00:19:25:14 So how do you really foster a culture 00:19:25:14 - 00:19:30:19 of that continuous learning with your internship programs? 00:19:30:21 - 00:19:34:08 And I guess how do you kind of encourage interns 00:19:34:08 - 00:19:41:21 to stay updated on industry trends and kind of want to acquire new skills? 00:19:41:23 - 00:19:45:24 Yeah, You know, when you sent this to me in advance, I was looking through this 00:19:45:24 - 00:19:51:19 and I was thinking a lot of a lot of the term culture of continuous 00:19:51:22 - 00:19:56:09 learning and continuous professional development mindset. 00:19:56:11 - 00:19:59:19 And at first when I started reading the question, I was like, 00:19:59:21 - 00:20:04:07 I was thinking about it from a manager and culture standpoint beyond the intern. 00:20:04:07 - 00:20:08:07 And I think, well, we hear from companies and managers is they learn so much 00:20:08:07 - 00:20:11:12 and get a whole different perspective by bringing in the interns. 00:20:11:14 - 00:20:12:18 So part of that is like when you're 00:20:12:18 - 00:20:15:04 building the intern program from the beginning, 00:20:15:04 - 00:20:18:10 you're setting expectations of your company and your culture of we're 00:20:18:10 - 00:20:22:15 bringing these interns in to do real work, make a real impact, 00:20:22:17 - 00:20:25:09 and kind of setting that up from the beginning and be open minded. 00:20:25:09 - 00:20:26:13 So they're not just here to do 00:20:26:13 - 00:20:30:21 some of the dirty work, if you will, and they're really here to make an impact. 00:20:30:21 - 00:20:34:02 So I think, you know, the continuous learning goes from both sides. 00:20:34:02 - 00:20:37:15 From the intern perspective, I think 00:20:37:17 - 00:20:41:05 we see so many interns, almost all of them that we see 00:20:41:05 - 00:20:45:11 already come in with just a hunger to learn and absorb so much. 00:20:45:11 - 00:20:49:20 I think you're you're lucky with that demographic of people and interns 00:20:49:20 - 00:20:53:08 because they just naturally are here to learn as much as they can. 00:20:53:13 - 00:20:54:24 They're excited to learn and they're excited 00:20:54:24 - 00:20:57:14 to grow in their career and they want to do whatever they can. 00:20:57:14 - 00:20:59:23 You know, again, I think part of it 00:20:59:23 - 00:21:03:14 even can go back to their job description or job expectations of 00:21:03:18 - 00:21:06:14 what is your professional development, How are you going to learn this? 00:21:06:14 - 00:21:08:07 And even having maybe 00:21:08:07 - 00:21:13:24 an individual development plan for them and learn it, you know, part of it being a 00:21:14:01 - 00:21:17:08 an opportunity for them to learn industry standards, maybe some job shadow, 00:21:17:08 - 00:21:18:09 some of that type of stuff. 00:21:18:09 - 00:21:21:16 But then also some of those are skills that they can take no matter what role 00:21:21:16 - 00:21:23:21 they have in their career 00:21:23:23 - 00:21:24:22 communication. 00:21:24:22 - 00:21:28:06 You know, all those leadership skills change management, all of that is all 00:21:28:08 - 00:21:32:02 good and things that they can put on their resume. 00:21:32:04 - 00:21:36:14 I also recommend talking about it in your one on one conversations with managers. 00:21:36:14 - 00:21:39:14 And it doesn't have to be every single day. 00:21:39:14 - 00:21:42:16 But I think, you know, when I was an intern again, this is a while ago, 00:21:42:21 - 00:21:46:19 but I think you're doing projects that might feel mundane to you 00:21:46:21 - 00:21:50:16 and you don't necessarily even realize the impact that you're having. 00:21:50:18 - 00:21:55:12 And like I remember when I was talking to one of my managers in 00:21:55:14 - 00:22:00:10 a previous internship and they were like, my gosh, like you did a great job 00:22:00:12 - 00:22:04:08 with this project management, like project management to your skill set 00:22:04:08 - 00:22:07:02 and add that to your resume. And I was like, Project management. 00:22:07:02 - 00:22:10:14 Like, all I did was schedule some meetings and take some notes or whatever, 00:22:10:16 - 00:22:12:07 and they were like, No, you did way more than that. 00:22:12:07 - 00:22:16:10 But even just being able to explain the impact that the interns are having, 00:22:16:10 - 00:22:19:05 and I feel like I don't know if you can speak on experience, 00:22:19:05 - 00:22:22:23 but I feel like interns don't always realize, like they just feel like 00:22:22:23 - 00:22:24:24 they're doing a small project and then it's like, 00:22:24:24 - 00:22:28:10 No, this was actually huge and this is what I did and X, Y and Z, 00:22:28:10 - 00:22:30:13 and these are the skills that you learn from it. 00:22:30:13 - 00:22:33:00 So we can talk about feedback in a minute. 00:22:33:00 - 00:22:36:12 But as far as you know, having those conversations and helping 00:22:36:12 - 00:22:40:08 them understand what they've done and the skills they have is huge. 00:22:40:10 - 00:22:42:09 Yeah, I going off of that. 00:22:42:09 - 00:22:48:15 I was recently reading an article, a LinkedIn article on 2024 00:22:48:17 - 00:22:52:21 internship trends, and one of them was 00:22:52:23 - 00:22:58:03 something like Prioritize skill development over traditional work. 00:22:58:05 - 00:23:02:18 And I think we've emphasized that a lot here on the skill development. 00:23:02:18 - 00:23:05:24 And it doesn't mean interns can't do traditional work 00:23:05:24 - 00:23:11:00 like the hands on kind of mundane stuff like you were saying. 00:23:11:02 - 00:23:14:13 But it's really like talking about what skills they're developing 00:23:14:13 - 00:23:19:17 and what skills you as an employer want them to develop so that they succeed 00:23:19:17 - 00:23:23:07 in an internship and kind of growing into their career path. 00:23:23:07 - 00:23:26:20 So just kind of goes to show the importance. 00:23:26:20 - 00:23:29:01 It's on 2024 internship trends. 00:23:29:01 - 00:23:32:13 So yeah, if I were to ask skill development 00:23:32:13 - 00:23:35:23 in your interns, for sure. 00:23:36:00 - 00:23:38:10 So kind of going off, 00:23:38:10 - 00:23:43:05 I know you said that interns are usually they have that hunger 00:23:43:05 - 00:23:47:05 to develop new skills and to do great work. 00:23:47:07 - 00:23:49:22 What other qualities and skills 00:23:49:22 - 00:23:53:11 should leaders really help develop in their interns? 00:23:53:13 - 00:23:57:22 Yeah, you know, I think now that this is necessarily a skill, 00:23:57:22 - 00:24:03:07 but helping them understand, even just like workplace one on one and 00:24:03:09 - 00:24:05:20 terminology and just like 00:24:05:20 - 00:24:09:02 business lines, I just, I think sometimes we all are like, 00:24:09:06 - 00:24:10:11 yeah, we all know what this means, 00:24:10:11 - 00:24:14:05 like end of day and the business day, even just things like that. 00:24:14:07 - 00:24:19:08 But as far as skills, we've seen a lot of emphasis 00:24:19:08 - 00:24:23:13 on communication and I think that goes just beyond interns as well. 00:24:23:13 - 00:24:27:21 In a hybrid remote workplace where people are working in different time 00:24:27:21 - 00:24:30:21 zones and all of that, I think communicate and even just different generations. 00:24:30:21 - 00:24:35:04 We've seen a lot of conversation about what does good communication look like. 00:24:35:04 - 00:24:37:19 And so I think that's a big one. 00:24:37:19 - 00:24:42:03 I think bringing ideas to management is a big one. 00:24:42:05 - 00:24:45:08 I think interns have a lot of great ideas, 00:24:45:08 - 00:24:49:19 and I think what we've seen over the years as interns 00:24:49:21 - 00:24:52:22 are finding the balance of I'm trying to make an impact 00:24:52:22 - 00:24:56:06 and a name for myself and showing the great ideas I have. 00:24:56:08 - 00:24:59:18 But also I don't want to overstep and talk in meetings, 00:24:59:23 - 00:25:03:02 you know, that I was invited to to listen and learn 00:25:03:02 - 00:25:06:06 and like, where am I allowed to speak up and where am I not? 00:25:06:06 - 00:25:09:18 Or and whether they call it imposter syndrome, where you're like, 00:25:09:18 - 00:25:12:02 I don't know if my idea is good enough and am I really willing 00:25:12:02 - 00:25:13:24 to speak up in front of a whole group of people? 00:25:13:24 - 00:25:17:21 And so I think kind of helping balance and navigate some of that stuff 00:25:17:21 - 00:25:22:08 and helping build some of that confidence is huge for them. 00:25:22:14 - 00:25:27:01 We've seen an emphasis on problem solving project management. 00:25:27:01 - 00:25:29:20 Some of that 00:25:29:22 - 00:25:30:24 is really big too. 00:25:30:24 - 00:25:36:20 So I think all of the skills that you're developing in your employees and 00:25:36:22 - 00:25:40:22 your leaders, I think that really they're just trying to learn and grow. 00:25:40:24 - 00:25:45:21 So however you can help them in that way and really understand what they're good at 00:25:45:21 - 00:25:46:15 and what other skills 00:25:46:15 - 00:25:50:20 they need to continue to develop is just a conversation worth having. 00:25:50:20 - 00:25:53:04 And the ones that interns are really open to. 00:25:53:04 - 00:25:57:24 And they I mean, I think we see this in all shapes of business, of people. 00:25:57:24 - 00:26:01:01 People like to learn about themselves and talk about their experiences 00:26:01:01 - 00:26:05:19 and whatever you can do to help them learn and grow is a big piece of it. 00:26:05:21 - 00:26:07:05 Absolutely. 00:26:07:05 - 00:26:12:16 And for interns, I would always go back to that quote, 00:26:12:18 - 00:26:16:03 higher character train skill. 00:26:16:05 - 00:26:20:05 Just I don't know, I think it's a good reminder that 00:26:20:07 - 00:26:25:17 when you're hiring an intern, they might not have all of the skills that 00:26:25:19 - 00:26:28:12 you may want them to have at the end of the internship, or 00:26:28:12 - 00:26:34:18 they might not have all of the knowledge coming into it because it probably is 00:26:34:20 - 00:26:38:05 one of their first really 00:26:38:07 - 00:26:39:18 first jobs. 00:26:39:18 - 00:26:42:23 So I think that code, your character 00:26:43:00 - 00:26:47:04 train for Skill, is just always a good reminder too, 00:26:47:06 - 00:26:51:12 because you can train for skill and so like that. 00:26:51:14 - 00:26:54:14 So going on here, in what ways does 00:26:54:15 - 00:26:58:12 your organization support interns in building professional networks 00:26:58:12 - 00:27:03:15 and how does really networking contribute to development as emerging leaders? 00:27:03:17 - 00:27:05:12 Networking is huge. 00:27:05:12 - 00:27:05:24 Yeah. 00:27:05:24 - 00:27:07:11 I mean, I think there's a lot of ways 00:27:07:11 - 00:27:11:19 that organizations can support professional development for interns. 00:27:11:19 - 00:27:12:00 You know, 00:27:12:00 - 00:27:15:22 I think there is the traditional trainings in the classroom that can be done. 00:27:15:22 - 00:27:21:08 There's a lot of great modules online that companies can use, you know, 00:27:21:09 - 00:27:23:01 LinkedIn, Learning's, all of that great stuff. 00:27:23:01 - 00:27:24:16 Of course, memory has training as well. 00:27:24:16 - 00:27:28:14 But I also think, you know, when I look back 00:27:28:14 - 00:27:31:14 at my professional development and my growth over my career, 00:27:31:20 - 00:27:35:17 I think a lot of the most influential pieces that have helped me grow 00:27:35:19 - 00:27:40:06 are being part of organizational projects, working with cross-functional teams, 00:27:40:06 - 00:27:44:00 working with people that are different than myself and think differently. 00:27:44:00 - 00:27:47:20 And then eventually growing into leading some of those projects. 00:27:47:20 - 00:27:52:06 So what what projects can interns lead that maybe, maybe they 00:27:52:06 - 00:27:54:24 not on your to do list for a while and you just haven't gotten to it. 00:27:54:24 - 00:28:00:01 So any start with anything that they do is better than not doing it at all. 00:28:00:03 - 00:28:05:05 So I think some of that project work, job shadowing, 00:28:05:07 - 00:28:09:18 being able to just network and learn from other professionals is huge. 00:28:09:18 - 00:28:14:19 We offer an intern leadership program at Emory for our members 00:28:14:19 - 00:28:20:02 and we really focus on that professional development and networking because it 00:28:20:04 - 00:28:23:17 it really helps them learn from other people, 00:28:23:17 - 00:28:27:12 learn about different industries, learn about business as a whole, and learn 00:28:27:12 - 00:28:32:01 with other learn from other leaders around the entire country. 00:28:32:01 - 00:28:35:07 And just I think for the interns, some of their biggest takeaways 00:28:35:07 - 00:28:40:08 is just hearing the journey that leaders have gone on to get to where they are. 00:28:40:08 - 00:28:48:01 And I think by the end of the summer, they truly realized that most leadership, 00:28:48:03 - 00:28:50:17 I guess, journeys are not linear. 00:28:50:17 - 00:28:53:10 It's not it's not a ladder. You don't just go straight up. 00:28:53:10 - 00:28:56:10 But there's a lot of you know, I think it's so funny 00:28:56:10 - 00:28:59:10 when we do the CEO panels, it's like half of them 00:28:59:16 - 00:29:04:07 started in a completely different field or industry than where they got to today. 00:29:04:07 - 00:29:06:10 And I think that's really promising for interns. 00:29:06:10 - 00:29:09:10 And I think it just really helps them relate and see 00:29:09:15 - 00:29:11:24 almost inspire them as well. 00:29:11:24 - 00:29:14:24 Yeah, I think just going off the networking pieces, 00:29:15:03 - 00:29:17:02 when people network correctly, 00:29:17:02 - 00:29:20:22 they really get further in their career. 00:29:20:24 - 00:29:22:20 And again, it's that inspiration. 00:29:22:20 - 00:29:24:17 But then what are you doing to make that impression 00:29:24:17 - 00:29:29:24 after and connect with them and our burgeoning team earlier today? 00:29:29:24 - 00:29:34:00 And they always say they're like most people, after your first job, 00:29:34:00 - 00:29:35:24 you're going to get most of your jobs after that. 00:29:35:24 - 00:29:38:16 By who you know and who you've networked with. 00:29:38:16 - 00:29:39:24 And, you know, 00:29:39:24 - 00:29:43:05 we do stuff during our internship program to help them, you know, 00:29:43:05 - 00:29:46:17 just even build up their LinkedIn resume, their LinkedIn profile, I'm sorry. 00:29:46:20 - 00:29:50:13 And just so they can connect with people that they meet throughout the summer. 00:29:50:13 - 00:29:53:15 And, you know, and ten years from now, it might be like, my gosh. 00:29:53:15 - 00:29:58:11 So if you bowlers connect into this person, like, how can I reach out? 00:29:58:11 - 00:30:02:01 So it's just it's just crazy how how small of a world it is. 00:30:02:01 - 00:30:06:21 So I think the professional development and networking is huge for interns 00:30:06:21 - 00:30:10:14 and I think any audience that HR And the hiring managers 00:30:10:14 - 00:30:14:23 can do to help them with that is is super appreciated by the interns, 00:30:14:23 - 00:30:18:00 especially with the mentorship more 00:30:18:00 - 00:30:21:08 so than ever, especially in a hybrid world. 00:30:21:10 - 00:30:24:21 We hear from interns asking how do i find a mentor 00:30:24:23 - 00:30:29:13 that can help me grow and, you know, say my name in a room full of opportunities. 00:30:29:13 - 00:30:33:06 And I always love that quote about mentors, but that's not necessarily 00:30:33:06 - 00:30:34:09 always your manager. 00:30:34:09 - 00:30:38:05 And in such a short period of time, how do I get an actual mentor 00:30:38:05 - 00:30:40:16 that can see my skill set and help me grow in my career? 00:30:40:16 - 00:30:44:09 And I think just networking is a piece of it. 00:30:44:11 - 00:30:45:05 Absolutely. 00:30:45:05 - 00:30:49:04 And you talked about our MRA's intern leadership program 00:30:49:04 - 00:30:53:04 and being able to network with leaders and ceos. 00:30:53:04 - 00:30:57:09 HR Professionals and young professionals too. 00:30:57:11 - 00:31:00:16 But also coming from an intern perspective, 00:31:00:18 - 00:31:03:17 that program is so beneficial in the way 00:31:03:17 - 00:31:06:17 that you're also networking with 00:31:06:18 - 00:31:13:00 80 to over 100 other interns who are practically in the same boat as you. 00:31:13:00 - 00:31:18:06 So that just that's a whole other benefit that we could talk about 00:31:18:06 - 00:31:22:23 for an hour having 82 00:31:22:23 - 00:31:26:13 over 100 people that you can talk to every day, 00:31:26:13 - 00:31:31:16 kind of see what they're going through, ask them questions 00:31:31:18 - 00:31:32:18 and they can. 00:31:32:18 - 00:31:35:13 I know I'm so connected with interns 00:31:35:13 - 00:31:38:21 from a couple of years ago, and I don't know. 00:31:38:21 - 00:31:43:01 I've really appreciated that from the intern program. 00:31:43:03 - 00:31:43:21 Yeah, because 00:31:43:21 - 00:31:47:00 networking connections, even for my internships too. 00:31:47:00 - 00:31:52:04 It's yeah, I still talk to some of them, the friendships and future, 00:31:52:06 - 00:31:54:22 maybe even colleagues again, and networking connections. 00:31:54:22 - 00:32:00:03 Yeah, Well, and it's just interesting to see what they're up to because 00:32:00:05 - 00:32:03:13 you might have two completely different roles at different organizations. 00:32:03:13 - 00:32:05:19 But it's interesting to be like, Hey, what are you doing this week? 00:32:05:19 - 00:32:07:12 What are you working on this week? 00:32:07:12 - 00:32:09:00 that's cool. I'm working on that. 00:32:09:00 - 00:32:11:20 So you can kind of connect that way too, which is awesome. 00:32:11:20 - 00:32:14:02 Even just brand awareness from company to company. 00:32:14:02 - 00:32:16:21 Yeah, definitely. 00:32:16:21 - 00:32:19:13 And we talked a little bit about mentorships, 00:32:19:13 - 00:32:24:13 but is there any other mentor kind of pieces of advice that you want 00:32:24:13 - 00:32:31:00 to give in how that kind of ropes into the success of an internship program? 00:32:31:02 - 00:32:34:04 Yeah, I think just really highlighting 00:32:34:06 - 00:32:38:11 that mentorship, that question about how you can find a mentor 00:32:38:11 - 00:32:40:05 that's right for you and how to find a mentor 00:32:40:05 - 00:32:44:09 that's not your manager at your company during an internship came up so many times 00:32:44:09 - 00:32:45:05 last year. 00:32:45:05 - 00:32:50:24 So if you can go in to an internship program, say to the intern or interns, 00:32:51:01 - 00:32:53:23 we have a dedicated mentor to you. 00:32:53:23 - 00:32:55:23 I think that will be huge. 00:32:55:23 - 00:32:59:21 And I think even part of it again goes up with the manager, 00:32:59:23 - 00:33:03:03 you know, having the tools to be successful until you this intern, 00:33:03:09 - 00:33:04:18 I think same with the mentors. 00:33:04:18 - 00:33:06:12 If you can provide them with 00:33:06:12 - 00:33:10:10 maybe some training and some guidance and maybe even like a coaching certificate 00:33:10:10 - 00:33:14:20 or what their expectations are and how they can help interns. 00:33:14:20 - 00:33:16:06 I think 00:33:16:08 - 00:33:19:08 having that common 00:33:19:08 - 00:33:22:06 playing ground, I guess for mentors would be huge 00:33:22:06 - 00:33:24:23 and they can really help the interns be successful. 00:33:24:23 - 00:33:27:24 And I think that's just another really close networking connection 00:33:27:24 - 00:33:31:08 that the interns will walk away with throughout the summer. 00:33:31:08 - 00:33:36:15 So but I would also be strategic and you know who you choose as a mentor. 00:33:36:17 - 00:33:39:18 But we have seen some companies that have used some emerging leaders 00:33:39:18 - 00:33:43:12 and some young professionals that are looking to grow their leadership skills 00:33:43:14 - 00:33:46:10 who maybe aren't quite ready to be a supervisor or manager yet. 00:33:46:10 - 00:33:51:12 But this is a great way to kind of mentor and coach and grow your own skills. 00:33:51:12 - 00:33:55:24 So just think about that with your own emerging leaders within your organization 00:33:56:01 - 00:33:57:04 for sure. 00:33:57:04 - 00:34:00:12 Well, do you have any examples of talking 00:34:00:12 - 00:34:04:21 about more projects and more hands on work now? 00:34:04:23 - 00:34:07:13 any examples of projects or initiatives 00:34:07:13 - 00:34:11:10 that are designed to kind of challenge interns 00:34:11:10 - 00:34:15:05 or any of those like structured projects that you would recommend 00:34:15:07 - 00:34:20:01 giving to interns to let them showcase their leadership potential? 00:34:20:03 - 00:34:22:23 Yeah, I honestly, I'd have to look at a list 00:34:22:23 - 00:34:25:18 because I, I always every summer I'm like, Wow, 00:34:25:18 - 00:34:29:17 that is such a great search project for interns and 00:34:29:19 - 00:34:31:20 but I'll just share a couple off the top of my head. 00:34:31:20 - 00:34:36:23 I think directly from the HR Perspective, those that have had HR Interns 00:34:36:23 - 00:34:42:11 will do like exit interviews and they'll do 00:34:42:13 - 00:34:46:07 like they'll develop a whole structured program about an intern program. 00:34:46:07 - 00:34:49:17 They can even build out the mentorship program. 00:34:49:19 - 00:34:53:12 And just generally speaking, I think look at your own to do list 00:34:53:12 - 00:34:56:12 and see, like, what projects are like strategic initiatives. 00:34:56:15 - 00:34:59:12 Have you been thinking about a know your team needs to get to 00:34:59:12 - 00:35:02:13 that you really haven't had time for and let them run with it? 00:35:02:13 - 00:35:06:12 Like I said, it's if it's just sitting on your desk, it's not going anywhere. 00:35:06:12 - 00:35:09:22 So you at least have some momentum to keep it moving forward 00:35:09:22 - 00:35:14:14 and having someone bring fresh ideas and perspectives to it. 00:35:14:16 - 00:35:15:00 I saw 00:35:15:00 - 00:35:18:21 one company that knew they needed to implement 00:35:18:21 - 00:35:22:22 a strategy within their organization and there they were. 00:35:22:22 - 00:35:24:21 They had a smaller internship program. 00:35:24:21 - 00:35:26:15 I think they had four or five interns. 00:35:26:15 - 00:35:30:03 I don't recall off the top of my head, but they had that group of interns work 00:35:30:03 - 00:35:34:05 together to build a new strategy internally at their organization, 00:35:34:07 - 00:35:38:18 including which included obviously some research, but also understanding 00:35:38:18 - 00:35:42:03 like what an employee resource group looks like, how we get one started, 00:35:42:03 - 00:35:45:03 who is going to lead that, what is the communication look like? 00:35:45:05 - 00:35:48:23 And they built out a whole new program for their organization 00:35:49:00 - 00:35:52:01 and then they presented it to their executive team. 00:35:52:01 - 00:35:55:04 So all of their CEO and all their senior leadership 00:35:55:04 - 00:35:58:10 and they were able to go forward and start to implement this. 00:35:58:10 - 00:36:01:06 So just a huge 00:36:01:08 - 00:36:03:21 kudos to them for doing that and running with that. 00:36:03:21 - 00:36:05:06 That's not an easy task. 00:36:05:06 - 00:36:06:11 And obviously they had guidance 00:36:06:11 - 00:36:10:07 along the way, but I think that's a great project to show. 00:36:10:09 - 00:36:15:06 And then actually had there was one I'm picturing 00:36:15:06 - 00:36:19:06 that they documented all of their standard operating procedures 00:36:19:08 - 00:36:23:14 and then along the way they were asked to one, you have to document it, 00:36:23:14 - 00:36:27:09 but then to come back with recommendations for efficiencies in the process 00:36:27:09 - 00:36:32:10 and a lot of times even documenting it, that's really curious. 00:36:32:10 - 00:36:35:16 Wanting to learn interns is asking why, like why do we do it this way 00:36:35:16 - 00:36:39:11 and not in a negative way, but just like they were curious and then, 00:36:39:13 - 00:36:44:17 you know, if you as a manager or whoever is doing the teaching, 00:36:44:19 - 00:36:48:20 isn't able to answer that, why I think it's a good, you know, sign. 00:36:48:20 - 00:36:51:12 Maybe we need to look at our process and think of some other way. 00:36:51:12 - 00:36:54:02 And so I think even just being able to showcase 00:36:54:02 - 00:36:57:21 the efficiencies that have been put on because of someone just documenting 00:36:57:21 - 00:37:01:07 standard operating procedures is another really cool project. 00:37:01:07 - 00:37:03:02 So those are a few off the top of my head. 00:37:03:02 - 00:37:07:02 But again, I would take a look at your own task lesson and see 00:37:07:08 - 00:37:12:10 what what you're hoping to get done and let them run with it. 00:37:12:12 - 00:37:15:00 Yeah, and I think another 00:37:15:00 - 00:37:18:08 great big project or kind of stretch project 00:37:18:08 - 00:37:23:01 that any company can do at any internship too, would just be looking 00:37:23:01 - 00:37:26:06 at your own company from an audit perspective, 00:37:26:07 - 00:37:29:07 like auditing the website or doing an 00:37:29:07 - 00:37:32:13 in the analysis of the website or for example, 00:37:32:13 - 00:37:35:19 I know I did a competitive analysis when I was an intern, 00:37:35:19 - 00:37:40:02 which was a big project, but it was, I think, a great opportunity 00:37:40:02 - 00:37:44:12 and a good big project to work on throughout the summer too. 00:37:44:14 - 00:37:47:09 Also gave me a chance to work with some great leaders 00:37:47:09 - 00:37:51:13 and kind of show it off to our executive team to. 00:37:51:15 - 00:37:56:00 So yeah, I would, I would say that that's an easy project, 00:37:56:00 - 00:37:59:19 but it's something that all companies can do and something 00:37:59:19 - 00:38:05:07 that can improve your website, improve your organization as a whole. 00:38:05:09 - 00:38:07:02 So we talked 00:38:07:02 - 00:38:11:00 about kind of performance management a little bit, but 00:38:11:02 - 00:38:15:06 how do you what are some ways to assess the performance of interns 00:38:15:06 - 00:38:19:10 during and at the end of the program 00:38:19:12 - 00:38:23:01 and what mechanisms do you have in place for providing 00:38:23:01 - 00:38:27:09 that constructive feedback to help them grow? 00:38:27:11 - 00:38:29:20 Yeah, I think feedback is so important 00:38:29:20 - 00:38:33:13 and that's something that we really hear from interns of. 00:38:33:15 - 00:38:39:00 I think again, this goes to does your manager know how to manage interns? 00:38:39:00 - 00:38:43:14 But feedback is something we hear and managers typically are like, well, 00:38:43:19 - 00:38:45:21 if they're not hearing from me, they're doing a good job. 00:38:45:21 - 00:38:49:02 And we have weekly check ins and, you know, we just kind of talk 00:38:49:02 - 00:38:51:18 through their projects and any challenges they have. 00:38:51:18 - 00:38:57:06 But I think interns want to know honestly, daily and speak to this 00:38:57:06 - 00:39:00:04 from your own experience, what like are they on the right track? 00:39:00:04 - 00:39:03:20 Are they doing a good job, really doing a bad job and tell them right away? 00:39:03:20 - 00:39:05:05 I think, 00:39:05:07 - 00:39:07:19 you know, people don't want to hear this, but I would honestly 00:39:07:19 - 00:39:10:19 check in with your interns at least once a day, if not more than that. 00:39:10:24 - 00:39:14:13 I think, you know, a week, a lot of things happen in a week. 00:39:14:13 - 00:39:15:21 And especially, 00:39:15:21 - 00:39:19:11 you know, if you look at like a ten week internship program that's like ten times 00:39:19:11 - 00:39:20:11 you're meeting with your intern 00:39:20:11 - 00:39:22:13 and think about how much they're doing in a day, 00:39:22:13 - 00:39:24:13 how many people they're trying to interact with. 00:39:24:13 - 00:39:27:06 We hear interns are 00:39:27:06 - 00:39:29:22 not always, but sometimes they don't like to be bored. 00:39:29:22 - 00:39:35:03 So if you're only meeting with them once a week, how are they feeling? 00:39:35:03 - 00:39:36:23 40 hours of their work week? 00:39:36:23 - 00:39:41:24 Are they truly busy and gaining knowledge and skills? 00:39:41:24 - 00:39:47:05 Every all of the all of the week and having those great experiences. So 00:39:47:07 - 00:39:49:20 I know managers sometimes are like, 00:39:49:20 - 00:39:52:20 I don't want to tell them they're doing a good job for just doing their job, 00:39:53:01 - 00:39:55:14 but I think if they're not hearing anything, 00:39:55:14 - 00:39:57:22 they really just don't know where they stand. 00:39:57:22 - 00:40:00:18 So I recommend talking to them every day. 00:40:00:18 - 00:40:01:17 And I know. 00:40:01:17 - 00:40:05:21 So my favorite example from you was like, Well, give me something negative. 00:40:05:21 - 00:40:09:07 It's always so positive and it's like, Wow, you're doing a great job. 00:40:09:07 - 00:40:12:05 And it's like, there's got to be something I can improve on. 00:40:12:05 - 00:40:14:03 And you're not the only intern that has said that. 00:40:14:03 - 00:40:17:23 And I completely agree that even though you are doing 00:40:17:23 - 00:40:22:18 a great job, are there even skills that maybe like 00:40:22:20 - 00:40:25:18 that aren't being shown in this project, but maybe in other projects 00:40:25:18 - 00:40:26:15 that I could develop? 00:40:26:15 - 00:40:28:07 So I think being very specific 00:40:28:07 - 00:40:31:14 in that feedback and very intentional is very important. 00:40:31:16 - 00:40:32:10 Absolutely. 00:40:32:10 - 00:40:35:18 And to piggyback off that, I would say something 00:40:35:18 - 00:40:39:13 that I love that you did when I was an intern. 00:40:39:15 - 00:40:43:05 You mentioned interns don't like being bored and that's very true 00:40:43:05 - 00:40:45:15 because that can make or break an internship. 00:40:45:15 - 00:40:48:21 I think in what you did that really helped 00:40:48:21 - 00:40:53:07 was checking in each day, like how was your workload going? 00:40:53:07 - 00:40:55:02 Do you need some more projects? 00:40:55:02 - 00:40:57:03 Do you want to sit in on this meeting? 00:40:57:03 - 00:41:01:05 So it's like always giving me an opportunity to be doing something 00:41:01:05 - 00:41:02:19 new each and every day. 00:41:02:19 - 00:41:06:12 So I think, like you said, that communication with an intern 00:41:06:12 - 00:41:11:08 is vital for an internship program to really succeed 00:41:11:10 - 00:41:18:10 and to make sure that your intern is enjoying the work that they're doing 00:41:18:12 - 00:41:20:02 and that they have an opportunity to, 00:41:20:02 - 00:41:23:21 like, openly communicate, communicate that with their manager. 00:41:23:21 - 00:41:29:01 If they aren't filling their 40 hours a week or have finished a project 00:41:29:01 - 00:41:33:12 and don't know what to do after that, well, it also helps just reprioritize. 00:41:33:12 - 00:41:36:18 I think I chuckle and this is not the best way to do it, 00:41:36:24 - 00:41:38:21 but we gave you like five pages of projects 00:41:38:21 - 00:41:42:18 that we want you to work on throughout the summer and I don't. 00:41:42:20 - 00:41:45:21 And in the best way possible, I don't think I think you go through 00:41:45:21 - 00:41:48:21 one page or whatever, because so many other things came up 00:41:48:22 - 00:41:53:03 throughout the summer that it was kind of like if we came to you in the morning 00:41:53:03 - 00:41:56:20 and we were like, Hey, we have this cool project, and you were like, 00:41:56:22 - 00:41:58:09 but I'm working on X, Y and Z. 00:41:58:09 - 00:41:59:07 We could be like, 00:41:59:07 - 00:42:03:12 yeah, I finish, I X, don't worry about Y, and then Z can wait till next week. 00:42:03:14 - 00:42:04:22 But it was able to have us 00:42:04:22 - 00:42:09:03 give us a chance to really learn what you like if you new opportunities, 00:42:09:03 - 00:42:14:14 but also just to prioritize who you aren't just taking on things without 00:42:14:16 - 00:42:15:00 feeling 00:42:15:00 - 00:42:18:00 like you had the bandwidth to do it all and be successful. 00:42:18:00 - 00:42:20:02 Yeah, I'm definitely not. 00:42:20:02 - 00:42:22:20 That will just give you another project management skill. 00:42:22:20 - 00:42:24:12 All right, There you go. 00:42:24:12 - 00:42:29:19 But just as we wrap up your career, any any lasting thoughts 00:42:29:19 - 00:42:30:15 that you want to share? 00:42:30:15 - 00:42:33:10 Actually, I'm going to turn it back to you. 00:42:33:10 - 00:42:35:09 Just you know, you've been involved with the intern 00:42:35:09 - 00:42:39:03 leadership program for a couple of years and you obviously were an intern and. 00:42:39:03 - 00:42:42:21 You still talk with, you know, a couple of interns from previous years. 00:42:42:22 - 00:42:45:22 So just anything anytime to you is here to employers 00:42:45:22 - 00:42:53:02 or maybe even hiring managers about creating a great memorable experience? 00:42:53:04 - 00:42:58:15 I would just say the big takeaway, I think just from today to 00:42:58:16 - 00:43:01:16 is that an effective internship 00:43:01:20 - 00:43:05:09 benefits both the intern and the organization. 00:43:05:10 - 00:43:08:19 I think that's always something to just keep in the back of your head 00:43:08:19 - 00:43:12:11 that don't just have an intern to have an intern. 00:43:12:11 - 00:43:16:12 Like like bring us back to the first question there. 00:43:16:12 - 00:43:19:18 The planning process and the planning stage. 00:43:19:20 - 00:43:23:02 And of course, you can add on to this because you were part of that 00:43:23:02 - 00:43:23:24 planning stage. 00:43:23:24 - 00:43:27:07 But I think that is the most vital 00:43:27:09 - 00:43:32:22 step in an internship program is making sure 00:43:32:24 - 00:43:35:23 you kind of have your priorities and your goals 00:43:35:23 - 00:43:41:08 and just the value of having an intern that you have that confidently set. 00:43:41:10 - 00:43:44:24 Well, for an intern comes in and you're not trying to figure out 00:43:45:01 - 00:43:48:06 an intern role while they're there. 00:43:48:08 - 00:43:52:09 No, I think that's that is absolutely crucial. 00:43:52:09 - 00:43:55:09 And I think now that this is like the most important takeaway, but 00:43:55:09 - 00:43:58:15 something that hasn't been mentioned yet is really make sure 00:43:58:15 - 00:44:03:03 that the interns and all of the candidates that you're interviewing 00:44:03:05 - 00:44:08:01 feel like you matter and that you're part of the organization from the beginning. 00:44:08:01 - 00:44:11:24 And I think I just remember when we were interviewing candidates 00:44:11:24 - 00:44:13:13 from the beginning, 00:44:13:13 - 00:44:13:23 you know, 00:44:13:23 - 00:44:17:05 I think we always wanted to keep them in the loop of where they were 00:44:17:05 - 00:44:18:12 in the hiring process. 00:44:18:12 - 00:44:21:05 And I mean, I think we made a decision very quickly. 00:44:21:05 - 00:44:25:11 And as soon as we made a decision, we we let everybody know. 00:44:25:11 - 00:44:30:08 And, you know, I think even for those that we didn't end up hiring, 00:44:30:10 - 00:44:32:19 we still wanted to have a great relationship with them 00:44:32:19 - 00:44:35:07 because you never know with opportunities in the future. 00:44:35:07 - 00:44:37:20 And we didn't want them to feel like, it's just an intern. 00:44:37:20 - 00:44:39:09 We'll get back to them in a couple of weeks. 00:44:39:09 - 00:44:41:22 And I think the 00:44:41:24 - 00:44:44:04 for us, it was important that everyone knew 00:44:44:04 - 00:44:46:17 that this is a critical role in our organization 00:44:46:17 - 00:44:49:05 and they are going to make an impact and they're part of our team. 00:44:49:05 - 00:44:52:03 So not necessarily that they're just an intern. 00:44:52:03 - 00:44:56:01 And I think we tried to treat you like you were part of the team 00:44:56:05 - 00:44:59:04 throughout the entire summer and beyond, and obviously you're part of our team now. 00:44:59:04 - 00:45:01:23 So it all worked out definitely. 00:45:01:23 - 00:45:05:20 And that was actually another 2024 internship 00:45:05:22 - 00:45:08:22 trend that I read about was 00:45:09:00 - 00:45:12:21 the importance of meaningful work in an internship 00:45:12:21 - 00:45:16:12 and just ensuring that your interns 00:45:16:12 - 00:45:21:08 can connect to your organization and to the work that they're doing. 00:45:21:08 - 00:45:24:10 And it's not just you're doing work to do work. 00:45:24:10 - 00:45:29:19 It's like you, your interns need to care about your organization's 00:45:29:19 - 00:45:36:10 mission and values and their work's mission and values too. So 00:45:36:12 - 00:45:39:06 to get my drop moment there, 00:45:39:06 - 00:45:40:24 I love it all. 00:45:40:24 - 00:45:45:01 Courtney, thank you again for sharing your expertise with us today. 00:45:45:03 - 00:45:46:13 And to our listeners, 00:45:46:13 - 00:45:51:07 I would just encourage you to head to Emory net dot org to check out 00:45:51:09 - 00:45:55:17 our Emory can help you recruit retain as well 00:45:55:17 - 00:45:59:17 as enhance your internship programs if you have an existing one. 00:45:59:17 - 00:46:03:00 And then also feel free to reach out to Courtney 00:46:03:00 - 00:46:07:11 to choose our manager of our internship leadership program. 00:46:07:11 - 00:46:10:13 So we'll include her 00:46:10:13 - 00:46:13:22 email down below in her LinkedIn profile if you want to connect with her. 00:46:13:23 - 00:46:17:08 But otherwise, I appreciate the chat. 00:46:17:08 - 00:46:17:23 Courtney. 00:46:17:23 - 00:46:22:14 Thanks again to our listeners and we'll see you next week. 00:46:22:16 - 00:46:23:13 Thanks for having me. 00:46:23:13 - 00:46:26:04 And that wraps up our content for this episode. 00:46:26:04 - 00:46:27:22 Be sure to reference the show notes 00:46:27:22 - 00:46:30:23 where you can sign in to connect for more podcast updates, 00:46:30:24 - 00:46:34:17 check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. 00:46:34:17 - 00:46:38:10 And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE 00:46:38:14 - 00:46:40:20 so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in 00:46:40:20 - 00:46:44:06 and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.…
1 Career Paths Unveiled: Past Trends and Modern Realities 32:22
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32:22Description: Embark on a journey of self-discovery and professional growth, where we unravel the intricacies of modern-day career development and its pivotal role in personal and organizational success. Resources: Developing Career Paths Resource Learning & Development MRA Membership About MRA Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Amanda Mosteller Guest LinkedIn Profile - Amanda Mosteller Host Bio - Sophie Boler Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:44:01 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. All right, Well, hi, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. And today's podcast, we're going to be talking about career pathing. And I'm joined by Amanda Mosteller, who is MRA's director of talent development and organizational development. So we really have a true career expert with us today. So I welcome you back, Amanda. You always do such a great job. 00:00:44:01 - 00:01:12:21 Unknown So I'm excited for this topic. Thanks for having me back and I love this topic as well. So, absolutely. And I know I talked a little bit about this before, but I know crew passing is not just for younger emerging leaders who have just started out in the workforce. It's really for everybody. So I guess kind of diving in then what is career path and exactly in why would you say it's important for an organization? 00:01:12:23 - 00:01:54:17 Unknown Yeah. So career pathing is typically quite what you would think. It would sound like taking a role or a career from entry into the organization and mapping out the path within that career within your organization. Why it's important is because it gives people a roadmap to see where they can go. Whether I'm coming in new to my career, as you were mentioning, or just newer to the organization, I might be popping in mid-level, but just seeing what is the opportunity for me in this role, in this space, in this organization? 00:01:54:17 - 00:02:22:21 Unknown What does that pathway look like? Is it mapped out? Is it defined? And can somebody walk me through it? Helps initially engage folks in not only their current space, but seeing the potential. I was just talking with my mother the other day about how I had 27 and a half years left before retirement. All right. Almost there. So close. 00:02:22:23 - 00:02:47:03 Unknown And I said to her, gosh, 27 and a half years, that feels like a long time. And if I thought in our organization, those 27 and a half years are in this role I'm in right now and there's nowhere else to go, no other way to grow my skills or move eventually into other spaces and roles within the organization. 00:02:47:04 - 00:03:19:16 Unknown That really becomes a defeating lot regardless of how much you love an organization. And I love being a part of me very much. But 27 and a half years in one role feels like a long time right? So that's why it's so important, that opportunity to look forward in your future and see evolution for yourself happening within an organization creates that that engagement and that increased retention and that connection to the company. 00:03:19:18 - 00:03:51:10 Unknown Yeah, for sure. This is something I think Jim Morgan talks about in some of his talent reports. I feel like speaking speaking for like a younger generation employee, surely, like when you're getting a job, like you talk about your current role, but it's like the career path is just as important as like this job that you're getting. So, I don't know, just talking to friends, I know some of them are like, Hey, if they don't kind of map out where I'm going to be in the next couple of years, I'm not interested. 00:03:51:11 - 00:04:24:10 Unknown So I know how important it is now. And I know you'll get to kind of like the evolution of it, how it's changed. But I just I've seen like a very big emphasis on career passing and making sure that employers talk about it right away in the interview process even. That's such a good point. In doing interviews in the past six months, I have noticed an increase in people asking me instead of my saying, Where do you see yourself in the next 3 to 5 years? 00:04:24:10 - 00:04:52:04 Unknown That standard question and most people, if they're any type of practice to interview viewers, they are with your organization. But if I have them turning around asking me what's the growth opportunity for this type of role within your organization and to get to where you're mentioning where we'll go during our conversation today, questions changing around what's the growth opportunity in your department? 00:04:52:06 - 00:05:20:16 Unknown That's not the question as much anymore as what's my growth opportunity in your organization? Meaning your company. So within the company you work for, not just your department. And that's that's telling that people are asking an interviewer is they're asking the hiring manager and they're changing their wording. And that's on purpose again, too. So then can you kind of talk about how career passing has evolved throughout the years? 00:05:20:18 - 00:05:51:21 Unknown And then why is that evolution really crucial for both employers and employees? Well, get to it like now. So. So traditionally, a career path. As an example for a sales professional, you come into an organization and you might be working foot in the door. Well, at lead generation and lead uncovering and then handing those leads off to a salesperson. 00:05:52:02 - 00:06:14:09 Unknown And that salesperson might have sales engineers come in depending on what they're selling. Eventually you become a sales manager. There might be an account executive in there where the size of territory or the size of client gets bigger and bigger. So you're getting bigger deals, eventually become a sales manager, then you become the sales director, then you become the sales VP, right? 00:06:14:14 - 00:06:56:06 Unknown Very linear career path and that is a defined career path. All within one type of job, role building on one another. That's the traditional career path. How it has evolved is people no longer think of a career path as a linear within this same type of job role. I mentioned that question changing the wording of the question changing, and that's because people are starting to say what skills and abilities can your organization provide me for myself that I can apply as I grow in my career? 00:06:56:08 - 00:07:25:06 Unknown People we know individuals coming to an organization and staying for 15, 20, 30 years is less and less common. Regardless of how amazing your culture is, regardless of how engaging and supportive and development focused your organization might be. And that's because if I'm sitting and waiting to become that leader or that manager or that next role, that means I'm waiting for somebody else to choose to leave in. 00:07:25:06 - 00:07:55:20 Unknown That can take a very long time, especially the higher up in an organization you go. So people are looking more for what knowledge, skills and abilities can you give me? Not necessarily just in one space, but cross-functionally in your organization? What that means is, as people are asking that question and that question is changing, instead of what is the growth opportunity in your department to what is the growth opportunity in your organization? 00:07:55:22 - 00:08:40:16 Unknown I might come in the door as a sales individual and skills that I'm looking for around maintaining multiple projects, time management skills, influencing for others, maybe owning a big opportunity within my organization and getting buy in across all groups. Those are all skills that can translate to any job role. So what I might find as I come in as a lead generation expert in a sales space and within two years I'm moving over to the marketing department because I'm starting to hone what does the buyer look for and how do I communicate that to the buyer effectively? 00:08:40:16 - 00:09:06:18 Unknown And marketing does a lot of that stuff also. So as I'm honing those skills, an opportunity in marketing is opened up and I might look over there to start building that skill. Now I have uncovering needs and I have really translating to what the buyer is looking for through my marketing expertise and then an opportunity in our bigger project management group opens up some of the skills I've been looking for. 00:09:06:18 - 00:09:49:11 Unknown If I want to become a leader someday does include managing multiple irons in the fire. I need to be able to do that. So I'll move over to that role because now I'm continuing to develop these knowledge, skills and abilities that eventually will get me into leadership positions. Now look at all these different spaces. I've been within one company, so when we talk about creating this modern evolved way of looking at career pathing, talk about engagement and retention, people aren't waiting till the next account executive leaves so that an account manager can become an account executive so that a lead generator could become an account manager. 00:09:49:13 - 00:10:18:18 Unknown You're doing a lot of waiting. That's what you're relying on your organization to do. And so looking at this evolution of career passing instead on where do you want to be in five years? Where do you want to be in ten years? Do you want to move into leadership? What types of skills do you want to grow in an eye as your organization can help identify opportunities for you that leverage those skills and will develop those skills in you? 00:10:18:20 - 00:10:49:14 Unknown You've created a different kind of career path that will really build your bench. I mean, now you have folks really learning all these different areas of your business, creating lots of effective, impactful needed skills as they move up and a well-rounded employee base, of course, THRIVEs a really effective and impactful organization. So what is modern day career path thing? 00:10:49:15 - 00:11:22:04 Unknown What is it evolve to? Not linear is what you really spiderweb it in a way. And yeah, focusing on transferable skills. Why is it crucial? For the same reasons. Everything else that we talk about in terms of development and culture and building your bench and growth is crucial. It's it's engagement for your employees, which creates high, effective, high, impactful workforces to THRIVE your business's success. 00:11:22:06 - 00:11:47:17 Unknown Yeah, that's a great point. And I feel like they've even started started the whole career passing thing, even on like when you're an intern, I know some intern programs. It's now not just focused on the type of internship you have. Maybe you're marketing intern, but they're putting you through all different departments so that you can start to see what the organization is as a whole. 00:11:47:17 - 00:12:21:06 Unknown And then you're also gaining skills from each of those departments. But your focus is a marketing term, but later on, maybe when you're applying for jobs, that's when you can apply what you've learned in the other departments. Kind of like what you said, the universal, universal transferable skills. So that leads me to another question on can you give any examples of how individuals can really assess those skills and interests and even identify them? 00:12:21:06 - 00:12:44:20 Unknown How do they know that? Yeah, So first it takes some self-reflection when you get asked that question of where do you want to be in five years, you better know the answer. Where do you want to be? If the answer is not a people leader, that's important to know because that's a different set of skills that we could develop in somebody that you might not be interested in. 00:12:44:22 - 00:13:14:16 Unknown If it is becoming just the best of the best and in your space, then let's identify what the best of the best looks like when we talk about how can you identify it, how do you know what to work on? There are I think it's a common misnomer that a 360 tool is something that only a leader in a high level leader should go through. 00:13:14:18 - 00:13:40:18 Unknown Three sixteens or just one eighties even, but are excellent sources of identifying your hidden strengths, your blind spots and things like that. And then identifying does that apply in the job? Well, I want the job well, I have. I might have a blind spot in an area that I don't need to use right now anyway. And so I'm not going to focus my energy on developing it. 00:13:40:20 - 00:14:09:20 Unknown But to that question of where am I trying to go with my career, I might need it when I try to get to that level. So what do I start developing now? So knowing the answer to the question is number one, knowing that there are tools out there that give you a well-rounded view of just universal competencies. Two, they don't have to be related to a certain type of leadership. 00:14:09:20 - 00:14:42:13 Unknown There are tools out three, six tools out there that that we utilize that could apply just just to an individual. Then the third one is start looking around at your organization, at what roles pique your interest, have conversations with your manager and with your peers around. What about those roles? Pique your interest so that you can start to get a view of what types of skills and activities are enticing to you and engaging to you that you want to learn how to try out. 00:14:42:15 - 00:15:09:03 Unknown So what? What levels and a career do I want to achieve? That's an answer you have to figure out for yourself. It might take some self-reflection and chatting with folks within your organization to see whether that's something of interest, chatting with your folks in your network outside of your current organization to see if that's something of interest. Using some tools that aren't just self reflection. 00:15:09:03 - 00:15:30:10 Unknown Because I love to THRIVE self awareness. Very few of us are just fully self aware in all of our strengths and the way we get self-awareness is by having somebody else give us some feedback. So looking at some tools that are out there for that and then starting to chat about what job roles are interesting to you and why do shadowing. 00:15:30:12 - 00:15:56:24 Unknown Go spend a day watching that job role to see if it is interesting it c It might sound cool. We can create some really cool job titles. That doesn't mean the role is as exciting as someone might think. So figuring out what's going on in your organization role wise, asking for opportunities to shadow, and then sitting down with with your manager to say, Here's what really did interest me about that role. 00:15:56:24 - 00:16:21:04 Unknown And then that can create we can you can start to get an idea of what types of jobs interest you and therefore what skills might be transferable to those jobs within your organization or any organization. And to your point, sometimes it's hard to identify your own skills and maybe you only have a couple that you write down or couple that you're definitely self aware of. 00:16:21:06 - 00:16:41:13 Unknown But or it's like personally help me as to like just taking a step back and asking maybe it's your manager or just a peer at work. Like in some their opinion. I know I've done that before and they're like, Well, you know, you did this project and I think you did a really good job on these things during that project. 00:16:41:13 - 00:17:01:02 Unknown Maybe you should start looking at that. So I think just trying to be outside sometimes and getting their perspective helps too, when you're doing some of that stuff. Yeah, it has to be somebody that you would define as like. And I talk to folks about this a lot and I say, Don't let the phrasing throw you off, but a safe person. 00:17:01:02 - 00:17:22:01 Unknown And what I mean by that is somebody that I think I've talked about this before, but somebody that you're open to their feedback, they will be honest with you, not in a hurtful way. So they're safe from that perspective. They'll be honest with you, but they're also somebody that you value and trust their opinion so you'll be less resistant if you hear something you don't like. 00:17:22:03 - 00:17:43:05 Unknown So who are those people that you could ask how that project went and you'd be open to hearing if they didn't basically just sing your praises and tell you how amazing you are, right? Yeah. Yeah. Well, kind of moving on here. We've talked about this on the podcast, but we also hear it a lot about work life balance. 00:17:43:09 - 00:18:14:01 Unknown So I'm kind of thinking about that. What advice do you have for individuals who are trying to balance their personal life and their professional goals while they're planning their career path? You know, I've I've mentioned up until now about competencies and what are the elements of that role you like and what are things that they're doing. But there are also, depending on where you want your career to go, education requirements, certification requirements. 00:18:14:01 - 00:18:44:18 Unknown I mean, if you want to be the best of the best and managing large projects, you probably want to go get your PMP certifications. So what does that look like? So connect your HR Department and and i know we're in HR Organization. And so, of course, amanda's going to say go talk to HR But for real, your HR department as all of these, you know, job descriptions which which they can look at trending lee And they also know, you know, trending. 00:18:44:18 - 00:19:15:16 Unknown Lee Okay, you're talking about being a people leader one day. Most of the time, people leaders tend to require a certain level of education requirement, not always, but most of the time they'll certainly know in their own organization what's required to see whether you have that. Are there certain certifications that are required? Because if if that's an opportunity for you that you want to this balance, they'll also know what resources are out there to help you start going down that path and how much is too much right away. 00:19:15:18 - 00:19:48:16 Unknown So we have team members that move into the learning and development space. And if you want to be the best of the best in certain things, there are certifications we would encourage you to get. Some of them are quick and easy to do certificates. Some of them are larger, you know, six month to a year and several tests certifications depending on your goals and your aspirations for your career, we might say you should go the certification route. 00:19:48:18 - 00:20:24:10 Unknown It takes a bit longer. Here are several different ways to do that, and we can talk through what makes the most sense and when starting makes the most sense for somebody. So the balance becomes what things outside of shadowing in my organization and talking to mentors and doing some development within my daily work hours, what else is out there and what else might I need to invest my time and energy into to get to the level of what I'm aspiring to get to? 00:20:24:12 - 00:21:00:24 Unknown This to the same word Moore claims in one sentence. But because some of the stuff you just can't do it work, there's just going to be some things that that would be more impactful. A pimp certification, for example, whether you want to be a project manager or not, that teaches you a lot of great organizational and executional structure and how to keep people and a large group on track and how to communicate effectively and what metrics you can utilize to not only measure success but identify budgets. 00:21:00:24 - 00:21:21:17 Unknown And there's a lot of things that would be transferable to other roles that that certification would teach you. And then going and trying it at an organization. But you can't get that through many of your own internal companies. You have to go somewhere to prep for that and take the test. So there's going to be outside work put into it. 00:21:21:17 - 00:22:18:15 Unknown So it's talk with your HR Department. They know those kinds of things. They have that knowledge. Yeah, absolutely. What we're talking about building your career path. How can individuals really align their personal values with their career choices? And why is that alignment really important for long term satisfaction? This is where i always encourage folks, excuse me, to really lean on their network, whether it is an internal network or their network outside of their organization, because values of time, values of family, values of excitement in travel, the values around what you just are comfortable and not comfortable doing, whether you will ever be the person that does that or not. 00:22:18:17 - 00:22:46:21 Unknown Those are things that you really need to understand. Does this industry require that? Does this level of career growth require that? There was for myself, for example, there was a long time where I had a vision of sea level at a high international company that was my I will be that someday I will be a chief learning officer. 00:22:46:23 - 00:23:15:21 Unknown I was very adamant that was going to be the end. That's my where I'm trying to get to. And then things in my life changed and I continue to evolve and I said as I started to connect with mentors in the space and those that are at that level, it's a very exciting level. But I started to say, Gosh, you're you're, you're always on an international level that includes travel. 00:23:15:24 - 00:23:34:00 Unknown Do I really want to travel? I got to work at an international company and started to recognize I want to be home at my values. You know, I want to be at home at night to help my kids do their schoolwork. I want that on my own. No one's telling me to do that. It's just something I want. 00:23:34:02 - 00:24:03:21 Unknown And so it really it really made me pause and think. So I think before you start to go down the path of investing your time and your energy and your plans and your excitement into something, really understand the whole of what that role looks like to see if it's what you want and also continue to reassess what I wanted at 25 and what I want now. 00:24:03:23 - 00:24:29:07 Unknown My birthday is tomorrow. So what I want as I turn a milestone birthday tomorrow are vastly different. And I think that's something we need to remember too, in this whole conversation is it is okay for your career path to change? Yeah, that's a great point. That's you need to. I thought that in the show notes, it's okay. That is change. 00:24:29:09 - 00:24:48:23 Unknown So I feel like a lot of people want things kind of set in stone. Like, like you said, like I want to be here and that's where I'm going. But it is okay if it's if things change. So I told my husband we were having one of those big, you know, rarely in our lives conversations that we one tends to have. 00:24:48:23 - 00:25:21:12 Unknown And I said, gosh, if we could pull it off, I would totally be happy to just, you know, retire and well, who wouldn't be happy to in the next five years? So, you know, he'd always gone on this. You want to be a C-suite. I mean, we talked about this for a very long time. So my move to say, I think I just like to write, I think I would be very happy, you know, stepping back and writing and just write books and write articles and just do that. 00:25:21:14 - 00:25:41:05 Unknown And he was like, okay, well, I don't think one a different one doesn't just do that. Five years ago, I invested some time. I thought, maybe I want to be there, see, like I don't want to be a C-suite leader in a giant international company. I've learned I don't want that. That didn't align with my values. I want to run my own business. 00:25:41:10 - 00:26:08:02 Unknown That's what I want to do. So I went through the process to get my LLC and I went and got individually certified in several things so that I was a certified seller of those things to THRIVE my business. And then I started building my network of of others in this space with their own LLC. And for some reason in my head, I'd be less busy if I ran my own business. 00:26:08:02 - 00:26:34:10 Unknown I'm not sure what I was thinking. Newsflash, everyone, you're not less busy. You're having. It's fun. So. So then I thought, Well, I'm home with my kids, so I'm not traveling internationally, but I'm working at night and in the morning and on weekends and always. And I was like, That doesn't really align with my values either. So it's okay to to have your career path change up. 00:26:34:12 - 00:27:09:07 Unknown And I think the big value to an organization is recognizing people do that too. They can invest your time in somebody that, you know, came in and they were really excited and then they all of a sudden sit down with you ten years later. And they're like, So I've been thinking for a while, wrapping up here today. I know we've given a lot of great practical, practical steps, but do you have any last steps or pieces of advice that employees and employers can really take to create their own personalized career path and plan? 00:27:09:09 - 00:27:42:16 Unknown And if you have any resources that you kind of want to draw up here today, I think that would be a good ending to that. So, yeah, so a great step for organizations is to create that kind of open door conversation process where employees can come and chat with HR About what are job roles and what are kind of some universal expectations at different levels within the organization or different job roles. 00:27:42:16 - 00:28:24:08 Unknown Are there certain certifications that i'm completely unaware of and and for the organization to have an understanding of resources you can connect team members to. It's excellent to have tuition reimbursement, it's excellent to have certification. You know, spotlight staffs or bonuses if you go get the certification or will pay you back for it. But to also have that resource bank of where people can go to get those certifications and especially, you know, price preferred means for you as an organization, build that resource bank so that when folks do ask their managers or do come to your company's HR 00:28:24:08 - 00:28:51:15 Unknown Department, you have an answer for them from an individual perspective, it is one of the answer to that question. So do some self-reflection and prepare that kind of stuff, but also take some stock. And it doesn't have to be a full 360 assessment tool or anything. But to the resources, what what would I consider my strengths to be? 00:28:51:15 - 00:29:12:19 Unknown Look at the job description you applied for. What about it made you apply for it? If you can look back at different roles, you've had within your career, what are those skills you've built up over time? Create your own skill bank so that you can reflect back on that skill bank and say, Here's all the things I've learned, here's what I have, here's how I know I'm strong in it. 00:29:12:21 - 00:29:53:05 Unknown What gaps am I seeing? Because only you know your career better than anybody else. So when you know what things you've done better than anybody else. So really take your own self-assessment, make your own list of what you've created and what your strengths are, so that when you go have that conversation, folks can try to help you say, this type of job role utilizes that this type of job or utilizes that to help you get a sense for those things, you can go to it from a resource perspective, depending on the industry space that you do think you want your career to grow in. 00:29:53:05 - 00:30:20:10 Unknown Again, it might not be a specific job role, but it might be an industry specific. There can be lots of industry competency models out there that you can do your own. Do I think I need to grow? I'm I'm strong in this or have mastered it. ATD has one for learning and development professionals. They have one for sales professionals. 00:30:20:12 - 00:30:59:04 Unknown Sherm has them for HR Professionals and hrc has them for HR Professionals. P i don't even know who does the vp the project manager certifications, but it really depends on industry space, where or what assessment tools are out there to find out where you are within that space. But there's tons of them out there. Just give it a google and you will find find lots of resource is depending on what industry peaks your interest and why. 00:30:59:06 - 00:31:23:23 Unknown Yeah, for sure you can put some resources that we use in the show notes below as well. But that was, that was great advice. And with Amanda and I think everyone, whomever where they are in their career can relate to this somehow, which is, which is really great. So thank you for coming on today and being today's guest and really sharing your expertise in this area. 00:31:24:00 - 00:31:45:09 Unknown I always love your examples and the tools that you share to our listeners. If you liked our chat and topic today, don't forget to share our episode and consider joining MRA. If you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below, including resources on this topic. Career paths and the course. 00:31:45:09 - 00:32:06:24 Unknown We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to chime in and share any great success stories that you've had of your own career path or career path planning otherwise. Thank you so much again for tuning in today and we will see you all next week. That wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect. 00:32:06:24 - 00:32:22:07 Unknown For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.…
1 Mindful Workplaces: Nurturing Health and Well-being 30:01
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30:01Description: In this episode, we explore the concept of a mindful workplace, its practices, and the profound impact it can have on employee and business success. Resources: Wellness Toolkit Wellness Guide Welcome to Workplace Wellness Publication MRA Membership About MRA Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Laura Ruby Guest LinkedIn Profile - Laura Ruby Host Bio - Sophie Boler Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR. MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:48:24 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Well, hello, everybody, and thanks for joining us today. We're we're really hearing more about mindful workplaces nowadays. We thought we would take today's podcast, really think about this topic more in-depth. So i'm here with Laura Ruby senior HR Business partner and HR Business advisor for mra. We're really going to talk about why mindful workplaces are trending or what you really need to be aware of. 00:00:49:05 - 00:01:11:19 Unknown What are some of the challenges that come along with it in more so or thanks so much for joining us today. I really, really appreciate it. Well thank you. So I'm really pleased to be here. This is definitely a timely concept, I think, for a number of employees to consider or employers to consider. Yeah, absolutely. And I know we were talking about that. 00:01:11:21 - 00:02:02:12 Unknown You're very passionate about this topic and you've been working in the HR for such a long time that this is kind of the perfect topic to go over today. So I think we should kind of start out with what is a mindful workplace. Can you define it? Yes, so mindful workplace is really a combination of factors as we look at new initiatives that people are working towards in that space is really developing an awareness of an individual's thought processes, their emotions and their actions, and helping to enable them to laser focus on those and remove obstacles to productivity and really improving the work workplace from a variety of different aspects. 00:02:02:14 - 00:02:50:21 Unknown Yeah, absolutely. And you guys in part two to that question. Can you describe what that whole concept of the mindful workplace really encompasses? It's actually quite broad in as well. In talk today we'll touch on all of those components but it's it's combining more Eastern philosophies about issues of meditation or focus and concentration, breathing, as well as branching into mental health aspects that are damaging workplaces right now and helping individuals to deal with their own anxiety, stress, as well as other things like other issues they may be experiencing. 00:02:50:21 - 00:03:20:21 Unknown And in relationships, finances, you know, you name it. So it's a very good I'm going to discuss how the company can actually sort of work with developing a healthier source. And actually, I feel like it's definitely transformed throughout the years or in my opinion, I feel like employers didn't really talk about this kind of stuff as much as they do now. 00:03:20:22 - 00:03:48:15 Unknown They didn't care as much about, you know, providing all these resources and mental health resources and wellness resources to employees. So I think it's great we can kind of cover that and talk about it and just the process and how it's evolved over the years, too. So my next question then would be, do you have any practices that a mindful workplace can kind of what can you implement? 00:03:48:15 - 00:04:35:23 Unknown What practices can you implement to create a mindful workplace? I mean, it's all over the map, but I think that really companies that are finding great success with implementing mindfulness, they're starting more starting small programs available to employees, maybe with classes or chair yoga, breathing exercises and some of those smaller components into helping the individual so as to what they're thinking and to continue to say that laser focus on what's in front of them rather than all these other things that may be coming from local personal life or other anxieties. 00:04:36:00 - 00:05:16:00 Unknown So really, it's starting small forces or activities designed to encourage that, as well as programs designed to work to tell physical and mental health things like walking programs or competitions within companies where people compete on a physical level to the mental health aspects and making sure that insurance programs feel great. And it's available to employees, including people who are in search of more provided. 00:05:16:00 - 00:05:48:07 Unknown So it's a very broad spectrum. Some of the larger companies are also includes things like meditation rooms or Zen areas or places where it's cool to take a break there and get reflective. And there are things that people want to address. Yeah, those are all great examples, Laura And I'm thinking about Emirates specifically, some of the cool things we do with our wellness. 00:05:48:09 - 00:06:10:01 Unknown Something I love in the summer, we'll kind of get a group of employees together and walk around. We have some trails around here and the walk show location and that's just great to kind of take like a mental health break, take a walk kind of reboot almost. And we also have a masseuse come once in a while, which is awesome. 00:06:10:03 - 00:06:48:06 Unknown That's a plus. So, yeah, a lot of great examples of what organizations can do well. And I know are you talked about starting small. You don't have to implement this huge idea right away. But what's what other steps can be taken to create a culture that values and supports this mindfulness? Well, that's a really good question. You know, a lot of research out there is built in on more so management assertiveness and exhibiting these behaviors and then having that trickle down effect within the organizations. 00:06:48:06 - 00:07:42:15 Unknown So many companies will start to train their managers on the basic concepts and helping them to modify their behaviors to help other people. And so along with this process, because a lot of them view that managers are kind of the key to their success in the organization. And if you have a manager that's been, you know, like micromanaging to use the term or, you know, laser focus on what people are doing right then, and that can really put a bad tone in the organization as employees, more stress and so more specific, the focus is really to train the managers first and then implement some of these programs for the interviews to help encourage them to 00:07:42:15 - 00:08:14:02 Unknown take that step back and begin to give themselves some additional brave souls. Feel throughout the day. And so a lot of the programs that were designed or have some training programs in the beginning where they'll people there are a number of number of mental health app type applications or mindfulness applications that people install on their desktop or their cell. 00:08:14:04 - 00:08:44:04 Unknown So they encourage that as well as integrating a lot of training, maybe even utilize you to come in and talk about more stressful things that might be pressing individuals who trying to work with children and then someone is engaged with adult care for them, trying to manage those needs. It's on both ends of the spectrum to put that stuff aside and let yourself levels. 00:08:44:06 - 00:09:22:10 Unknown Absolutely. And I know we talked about this a little bit in the beginning, but what about the physical workspace being designed to encourage this mindfulness and others quiet areas, massage room, but any other examples that you can give the physical workspace, specifically? And I think this one is really important and I find myself doing this every at least once a week, just decluttering your office and taking that time to organize it so that things are not visually distracting you. 00:09:22:12 - 00:10:03:08 Unknown You have easy access to them. For example, I support simple members as well as working on the front line. So I basically moved all of my materials out of the visual area. So a couple of computers set up on my desktop and I tried very diligently to only have one computer on the time, but decluttering, moving things where they're easy to get to, but not in the visual space and using common colors, things like to look at, you know, I have a number of pictures in here with my grandchildren and they're kind of between the screen here. 00:10:03:08 - 00:10:32:01 Unknown But, you know, you can use the same concept in your own workspace, even a cubicle or, you know, things just to create that environment. So the grid, as we mentioned, setting up spaces where things can get a little comfortable. Both of these have been stored on a break room. They have like couches and easy chairs for people to sit in versus just the table and a more sterile environment. 00:10:32:03 - 00:11:01:08 Unknown And as you mentioned, like having a Zen room or meditation or just a space that people can go into. But so yeah, I love those. Yeah. And I would add to for the Quiet Areas piece at MRA, we have focus rooms and those are something I definitely take advantage of on a day to day basis. And they're just quiet rooms. 00:11:01:08 - 00:11:24:01 Unknown You can go to solo rooms, kind of gets rid of all the distraction and allows you just kind of focus on your own work. So that's something that I really love about our physical workspace, but also the natural light to think having windows is so important and letting the sun come in or is snow light I guess right now. 00:11:24:03 - 00:11:57:10 Unknown Right, Right. But yeah, even in the offices there in Wisconsin, the turkeys come up near the windows. And so you kind of get this natural breaks throughout the day, taking a step back to nature and kind of disengage from work stress. So stressful opportunities just get into a different. definitely. Definitely. Well, now that we've kind of talked about all the logistics of it, what impact does it really have on employees and business success, too? 00:11:57:12 - 00:12:31:17 Unknown Well, it's not staggering when you talk about the mental health aspect of this. There was a recent study done that nearly half of the employees that were surveyed, I believe this is survey of people they had mentioned almost half the time that their mental stress or issues that they had got into the workplace and in fact they it to so, you know, this is a pretty serious area when you have our high pressure environments. 00:12:31:17 - 00:13:11:14 Unknown We have technology that is helping us to be more efficient. That can sometimes be a distraction as well, where those types of things can certainly effect productivity at work. You also see where employee absenteeism increases when they have to deal with stress or dealing with lots of issues. But now you have employee satisfaction and engagement, which is a huge factor in this as well, is highly impacted by developing those mindfulness practices there. 00:13:11:14 - 00:13:54:19 Unknown As the workforce becomes more engaged to it, we'll see other things like reduced toxicity as a higher productivity and just a number of other things within the organization, especially the team will sort of go into these like best companies to work or those organizations or you see continue to be up there addressing these issues regularly. You absolutely. I think it's also helpful to give some examples of wellness programs so that companies can start thinking about some ideas for themselves. 00:13:54:19 - 00:14:35:19 Unknown So what wellness programs are in place to support employees mental and emotional well-being? For example, there are a couple of other offenders that are out there that have websites within engagement, and they can provide things from training to other directed things for the organization. A lot of companies can work with their community against some training or some other activities to help themselves establish these programs and really it's initiatives that a company needs to undertake and puts in it. 00:14:35:21 - 00:15:10:09 Unknown So they know the company is saying, we recognize that we need to improve mental health so they can begin to throw out some of those initiatives. So again, focusing on the key points that they want to bring into focus group and being mindful as well as the challenge that there's something one of the other things we've seen a lot of conference engaging in is really looking at the effectiveness of our job is goals. 00:15:10:11 - 00:15:51:00 Unknown So we may have a job description, but it could be that the person fails to do so. Do set the tone. So we structured those positions to be acceptable, normal. And again, we're working with some of those wellness providers to implement some of those programs and really give them a start of influence to start us with. They've already given hope to or different types of services into the organization, or they can project because they've worked with some of these programs as well. 00:15:51:02 - 00:16:22:15 Unknown And then I think the next step we see HRC developmental University for tax and spend is outward to see what services they can provide in that space, because again, it's going to be a balancing act of financial commitment. So the company will do little space to implement some of these ideas again and again. The other important aspect to serving themselves to actually find out what it is that they would do, just sitting, just sitting. 00:16:22:16 - 00:16:47:09 Unknown And I think that's another survey back to said, you know, companies go where, you know, about 60% of companies to be doing a great job if you ask their employees and they're like, no, I'm not participating. I'm not really seeing some interest to me. So we're going to get their feedback soon. So let's do the work for you as an individual. 00:16:47:11 - 00:17:18:04 Unknown And then using that David style, allow it to influence the audience. Yeah, that's a great point to bring up. Absolutely. You talked about that stat with how mental health impacts productivity. So wondering if you're kind of seeing anything else here with our mental health really impacts productivity at work. It's well, if you look at company, it's going to be a little bit different. 00:17:18:06 - 00:17:51:05 Unknown But I think if you were thinking about mental health, there are a number of programs designed to work the same as you're providing additional counseling services, maybe through your income, more services available to employees, and then financial wellness and helping them to work with their retirement programs into the future. Now let's look and see what we can set up to really help support financial unexpected financial things. 00:17:51:05 - 00:18:21:16 Unknown So with individuals who are gearing those programs to help minimize anxiety or stress or know that concept or those day to day activities or childcare is another area where, again, you know, it's a huge worry for people watching as to how they're going to provide support to have the right resources available to them, what happens with their child. 00:18:21:16 - 00:18:45:06 Unknown So how they deal with that. So a lot of those focuses to help minimize stress for people and allow them to step away from that. And the other great focus and I think going off of that work life balance talk, when you're talking about care, spending time, that's where the work life balance kind of also comes into play here. 00:18:45:06 - 00:19:14:20 Unknown So we actually had a whole podcast alone on work life balance. So it's definitely important and something you know, everyone wants. So do you have any suggestions for employers how they can help balance work life, work life balance for their employees? Yeah, I think there's a number of things that a company can do. One, they talked battles for reevaluating the jobs being done. 00:19:14:22 - 00:19:47:20 Unknown Are they being done effectively because a lot of work stress comes from that. That very aspect that my job is, is to do an area where I don't have the right tools to get the job done or there may be other efficiencies. So you do not want to remove that stress, but it seems like very flexible hours so people can stylize hours so they're the best person, that sort of thing to do to get kids to school and pick them up in the day they can. 00:19:47:22 - 00:20:24:07 Unknown A special hybrid workplace is also really powerful in addressing that. So identifying when you want to stack all that work around you do work from home. It's that's with a manufacturing environment. It might be implementing, you know, five minute breaks in manufacturing or some other ways to stagger breaks so that people can stop working a little more frequently throughout the day versus just confining that small your ten or 15 minute period. 00:20:24:09 - 00:20:54:02 Unknown So there's a lot of things that something you can evaluate that would work in day and again, contribute to some of that work life balance. You know, and it just shows. I think that's the final thing. You know, companies can use. They're buying talent. So speed is providing it for brands or a health care child. You know, some of these are very aspects of THRIVE. 00:20:54:04 - 00:21:32:10 Unknown I know several companies I work with nowadays. And how do they bring you directly into work and they take it up and have it done for you. And so, you know, and utilizing tools like, you know, ordering your groceries online from the microwave. So there's a person that you can co-champions. Lots of people do. Yeah. Why don't we try to This is how we work for you to help in that flexibility that we're trying to develop in. 00:21:32:13 - 00:22:04:11 Unknown Well, yeah. What's going to make their life easier, right? Yes. I'd like to draw on my laundry and have somebody to get done. Something I read about when I was kind of restructuring for this topic today was Holistic well-being initiative. So things that kind of encompass physical, mental and emotional health. So what are some initiatives employers can implement around here? 00:22:04:13 - 00:22:37:00 Unknown Well, and that's, you know, again, if you take a step back to look at all your wellness programs, what are you offering today and what can you bring in? There are programs that we've been developed that are a little more integrated. So you can say here, I want to create a program about, you know, balancing work so and so things where you coach them and say, you know, when you get into work, take 5 minutes at the beginning of work to just kind of arrive and be at your desk. 00:22:37:02 - 00:23:02:13 Unknown Don't check your email, save your email review. So maybe 20 minutes into the job or, you know, or implementing, there's a technique called the Pomodoro technique, where you divide up your your time into 25 minute increments and you take just a slight break between them. So you just only focus on one thing for 25 minutes to explain two things. 00:23:02:13 - 00:23:40:03 Unknown So if you're implementing, if you're doing project management, you can build that into it as well. So I think just really being open minded as an employer as to what options and again, this is for the survey too. So in handy is to help isolate, you know, what are things that employees interested in. And really I think what inhibits of employees from participating in those initiatives at work is sometimes the time you're hosting a one hour training course. 00:23:40:05 - 00:24:07:13 Unknown Many employees, more than ten of them because they're like, I can't go that. But you can break that down to 15 minute sessions. You'll see that your attendance rates increase. So again, you're really trying to find a sweet spot for what you're offering and how much observation is in that program and then doing follow up. So that was useful. 00:24:07:15 - 00:24:35:16 Unknown You know, how learned about this topic. One of the topics that they want to and so that's not so good, but it's again, taking that to the stage where our approach, it's not just one solution, but there are many aspects to it. Yeah, finding the balance, Google optimization. And I would just emphasize what you said on surveys and employee surveys and Emery can help you with that. 00:24:35:16 - 00:24:57:23 Unknown We have employee surveys, we can help you with custom surveys. So I will make sure to add the link in the show notes. So if you do want to check that out, absolutely go for that. But we're I feel like a lot of managers or leaders may be asking the question right now, how do you know this is having an impact on your employees and your organization? 00:24:58:00 - 00:25:40:03 Unknown Yeah, actually, using metrics, we can implement a lot of metrics within your own organization to measure. First, I would suggest to a baseline to consumer research. So like how often are we missing deadlines or other aspects within the organization? Absenteeism, utilization of PTO also seems to give you an overall view of where we'll start today, even serving and things again we've utilized since then, since getting baseline on the effectiveness of the program is today. 00:25:40:05 - 00:26:17:23 Unknown And then as you move forward with these, once you're putting them out one by one by one, you can measure it into the survey information of that work, which is improving things long term and a little bit annually, you look at absenteeism rates and see how that's being affected or turnover statistics is number one. So as you see absenteeism rates starting to decline now, people lower turnover in the organization and all of these are indicators of several components of success, the wellness. 00:26:17:23 - 00:26:59:12 Unknown But I think again, like I keep harping on it, surveys are a good way to pinpoint work as this affected where you can use exit interviews for people who do leave the organization and find out where do you see the lowest since or something that could have helped to reduce you? And then again, employee feedback about their managers, because again, we've talked about this all starts with leadership and has a trickle down effect and identifying leaders that maybe needs some additional support as well in their managerial style indicators. 00:26:59:14 - 00:27:36:10 Unknown So these are all ways that you can say, yes, we will evaluate that. Some statistics to look at are performing over time. Yeah, sounds like there's a lot of indicators and tools out there to help you kind of measure that impact. And even some of those are mobile applications that people are downloading and which is the organization will store information that can with what effect without utilization and maybe help identify some other areas that people might want to expand upon. 00:27:36:12 - 00:28:12:08 Unknown Well, or as we kind of close out the episode today, is there one thing that you want our listeners to really take away from today's episode on Mindful Workplaces? I know it's it's a lot and there are a lot of stigma associated with meditation or, you know, doing yoga or a lot of things like that, but recognizing that there isn't a one that's all sort of solution, that it's got to be customized to workplace. 00:28:12:10 - 00:28:40:15 Unknown No being well connected experiences to be able to get that feedback, but was one of them in one thing. This is a journey that's about me as an individual. First and then come to me as a company. How we're going to provide resources and tools for each individual on that labor station. So keeping that in your mind, it will help you to develop these break ins. 00:28:40:17 - 00:29:13:23 Unknown Now it's up to me in to help them to use it to help reduce stress, anxiety, stress, anxiety. Just for sure. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for being our guest on today's topic and sharing all of your expertise, because I know you have so much in this area. I think everyone can really walk away with a lot of great new ideas and action steps that they can take to create a mindful workplace if they haven't already. 00:29:14:00 - 00:29:36:21 Unknown But to our listeners listening and watching, if you liked our chat and our topic today, I would encourage you to share this episode out and consider joining MRA if you aren't a member already. Like I said, we have all the resources you need in the show notes below and we have resources on this topic too, so make sure to look at the show notes and thanks for tuning in, Laura. 00:29:36:21 - 00:29:57:00 Unknown Thanks for joining us today and we will see you next week and that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign in to connect. For more podcast updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure you follow MRA's 30 minute THRIVE so you don't miss out. 00:29:57:00 - 00:30:01:22 Unknown Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the HR conversation.…
Description: We're here with the latest talent trends in January, with a spotlight on the evolving role of AI in the workplace. Join us as we discuss the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities surrounding artificial intelligence, and how organizations are harnessing this transformative technology to shape the future of work in the early months of the year. Resources: Talent Report+ Webinar Series MRA Membership About MRA Let's Connect: Guest Bio - Jim Morgan Guest LinkedIn Profile - Jim Morgan Host Bio - Sophie Boler Host LinkedIn Profile - Sophie Boler Transcript: Transcripts are computer generated -- not 100% accurate word-for-word. 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:21:04 Unknown Hello everybody and welcome to 30 minute Thrive, your go to podcast for anything and everything HR, powered by MRA, the Management Association. Looking to stay on top of the ever changing world of HR? MRA has got you covered. We'll be the first to tell you what's hot and what's not. I'm your host, Sophie Boler, and we are so glad you're here. 00:00:21:05 - 00:00:42:16 Unknown Now it's time to thrive. Hi, everybody, and welcome to this episode of 30 Minute Thrive, which is on the January edition of MRA's Monthly. Taylor Report, which is an up to the minute review of what's going on in the world of business with an emphasis on talent. With Jim Morgan, MRA's vice president of Workforce Strategies. So thanks, Jim, again for being here. 00:00:42:17 - 00:01:06:01 Unknown Yeah, it's good to be back in the studio. yeah. Well, this month the special focus was on essentials for HR Professionals. So I guess my first question to you is really why this topic now? And maybe before we get into that, let's look at your quote of the month, which was related to A.I.. So can you kind of speak on that for a little bit, why you chose that and then the topic. 00:01:06:04 - 00:01:34:02 Unknown Yeah. Sure. The quote was A.I. is moving from traditional Human Resources Shared Services Administration up to human resources, business partner work using virtual assistants who provide us with cognitive insights like Alexa. It's going to happen faster and harder than HR people are ready for. And that was somebody from Deloitte. And I just thought it was interesting because where we're at right now with A.I. in HR is the very beginning. 00:01:34:04 - 00:01:55:20 Unknown And, you know, we did some polling of our own members and talking to our own staff. I mean, it's really at its beginnings stages, and we're just trying to help our 4000 member companies kind of get out in front of it, see what's happening, you know, and where do I belong in all of this? And I think what really launched this is it took someone in the technology field to explain this to me. 00:01:55:20 - 00:02:18:04 Unknown But they said, you know, when they're when they're working on products, theirs is very much a ready fire aim philosophy. It's it doesn't have to be done. Let's just throw it out there and see what happens because our customers will scream at us with whatever is wrong. And if you think of any new version of Microsoft or any new Apple phone, there's a reason it's 2.02.1, 2.2, 3.1, 3.2. 00:02:18:06 - 00:02:38:24 Unknown And that they put something out there and they say, okay, what don't our people like? And then we'll fix it. And that's different than most any other industry that usually is like, we got to get this thing right to our customers or satisfied. But in the technology world, everything's moving so fast, it's more or less put it out there and then we can just pivot and go in a different direction of That's all we need to do. 00:02:38:24 - 00:03:06:10 Unknown So we pick now at the start of the year because I think this is going to be a huge year for artificial intelligence and certainly for our members and people in HR. Yeah, absolutely. And you had kind of subject matter expert Chris Krause, vice president and principal consultant at Naviant join you for this talent report as well. And he gave kind of insight into all things AI related in terms of implementing it in companies and with HR teams specifically. 00:03:06:11 - 00:03:34:17 Unknown So can you highlight some of his key points that you kind of talked about? And Yeah, and I would encourage people to watch that. One is Chris really did do a good job, but he was just sort of breaking it down in terms of where are different places that this will be used in HR And a lot of people have used Chad GPT or some other generative artificial intelligence to do things like how to write a job description or put together a career path. 00:03:34:17 - 00:03:53:06 Unknown And he was sharing examples of that. And again, you know, everybody has to understand this is is not perfect. You don't ask a question, print it out and send it out to an interviewer, closest friends. But it's a good place to start. And he used the example of a machinist he just typed in, you know, what's a good job description for a machinist? 00:03:53:08 - 00:04:14:24 Unknown And it came back with responsibilities and requirements and then he asked what would be a good, you know, career path for a machinist. And it came back with beginner, intermediate, advanced Leader and so, again, it wasn't the it wasn't the this is what's going into our policy handbook answer, But it was, wow, this is a pretty good start. 00:04:14:24 - 00:04:32:02 Unknown And now if I'm a company looking for that machinist, I figure, okay, this is a good start. Now I need to add what is it that we need and what are the things that we're looking for? And he talked about, you know, using things like chat bots because there's just so many things that are standard questions in HR 00:04:32:07 - 00:04:53:20 Unknown And i know that when benefits come around our age, our department and everyone would like to have some. If there was a way to just answer these, you know, what's the difference between plan one and plan two? What's duct to bowl? What does it mean to be out of service area? Those are all programable easy, you know, ready to answer questions. 00:04:53:22 - 00:05:17:16 Unknown And so looking at it from a what are the administrative tasks or the redundant things that might be able to be better done in a different way? That's kind of where he started, but then went on to say, you know, artificial intelligence is being used in learning and development, it's being used in recruiting, and all of it is how do we take advantage of this asset and use it for good and not for you all? 00:05:17:16 - 00:05:37:06 Unknown And he just had some real good examples of ways in which it was being used specifically in human resources. Yeah, I was going to say he did give a lot of great examples and I would urge you to take a look at that recording. And also while we're on this topic, do you want to kind of give an inch of the AI series that's going to be coming out? 00:05:37:07 - 00:05:57:10 Unknown Yeah, sure. We're we're very excited by this, are just putting it together. It'll probably be March, April, but we're really trying to break it down into sections and talk about, you know, here's a AI, here's the basics of what's going on, but then talk about what does this mean for our administration? What does this mean for HR And learning development? 00:05:57:12 - 00:06:17:11 Unknown What does this mean for HR and employee engagement? Yeah, all of them have samples of ways in which artificial intelligence is being utilized in a jar already. So i think it'll be a really good starting point for a lot of people who are like, I don't know where to go. I don't know where to start. I even know what the possibilities are. 00:06:17:13 - 00:06:32:12 Unknown We're going to bring in some folks. I think they're going to be able to lay things out, not here's the answer, not here's prescription as to how you should do it. But, you know, here's the possible you got to figure out where it fits in your company. So I'm we'll be putting those out pretty soon. I think that'll be very exciting. 00:06:32:15 - 00:07:02:21 Unknown Yeah. We also have a whole section on artificial intelligence at our employee law update that's coming up. So that's another one that, you know, again, we're trying to just help our members see where this might be going and they figure out what's going to be best for our company for sure. So stay tuned for that. But I'm kind of moving on here, looking at your actual talent report now with recruiting and retention innovation, it looks like you've pulled some stats from a new report from intelligent AECOM on some new and interesting happenings in recruiting. 00:07:02:21 - 00:07:26:09 Unknown So can you kind of highlight what was seen here in some of those stats? Yeah, what we what we pulled out there was really it was looking at bachelor's degrees, quite frankly. And I think I think a lot of companies have picked up on this already. But, you know, many if they haven't updated anything in a while, Bachelor degrees 30 years ago were a separation of two piles of resumes like has one doesn't have one. 00:07:26:09 - 00:07:59:19 Unknown And that's kind of the way things functioned. And the world has changed. And now it's you might be looking for a specific skill set and you might be looking for a certificate. You might just be looking for someone who's got the right attitude and fits your culture, and we can teach them the rest of it. So it was just looking at companies now that are starting to drop bachelor's degree from something that might have just been in there because it's always been in there and saying, what is it that we actually have to have, especially at in some entry level jobs and even middle level jobs where they may have gotten all kinds of experience 00:07:59:19 - 00:08:23:13 Unknown somewhere else or have the ability and the skill set to do things and don't necessarily have that degree. So it was really encouraging companies to take a hard look at their the job postings in their job descriptions, to say even beyond just bachelor's degrees. You have a bunch of things in there that maybe just don't apply anymore, or that if you find the right person, you can teach them some of the things that. 00:08:23:15 - 00:08:53:17 Unknown So it's just interesting. I think companies, again, are trying to get as big a funnel of candidates as they possibly can and not eliminate someone that might still have the ability to do the job. So get rid of those just qualifiers. Yeah, that is interesting. Kind of moving on from that point, then going off of recruiting and retention specifically going into more of the talent thinking talent pool, it looks like LinkedIn released its 34 big ideas that will change our world in 2024 or less. 00:08:53:19 - 00:09:16:20 Unknown And I know you took you looked at that list and from that list, what do you see that's really of interest to HR Professionals specifically? Yeah, it's a really interesting list. And if someone's got the time to go, look, i'm sure if you just google linkedin's 34. Interesting things for 2024, you'd find it. It's just overall, it was a look at just society in general and some things that are going on. 00:09:16:22 - 00:09:41:01 Unknown But some of the interesting ones that I thought, okay, well, these applied HR Specifically we've been talking about employee shortages, you know, here in the united states, but they had an interesting section in there on, you know, other countries that are actually encouraging and trying to put incentives in place for people to have children, whether that we're going to pay for child care or there's a bonus when the child is born. 00:09:41:03 - 00:10:17:03 Unknown They're really trying. I mean, they've got some serious problems. And, you know, years and years of China, you know, people having one male child, that's got consequences to it. And now some of those countries are starting to see it. So it's not just happening in the United States. It's it's happening other places as well. Were they also we're looking at this might be the year where tensions kind of come to a head between primarily, I would say, newer and younger employees and traditional employers where new employees expectations might not mij meet employers. 00:10:17:05 - 00:10:35:04 Unknown And I'm not saying one sided right or wrong, but if this is the way we've been doing things for 100 years and now you're coming in and you're telling me you want it done completely differently or you were expecting 10% raises every year, or the employer is saying, no, you have to come back to work, you have to be in the office. 00:10:35:06 - 00:11:05:09 Unknown A lot of these things may be coming to a head, you know, this year to say, all right, whereas an employee do I bend, whereas an employer do I bend, and probably somewhere in the middle is the fair answer. But we may see some some long held beliefs that are going to be tested this year and and see, you know, employer versus employee, you know, who ends up winning out on that and expected unretired payment wave in 2020 for people who just said, this is it, I'm getting out. 00:11:05:11 - 00:11:25:02 Unknown But now they're out and one they might miss the money, too. They might miss the socialization. Three, they might miss the purpose in life that some people maybe don't want want to go back to work in 60 hours a week. But they did get an awful lot out of work. And so now they might be taking a look at it again. 00:11:25:05 - 00:11:46:05 Unknown Yeah. And then just some interesting things around, you know, I think colleges and universities are starting to figure this out, teaching a little bit more about entrepreneurship and creator society and helping people. 1920, 21, 22 that might be looking to get into, you know, their own gig and get out there and get going sort of that might not have been taught. 00:11:46:05 - 00:12:04:12 Unknown There might have been more traditional business practices. Yeah. And so even they are now starting to see that there's a market here to say let's let's start looking at this creator environment and see if there are some things we can do there. So the world is changing and that was like three or four of them. But there was some pretty interesting insights into what might be coming down the pike. 00:12:04:13 - 00:12:31:14 Unknown Yeah, that just made me think of I saw a class, it was being offered online, unlike how to be an influencer, which I just thought was funny, but it's like that's kind of where you're shifting almost and it's funny, but it's true and it's happening. So. So the Healthy Boulder influencer on her podcast, you know, I guess you could say that class, I feel like there's so many different types of influencers though, so anyway though, let's talk about our creativity. 00:12:31:14 - 00:12:58:23 Unknown So you bring up generational diversity and what HR Professionals and MRA's roundtables are kind of sharing around this topic. So i'm curious to know what what are some of the things that they're saying about generational diversity that, you know, a lot of this, you know, looking at especially younger workers, you're starting to see some things like as a younger worker right now, I would say most look at it as like, I'm going to try out a bunch of things. 00:12:58:23 - 00:13:17:14 Unknown I'm going to have three, four, five, six jobs in the first ten years that I'm working, and I'm going to get this great breadth of experience that makes perfect sense. I understand what they're doing. My life, it was, Well, I'm going to find this job and I'm going to learn as much as I can about it, and I'm going to climb the ladder and I'm going to be here for ten or 15 years. 00:13:17:16 - 00:13:33:15 Unknown I'm not saying either one of those again is right or wrong, but if I'm looking at a resume and I've got my bias, I'm thinking, Wow, this person's moving all over. They can't hold a job. Yeah, that person's thinking, Wow, I'm a great candidate. Look at all the places that I've gone in order to get as much experience as I can. 00:13:33:17 - 00:13:55:10 Unknown So there's just a little bit of a we got to understand, you know, where each one's coming from. So I think people are starting to look at that a little bit. The feedback issue, you know, the traditional once a year will have some sort of review and we'll go through your entire year. Well, I'm not sure that's the best way to That's why it's been done. 00:13:55:12 - 00:14:17:11 Unknown But okay, So I'm trying to remember right now what my employees did last February. I'm likely to remember what did you do in December and January or December? In November. And if they had really good months, I'm probably thinking now is a great year for you. And if they had a maybe a mess up or two in the last two months, I'm thinking, boy, this has been a rough year and that's not what a lot of the younger talent is looking for. 00:14:17:11 - 00:14:38:22 Unknown It's, you know, monthly, it's immediate. You know, these sayings like, well, you'll learn if I go, don't make me make too many mistakes in order to learn, just tell me what you want me to do or what I didn't do, right? I guess so, Yeah. Yeah. So you're you're a living example of it. So I think it's, you know, understanding that that immediate feedback actually makes more sense. 00:14:38:24 - 00:15:01:11 Unknown It's more helpful, it's more productive when you've got, you know, a happier employee. And then we've talked about this before, but just the generational differences with communications. I text with you. If you know that you want to find me right now, you're liable to text me not emailing sure is like you're not picking up your phone and calling me, but that's the preferred method. 00:15:01:11 - 00:15:22:14 Unknown And for a lot of older folks, it's like we have email, just email. We need to do it that way. Am I giving you my phone number? Yeah, I'm not. I don't know which one is right, wrong or indifferent, but they're different. And so we either as a company have to figure out what our policy is or just as employees and employers figure out, you know, what's our philosophy going to be on this so that we're at least consistent with it? 00:15:22:16 - 00:15:59:19 Unknown Absolutely. Well, kind of going into some HR Trends from the field section. McLean company recently released some HR trends in 2024. So what were some of the interesting findings that you saw here? I think some of the things are still not surprises. Recruiting was at the top. Providing a great employee experience was up there and I think that has to go with the retention part as companies are seeing that now controlling labor costs is in there, which is interesting because we did go through a few years where we were just about paying whatever it took to get people, and I think we did that. 00:15:59:19 - 00:16:24:23 Unknown We had to do it. But now there is there's a business decision to be made here that we can't be increasing by six, seven, eight, 9% our employee costs every year because we can't afford to do it. So now there might be an emphasis on how do we get smarter, how do we maybe use machines, how do we use technology to do it a little bit better so that one's on their developing leaders is on there? 00:16:24:23 - 00:16:50:11 Unknown We're seeing a lot of that and I think a lot of that is all kinds of retirements, younger people coming in and how do we train them a little bit more quickly. And the good news side, actually a good news bad news side for the HR Folks, an increase in HR Departments and HR People that are being used and are a part of organizational strategy and over the last three years rose from 36% to 50% that they are involved in those decisions. 00:16:50:13 - 00:17:12:08 Unknown I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but at the same time, we saw an increase from 34% to 47% of our professionals saying they're stressed out. so I wonder why you asked for something. You got it. Now you got more work, you know, as a group. But, you know, the good news is I think that companies are much more conscientious about our people are a big part of our strategy. 00:17:12:08 - 00:17:29:01 Unknown And so folks are more engaged. And while I think that's part of the stress, I think the stress has more to do with just more things on their plate. You can of COVID. Now we're into remote work and where are people going to work and how do we get more out of less and how do we figure out where our compensation is right now? 00:17:29:01 - 00:17:47:19 Unknown Because the market is changing so quickly, we can't my people or I'm not I'm keeping people. There's a lot going on. And so I think that had an awful lot to do with them with the stress and the last one, I think is about 80, 81% of the people said, we think we're settling into the whole remote work thing. 00:17:47:19 - 00:18:04:09 Unknown Now, I think people are starting to figure out whatever that means for them, were totally remote, were totally in the office, or most likely we've got a combination, but we've we've kind of figured out what it is. It's three days a week. There's a week two days a week, whatever it might be. Companies are starting to figure it out. 00:18:04:14 - 00:18:28:16 Unknown Yeah, So I think we're getting there with that one. Yeah, definitely. And I feel like maybe part of the reason why there's more HR Folks doing more strategic work now too. Could be because of ai or that i could help grow that percentage just because, like you've mentioned, i kind of helps you focus on the strategic work while ai is helping you with more of the operational day to day routine tasks. 00:18:28:16 - 00:18:52:14 Unknown Yep. And kind of going off of AI. Then Emery actually released a recent hot topic survey on AI in the workplace in this month and charts you kind of looked at a couple of the questions from that survey. So can you give us some of the data and what were the questions? First of all, I guess, yeah, first, we were trying to figure out where our members were at, you know, because our job is to is to really to serve them. 00:18:52:18 - 00:19:21:11 Unknown Yeah. But we asked them the first question we asked them is what percentage of your employees are currently testing out AI? And we laughed at that broad. But really we're willing to take, you know, almost anything. You know, I've been on chatbot once. Okay, yeah, that qualifies. But we still had 76% of our members have less than 5%, or at least they think less than 5% of their folks are active in in AI and another 14% that 5 to 10%. 00:19:21:11 - 00:19:43:20 Unknown So still very new. You know, for all of them. We also asked them if they had an individual or a department, somebody responsible for whatever they were going to do and whether that was can you just figure out what's going on all the way to strategic development? And 74% of them were at a point of we have nobody in charge. 00:19:43:20 - 00:20:01:15 Unknown We might have people looking at it, we might have people taken, you know, stabs added, but they really didn't have someone who said, you know, your job is to make sure we know where we need to be and what's going on. So very new with all of them at the same time, you know, we said, well, what do you need from us? 00:20:01:17 - 00:20:25:03 Unknown And we had, you know, 80% of the people saying, geez, I could use some user guides and goals and objectives. I could use more content on what's going on. So they're looking for can you give me some things and start feeding me stuff? Because I think people know this is coming. Yeah, I'm not going to stop and you're not going to be able to control it, so we better get out in front of it a little bit. 00:20:25:05 - 00:20:50:18 Unknown So there was a lot of interest in that. And then because we had the webinar series coming up, we asked them about, you know, what exactly in age are you looking for? Is it? I think we offered them learning and development, just the admin side of our employee engagement recruiting, and all of them came back and, you know, different mixes and matches, but all of them, there were about 60 to 65% had an interest in every one of those. 00:20:50:20 - 00:21:15:07 Unknown Yeah. So I think it's I just need some help, Right. Well it's like just provide me something and I think that I'll be happy. So we are, you know, like everybody else, we not only have to figure it out for mirror with our own products and services and our own staff, but also figure out where our members are at and, you know, try to help them get to where they got to get because there's going to be a big year for I think a lot is going to happen. 00:21:15:09 - 00:21:31:06 Unknown I mean, we all got to be ready for it. Yeah, well, good thing we have the air series coming out. We do? Yeah, we do. So. So we've got your Alberts. Well, Jim, as a kind of close out here, can you give us a look ahead at next month's or February's talent report and the kind of topics you'll be talking about there? 00:21:31:10 - 00:21:58:05 Unknown Yeah, we're we're going to look at internships again, but a little bit deeper around. I think it's becoming one of the leading ways for companies to find people. But those strategies around how, you know, when do I find them, how do I find them, how do I prepare them, how do I make sure their experience is a good one and how do I hang on to them and kind of give them a path right into our organization? 00:21:58:05 - 00:22:21:21 Unknown Because if we're going to invest in bringing these people in and having these interns and helping them learn, it can't just be three months of busy work. Now we have to look at them as we're almost onboarding them, right? Three months. We're trying to prepare them, one, to understand the business and two, to want to work here. And then especially for those that, you know, maybe have another year of school left, we've got nine months now. 00:22:21:21 - 00:22:35:17 Unknown They figure out how to hang on to them. So what are we doing to make that a good experience that they're not looking anywhere else and we know we can count on them when they graduate the next May. So it is kind of going to be a, you know, right from the beginning to getting them to come work for us. 00:22:35:19 - 00:22:57:22 Unknown You know, how do we just look at this as this is our supply chain and we all take care of it? Yeah, well, that will be a great topic and February is a great time to start that conversation. So looking forward to a time to all. Jim, thank you again, per usual for all the back. Great information and kind of recapping what you were seeing, January's talent report. 00:22:57:24 - 00:23:24:02 Unknown But to our listeners, if you liked our chat and our topic for today, don't forget to share out this episode. Give it a like we recommend and consider joining MRA if you are not a member already. As usual, we have all the resources for you in the show notes below, so make sure to look at those. We have Jim's LinkedIn profile if you want to get in contact with him or have any questions for him and we'll see you next week for our next episode. 00:23:24:07 - 00:23:42:06 Unknown So thank you again. Jim. Yeah, my pleasure. And that wraps up our content for this episode. Be sure to reference the show notes where you can sign them to connect for more podcasts updates, check out other MRA episodes on your favorite podcast platform. And as always, make sure to follow MRA's 30 minutes THRIVE so you don't miss out. 00:23:42:06 - 00:23:47:00 Unknown Thanks for tuning in and we'll see you next Wednesday to carry on the conversation.…
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