May 14, 2020
Street art with vibrant colors frames a cool shop entrance, next to "Employee Experience Design" text, perfect for HR leaders and career-oriented authors exploring talent.

Employee Experience Design: Making It Boundaryless

Do the employees trust the intent of the leaders? Without trust, even the best of EX designs will be looked at with suspicion. Is the leader fair? Does the leader have integrity? The biggest element for great EX is to co-create it. The company’s policies reflect the assumptions the employer has about the employees. When Netflix said they offered unlimited vacation, they said the employee could be trusted not to misuse it.

May 7, 2020
Cartoon illustrating a CEO's late webinar, humorously questioning traditional HR upskilling methods. Encourages a rethink of work, career, and leadership.

Time to change the work template

Most online classes are excruciatingly boring because they have the speaker continue for long stretches without involving participants. This can be done through polls, parallel chats, drawings, videos, quizzes, built in every few minutes. It is hard for the speaker to see the facial expressions of the learner. That is essential to build engagement.

April 13, 2020
Three meerkats stand alert beside a text: "Building a Culture of Continuous Learning." An inspiring reminder of growth in work, career, and HR leadership.

Building a Culture of Continuous Learning

Encouraging the use of Informal Learning is the secret sauce of building a culture of continuous learning. Formal learning is the equivalent of taking a conducted tour while visiting  at new city. Informal learning is all about exploring the city at your own pace. While formal learning is efficient, the effectiveness of informal learning is far higher.

April 9, 2020
Book cover featuring the title "Healing the Workplace with Trust" over a serene water backdrop, promoting leadership and career growth with HR insights.

Healing the Workplace with Trust

One thing is for sure. The world of work has changed. The psychologist Erik Erikson refers to building trust as the first stage of human development. Knowing that we are interdependent, and we trust each other is the reason to hope for a better tomorrow. War and natural disasters can be powerful forces that form bonds that last a lifetime. We can turn this pandemic to be a force for rejuvenation.

April 3, 2020
Woman brushing teeth with a motivational quote about routines during uncertain times, reflecting on leadership, work, and career stability.

Uncertain Times Need Routines

Comfort-food is a stress reliever. We throw caution to the winds and indulge in a routine that brings back memories of happy times and nostalgia. Friends and loved ones renew our faith. For some turning to religion is reassuring. Routines build a sequence that we know and have done before. Routines are necessary for mental health during times of stress and uncertainty. 5 Ideas you can use

March 28, 2020
Tackling biased algorithms starts with human assumptions. Leadership in work and career fosters talent and honest HR practices.

Before fixing bias in AI, let us fix our own

Something happens to us when we see ourselves as the majority. The people who are not like us become invisible. The majority writes the rule book to favor themselves in every way. Think of the challenge of left-handed people who wish to play the guitar or use a pair of scissors. The French word for right is “droit” and that is how adroit becomes a synonym for skilful in English. The left hand is called “gauche” in French which is how we describe something that is socially awkward.

March 21, 2020
Man working at a desk, reflecting on career and leadership in video calls. Tips on talent development and HR from a seasoned author.

Video Calling? Think Like a Vlogger

I asked a friend who creates video blogs and hence is a vlogger. Many of us now need to use video calling to stay connected to work. Here is what he said, "Who knows video calling better than a vlogger? They use their videos to capture the attention of millions of viewers. When you are video calling your colleagues, you are using the same medium of the video. It is the new medium you are using to share your ideas. It is your new medium to influence the world. So think like a vlogger."

February 25, 2020
Future of interviews highlights AI, VR, talent, and soft skills over resumes in career paths. Leadership and HR focus on curiosity and motivation.

Your social media footprint is your new resume

Your social media presence can be used to create your personality profile. These reflect more stable traits like ability to learn, motivation and people skills. Personality is probably a better predictor of your success than what people put on their resume.  There is inaccurate and sometimes fake information in people's resumes. That when combined with poor skills at predicting performance from candidate interviews, means most hiring is a hit or miss situation.

February 21, 2020
Freelancers are shaping the future of work and talent management. Discover trends in leadership that enhance your career and HR strategies.

Freelancers – the hot trend in talent management

Every freelancer has to be their own C-Suite. If they do not understand the complexity of the taxes they have to pay, they can work with an accounting firm or a tax lawyer. In an organization, the Learning and Development team will assess the gaps in soft skills (along with the technical knowledge and domain knowledge) that are there for each employee and create a plan to bridge the gap. That option goes away for freelancers. They can’t assess their own skill gap in this area.