Natalie Ellis HR

Good morning and happy Monday to you all!
Welcome to week one of my new initiative #HRStar, following the fantastic response to #HRActofKindness so many people asked me what the next thing will be so I thought really hard and came up with a new weekly challenge to get our creative juices flowing!
As a record number of businesses cite innovation as a lacking quality; it’s time to invest in yourselves to progress your development. The key point is to establish what you want from your career, I like to be involved within the business side so my passion generally lays within strategy. It’s all about finding your happy!
We can enhance our development in a number of ways and the suggestions I have for you are not exhaustive so do feel free to put your own spin on things! These are some of the things that I have done to advance my career:
1. Get involved in your workplace – learn how different departments operate, don’t stay hidden behind the screen, it is the small details that make a huge difference
2. Work outside your comfort zone – I say this a lot but it’s all about getting involved in new projects and areas outside your normal expertise; for example at the moment I am developing a L&D strategy – not my field at all but it adds another string to my bow and I’m learning at the same time
3. Join your local CIPD Committee – here you can work with some incredibly talented individuals on projects and events
4. Get networking and meet likeminded professionals on Twitter or Linked In – I have met some fantastic people and I’m fortunate to be able to work with them regularly
5. Become a mentor or coach – I do this as an ambassador for the CIPD Steps Ahead programme
6. Join a local business club to network with professionals from different industries – you never know, you may just find your dream career path!
7. Attend CIPD events to learn something new
So what are your sticking points? This is your challenge for the week to find your happy and tell me your story. Many have said that the challenges are for HR professionals only, but as you can see, you can adapt the above to suit any profession!
Good luck with this week’s challenge and if you submit a picture of you holding up a piece of paper with #HRStar on it I’ll feature you on the blog (I’m hoping to make a collage of you all!)
Have a fantastic week!

We may be used to everyday HR activity so how do we break that cycle and develop ourselves as practitioners?

This is a question I regularly think about and after the success of #HRActofKindness I needed something to follow it up that could also bring a positive impact on HR careers as a whole all through the simplest of channels.
Then it suddenly dawned on me how I could achieve this and #HRStar was born!
I look forward to sharing the opening week with you all on Monday. Have a wonderful weekend!

I’m delighted to share this feature from DPG, thank you for supporting HR Act of Kindness! 

http://community.dpgplc.co.uk/human-resources/do-something-kind-today-with-hractofkindness

Congratulations to all who took part in the #HRActofKindness challenge over the past five days.

Since the challenge began I have been inspired, connected with people all over the world (hello New Zealand, South Africa and USA!) and have pushed myself way out of my comfort zone.

This initiative has done exactly what it was designed to do; bring people together and to make us more aware of our surroundings.

The stories I have received have been incredible to read and whilst they may seem like small acts, they make a huge difference.

From an idea that stemmed from my journey home in my beloved MINI cooper, I’m so proud of where this journey has brought us and I’m privileged to have met you all.

I would love to hear your stories so please do share them with me as I have follow up projects coming up and a few interviews as well so do make sure you email them over to me.

What we have achieved together is incredible and I’ve loved being part of your team so I hope this can continue so we generate new ideas!

I’m pleased to announce that I will be creating a new challenge starting in August so watch this space!

#HRActofKindness 

Good morning on this very rainy day! I hope you are all well and ready to take on our final challenge of what has been the most incredible week.

Thank you to everyone who has taken part, I intend to read everyone’s stories over the coming days and pick my favourites to place on to here so do email them over to me at natalieellis084@gmail.com.

Today’s challenge is about creating your own kindness, so to continue the challenge into everyday life:

Create your own #HRActofKindness list of 5 challenges

and complete one challenge every week