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Rediscover your workplace mojo

by Natalie EllisLeave a Comment on Rediscover your workplace mojo

When we are motivated and inspired, we seem to be the most productive, we have a sense of purpose by delivering what we are meant to, by utilising our skills and feel that they are being put to the best use.

We all have successful people we admire and look up to and more often than not, we think their lives must be perfect; they may appear to be, but we are all human, do you think Richard Branson has only ever had good days? It’d be naive to think that he has, he’s certainly faced some challenges over the years!

Then for one reason or another; all of a sudden it feels that the carpet has swept from under your feet and you’re left feeling negative and thinking that you’ll not get back to your best. Perhaps it is a time of significant change to the organisation you work for and you may be feeling unsettled or perhaps your appraisal didn’t go as you had hoped.

Workplaces can be a place filled with frustration and stress; even if you are in a role you love, it is not usual to feel that you have lost your motivation sometimes and only demonstrates that organisations need to have robust wellbeing strategies in place to ensure productivity levels are consistent.

So how can you get back to a place where you are excited about your work? We cannot change the immediate environment and sweeping the issue away is not an option; but what you are able to do, is to review the opportunities that the negativity has presented. If you have received criticism, think about how you can put a positive spin on it by using it as an opportunity to develop. You cannot wait for positivity to come to you; you have to create your own; behaviour reflects how we think and feel, if we remain in a state of negativity, then it can make the initial situation even worse. In our profession, it is a situation we see all too often; dealing with the situation sooner rather than later will avoid long term damage to performance and working relationships.

We cannot plan for these events as we never know when they will occur but what we can do is prepare for how we respond when it does. Revisit your goals, review your development and see how you can learn from the experience, seek out the challenges and get to work on solving the puzzles.

Too often we take things at face value, when we start to dig deeper, that is where the real magic happens.

 

Blogging, Business, Career, Career Journey, Career Woman, CIPD, Conference and Exhibition, Goals, HR, Human Resources, Inspiration, Motivation, Organisation, People Management, Plan Ahead, Uncategorized, women in business

Developing capability for shifting times #cipdmap17

by Natalie EllisLeave a Comment on Developing capability for shifting times #cipdmap17

With only 28 days left until the annual CIPD Midlands Area Partnership conference, which is being held at Chesford Grange in Warwickshire and I thought it is perfect timing to start talking about what we can expect from the event.

CIPD MAP 16 was an incredible event, very well organised and everyone seemed to enjoy the day. So what can we expect from this years event?

First and foremost, there are still a limited amount of tickets left so if you would like to attend then do grab your tickets via the CIPD MAP page on their website.

Secondly, if you cannot make the event, do not dispare! I will be blogging and tweeting the event as we go.

The title for this year’s event is developing capability for shifting times and with this year’s keynote speakers being Olympic Athlete Derek Redmond and Influential Professor Rob Briner, this event looks set to be one of the most successful yet.

To start the day, there will be a breakfast session held at 8:30am with Russell Deathridge from LHH Penna to discuss delivering high performance with an agile workforce in uncertain times. This is on my must see list of the day and look forward to hearing Russell’s thoughts on this incredibly relevant topic.

From 9:15am you’ll find me and a host of other branch committee members signing you all in at the registration desks, please ensure you do this in plenty of time so you can get on with some networking prior to the welcome and introduction, plus, it’s a Saturday so grabbing a good coffee is incredibly important!

The welcome and introduction to this event will begin at 10:00am before handing over to our keynote speaker Derek Redmond. Derek, as well as being an olympic gold medallist, has been a motivational speaker for 17 years and is Group Performance Director at Thomas International, so be prepared for an incredibly inspiring start to the conference.

One part of the day I am really looking forward to is hearing from Rob Robson from Tata Technologies, his session is being held at 11:55am and he is speaking about creating the employee experience, this topic is not only relevant now but will be for years to come.

Then we have the breakout sessions starting at 12:40pm;

  • A. New ways of working – myth or reality? which will be led by Professor Donald Hislop and Dr Sarah Barnard
  • B. Back from the future – is L&D ready? Led by Teresa Rose, Digital Learning Expect at E.ON
  • C. Building and developing the skills needed for organisations across the Midlands to succeed in the UK, Europe and the World. Led by Angela Joyce, CEO at Warwickshire College
  • D. The future workforce: an educational perspective, led by Matthew Crawford

I’m planning to attend sessions A and D as my work recently has been influenced by what the future holds within the education system and how that will influence the workforce.

The last but no means least, the closing keynote will take place at 15:15pm with Rob Briner; Shaking the foundations: time to challenge some common assumptions about HR;  be prepared for some fantastic quotes from Rob, he never disappoints!

Don’t forget, there is a brilliant exhibition area too, so make sure you visit the stands as well as taking the time to network with HR and L&D colleagues from across the Midlands.

I hope to see lots of you there!

 

 

Blogging, Business, Career, Career Journey, Career Woman, Getting Organised, Goals, Health, HR, Inspiration, Motivation, Organisation, Plan Ahead, Uncategorized, Wellness, women in business, Working Week

Get ready for the working week

by Natalie EllisLeave a Comment on Get ready for the working week

Organised Life

Ok, it’s Sunday and it feels like you’ve barely had a weekend (again!), and whilst we may complain that it’s nearly Monday; whether you like it or not, it is a certainty!  If this sounds familiar then by being organised and preparing for the week ahead could be the key to eliminating those Sunday blues.

A “case of the Mondays” usually comes from the feeling of having a carefree weekend, to the rigid structure and chaos of the working week. On the weekend we can eat whenever, wear whatever you please, and easily lose track of time.

The weekend is usually a time of relaxation, and it’s only when that lack of structure that we have from our working week, no wonder it fees that we are swinging from one extreme to another.

The working week brings forward structure that we generally dislike; knowing that we have to dress in a particular way, having breaks at certain times and sticking to set times especially those weeks where it seems like there’s 101 things to do and yet your diary is crammed full of meetings relating to those 101 things! This leaves us feeling ill-equipped and unprepared which are bigger dislikes than Monday’s. To avoid those situations and feel more in control, there are a few things that you can do which could help you welcome the working week and allow you to enjoy those precious few hours left of our beloved weekend.

If you’d like to give it a go, then here are some quick and easy tips to help you welcome Monday with less grumbles.

Get your to do list in order

We all have those giving us unnecessary head noise which only heightens the dread of Monday; write everything down so you can physically see what you need to do. You never know the list may be smaller and easier to achieve than you think!

There’s an app for that! Try Google Keep or Wunderlist, both are free and available across all devices.

Prepare your outfits

Believe it or not, we waste a ridiculous amount of time each morning figuring out what to wear which is stressful and makes your morning seem even more rushed when you actually don’t need it to be. Plan the outfits you’re going to wear, launder your clothes, iron them and have them together in your wardrobe ready to wear.

Create a food plan

Like outfits, we are even worse when it comes to deciding what to eat. Ditch the usual and expensive bland sandwich plan and plan your meals. Do a good food shop and get creating some yummy meals, cut up fruit, vegetables and have those as snacks. Eating healthily has a huge impact upon our motivation, so if you eat healthy in theory you should feel happier.

Try creating a simple spread sheet and populating it with meals, once you’re in the flow, it’ll take only 10 minutes to complete each week. Plus you’ll save money as you know exactly what to shop for!

Give yourself something fun to look forward to

If it’s meeting a friend after work for dinner, taking time to catch up on that TV series or having a cosy night reading a book. The week is about so much more than work so go on treat yourself!

Spruce up your social media

If you like being on social media but don’t have time to commit during the working day, there are ways you can not miss out. Prepare and schedule your Tweets, Linked In campaigns and blog posts in advance. Tools like Buffer and Hootsuite will be your new best friends!

Get your gym bag ready

Get your bag and outfits lined up and ready to go, that way you’re less likely to say “I’ll go tomorrow” which will leave you feeling disappointed and negative when you put it off.

Relax

Yes the above task sounds like a mountain to climb but do what you can to make you feel more prepared to face the week. The last thing you want to do is feel stressed after running around like a headless chicken so make sure you take time to relax and enjoy Sunday.

Even if you just do a couple of these things, you’ll be setting yourself up for a much easier, and more organised week.

Happy Sunday to you and all the best wishes for the week ahead.

Blogging, Business, Career, Career Journey, Career Woman, CIPD, Goals, Health, HR, Inspiration, Love, Motivation, People Management, Recruitment, Uncategorized, Wellness, women in business

It’s A Level results day! Your career journey starts here…

by Natalie EllisLeave a Comment on It’s A Level results day! Your career journey starts here…

When we were little, we knew what we wanted to do for a career as we’d proudly stand in front of our classmates at a tender age of 5 and exclaim “I want to be a Policeman” “a vet” “I want to be a nurse” one beamed with pride.

I remember sitting there, I politely passed my turn to another child and went last. The teacher then asked me again “Natalie what do you want to do when you grow up?” I stood at the front and told her that I’d really thought about this question because when you have a job, you’re doing it for a long time. I then said to her that I knew wanted to work at Heathrow Airport for British Airways, just like my dad. She asked, “why British Airways?” I simply said “their people are always smart, they wear buttons on their uniforms when they’re good at work, they’re friendly and they always smile but most of all, I want my mum and dad to be proud of me”.

I sadly never made it in to British Airways in my dream role as cabin crew, but ironically my sister did and whilst my mum and dad are proud of me. I’m equally proud and grateful to them, my passion to perform well in my role is a driver I inherited from my dad.

To cut a long story short, my  point is that not everything in life goes to plan so prepare for the curveballs that now fire your way! whether that is choosing the university for you, getting into the world of work or simply figuring out your next steps, they may not be as you planned or first thought!

You’ve read the books, completed your coursework and faced the exams head on; today is the results day you have been waiting for and I wish you all the very best of luck and no matter what, you’re already a success story waiting to happen.

If your results are not what you hoped for there are a number of things you can do and you may need to adapt your plans slightly but you never know, you might prefer the new plan better!

Regardless of your result, now is an incredible time of opportunity, with an increase in demand for apprenticeships, universities opening their doors to welcome new students and a buoyant employment market, now is the time to get that first foot onto the career ladder.

Good luck and all the very best wishes from me.