Archive for category: Human Resources Management

Human Resources Management Articles on a variety of HR topics, Diversity and inclusion, leadership and more, offered by the Red Shoe Movement

You Think Personal Projects Are a Luxury? Think again!

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There are many reasons why making time for personal projects should be high on our lists. But while creative personal projects and hobbies are good for mental health, productivity, and happiness, it’s not always easy to find the time for them in our daily lives.

Take time for personal projects- Photo Credit- Aaron Burden- Unsplash

Take time for personal projects- Photo Credit- Aaron Burden- Unsplash

Between work, socializing, and much necessary time to unplug and rest, adding a time-consuming personal project can be tricky and overwhelming. Yet, personal projects are usually things we’re emotionally invested in and failing to keep up with them can impact our self-confidence.

Creative projects can be relaxing and rewarding and making time for them can become an important part of self-care. Not only do they help make us happier and more confident, but they can also have an impact on our productivity and the quality of our work. So maybe it’s about time to ask yourself if you’re making time for personal projects and, if not, finally learn that language, finish that novel, or take that painting or pottery class.

Why your work friendships matter

Why Is Making Time for Our Personal Projects Important?

There’s more to hobbies and personal projects than just occupying our time with something. These activities that we usually choose out of passion can play a big part in building confidence and self-esteem. You don’t really need to create a multi-million-dollar app or write a literary masterpiece to get your time’s worth when it comes to personal projects and creative hobbies. Just putting time into interests that aren’t work-related can help you be happier, healthier, and more productive.

According to a study measuring the effect of creative hobbies in 400 employees by Dr. Kevin Eschleman, San Francisco State psychology professor, companies could benefit from encouraging employees to take up on creative personal projects to recover from the toll work can take. Eschelman and his team found that “creative activities are likely to provide valuable experiences of mastery and control but may also provide employees experiences of discovery that uniquely influence performance-related outcomes.”

Creative endeavors are key ingredient in recovery from work and according to the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, different factors must be considered when it comes to recovery and leisure, or lack thereof. “From a psychological perspective, it would be better if people engaged in activities in which they sought challenges and tried to match them with their skills. Evidently this also applies to work: Optimal experiences correlate positively with mental health.”

How to be a workplace influencer
Personal Projects are not a luxury- Photo Credit- Pablo Escobar-Unsplash

Personal Projects are not a luxury- Photo Credit- Pablo Escobar-Unsplash

Three Things to Consider 

1Create A Schedule and Stick to It: Take a good look at your day and find at least half an hour you can dedicate fully, without interruptions, to your personal projects. Find whatever works best for you, for some people, it’s waking up earlier and dedicating the first few hours of the day to something you are passionate about. That may not be true about you though, so audit your time and figure out when you’re feeling most inspired or are less likely to be interrupted. Once you define it, make your personal project time non-negotiable and set yourself goals. This will help you make a habit out of it and be more consistent.

2Don’t Be Afraid of a Challenge: Finding a meaningful activity is important when it comes to personal projects and hobbies. Since you are not economically reliant on your personal projects, you can take risks and try new things without having to stick to what you know or what you are good at. And while it’s important to treat your personal projects with the same seriousness you’d treat a work endeavor with, you should also give yourself the opportunity to leave the projects you no longer find fulfilling behind.

3Love What You Do: Personal projects and hobbies should not feel like a chore. Sure, getting to them will be easier some days than others, but these projects should be something you love. This will make it easier for you to keep coming back to them, since ideally these will be things you’re emotionally and creatively invested in. Things you really want to do out of love. You can choose anything that interests you or you want to know more about, but make sure you’re enjoying it, even if it’s a challenging choice.

Procrastination: The Negative and Positive Sides of it

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Putting things off until the last minute isn’t uncommon in the workplace. It’s especially easy to fall into when you’re working from home, where rearranging kitchen drawers and bookshelves becomes an everyday possibility. But while some think that procrastinators can be unreliable and lazy, there are those who believe that giving things more time can be a strength when it comes to decision-making and work. So, can procrastination be positive? How does it work?

Procrastination has many negative sides- Photo Credit- Annie Spratt- Unsplash

Procrastination has many negative sides and some positive ones- Photo Credit- Annie Spratt- Unsplash

Yes, procrastination can take a positive turn but it’s important to identify what it is that is making us put that one task off in the name of gardening. It can be caused by boredom, insecurity, anxiety, and even depression, making it impossible for some people to control it until those feelings have been identified and dealt with. If you know how to use it to your advantage, to stay productive and prioritize instead of just putting things off indefinitely, you might just be able to master the art of positive procrastination.

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Procrastination: What Is It?

Defined by experts as a “self-defeating behavior pattern marked by short-term benefits and long-term costs,” studies show that 25% of adults believe procrastination is a defining characteristic of their personality. They also show that “chronic procrastination” can have a severe impact on mental health, increasing feelings of guilt and stress over productivity, and affecting our mental and physical well-being.

According to Dr. Tim Pychyl, professor of psychology and member of the Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Ottawa, procrastination is an issue of emotion regulation, not one of time management. Together with Dr. Fuschia Sirois, Dr. Pychyl found that procrastination has to do with our inability to manage negative moods and the immediate relief brought by doing something else ­– even if that choice works against us.

As a problem that has to do with how we feel, the best way to deal with it is to figure out what is triggering those emotions. Reasons to procrastinate can include boredom or feeling like we’re not being challenged, frustration with the tasks at hand, fears and anxieties about our performance, doubting our abilities, perfectionism and the many, many distractions that surround us, including social media, streaming services or reorganizing the fridge. Accurately identifying these emotions will help manage them.

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Discover what triggers your procrastination-Photo Credit- Priscilla du Preez-Unsplash

Discover what triggers your procrastination-Photo Credit- Priscilla du Preez-Unsplash

Positive Procrastination?

Some people have argued in defense of procrastination and talked about “positive procrastination.” This, however, still involves putting things off. Dr. Fuschia Sirois argues that unnecessarily and voluntarily delaying an important task despite knowing that the consequences are harmful is embedded in the definition of procrastination. The stress and anxiety resulting of procrastination is usually worse than whatever feelings initially made us avoid doing something. Sirois, a professor of psychology at Durham, UK, says that by managing the emotions we can’t control externally, we get temporary relief. “But we’ve done it temporarily and we’ve done it externally, so it is going to come back to haunt us.”

Nevertheless, there can be some positive sides to sitting with things a little longer. According to Adam Grant, a professor of management and psychology at the Wharton School, when it comes to the creative process procrastination can be a good thing. Delaying the start or finish of a task can open us up to more original ideas because it gives you time to think in “non-linear” ways.

His advice for procrastinators? Write thoughts and ideas down as soon as a project arrives. Even if we don’t start working on it right away, it’ll be on our minds.

Start Building Your Informal Influence at the Workplace
Explore tools to help you overcome prograstination- Photo Credit- Kelly Sikkema-Unsplash

Explore tools to help you overcome prograstination- Photo Credit- Kelly Sikkema-Unsplash

A Few Tips for Procrastinators

1Kindness and self-compassion: Self-compassion can help us look at the tasks we haven’t been able to complete and help motivate us to find new approaches instead of questioning our self-worth and abilities – which will only lead to more procrastination. Meeting challenges with kindness and acceptance can help with the psychological distress and give us the boost we need to manage our emotions better.

2No overthinking zone: The more we sit with an idea and all the ways in which it could maybe go wrong, the more likely we are to abandon it to go rearrange condiments. Whatever it is, the trick is in just getting started. Set realistic goals and get to work. Meeting those goals will make some of the fears subside. Sometimes it’s just about getting started.

3Prioritizing matters: Learning to choose between the tasks that can wait and those that absolutely need to meet specific deadlines is essential. It’s best to leave those important big tasks for the most productive times of day.

4Realistic work periods: Trying to make up for lost productivity setting unreal work schedules isn’t a great idea. Being consistent about the hours we dedicate to the priority projects is important and creating a pattern can make it easier to manage our time.

5Set the stage: Temptation is a tricky thing for procrastinators to resist so it’s not a bad idea to make those distractions extra unreachable. Finding the right place to work could change everything, especially if that place forces us to focus on the task at hand and makes it difficult to access distractions. Does music help? Do we need silence? Do we need to remove all electronics from our room to get things done? Explore your own triggers that lead you to procrastinate a task so you can figure out what setting will work best for you.

 

Women Who Build: Vamos a Zoomar Project

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Part One

Women Who Build (Mujeres Que Construyen) is an initiative led by Vamos A Zoomar (VAZ), an Argentinean foundation working to create space for women in construction. Their mission and their success are an inspiration for all of us. Find out all about a project that may encourage you to get involved with the construction industry or many others traditionally reserved just for men.

Women who Build is a program by Fundacion Zoomar

Women who Build is a program by Fundacion Zoomar

The construction industry grants only a limited access to women and other marginalized groups based on cultural biases despite it being one of Argentina’s main economic activities. One that saw considerable growth in the past year.

Through Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build), VAZ (aligned with the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)) provides the necessary tools for women in the country. Giving them an opportunity to prosper economically while becoming part of a community that supports them and helps them to grow. The program is sponsored by Fundación TECHO and Argentine construction giant, Familia Bercomat. With additional support from UN WOMEN and the Netherlands Embassy.

Don't miss another inspiring story about Women in Construction
Graduates from Women Who Build program in Argentina

Graduates from Women Who Build program in Argentina

What is Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build)?

Aline Verastegui – What is the program Zoomadoras: Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build)? Where is the initiative available?

1Vamos a Zoomar – Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build) is a Vamos A Zoomar initiative dedicated to reducing the gender gap in the construction industry in Argentina. The program, promoted by TECHO and the Bercomat Family, with the support of UN WOMEN and the Netherlands Embassy, carries out a systemic approach focusing on three lines of work:

2Training: Through free face-to-face and virtual workshop focusing on different trades, which also include a discussion on gender perspective and aims at preparing women for employability. On-site training includes building improvement practices in community spaces. In these two years of work, more than 300 women and other marginalized groups were trained in 12 workshops in the provinces of Misiones, Formosa, Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe, Chaco, and the Province of Buenos Aires.

You can see some videos of the workshops here.

3Awareness: Through actions that make the existing gender gap in the sector visible. Evidencing the need to break down the physical and symbolic barriers that prevent the inclusion of women and marginalized groups in the field. For example, we made the documentary Mujeres Que Construyen, which tells the story of two women, from Chaco and Misiones, who carved their place in the construction industry.

In 2022, the short received a special mention at the Lapacho de Chaco Festival. It was also selected to be screened during the Rural Film Festival (Corrientes) and received an honorable mention on the CINE.AR platform (where it will be able soon).

4Employability: To facilitate access to formal work and self-employment, we build networks with the different players in construction and provide tools for job placement. Helping women through mujeresqueconstruyen.org (which has been up and running since the start of 2023) by connecting them to their first professional work. The platform is promoted as a tool that lets them perfect what they learned during the workshops while also helping them network.

The protagonists of the documentary were trained in Buenos Aires in alliance with Barbieri to become steel frame instructors in their provinces. An agreement was signed with the construction company CL de Chaco and Lighthouse in the City of Buenos Aires for professional practices.

A group of Women Who Build

A group of Women Who Build

Free Training for All

AV – What are the free training sessions of Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build) about? Do they get any certifications?

VAZ – The free training consists of a first meeting where the importance of the gender perspective in the field is worked on. Then, one on cost estimation and budget imparted by Familia Bercomat employees, followed by a series of theoretical modules on the specialty of their choosing (masonry, dry construction, ceramic placement, painting). Finally, the practical part of all the workshops consists of the repair or improvement of a community space.

Nine community spaces have been improved by them so far, including the restoration of a locker room to promote women’s soccer, the construction of a commercial space for local and native entrepreneurs, as well as building three medical offices for primary care, among others.

AV – How did your association with TECHO Argentina and Familia Bercomat come about?

VAZ – The most powerful way to incubate and create solid social investment projects is through the union, strength, and involvement of all sectors. In this case, that of two organizations that could complement each other to transform reality. One private company and another from the third sector that already had knowledge in the industry. Thus, with the same commitment and objective incubated and promoted by these two organizations, VAZ was born.

A Roof by Women Who Build

AV – Can you tell us a little about the recent housing project that Zoomadoras trained by Mujeres que Construyen (Women Who Build) joined?

VAZ – Before closing the year, we added a group of nine women who participated in the painting training that we gave in Posadas, Misiones, to collaborate with TECHO in the construction of emergency housing in a town in that province. It was the first time that TECHO had a crew made up entirely of women. There, a group of 8 women was summoned to participate in the construction of an emergency house that took place the last weekend of November. After hard days of work, the house was ready and delivered to the beneficiary family. The action generated a strong impact in the community, which reacted very positively to the fact that it had been led by women.

The result revealed not only that the women were up to the job, but also that they were able to exceed all expectations and standards. The delivery of the house was also a moment full of emotion and recognition, which highlights the importance of empowering women so that they are involved positively in their communities. The reaction obtained strengthened these women’s desire to become a work crew and to join the industry.

Want to see some of their work? Follow them on Instagram.

Women in Tech Changing the Game: Fairygodboss

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Georgene​ ​Huang​ ​is​ ​the​ ​CEO​ ​and​ ​Co-founder​ ​of​ ​Fairygodboss,​ the largest career community for women out there. She’s one of the women in tech changing the game for everyone. The Fairygodboss Story began when Georgene, a young executive about to become a mom, realized that none of the platforms available for free really helped her (and other women like her) with the necessary information or guidance to make well-informed professional choices and achieve her career goals.

Georgene Huang, CEO & Co-Founder, Fairygodboss, one of the most powerful women in tech changing the game for everyone is honored with the Hall of Fame.

Georgene Huang, CEO & Co-Founder, Fairygodboss, one of the most powerful women in tech changing the game for everyone is honored with the Hall of Fame.

The tech startup provides career resources and hundreds of leading global employers that are looking to attract, recruit, and retain more diverse talent among their ranks. Giving millions of women connections, advice, and hard-to-find intel on how companies treat women and other relevant information like salaries, allyship, and maternity leave policies. A ​Cornell and​ ​Stanford​ graduate, Georgene previously ran​ ​the​ ​enterprise​ ​business​ ​at​ ​Dow​ ​Jones​ ​and​ ​was​ ​a Managing​ ​Director​ ​at​ ​Bloomberg​ ​Ventures.

For leveling the playing field as one of the most visible women in tech changing the game; for creating a platform for women to thrive in their careers that millions already benefit from, we honor Georgene Huang with the 2022 Hall of Fame.

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The Fairygodboss Story and the Woman Behind It 

RED SHOE MOVEMENT – Tell us a little about how you came up with the idea for Fairygodboss? How has your personal experience prepared you?

GEORGENE HUANG – The idea for Fairygodboss came to me when I was a young, female, and pregnant executive. I was using these free career resources like LinkedIn, Indeed, and Glassdoor and not seeing the information I needed to make the best decisions about what workplaces would be a good fit for my ambitions. We have a social mission as a company, but I pursued Fairygodboss as a business because I saw a large market opportunity and interest in both users and employers.

RSM – What would you say have been some of the biggest struggles Fairygodboss has faced on the road to becoming the largest career community for women?

GH – I think going from 0-1 for any business is difficult and many of our struggles are like those of other startups. My job has always been to hire the best people I can and help them to be better and deliver that every day.

Georgene Huang is one of the women in tech changing the game. Take a look at Fairygodboss!

Georgene Huang is one of the women in tech changing the game. Take a look at Fairygodboss!

Women in tech Changing the Game

RSM – You’ve raised millions of dollars in funding since you co-founded Fairygodboss, what are some of the most valuable lessons your experience has taught you about venture funding?

GH – Venture funding is not the only path to raising financing and it’s best suited to companies
that have or need high levels of growth, investment, and scale to capture the market opportunity adequately. As opposed to slower, steadier business opportunities that can self-finance or should pursue less dilutive forms of capital.

Bringing Untapped Talent into Tech

RSM – What strategies should companies adopt to ensure they’re recruiting the top female talents out there?

GH – They have to make the effort! Companies employ brilliant people and invest capital and resources to solve all kinds of tremendous business problems and therefore I believe companies and leadership teams can achieve whatever they set their sights on.

What Are Women Looking For?

RSM – According to your data, what are some of the areas that Fairygodboss users seem to need the most guidance in? And what are career-minded women looking for in the workplace?

GH – Many Fairygodboss users want advice about navigating career change and nuanced situations that come up at work with their managers and colleagues. There is also always a healthy number of people looking for advice around the job-search process.

Career-minded women are not a homogenous bunch and I try hard to avoid generalizing about such a large population. Some women want to be CEOs and others are just looking for a company culture where they feel they can thrive and achieve the income and work-life balance they want.

RSM – Would you mention other woman in tech changing the game?

GH – We just announced that TheMuse is acquiring Fairygodboss. TheMuse has been led for over a decade by Kathryn Minshew. She and her team have been working on next generation job search and employee recruiting for over a decade and she’s been a real trailblazer in this space.

Business Resilience & How to Achieve Big Dreams

Georgene Huang inspirational words

Georgene Huang inspirational words

Management and Our Own Role as Women Changing the Game

RSM – If you could suggest one action that organizations can take to accelerate the representation of women at the top, what would it be?

GH – There are no silver bullets nor quick, overnight fixes. Otherwise, there would already be more women represented in leadership and management roles today. Representation in leadership roles of diverse talent is a systemic (and social) problem that requires active investment in fair and equitable recruiting and hiring practices as well as a deep, hard look at company culture, practices, and policies. Ultimately, management must believe it’s important to focus on this and expect that as a multi-faceted problem, it will take time to implement change.

RSM – If you could suggest one action that women could take to accelerate their career growth, what would it be?

GH – Whether you’re a woman or a man, if you aspire to leadership you need to become comfortable with taking risks and operating outside your comfort zone. This means embracing the possibility and likely fact of failing and having the resilience to learn from mistakes and pick yourself up to move on. Take on the most challenging assignments and roles you can.

Work Friendships Matter

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Like it or not, work friendships matter. Something as seemingly simple as having a good relationship with your co-workers can benefit you, your team, the company you work for and, naturally, your professional life.

It’s okay. Some of your work friendships might not be as strong or long-lasting as some other friendships, but that doesn’t mean they are any less important. Just like some of your friends push you to be the best version of yourself, some work friends inspire a greater loyalty and commitment at work in us.

Additionally, the connections you build at work could be some of the most diverse and unexpected. With varying ages, nationalities and sometimes even locations, having something like a company in common can be a great way for the most unlikely connections to happen. People you may have had no reason to talk to in the past suddenly find their way into your life and team. Our advice? Embrace it! Here’s why.

Work friendships matter to your wellbeing- Photo credit- Brooke Cagle-Unsplash

Work friendships matter to your wellbeing- Photo credit- Brooke Cagle-Unsplash

The Science Behind Work Friendships

Happy employees are more productive, this is generally true and one of the reasons why work friendships matter. Even before the pandemic, Gallup consistently found that having a best friend at work leads to better performance. The study shows that when there is a “deep sense of affiliation” between employees and their team members, there’s a drive to act in the benefit of their employers in ways that would not be there without those connections.

This, says Gallup, makes women specifically less likely to go looking to change jobs if they have a best friend at work. It also makes them more likely to take risks that could lead to something innovative, to enjoy what they do, and to have a positive experience during the day. This means that having good relationships at work will not only make employees more productive and more likely to work harder, but it will also make them enjoy what they do and look forward to their workday. It’ll make them happier.

Work friendships matter so much, in fact, that they speak to greater employee well-being, engagement and performance.

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Remote Work Friendships

We get it. Making new work friendships got more complicated after everything went remote during the pandemic. Remote work changed the dynamic of our office relationships. It made them go from friendships that happened effortlessly during work hours to another kind of relationship that suddenly required us to be much more intentional. To make an effort to stay in touch and maybe find other shared interests.

A 2020 study by BGC  showed that employees who reported satisfaction with social connectivity with their colleagues were two to three times more likely to have maintained or improved their productivity on collaborative tasks than those who are dissatisfied with their connections. Unfortunately, without those shared spaces where people can spontaneously interact every day, some of those friendships have faded. Considering that work friendships can have such an important impact on productivity, companies and team leaders should prioritize building and maintaining strong social ties between employees. And they should create spaces for hybrid employees to feel at home and connect on the days when they spend time at the office.

Nomadism and The Digital Nomad Lifestyle
Having one work friendship makes a big difference in your engagement- Photo Credit- Jason Goodman- Unsplash

Having one work friendship makes a big difference in your engagement- Photo Credit- Jason Goodman- Unsplash

Take Advantage of New Opportunities to Interact

It’s true that hybrid workspaces have made some office relationships harder to maintain, but it also creates unique opportunities to interact. Being on lockdown meant that the people who started new jobs during the pandemic became friends with people they’d never been in the same room with. It’s not impossible, technology does make it easier, and you don’t even need daily zoom meetings to connect when there are memes, and TikToks and an endless amount of shareable content online. It’s easier to break the ice now than it ever has been, so make sure you are taking advantage of it.

Hybrid workplaces have forced managers to have a more hands-on approach with their employees. But it’s not just managers. If everyone is staying connected through instant messaging services or even just email chains, it’s probably easier for you to not only have access to managers, but to everyone else on the team. Make plans, go out for coffee or a drink. Create your own water cooler moments and talk to people, even if it seems you may not have much in common with them. Maybe you’ll learn something. Or you’ll find a friend.

Managing Skills for Hybrid Workplaces

Taking Care of Work Friendships

Work friendships matter and you’ll have to put some time into them, especially if you’re mostly remote. Make sure you’re making room for these friendships to grow and keep in mind that as any other relationship, these friendships can’t be forced. Just let them happen. Find a neutral ground and go from there. And maybe give yourself the opportunity to step out of your comfort zone(s) and diversify your work friendships. Plan to hang out with your work colleagues for no reason other than spending time with each other every now and then.

Make sure your work friends are really inspiring and boosting your engagement and morale. And since it will likely take an extra effort, try to find people who are willing to make the same effort in return. Individuals who make sure you’re being heard, who can be your sounding board, and hold you accountable when needed. Work friends who will make going into the office or joining an online call something to look forward to. These relationships bring meaning to the workplace, they add purpose and improve not just the quality of work, but also your mental health and your quality of life.