Archive for category: Women Empowerment Articles

Creative Boredom and How to Use it to your Advantage

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Feeling blocked and uninspired is not uncommon. The more you try to be creative, the more it seems to slip away from you. This can be the result of creative boredom. But what is creative boredom and how can you use it to your advantage?

Our minds seek novelty and when our work becomes routine, we fall into a state of creative unproductivity. Creative boredom is a kind of stagnation – like burnout that affects exclusively your creative process and your productivity, and leaves you feeling stuck.

Unleash your creativity
When you let your mind wander, your creativity gets a boost. So it's important to cherish creative boredom.

When you let your mind wander, your creativity gets a boost. So it’s important to cherish creative boredom.

The good news is that your brain probably just needs a break. Furthermore, you may even be able to learn to take that creative boredom that’s been weighing you down and affecting the quality of your work and use it to your advantage. Since boredom serves as a sign that our mind is craving something new, some of our most creative moments can be the result of moments and activities that feel tedious or monotonous. At work, we can do ourselves and our teams a world of good by prioritizing space for taking time off and letting our minds wander.

Boredom and its Connection to Creativity

Studies by Sandi Mann and Rebekah Cadman at the University of Central Lancashire showed the creativity-boosting power of boredom through studies that involved boring their subjects by giving some of them tedious tasks before making them brainstorm uses for plastic cups. The results showed that the groups of people given the most tedious tasks were the ones with the most inventive results.

The kind of boredom felt during passive activities like long meetings, copying data, or even taking care of the daily tasks we can and often do on ‘autopilot’ heightens the “daydreaming effect.” This means that some of our most creative moments are sparked by those dull tasks and meetings that allow the mind to wander. However, for that to happen we need to unplug. Minds can’t really wander while scrolling through social media or listening to a podcast. In a way, the daydreaming requires a real pause – without any screens.

Yes, boredom can be great if you do it right. According to Sandi Mann, we are constantly “trying to swipe and scroll the boredom away, but in doing that, we’re actually making ourselves more prone to boredom, because every time we get our phone out, we’re not allowing our mind to wander and to solve our own boredom problems.” This, she says, changes our tolerance for boredom and makes it harder to stop being bored.

Creative boredom

Creative boredom

Diverse relationships improve your creativity

Creative Boredom and Empty Time

So, if you’re dealing with creative boredom, how can you use it to your advantage? Well, it really is all about letting your brain rest from the oversaturation of everyday life. One of the best ways to do that is being intentional about your empty time. That means not only letting unproductive time just be unproductive but staying away from things like scrolling social media, podcasts, or playing your comfort show in the background while you do house chores.

It may seem counterintuitive, but taking a break is vital for our creative processes. Empty time is essential for recharging and refocusing, allowing you to take a step back from daily tasks and responsibilities and to daydream in a way that triggers creativity and lets the mind wander places where it wouldn’t otherwise. Those lulls are where great ideas spark up.

Some Tips to Fight Creative Boredom

1Take up new hobbies: Activities like dance, paint, pottery or cooking lessons will demand enough focus that it’ll be difficult to think about that project you’ve been feeling uninspired about. You can take up going for a short walk and just letting yourself experience the moment and your surroundings without obsessively checking your phone. If you’re a big reader, you can make sure you’re making some time to dive into a fantasy world where someone else is in control.

2Leave your phone behind: Reaching for our phones has become instinctive the second we’re bored. It’s hard to resist when it’s so easy to get lost watching videos, playing a game or scrolling aimlessly through social media. It won’t always be possible but whenever it is, try leaving your phone at the gym’s locker or maybe even just far from your bedroom at night. If leaving it behind is not an option resolve not to use it while you run that quick errand or walk the dog. Resist the urge to go straight to it while you’re waiting somewhere. Let your mind wander while you’re in line at the bank or waiting for a flight.

3Skip the music or podcasts: Not always, obviously. But doing some of the more tedious tasks of everyday life without being stimulated by music or listening to our favorite podcasts is great to let the mind wander and avoid creative boredom. Try doing things like washing the dishes, folding the laundry, or working out without them, it could lead to some of your most creative moments. If you’re out, try to connect with nature instead of blocking it out with an audiobook.

Bringing Women into Construction: The Granite Story

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When you think about a construction site, what comes to mind? Most likely, a place full of men, right? Well, Granite Construction is hard at work bringing more women into construction, an industry where there are a lot of amazing opportunities. Here’s how they are doing it!

The Red Shoe Movement talked to Jorge Quezada, Chief Diversity Officer, VP, People and Culture and with Aby Combs, Inclusive Diversity Program Manager who shared their DEI journey to transform the construction business.

Granite hosts a Construction DEI talks podcast

Granite hosts a Construction DEI talks podcast with Jorge Quezada and Aby Combs

RED SHOE MOVEMENT – Could you tell us about Granite’s journey towards a more inclusive and diverse construction workforce and the company’s focus on bringing more women into construction?

JQ – The way Granite has gone about creating an inclusive environment is based on two premises. The first one is what we believe diversity and inclusion are. At Granite, we believe that diversity is “the mix” and inclusion is “making the mix work.”  That’s how Andres Tapia out of Korn Ferry defines it.

The second is that we at Granite practice “inclusive diversity” and aim to be inclusive today, tomorrow, and into the future. These two premises have allowed us to question ourselves, our priorities, our habits, and the systems we need to put in place. When we started educating people to notice, understand, and act towards equity and inclusion as a company, we realized that we may not always be the only contractor or the subcontractor at a job site. Sometimes, in projects that involve thousands, there may only be twenty Granite employees on site. This needed to be bigger than just a Granite pursuit of diversity, equity and inclusion. This needed to be an industry approach.

One of the things we realized is that if we as a company only focus on bringing women into Granite, it would be great for Granite, but would we truly be making an impact in the communities where we live and do our work?

RSM – How does Granite work to challenge gender stereotypes and encourage women to consider construction as a viable career option?

JQ –We’re asking people to change the view that they have created when it comes to construction.

We are a hundred-year-old company. A hundred years ago, roles like foreman or superintendent were specifically done by men and over time, those roles have evolved. We’ve had more women come into the industry, more women come into Granite as engineers or project managers. Just like maybe we needed to see women as engineers or project managers, now we also need to see women in construction roles.

We’re asking people to think differently: What would this role look like if a woman had it? And it has allowed us to not only prepare the environment for more women, but also to prepare for other aspects of diversity that we may not have thought about previously.

RSM – What mentorship or leadership development programs does Granite offer to support women’s skill development within the construction industry?

JQ – It’s really cool. If you look at Granite’s inclusive diversity roadmap, you’re going to notice that early in the first three years of our strategy map, we said we wanted to commit to the mix.

One of the things that we wanted to do in that early commit-to-the-mix phase was to create more mentors and sponsors. Our women’s Employee Resource Group (ERG) developed a mentorship program that started out just being for themselves. In less than two years, however, it got expanded to have a broader reach and more partnerships. It was through our Women’s ERG that this mentoring program expanded company-wide and it’s paying dividends.

We don’t just recruit talent; we identify and inspire talent. We develop talent. We uncover talent. That’s what inclusive diversity and these mentorship programs allow us to do.

Granite Construction is bringing women into construction

Granite Construction is bringing women into construction

RSM – Tell us more about your women’s leadership program.

JQ – McKinsey did a study with LeanIn.Org, and one of the things they realized was that the reason women don’t go into leadership at the rate men do is because the first rung of the professional ladder is broken. Access into leadership programs is not something that companies have a strong grip on.

This validated Granite’s view: For us to be better at recruiting, developing, and advancing women’s careers in Granite, one of the things that we needed to do was socialize the idea early on in someone’s career. So, we created the Advancing Women’s Leadership Program.

This program identifies early talent at our lowest pay grades and brings them into an environment where they get to learn about themselves, about the company, and about how to navigate through the company efficiently. By doing it at the early stages in someone’s career, we give tell them that we think they have this potential. We want to put them on a leadership track earlier so that they know that there’s an interest for their development.

We don’t want women to go years without a conversation about their interest in leadership. Or to assume that they’re not interested in leadership because they’re going to start a family. There are a lot of things that we’re trying to eliminate from the systems. We’re trying to de-bias them, and this is one way we can do it.

Jorge Quezada with #WingsOfCourage at the 2022 RSM Signature Event is passionate about bringing women into construction

Jorge Quezada with #WingsOfCourage at the 2022 RSM Signature Event is passionate about bringing women into construction

RSM – Can you tell us about your partnership with Red Shoe Movement and bringing #WingsOfCourage to Granite?

JQ – The first reason we partnered with Red Shoe Movement was that we became big fans of what Mariela Dabbah was doing in the sense of amplifying the need for more women in workspaces. The second was their #WingOfCourage initiative.

We’ve noticed that a certain level of courage is needed to come and work in the construction industry thanks to existing biases. When we saw the #WingOfCourage concept, we thought, wait a minute, is this too good to be true? Are we saying we could not only partner up with Red Shoe Movement and amplify the need of having more women in workspaces (especially in construction), but we could also have these #WingsOfCourage? And then it became a no brainer.

Suddenly, we realized that what we’re saying in this partnership is: Come to Granite and let your career soar. These wings are going to conceptually allow women to soar in our industry and here at Granite. They represent the altitude of our aspirations. You have wings to fly.

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RSM – Tell us more about Granite’s other initiatives and partnership of bringing women into construction.

JQ –Historically we’ve partnered with associations whether it’s the Associated General Contractors of America, the American Road & Transportation Builders Association, NSSGA and so on. Those partnerships where we’re also pursuing the workforce development and bringing more women into the workplace. From a talent acquisition perspective, we have partnered up with the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, American Indian Science and Engineer Society, Society of Asian Scientists and Engineers, and, the Society of Women Engineers. Our job is to show how the dots connect. Collectively we are the mix. We believe by getting young women thinking about construction we will be their first choice because Granite has the most inclusive, most diverse, supportive place in the industry.

Granite is bringing women into construction

Granite is bringing women into construction

Here's a great project that prepares women who build

RSM – How does having a diverse workforce and bringing women into construction contribute to the overall success and innovation of the construction sector?

JQ – There’s, an adage that basically says that when you do diversity, equity, and inclusion, the byproduct of it is that you get innovation and high levels of engagement. If you want to look at what the future looks like or what is necessary, you need different perspectives. With DEI you’re almost guaranteed that by bringing in people with different backgrounds, different lived experiences, different environments where they grew up, they will bring different ideas into the room.

They will bring an energy to innovate in a way that creates a level of engagement that you don’t see in places without it. There’s a level of excitement that takes place when you’re trying new things. That’s what we’ve noticed about diversity, equity, and inclusion.  We’re doing so much today that we didn’t do before, whether it’s 192. 2 Granite Radio, our podcasts, our community calls. You get the engagement.

RSM – Are there any inspiring success stories of women who you have brought into the construction industry?

JQ – As a company, we have done some incredible things. Our head of HR, Tim Gruber put together a committee in California that was doing the very things that we’re doing here at a national level for four years now.

When we think about the percentages of women of color that go through our interns’ program, we now see some of them going through the pipeline in the last three years. In the pipeline we have internal candidates we didn’t have before. We have women in leadership that we didn’t have before. We’re seeing our efforts making an impact.

In 2019, the number of women in leadership was at around 14. 8 or 14. 9 percent. We already have that number at close to 18 percent, shooting for an aspirational goal of 20. That is a big deal, moving those percentage points in such a short time. But I have to tell you, the engine was already there. We just happened to meet it right at the same time and leverage all the great momentum that had been created.

Aby Combs with Granite #WingsOfCourage

Aby Combs with Granite #WingsOfCourage works towards bringing women into construction

Emotional Branding and Building Meaningful Connections

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In a world where there is no shortage of products, emotional branding and building meaningful connections with your audiences is fast becoming an invaluable strategy for businesses of all kinds.

It’s nice to know you can rely in the quality of a product or service you’ve used for a while, but we are sentimental beings and campaigns that connect with their consumers in an emotional level tend to do better not just in sales, but in general brand engagement and loyalty. We stick around.

Branding emocional es lo que te acerca a tu consumidor

Branding emocional es lo que te acerca a tu consumidor- Photo Credit- The Paris Photographer- Unsplash

Emotional branding is a powerful tool that can help foster deeper connections between businesses and their target audience. Companies that have embraced and mastered the art of emotional branding and building meaningful connections tend to stand out from the competition and establish themselves as indispensable parts of their audience’s everyday lives. Creating relationships based on shared values, beliefs, and experiences.

Mental health programs and why they should be a priority

Why Emotional Branding and Building Meaningful Connections Matter

By learning to understand their audiences and what will move them, companies can craft more compelling stories that tap into emotions. They set their brands apart by becoming memorable and difficult to replace. Emotional branding is an important strategy that takes brands from being a simple monetary transaction and transforms them into relationships that can be comforting and to which customers stay loyal.  It sets brands apart by creating memorable experiences that foster loyalty and trust. This makes it easier for businesses to survive the natural fluctuations of an ever-changing landscape and creates longevity for a brand.

Emotional branding also creates an opportunity for a more engaged kind of storytelling and lets companies play with what they know about their target audiences and their shared values and beliefs. This approach requires getting in touch with consumers’ emotions. It makes brands and their messages feel more personal, either because they help fulfill a fantasy or as an emotionally charged reminder. It forges bonds that stand the test of time.

According to the Harvard Business Review, customers are emotionally connected to a brand when it “aligns with their motivations and helps them fulfill deep, often unconscious, desires.”

What can we learn from Barbie?
Aprende branding emocional de las mas grandes y exitosas marcas. Photo Credit- Raul de los Santos- Unsplash

Aprende branding emocional de las mas grandes y exitosas marcas. Photo Credit- Raul de los Santos- Unsplash

4 Key Elements to Create Successful Emotional Branding

1Know Your Audience: Research across hundreds of brands in different categories shows that it is possible to measure and target costumers’ feelings and, thus, their behavior. Understanding your audience will make it easier for you to know which stories will resonate more with them and make them feel more connected. Customer feedback and market research are some of the ways in which you can engage your costumers to figure out who makes up your target audience and how to emotionally engage them.

2The Importance of a Visually Strong Brand Identity: Your brand identity should reflect your personality and values. Basically, all the things that your target audience will find relatable, or at least inspiring. Remember imagery is important, a strong visual identity can help customers create a stronger connection with your brand. This includes things like your logo and online presence. Always aim to craft messages and visuals that resonate with your target audience.

3Compelling and Emotional Storytelling: Your story and messages should reflect who you are as a brand and all the things your customers can relate to. Emotionally compelling storytelling that your customers can be moved by and by which they can remember you (like Coca Cola’s Christmas Ads) will help keep you in people’s mind. Especially if you create a reputation with high quality, emotional and engaging storytelling that will make your audiences feel seen.

4Be Authentic and Trustworthy: You will have to show a personality that people can connect with and that will have to be as genuine and honest as possible. If you try to fake it, there is a very big chance that the audiences that were hooked by your brand identity and personality will be able to tell right away. Do your research and stick to your target audience. Showing a personality that people can connect and relate to will help build trust and strong connections between your brand and its loving audience.

Learn to use social media for business success

At its core, emotional branding is all about building meaningful connections and creating narratives that can resonate with your audiences and stand the test of time.

What We Can Learn from Barbie

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Business Lessons the Most Famous Doll in the World Has Taught us

What we can learn from Barbie may not always be obvious. Whether she was a crucial part of your childhood, never your favorite toy, or not something you put much thought into until she made her way back to the top of the world through Greta Gerwig’s international blockbuster – Barbie, and the people behind her, clearly know a thing or two about business and how to stay relevant. However, what we can learn from Barbie goes beyond the inescapable pink extravaganza taking over, well, everything. From knowing your audience to recognizing when it’s time to change, here are some things we can learn from Barbie that are completely spoiler-free.

When you consider what we can learn from Barbie, you'll realize the toy has evolved to reflect society's changes- Photo Credit- Sean Bernstein-Unsplash

When you consider what we can learn from Barbie, you’ll realize the toy has evolved to reflect society’s changes- Photo Credit- Sean Bernstein-Unsplash

What We Know About Barbie

Barbie has been around since 1959, when she went on sale for $3 US dollars. She was created by Ruth Handler, who got the inspiration while watching her daughter Barbara (yep) playing with adult paper dolls. The co-founder of Mattel noticed there were no fashionable adult dolls for girls in the market and, taking inspiration from a German doll called Bild Lilli, Barbie was born. The doll was an instant hit and became, for better or worse, one of the most recognizable and coveted toys in the world.

The doll has been controversial for many reasons since its debut 64 years ago, including reinforcing traditional gender norms, lacking diversity, and promoting unrealistic and unhealthy beauty standards (according to health experts, Barbie would have trouble walking upright if she was real). In time, Mattel has introduced a little more diversity. The 80s saw the arrival of the first Black and Latina versions of the doll but it wasn’t until 2016 that different body types were included. With over 250 careers and endless accessories, Barbie remains in the top ten most sold toys of all time.

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So, want to know what we can learn from Barbie in business?

What we can learn from Barbie? Lots of business lessons! Photo Credit Refika Imge Gunyakti--Unsplash

What we can learn from Barbie? Lots of business lessons! Photo Credit Refika Imge Gunyakti–Unsplash

Business Lessons: What we Can Learn from Barbie

1Look for Gaps in the Market: Learning to look for gaps where consumer needs aren’t being met is one of the lessons we can learn from Barbie in business. The University of Bath says a gap in the market should have one of the following three attributes: 1) it’s something completely new that has been overlooked; 2) it’s something that exists but could be improved upon; or it’s something that exists but could attract a new market. Ruth Handler was able to recognize that an adult doll that not only showed little kids they could be anything, but also came with countless accessories, would have a place in the market. Do the research and analyze who or what you are up against; find strengths, trends, and what areas could use more work or could use a change.

2]Know Your Customers: Research led Mattel to realize that they should be marketing Barbie not to their parents, as was customary at the time, but directly to the children in as many ways as possible. That way, it’d be them who would demand the doll from their parents. Learning to observe and understand customers and target audiences is another important lesson we can learn from Barbie. It’s also vital for any business. Look at the data, market trends, and listen to what your clients are saying and asking for. Use the tools at your disposal, including (CRM) tools, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Google Analytics, and use that data to engage your customers. Forbes recommends you make sure you’re collecting the right customer data and check the competition out. It’s also good to find ways to incentivize customers to take surveys and answer online questionnaires.  

3Diversity Matters: One of the areas in which the doll has faced the most criticism is the toy’s lack of diversity. The change didn’t happen overnight, but these days, the line includes 35 different skin tones, 97 hairstyles, and 9 body types. Dolls with hearing aids, prosthetic limbs, and a wheelchair were also added to the Barbie collection in 2019. As the most diverse doll line, “Barbie recognizes the importance of representation and is committed to doing the work to inspire the next generation.” By embracing and celebrating diversity, we can demonstrate our commitment to social accountability and foster a sense of inclusion among not just our customers and audiences, but also our coworkers.

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4Stay Tuned to Societal Changes but Remember What Made You: Barbie’s initial mission was to deliver a powerful message to girls: You can be anything you dream. However, the doll failed to inspire new generations and sales plunged 16% in 2014, making people wonder if Barbie’s reign was over. Mattel’s rebranding strategy required taking steps towards allowing more children around the world to see themselves in Barbie and her friends while reigniting Ruth’s desire to inspire them through play and imagination. Richard Dickinson, president and chief operating officer of Mattel, announced Barbie reached the “highest level of business ever” in 2021.

What we can learn from Barbie

What we can learn from Barbie

 

Mental Health Programs: Why companies should prioritize them

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Increasing mental health programs in companies does not only increase revenues. The benefits actually go beyond profits. Here’s why!

Having solid mental health programs in your organization attracts younger people to the company as well as increasing employee- and customer retention. Isn’t that what every company dreams of? Nevertheless, some of the more established companies seem to be stuck in their ways and still don’t prioritize mental health programs or don’t deem them as important enough. Especially after having lived through the pandemic of COVID-19, the world has seen how important mental health is. As we can increasingly see in this ever changing world, more and more young companies and start-ups are led by young entrepreneurs who make mental health one of their top priorities.

Having good mental health programs in your company is key to attract and retain talent

Having good mental health programs in your company is key to attract and retain talent

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a basis for understanding the role of mental health programs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is what will guide you through this blog post. Personally, I believe it to be one of the best ways that someone has analyzed and understood human psychological needs. As you probably know, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is portrayed in a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid we have physiological needs (which include having air, water, food and shelter), then we have safety needs (which include personal security, employment, resources and health), then we have love and belonging (which include friendship, intimacy, family and a sense of connection), then we have esteem needs (which include respect, self-esteem, status, recognition and strength) and lastly, we have self-actualization, (which is the desire to become the most that one can be).

After a long analysis of this pyramid, I have found 4 reasons as to why companies should prioritize having good mental health programs to show their concern about their employees’ mental health. The reasons will be supported with Maslow’s needs (leaving out physiological needs).

Safety needs and reducing healthcare costs

Various studies have shown that there’s a direct impact between reducing healthcare costs and having good mental health. The national safety council in America has found that in 2021 some organizations have spent over $15,000, on average, on each employee giving them mental health treatment when asked for it multiple times. On a happier note however, employers who support mental health and have substantial mental health programs see a return of $4 for every $1 invested in mental health treatment. That would mean that prioritizing your employees’ mental health isn’t only positive for your company. It’s also positive for keeping your employees safe and healthy.

Love, belonging and collaboration

When an employees’ mental health is prioritized in a company, employees feel increasingly psychologically safe to share opinions and collaborate more effectively with their team. When we feel that we are in a safe space, we are more likely to discuss what we think with our peers, and we are more likely to approach people and be open minded to work with others that we haven’t worked with before. Everyone knows that feeling where if you’re in an environment that gives you negative energy you don’t feel like you want to give anything back. However, if you are in an environment that welcomes you with open arms, you are more than likely to feel positive energy and want to give that back. Hence, when mental health is made a top priority, the idea flow and creativity at a company increases immensely.

Pushing for inclusion
More than ever having good mental health programs turn you into an employer of choice

More than ever having good mental health programs turn you into an employer of choice

Esteem needs and loyalty

When companies are seen as prioritizing the mental health of their employees, among other currently salient issues, such as sustainability, customers are more likely to buy from those companies. The McKinsey group has recently published a study showing that 79% of the respondents said that they believe that wellness is important and 42% consider it a top priority. This shows us that not only is it important to prioritize mental health for employees, but it actually creates a stronger sense of loyalty from the customer to the brand because the company is seen as caring for the people that they affect.

Self actualization, innovation & employee retention

An employee who’s mental health is prioritized can foster an encouraging and risk-taking environment, where they and their colleagues feel more confident. This leads to all employees thinking outside the box, becoming more creative, innovative and possibly becoming more intrapreneurial. Thinking outside the box can contribute to a company gaining a new Unique Selling Point and what company doesn’t want that? Especially nowadays with younger people accessing the job market after having lived through the pandemic in almost complete isolation, the increasing value that they place on mental health means that companies have to start focusing on it more.

The more mental health programs are included in a company, the more likely younger people will want to join that company. I can just talk for myself, but when I apply to internships my three top priorities are that:

  • I can learn something from the company
  • The company prioritizes mental health and sustainability
  • The company is innovating new ways to help society

Mental Health Programs

Mental Health Programs

Psychological prosperity can be the result of a good mental health program

Looking back, I have learned a lot of things about myself over the years but one thing that I have really been working on is improving my physical and mental health and making sure that both of them are my top priorities. I deeply believe that everyone should do the same because let’s face it, work is important, but it definitely isn’t everything. We have so much to look forward to in this world, and we should be happy while exploring the four corners of the Earth.