Canadian Small Business Women

Connection, Synergy, Community

Mentorship: a Predictor of Success

During the summer, Diana Davies-Harju, the CMO of Magnifi asked me to talk about the benefits of working with a coach, and mentorship as part of strategic planning at SparkFest. Sparkfest was an evening of networking, learning and inspiration for young tech entrepreneurs.

I was happy to give the talk. Not only because talking to young entrepreneurs is a satisfying experience, but because I’m excited about the potential of Magnifi, too. Magnifi is an app for iPhone that connects people to expert mentors, on demand (the Android version is launching soon!). It’s like Skype or FaceTime, with a built-in meter, and it ties into what I wanted to say about mentorship.

Although these remarks were made to a young audience of high school and university students, the ideas apply to a broader audience so I’m putting it in writing and expanding upon it here.

Hard Knock (Business) Life

Anyone who has been following my blog over the past four or five years knows that I am an advocate for self-employment and entrepreneurship.

Recently, my brother reminded me of something our uncle used to say. “Whatever you do, make it your business,” he’d say, in his deep voice and a super-cool Jamaican accent. He was ahead of his time with his idea about doing what you’re good at and enjoy, knowing that the money will follow. He also appreciated the value of remaining in control of one’s destiny and livelihood.

In my opinion, it’s exciting and impressive to start or run your own business, at any age. But when you’re in high school or university, you don’t have as much education from the school of hard knocks as older entrepreneurs do. This means that you have your work cut out for you. Similarly, when you’re in the earlier stages of your career, there are lots of hidden obstacles that you only see in hindsight.

Thankfully, and especially currently, you really don’t have to learn everything the hard way. That’s a dangerous and expensive way to learn and grow a business or make progress in your career. It’s much smarter, safer, and cheaper, to learn as much as you can from others.

This is where I want to come back to Magnifi. One of the best qualities of the Magnifi app and community is it provides access to advisors and experts, across a range of domains. For instance, on the Magnifi platform, you can get career advice (from yours truly), dating and relationship advice (check out Susan Winter), or guidance on making the most of your media exposure (with support from Amber Nasrulla).

Magnifi gives you access to expertise and mentorship-by-the-minute when you need it. You can use it once, or you can use it once a day if you want to. Because you pay by the minute, it doesn’t have to be costly to bounce an idea off an expert. This also means that you don’t need to commit to a long-term arrangement or contract to get high-quality information or advice.

Mentorship is for Protégés

Some people are reluctant to ask for help because they think it’s a sign of weakness. In the world of entrepreneurship, weakness is a quality that most people avoid. I don’t consider participation in mentorship a weakness. Here’s why. In any mentorship relationship, there’s a mentor and a mentee or protégé. I prefer the term protégé because protégés are known for their talent and potential.

According to Walter Isaacson’s 2011 biography of Steve Jobs, Jobs had seven mentors. Yes, Steve Jobs was a protégé to no less than seven actual mentors. When I first learned this, I found it surprising, since Jobs had a reputation for being an independent thinking “tech cowboy.”

The folklore around Jobs was that he did what he thought was appropriate regardless of what others said or the trends of the day. The reality was different. He had several mentors for different stages and aspects of his life. One of his mentors was Robert Friedland whom he met while auditing university courses. Friedland taught Jobs about selling and persuasion, two skills that Jobs mastered and used throughout his life. Friedland also owned an apple orchard – that influence is obvious.

Bob Noyce was another of Jobs’ mentors. Noyce is credited with inventing the microchip and giving Jobs’ a tremendous insider’s perspective in the early days of the tech industry. A third mentor was a Zen Master named Kobun Chino Otagawa. Otagawa officiated at Jobs’ wedding. A more public and pervasive example of Otagawa’s impact is the minimalist design aesthetic that’s now one of the qualities for which Apple is known.

Clearly, the impact of these mentors is seen all over the business strategy that was so vital to the success of Apple. What’s also clear to me is that although much of the mythology around Jobs is his independent-tech-cowboy reputation for doing what he liked and not following others, he was influenced by his mentors.

Eventually, later in his career, Jobs evolved from being the protégé who received advice from several mentors to becoming a mentor to Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and Sergey Brin and Larry Page, co-founders of Google.

One takeaway idea that comes from these examples of mentorship is that receiving mentorship shouldn’t be viewed as a sign of weakness, it should be seen as a predictor of greatness. So, whether you’re just starting your career or your business or you’ve been at it for a while, find ways to learn from mentors, formally and informally. We can all have multiple mentors and we can learn different things from different people.

 

Actions Speak Louder than Words

A second message that I shared with the young tech entrepreneurs is a lesson that I learned from an incidental mentor whom I met early on in my journey as a self-employed person. He said:

 “How you do something is how you do everything.”

In other words, how you do one thing is an indication of how you do everything. For example, a typo in an email, blog post, or a printed letter can easily be interpreted as a sign of carelessness. Failing to call or send an email that you promised to send is a signal that you’re unreliable.

On the surface, this is unusual advice to share with young tech entrepreneurs. Most people would focus on technology or business plans, and overlook this important detail. In my experience, this simple advice is very impactful. Not understanding and executing on this one notion can undermine the success of your product or service.

 

If you’re curious about mentorship and you’re not sure where to start, I invite you to contact me by email or book a free initial phone call. If you prefer messaging via social media, then send me a direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

Of course, I’m also on Magnifi.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Hiring Is Like Dating. Do You Need To Up Your Game?

Many employers treat hiring like a blind date, hoping for “love at first sight.” They spend a little bit of time with a candidate. They ask some basic questions, then ask a few more questions as they come to mind. They think they have the job candidate all figured out, so they “propose” and attempt to seal the deal with a job offer. I know that a job offer is not quite the same as making a marriage proposal after one or two dates, so what could go wrong?

A lot can go wrong. A bad hire is almost always costly – it’s just a matter of how much it’s going to cost. A bad hire can have a far-reaching impact on morale, productivity and client relationships. Take a look at this article by Intuit QuickBooks on the costs of bad hiring.

When I work with employers as an HR Consultant, I like to ask them what they’d like their next employee to bring to the job and what things the right employee can learn on the job. I call this the “Bring vs. Learn Concept.”

When considering the fit between the position and a potential hire, it makes the most sense to look at what can be learned on the job and what an employee needs to bring to the job on day one. This one concept can help you focus on the right things when interviewing and comparing job applicants.

Many jobs require specific knowledge from day one — education and training and other types of credentials. Nobody, to use one of my favourite examples, wants their dentist to be learning how to fix teeth on the job. They need to have adequate training and competence before they start to work.

Soft skills are often hard to improve or develop. For example, emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, tact, judgment are very hard to teach. Soft skills are the things that great job candidates should bring with them into the job because they are so much harder to develop. They are also hardest to determine from a typical interview. Just like during a date, both sides are putting on a bit of a show for the person across the table. How can you drill down, and find out who a person really is, when he or she is doing everything possible to make sure you can’t?

It’s important to hire well and cost-effectively. If you know someone who has learned the hard way or wants to avoid learning the hard way, consider a new approach to hiring. By using Industrial/Organizational Psychology principles and techniques, I have created some very effective screening tools that allow me to assess behaviour as it relates to work.  I/O Psychology is also known as business psychology or work psychology. As an I/O psychologist, I have access to the best practices and processes that are also used in some of the world’s most successful companies and by I/O psychologists who share their applied research findings.

 

Do you need help navigating the world of human resources and work? Contact Dr. Helen today for a free and confidential initial consultation by phone, email, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. She can develop interview questions and/or simulations to determine which job applicants have the essentials to hit the ground running, and are capable of learning the rest after they start.

In some situations, when you don’t need a full hour, especially when it’s urgent information-by-the-minute via the Magnifi app is a very practical option.

Have you ever wished you could get inside the head of a hiring manager? You can. Dr. Helen Ofosu is a Career Coach/Counsellor with a difference. She has worked for organizations to create hiring and screening tools. She’s created countless pre-screening tests, interviews, simulations, and role plays for organizations of all kinds.

Dr. Helen’s training in Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology means she is a genuine expert in evaluating work-related behaviours. She uses those skills to help hiring managers tell the difference between people who say the right things during interviews and people who actually deliver on the job. In other words, Dr. Helen understands first-hand how job candidates are assessed.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

The Queen Bee Syndrome – Not Sweet Like Honey …

Over the past few years, there’s been a lot of attention paid to the topic of bad behaviour in the modern workplace. Often, it’s taken the form of sexual harassment of women by men … but according to a recent study, it’s often garden-variety harassment of women by other women. In fact, according to this recent article, two-thirds of women have been bullied by another woman at work. Some of this may be related to the “Queen Bee Syndrome” which is well known among teenage girls, or the movie Mean Girls.  Maybe this is a downside of gender equity, women are at least as guilty of bad workplace behaviour as their male counterparts are.

Unfortunately, I’ve seen evidence of female bullies in businesses, government, and non-profit organizations. It is agonizing to live through as the victim – or hear about after the fact. Whatever the context, workplace bullying exists when someone with more privilege and power harasses someone with less privilege and power.

Bad behaviour spreads

This type of bad behaviour is terrible in its own right. What’s even worse is that by accepting this type of incivility and workplace bullying/harassment in an organization it encourages it to spread.

I understand that there are many factors that encourage people to keep quiet or look away in the presence of bullying or harassment. For example, this protects the reputations of the victims who do not want to be labelled as trouble-makers. In other situations, it’s easier for a business owner, leader, or HR person to let the victim give up and leave the organization than it is to reign in the bully/harasser. In other cases, the silence and indifference are mostly about the complicity of the witness(es) who could and should have been better allies. Their silence in the face of harassment and the abuse of power isn’t something to be proud of.

The updated Ontario anti-harassment legislation does offer some guidance and relief to the people who are brave and motivated enough to try to make the workplace safer and fairer

All that glitters is not gold …

Queen Bee can fool youIronically, I have seen situations where a female bully has talked the talk but didn’t walk the walk. For example, a female bully may say things or take positions that make them seem like supporters of gender equality or feminism. For instance, they said the ‘right’ things during the Jian Ghomeshi trial, they attend annual International Women’s Day events, or confess that they have experienced problems associated with the #MeToo movement. It’s extremely disappointing to see those women who outwardly speak of being allies who are fighting to end violence against women perpetrating emotional violence against another woman. It’s also more complicated to hold these women to account because of the mismatch between their words and their actions.

So, in the interest of gender equality, it’s time formen and women to consider doing more to create safe, respectful and inclusive organizations and organizational cultures. Men aren’t the only ones who should be expected to be good organizational citizens. Women should hold other women to that same standard instead of turning away and pretending not to see what’s happening or declining to respond even when they are advised in writing.

 

Need help dealing with a delicate or high-stakes career or HR issue? I invite you to contact me privately. I offer a free 15 to 20-minute initial consultation by phone. Or, if you prefer, you can contact me by email, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. If something urgent comes up, I’m also available by a voice or video on Magnifi, an expertise-on-demand app.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Encore Entrepreneurship: The Gray Edge Of The Wedge

Ask a lot of people to think of successful entrepreneurship and they’ll imagine a “millennial” in ripped jeans and rubber-toed sneakers, a couple of ping-pong tables close at hand.

Well, not so fast. It turns out those of us with a touch of gray at our temples have the advantage when it comes to starting a business.

It makes perfect sense. While younger people may be more inclined to take risks, older, more established and better-connected individuals are more likely to start their own business than younger ones. This is why the rates of entrepreneurship actually peak at age 53.

Changes in technology making certain jobs obsolete, combined with a desire for autonomy that often comes in later years mean that entrepreneurship after age 50 is becoming more common as a second career option.

The catch-22 is this, as I discussed in this blog post a while back. Finding a comparable position can be even more difficult when you’ve had a very high paying and/or specialized career. After all, entry-level jobs are plentiful, but senior level jobs are not.

A new US study has found that indeed, the most successful entrepreneurs tend to be middle-aged. The study was the work of a partnership between the Kellogg School of Management, the U.S. Census Bureau and MIT.

The researchers found “the very fastest-growing new tech companies, the average founder was 45 at the time of founding.” Furthermore, they found, “a given 50-year-old entrepreneur is nearly twice as likely to have a runaway success as a 30-year-old.

Entrepreneurship over age 50 is even better for women, says this article on Forbes.com. Kerry Hanon is author of several books on the subject and a regular Forbes contributor.

“Research shows that women’s confidence at work increases with age while at the same time, their family responsibilities — especially related to childbearing and rearing — decrease,” she explains.

At the same time, women entrepreneurs may not have as easy a time getting started, but eventually, the gap closes.

“Only 52 percent of women with first-year start-ups said their ventures performed well last year, while 67 percent of men said theirs did. The difference, however, fades over time. Among businesses that are five years old or older, 77 percent of women and 77 percent of men said their company performed well last year.”

So with these facts backing up what my instinct had been telling me for some time, I have to come to believe ever more strongly that for a lot of people, to restart late in your career, self-employment can make the most sense. As challenging as it is, it’s much better to get

started while you still have enough years left to work and possibly some severance funds to get you going.

 

What Should I Consider?

successful entrepreneurship is better when planned

 

There’s plenty to think about before making the leap from employee to entrepreneur. Read this recent blog post for some ideas.

I can’t stress enough the importance of planning and preparingbefore you launch. Ideally, you’d be planning your exit while you’re still working elsewhere but we don’t always have that luxury.

A franchise is one option to explore. There is even a consulting service that helps connect entrepreneurs with the right franchise. I met a consultant a couple of years back at a trade show who told me about Frannet.com.

While planning, take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. As an Industrial/Organizational Psychologist, I can help with this, and many other areas of career transition.

If you’re curious about whether self-employment is right for you or you’re not sure where to start, I invite you to contact me by email, or book a free 15 to 20-minute phone call. If you prefer messaging via social media, then send me a direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

 

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

 

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Self-Employment: A Reality Check

Self-employment is becoming more and more common, as shifts in the economy make some jobs obsolete, and new technology makes self-employment easier than ever before.

Who hasn’t had the conversation about their dream business? Whether your dream is to open a fly-fishing shop, a cupcake café, or offer virtual assistant services from a home office, you should spend some time on research and planning before your business goes live. Maybe buying a franchisemakes more sense for you as an alternative to starting something from scratch.

Once you’ve considered some of the important preliminaries — what you want to do and what you’d be good at — it’s important that you take a sober look at your strengths and weaknesses and confirm you’re right for entrepreneurship. I often tell clients, “just because you can do something doesn’t mean that you should do it.”

It’s important to be realistic about your strengths and weaknesses. When you’re out on your own, your personality traits, strengths and weaknesses will be magnified. You’ll need to find ways to consistently compensate for your weaknesses and make great use of your strengths. This is something that I always address when working with career coaching clients who are contemplating a career change of any kind.

Are you resourceful and resilient? To be in business, you need to be both. If you have trouble saying no, this is going to cause you real problems when it comes to dealing with customers. If you’re not naturally organized, you can find yourself in real trouble at tax time.

self-employment often takes a lot of work to get establishedAre you able to supervise and manage staff? If you find you need help in your business, are you going to be comfortable being in charge of people? Friends and family may cheer you on or they may tell you that you’re out of your mind to want to leave your secure job. Either way, some strategic advice can help you bounce ideas around in a constructive, objective way.

Don’t Rush In

Ideally, you’ll have a chance to plan things out and do some thorough research while you still have a steady paycheque. If you can, ease into your business and learn as you go, with what’s being called a “side hustle” these days.

Do your due diligence. Research, research, research. Get out and talk to entrepreneurs. Go to business networking meetings. Find out what it’s really like to be your own boss. For example, if you’ve been an employee for some years, you’ve probably never approached a lender to ask for a small business loan. When ‘Jane Smith’ (a former client) left the federal government to open her own clothing shop, she says she experienced a “rude awakening.”

For one thing, once she wasn’t a civil servant, the credit union that held her mortgage was a lot less friendly. “Once I became self-employed, they had very little time for me. I couldn’t get a small business loan or line of credit because my business was too new. I couldn’t even get overdraft for my business account.”

self-employment is possible if you're prepared to work for it

 

As for the “freedom” aspect of being your own boss?  Jane learned the hard way that self-employment shouldn’t be confused with freedom. “I was going to set my own hours and do things my way. It turned out I worked longer hours than I ever did before, and I had more bosses than ever. Your customers become your bosses. I ended up with hundreds of bosses to please.”

 

 

If you’re curious about whether self-employment is right for you or you’re not sure where to start, I invite you to contact me by email, or book a free 15 to 20-minute phone call. If you prefer messaging via social media, then send me a direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

What Not To Do When You Need To Fire Someone

I’ve always thought of myself as an optimistic person, especially when it comes to helping people find an occupation that optimizes their professional strengths. In my experience, most people who have been fired from their jobs are not bad, lazy, or incompetent workers, although sadly those characterizations are often associated with a job termination. In reality, most workers who have been let go were just not intended for that specific role, or the organization could no longer use their unique abilities. A couple of years ago, I described some ways to redirect an employee to a different role when things had changed and/or weren’t working out.  This approach may be especially useful after a restructuring, prior to merger or acquisition, during a downsizing, or to solve an interpersonal problem like bullying or harassment. In all of these situations, it’s often smart to redirect an existing employee into another position. Most employees have talents and transferable skills that can be effective in more than one role.

Breaking up is hard to do

Sometimes, dismissing someone who just isn’t the right fit for the company is inevitable, and it’s often an unpleasant task for both the employer and employee. In some ways, being fired is similar to an awkward break-up, where someone is sitting across from you  and saying ‘goodbye.’ Worst of all, there is an unavoidable implication which suggests that “you aren’t good enough” or “I don’t want you.” There is rarely enough sugar-coating to ease the discomfort of breaking it off with someone professionally or romantically.

One person feels the uneasy guilt that comes with having to terminate the relationship. The other person who’s being fired must deal with many unsettling emotions such as rejection, disappointment, and shaken confidence. Fully understandable yet disruptive and/or embarrassing reactions can occur when someone is being fired. For example, I’ve had clients tell me that they had to rush out of the boss’ office after being fired so that they could cry. Others described feeling dizzy, nauseous, anxious, and downright mortified which is hard to conceal as your being let go. On the flipside of this exchange, I’ve also heard managers and bosses relay stories of employees becoming belligerent or vindictive towards the company after a dismissal (this can lead to certain types of insider threats). A smart way to prevent conflict, legal action, and/or retaliation is to offer some outplacement services to the affected employee to help them line up their next job/career.

So, if asked, just as I would instruct a close friend on how not to break up with someone, I’ve got some suggestions for managers and business owners about how not to fire an employee. I understand that there are important differences between professional and romantic ‘breakups’, but both circumstances require tact, sensitivity, and discretion.

6 rules to follow when you need to lay off, downsize, or fire someone

1) Don’t be mean

If you’re not a reality star looking for TV ratings, or an unhinged leader who’s drunk on power, then you probably will care about an employee’s feelings when you have to let them go. Pointing a finger at someone’s face and callously hissing “You’re fired!” is certainly a dramatic yet unprofessional way to go about it. Managers and business owners can feel frustrated and annoyed by an employee who is no longer a good fit or isn’t pulling their weight and that can invite a less than friendly dismissal. My advice in those situations is to remain calm and professional even when some form of bad behaviour is contributing to this person’s job termination.

2) Don’t tell everyone

Do not discuss firing an employee with the affected person’s peers or others in the organization unless they need to be involved regarding human resources policies, procedures, etc. Oversharing this sensitive information can lead to additional negative reactions from the person who is being fired if they find out that others who did not need to know have been discussing it. It will also cause concern and disruption within the workplace and be perceived as unconstructive, unprofessional, and just plain old mean-spirited office gossip.

3) Don’t fire through, text, email or phone call

If the employee is available within a typical commuting distance of your location, then I’d recommend a face-to-face meeting … the same courtesy that you’d probably extend to a soon-to-be former romantic partner. The person you are dismissing has the right to a proper goodbye. This is especially true if the employee has been with the company for a long period of time.

4) Don’t blindside someone

When it’s possible and appropriate, give some warning. For various reasons, this isn’t always feasible. But, if you are sensing that an employee isn’t taking the job seriously, they aren’t completing their work by the deadlines as routinely as they had before, or they’re taking significant time off work you might want to pull them aside and ask what is going on with them personally (e.g.,problems at work or personal issues) before assuming their work is just inefficient.

If you have shown a genuine interest in helping them, and also let them know you that you’ve noticed their lack of productivity then when you let them go it won’t be as shocking to them. It can also prevent you from being accused that you didn’t give the employee a chance to improve.

5) Don’t do it alone

Include assistance from human resources (HR) if your organization has someone who covers this function. This is different from telling the employee’s co-workers about your plans to fire someone. HR should understand the need to be extremely discreet and can also help provide support during the dismissal and serve as a witness to the discussion between the employer and the employee.

6) Don’t pick an unsuitable place

Make sure the place where the dismissal occurs privately so that it won’t be watched or overheard by others. It’s possible to underestimate an employee’s reaction in response to being terminated, so make sure you choose the time and place wisely.

If you’re an employee who’s trying to bounce back after being downsized or displaced, or if you’re an employer/hiring manager who wants to arrange outplacement services I invite you to connect with me privately. I offer a free confidential 15 to 20-minute initial consultation by phone. Or, if you prefer, you can contact me by email, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

 

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

 

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

The Challenge of Hiring Staff to Work in the Cannabis Industry

 

In recent blog articles, I’ve described emerging careers related to exponential technologies, including cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. I’ve also addressed some of the difficulties associated with hiring staff to work in new fields (read this for an example). In these brand-new industries, it is hard to hire staff because it’s very difficult to determine who has adequate knowledge. For now, it’s not possible to earn a degree or diploma in the cannabis or marijuana industry. This means that people who want to hire employees to work in these positions can’t use their usual approach to recruitment and hiring. Degrees and diplomas won’t work as a proxy or symbol of an applicant’s adequate knowledge.

Evaluating job applicants’ relevant cannabis experience and knowledge

From what I’ve seen firsthand, many hiring managers and business owners focus on measuring potential employees’ experience and knowledge because these qualities are easier to measure, they’re objective. It’s fairly safe to assume an applicants’ knowledge when they have the appropriate designation, diploma, or degree. In the cannabis industry, this approach probably isn’t going to work in the short-term because you can’t earn degrees in cannabis production, management, or distribution.

 

How can an employer predict who is going to be the best performer on the job?

In my experience as an Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychologist, I’ve always understood that job performance is based on two factors:

1) The employees’ experience and knowledge. Stated otherwise, what candidates’ know. Often this is categorized as hard skills or technical competence.

2) How an employee applies their experience and skills is the second determinant of job performance. This includes qualities like judgment, conscientiousness, creativity, and initiative, etc. For a more detailed discussion of soft skills and their relative importance – especially when hiring staff, please read this article. In many situations, soft skills play a bigger role than hard skills/technical skills. When you have one or more people with equivalent knowledge (often represented by a specific degree diploma or designation) and similar years of work experience, the person who is better able to apply their knowledge is more successful on the job. They have the stronger, more effective soft skills.

valuable cannabis needs to be stored securelyMore complications due to the complicated nature of the cannabis industry

Typically, when hiring, the employer and/or hiring manager focuses on the job applicant’s experience and knowledge. From a practical perspective, this makes a lot of sense. It’s straightforward and objective to focus on these measurable qualities. For most people, accurately and reliably evaluating soft skills including qualities like teamwork, cooperation, judgment, flexibility, etc. is often easier said than done.

I anticipate that for the first several years of the cannabis industry in Canada it may be difficult to identify the job applicants with the right skill set, knowledge, and experience. It won’t be possible to rely on degrees, diplomas, or certificates as an indicator of knowledge. Although there are some people who have been involved in the legal medicinal cannabis industry for years, that industry is much smaller than the emerging combined recreational and medicinal markets. This means that there will be a bigger demand for staff. In addition, some of the people with experience in the underground, illegal black market might be unsuitable for the new industry. Selling cannabis isn’t the same as selling clothing or groceries or other products. Then, when one factors in the serious security implicationsof such valuable merchandise and the high-profile public relations elements, the soft skills will become even more important in these areas than they are in other industries (for a concrete example, watch thisvideo from CBC’s The National which aired on January 15, 2018; at about 4 minutes and 15 seconds, there’s a scene about the vault for drying buds securely).

The ability to reliably and accurately evaluate these human behaviours will become more and more valuable and more important. Similarly, the cursory background checks and reference checks that are often performed as a formality and an afterthought in many organizations will be completely inadequate in this context. The challenges, grey zones, and high stakes will mean that it’s not just business as usual.

Addendum – On September 23, 2018, in advance of the legalization of cannabis in Canada, the Globe and Mail published this fascinating article that addresses some of the complications associated with the black/grey cannabis market and some of the security issues. Read it here.

Planning to hire people who can function effectively in the cannabis/marijuana industry? Let’s talk! I invite you to contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. If something urgent comes up, I’m also available by a voice or video on Magnifi, an expertise-on-demand app.

 


I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations

Q&A With Dr. Helen – What You Need To Know About Reference Checks

reference checks are now easier because of technologyQ1: In 2015 you wrote a blog article that asked if reference checks were worthwhile. The short answer was a definite yes.  Is this still true 3 years later despite the growing reliance on online job applications and electronic/social networking?

A: In many respects, I believe that a reference from a previous employer is even more important and more relevant than ever because so much of the hiring process is online and impersonal.

With screening being done by software and face-to-face job interviews being replaced by video calls to expedite hiring in large organizations, employers are relying on online information from applicants more than ever before. In my opinion, this makes it more likely that important information is overlooked. This mostly digital approach can be problematic for multiple reasons.

 

male job applicant confident that interview and reference check went wellQ2:  You don’t strike me as old-fashioned or anti-technology. Can you list a few problems associated with this modern approach?

A: Thank you! I’m often an early adopter and a big proponent of the smart use of technology. When hiring moves (mostly) online, depending on how it’s implemented, many mistakes are possible.

For starters, a job applicant can easily exaggerate their previous work roles or overstate their education or professional credentials on an online screening questionnaire. If an employer has appropriate ways to validate and confirm this information, then it’s fine. When, however, the employer has no reliable way to confirm this information, it’s a slippery slope downward.  A well-structured reference check (including a background check) is an excellent way to verify and clarify information provided by the most promising job applicants.

It is increasingly difficult to stand out when applying for a job online. This is especially true for qualified but humble applicants. So, a solid job reference from a previous employer is a great way for a candidate’s past accomplishments to shine through and help distinguish between candidates who are good self-promoters and candidates who are good workers.

Q3: It appears that most experienced managers/employers understand the benefits of doing a thorough reference check before hiring a candidate. Do you find job applicants are less enthusiastic about this process?

A: On the surface, and to outsiders, it looks as though most managers and employers understand the importance of a reference check. One problem that I see far too often is that they consider the reference check to be a mere formality. It’s a quick phone call that they make so that they can basically ‘check the box’ that they’ve done a reference check. In my opinion, this is a missed opportunity to collect and confirm some important information from two or three people who should have good familiarity with the job applicant’s work ethic, reliability, and abilities.

Employers and hiring managers aren’t the only ones who ‘go through the motions’ when it comes to reference checks. I’ve heard clients express their frustration, and even anxiety with having to provide additional information after submitting a well-crafted cover letter, a detailed resume, and participating in a preliminary and other ‘real’ interviews. In most organizations, there are good reasons to consider a potential employee’s past, to confirm their skills, experience, and knowledge – and also how they apply those skills and knowledge (i.e., their soft skills). The best reference checks prevent the company from hiring someone who is incompetent or a bad fit for the role and the work environment. Depending on the industry, the reference check can also help to protect the business from security breaches (including cybercrimes) caused by insider threats.

I can appreciate that most job applicants don’t want to jump through unnecessary hoops to land a job. But, for the better jobs, being asked for references should be taken as a sign that the employer knows what they’re doing and doesn’t hire everybody who applies and says some of the right things during an interview.

Q4: In your experience, should an applicant provide their work references upfront, (such as attach them to the resume) or should they wait to be asked. Is there any harm in either?

A: From what I’ve seen first-hand, going back almost 20 years, references are only checked for the most promising job applicants – near the end of the hiring process. A decent reference check takes time to complete so it does not make sense to invest the time that’s required to do a thorough one until you’re prepared to make an offer.

Unless you’re asked for the names and contact information for references up front, I think it’s better to provide them when you’re asked for them.

 

 

Q5: Going back to some job applicants feeling hassled or reluctant to provide a reference from a superior, isn’t it possible that they may have good reason not to? For instance, if their last place of employment was toxic? What if their boss was harassing them, or their manager just didn’t like them? Similarly, what if they don’t want their current employer to know they are planning to leave? 

A: These are such important questions and the answers aren’t black and white. Since there’s so much nuance to this question, and potentially so much at stake, I’ve included several clickable links so that you can drill down to get more information that’s most relevant to your circumstances. When you’ve been made the scapegoat or harassed orbullied at work, it really won’t feel good to ask the ‘offender’ to be a good, reliable reference. In many cases, you probably shouldn’t count on an honest (and positive) testimonial of your value as an employee.

If you’re stuck and/or have questions about who to list as a reference – or you want to make better use of reference checks when hiring new staff, I invite you to contact me by email, free 15-minute phone consultation, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Hiring And HR At The Start Of The Blockchain Era

hiring people for blockchain workIn my last blog post, I described seven emerging careers that are linked to blockchain technology. Besides the fact that they’re all related to the same technology, these career options have another thing in common: it’s not easy to get a degree or diploma in anything blockchain-related. This means that people and/or organizations who want to hire staff to work in these areas probably can’t use their usual approach. Degrees and diplomas don’t work as a proxy for knowledge in this context.

Measuring Job Candidates’ Knowledge and Experience

In my experience, most hiring managers and business owners focus on evaluating potential employees’ knowledge and experience because these characteristics are measurable. Often, knowledge is assumed when a job applicant has the right degree or diploma. In these early days of the blockchain era, those degrees and diplomas don’t exist. Similarly, most employers require a certain amount of relevant work experience. Again, in this brand-new context, nobody has 5 to 10 years of work experience. This puts hiring managers and business owners in a tough position. The usually ‘measurable’ stuff is not so easy to measure.

Besides Knowledge and Experience, What Determines Job Performance?

It gets worse. In the world of Industrial and Organizational (I/O) Psychology we’ve always understood that job performance is determined by two things:

1) Employees’ knowledge and experience, or in other words, what they know. Often this is technical competence or so-called hard skills.

2) How an employee applies their skills and experience. This includes qualities like initiative, creativity, judgement, conscientiousness, etc. For a more thorough discussion of soft skills and their importance – especially when hiring, please read this previous blog article. In many cases, the soft skills play the bigger part. When you’ve got one or more people with similar experience and knowledge (often measured by a certain designation, credential, degree, or diploma), the person who is better able to apply what they know is more successful. They have better soft skills.

blockchain careers - hiring is harderI’ve always found it interesting (and troubling) that most employers and hiring managers spend much more time evaluating skills and knowledge and inadequate time and effort evaluating candidates’ soft skills. Practically speaking, I understand why this happens. It’s much easier to assess knowledge and experience. Measuring things like behavioural flexibility, sound judgement, teamwork and cooperation, etc. is often easier said than done.

In this brave new world of blockchain-related careers, many organizations will make expensive mistakes when hiring staff. For the time being, it’s almost impossible to count on degrees or diplomas as a proxy for knowledge. Hardly any candidates have multiple years of experience. Plus, the soft skills which are traditionally harder to measure may be even more elusive in this context. In addition to the usual soft skills, qualities like potential, the willingness and ability to engage in ongoing self-directed learning, and creativity/innovation are probably especially important. Lucky for my clients (and future clients), my training and experience have allowed me to develop a specialization in measuring these types of human behaviours in the workplace.

Alternative Employment Arrangements

hiring in blockchain era

Although it’s still the early days of the blockchain era, I’ve seen evidence of organizations exploring different types of employment arrangements (click here to read more). This is due, in part, to the fact that there are many more jobs than there are qualified people to fill them. This means that there’s stiff competition for employees and candidates can be very picky about the role they choose. Some of the compensation models that have been presented include various degrees of equity, cryptocurrency token distribution arrangements, plus competitive salaries. These scenarios are making the employer-employee relationships much fuzzier than usual.

 

 

 

Planning to hire people who can function effectively in the blockchain era? Let’s talk! I invite you to contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter,Facebook, or LinkedIn.


I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Blockchain And CryptoCurrency Careers

Blockchain is the technology of bitcoin (coin on keyboard)In recent months, Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies, and the blockchain have become very popular topics of conversation. Usually, these discussions revolve around the value of Bitcoin and other digital currencies. As a Career Coach and HR Consultant, I’m more focused on the career opportunities and the HR implications that are related to the blockchain – the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In a future post, I’ll address some of the HR issues. In this article, I’ll describe employment opportunities that relate to blockchain technology that are aligned with seven fields of employment.

 

What is the blockchain?

Just to be sure that we’re all on the same page, let me share a simple definition of the blockchain. If you’re interested in more information about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, here are a couple of links where you can drill down deeper than I can in this article: a 3-minute, non-technical explainer video, and general news and information about cryptocurrencies.

A recent Globe and Mail article offers this definition:

“Blockchain technology is a way of storing and sharing information across a network of users in an open virtual space. Blockchain technology allows for users to look at all transactions simultaneously and in real time. Additionally, since transactions are not stored in any single location, the information is almost impossible to hack.”

Since there’s been so much talk about potential job losses due to the growing use of automation and other forms of technology, it’s a pleasure to talk about the upside — some of the emerging job opportunities linked to blockchain technology and/or cryptocurrencies that we can anticipate.

 

Seven Employment Opportunities Related to Blockchain Technology and CryptoCurrencies

two guys near whiteboard discuss blockchain technology1) Programmers / Software Developers / Engineers

Since the blockchain and cryptocurrencies are technical, it makes sense to start with the most obvious employment opportunities – the technical ones. There’s a great need for developers and programmers who understand blockchain technology. Part of the problem is that the supply of these subject matter experts (SMEs) is less than their availability. Professors are not teaching it because it’s a field that’s changing constantly. These rapid changes mean that the professors’ lecture notes can become obsolete too quickly. From a practical perspective, it’s not smart to teach courses where you’re constantly updating your lecture materials. Many university professors and college instructors prefer to teach content that’s more “evergreen” and can be reused for a while. Plus, the people who have a solid grip on this content are probably too busy using their knowledge in industries that are more lucrative than college and university campuses.

2) Financial Services (including Accounting/Audit)

Since cryptocurrencies are linked to financial transactions it’s no surprise that there are job and career opportunities that are linked to blockchain technology. Some of these opportunities are in Fintech, which involves computer programs and other technology used to support or enable banking and financial services.

By design, blockchain transactions are linked to every single transaction record that came before them, so no blockchain record can be changed after it has been entered. This is where the term ‘chain’ comes from. More importantly, this implies irreversibility. The concept of irreversibility is extremely important in the field of accounting. For example,

“Within the context of an audit, all relevant transactions would be irrefutable if they were on a blockchain—multi-party involvement would guarantee that they would not have been changed in any way. That will not leave much left for accountants to audit … blockchain will enable more connected and more reliable transactions, requiring less manual intervention.” (Read more about blockchain and the implications for accounting here.)

The Fintech and traditional financial services sector have been exploring the use of cryptocurrencies and the blockchain as a way to improve and modernize existing business models and transfer assets securely and in a traceable manner (read this article to see how Citibank, UBS, and other global banks are using blockchain technology).

3) Food and Agriculture

There are ways that the food and agricultural industries may improve due to these technologies. The blockchain has features that enable a supply chain to deal with food-safety problems much more efficiently. For example, “Wal-Mart, which sells 20% of all food in the U.S., has [just] completed two blockchain pilot projects. Before using the technology, Wal-Mart conducted a traceback test on mangoes in one of its stores. It took six days, 18 hours, and 26 minutes to trace the fruit back to its original farm. … By using blockchain, Wal-Mart can provide all the information the consumer wants in 2.2 seconds.” (click here for more details). When problems can be identified quickly, resources can be deployed to solve the problems in a timely manner. Another benefit is that these technologies have the potential to Uberize the industry by eliminating middlemen and lowering the fees associated with transactions.

Blockchain technology can also be useful for consumers. By scanning a QR code with a smartphone, information including an animal’s date of birth, their use of antibiotics, vaccinations, and where the livestock was harvested can easily be displayed for the consumer.

blockchain technology may ultimately change the shipping industry4) Shipping and Logistics

Often, people who argue against the use of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin talk about the ease with which identities can be masked online and encourage criminal behaviour. My understanding is that this is less true of bitcoin but potentially more likely with other cryptocurrencies. Interestingly, the use of blockchain technology has the potential to eliminate systemic inefficiencies and fraud. The fact that all the transactions contained in the blockchain, a linked system of information that’s secure and transparent, throughout the entire lifecycle of a transaction makes it an extremely practical solution for the shipping and freight industry. Once a shipment is documented on a blockchain, nobody can dispute the validity of the transaction or manipulate the records. Practically speaking, this means that once transactions are noted, ‘smart’ contracts can release any payments that are in escrow which will reduce the time and expense associated with intermediary processing.

For example, in 2015, the FBI estimated that cargo theft is responsible for annual losses of about $30 billion (USD). Cargo includes any commercial shipment that is transported from point A to point B via trucks, planes, trains, ships, etc. These losses/thefts mean that fraudulent middle-men/middle entities are driving up the costs associated with shipping by at least 20%. Just as with insider threats, these cargo-related thefts are under-reported so that the companies involved can avoid reputational damage, embarrassment, higher insurance rates, bad press, etc.

UPS is heavily invested in blockchain technology which should enable a more efficient and cheaper system of managing logistics. Other startups and incumbent parties are also working toward implementing this technology. Organizations and individuals involved in insurance, audits, payments, and customs brokerage may also find advantages associated with blockchain technology.

5) Voting Management

The integrity of voting systems and voting management is another area that can benefit from the tamper-proof quality of blockchain technology. In addition to elections, voting by directors and shareholders is important companies’ decision-making processes, mergers and acquisitions, and other verdicts. Voting by proxy is practical and convenient but it can be vulnerable to manipulation.

 

blockchain technology may revolutionize international financial transactions6) Currency Exchange 

Anyone who has immigrated from certain countries or who has conducted business across international borders has probably experienced the inconvenience and costs associated withcurrency exchange and moving money across borders.

Easier cross-border payments and financial transactions is a real advantage of cryptocurrency technology. The current processes and systems used for moving money across international borders are often burdensome and multi-layered. Using a blockchain can make it a simpler and cheaper process, with built-in accountability, verification, and assurance.

 

7) Various (non-technical) professional services

It’s anticipated that there will be a need for tax and accounting specialists, consultants who have expertise in strategy and technology, and business analysts in companies and organizations who are using blockchain technology (to read a little more about this click here and here). Some of this may be a shift from similar roles in more traditional lines of business but some of these opportunities may result from new opportunities.

For anyone who’s determined to keep up with new opportunities to offset changes in the workplace that may lead totechnology/automation driven job loss, I hope this article is a good starting point. If you’re interested in the HR-related implications of these emerging technologies and hiring staff to fill some of these roles, please read thisarticle.

 

 

If you’re an employee who wants to pivot into one of these emerging areas to stay relevant, or, if you’re an employer/hiring manager who wants to choose future staff wisely I invite you to connect with me privately. I offer a free 15 to 20-minute initial consultation by phone. Or, if you prefer, you can contact me by email, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Secrets On The Job – My Experience With Discretion

A secret’s worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept. – Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

Over the years, I’ve developed a few friendly relationships with family lawyers. Eventually, I’ve said to the ones I know well, “I don’t know who holds more secrets, is it you or is it me?” More often than not, I’m met with a curious furrowed eyebrow or a soft, knowing, chuckle.  It’s easy to grasp why lawyers keep a client’s personal information to themselves. They deal with a variety of intimate matters such as divorce, separation, child custody, wills and estates, trademarks, copyrights, etc. Their success relies heavily on being discreet. What is less obvious is that I too have access to sensitive information when working with my clients.  This means that I also share the task of keeping things quiet in my line of work.

For me, Discretion is a Little Word that Carries a Big Obligation

Morally, I am someone who understands the importance of keeping what has been shared with me with in the strictest of confidence.  As a specialist in I/O Psychology and a member of the Society for I/O Psychologists (SIOP) since 1999 (and also a member of the Canadian Psychological Association [CPA]), I am ethically bound to maintain clients’ privacy and confidentiality.

 

SIOP Members use discretionSometimes, when people hear the official title of my job, I/O Psychologist, they don’t really appreciate many of the nuances of what I do. So, I started using labels like ‘Career Coach’ and ‘HR Consultant’ mainly because they are more relatable and they also describe how I use my training in psychology.

 

However, what is even less known about my profession is that I am qualified to work in complicated and often deeply personal situations that most people would not want to have discussed openly in their community, family, or in front of their colleagues/peers. These are serious matters that I have taken on when other ‘normal’ Career Coaches and/or HR Consultants are reluctant or lack the training and/or experience to take on.

discretion practiced in psychology wordsFor instance, during consultations, I’ve had clients reveal complications related to their divorce, separation, workplace bullying/harassment, discrimination, burnout, and mental health issues (especially depression and anxiety). On any given day, a client may tell me that they are accessing my services to improve their career and livelihood before separating from an abusive spouse. Likewise, people seek my advice on how to leave a toxic or unpleasant work environment without putting a dent in their resume or jeopardizing an important job reference.

In all my interactions with clients, I am honest, hardworking, and trustworthy. From the beginning, it is clear that I never divulge our private discussions or (their) plans to anyone without their permission. Staying discreet is both an ethical and a professional must, and it’s how I represent myself in everything I do. Just as a lawyer or medical doctor would have to remain tight-lipped about their client or patient confidentiality, I will not compromise a client’s reputation or their ability to get themselves out of a bad situation.

 

Bouquet of Yellow Roses

Yellow Rose Bouquet by FTD (also symbolic of friendship and Zonta)

“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” – William Shakespear, Romeo, and Juliet.

Not all career coaches are created equal. I have to comply with the CPA Code of Ethics for Psychologists. This is not true for the vast majority of career (or business) coaches. As a client seeking coaching or HR services, it’s important to know who you are trusting with your high stakes situation.  I won’t argue that others who are not governed by a professional association are unethical, but I will say that I/O Psychologists like myself have a lot more to lose when we don’t honor these Codes of Ethics and Guidelines.

 

There is a wide range of skill and approaches in the coaching industry. It’s fair to say that some designations are significantly less rigorous than a reasonable person would expect. My expertise is based on 10 years of formal education and many more years of experience dealing with difficult and often complex information.

Covert Assignments

When I have revealed the ways in which my work involves ‘covert assignments’ I’m usually met with a surprised response of “Wow … I didn’t realize the scope of what you do or the level of discretion that you must use.” In those moments, it is nice to have my profession properly understood and to receive some recognition for my hidden efforts. Another unknown fact is that because I value my clients’ need for discretion, I readily accept that sometimes it isn’t in my client’s best interest to publicly acknowledge the support that I have provided them. This means for every 5 or 10 public reviews or recommendations that I get, there may be 30 or 40 cases that will never be known. These are the hidden implications of maintaining discretion even after the job is done … and it’s always worth it.

Do you have a sensitive career or HR situation to discuss? I invite you to contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

How To Stay Relevant In The Era Of Artificial Intelligence

drone replacing human surveillance“No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris.”  –  Orville Wright, American inventor, and aviation pioneer. 

In some ways, we like to believe that there are limits to what the future holds. Automation, driverless or autonomous vehicles, and robotic soldiers/drones are the stuff of science fiction … or at least they used to be. As we venture into 2018, many scientific and economic publications are reporting that humans arevery much being replaced by robots and artificial intelligence. And once more, there seem to be no limits to what these machines can do.

 

 

artificial intelligence in factoryThe motivation to replace humans with efficient machines that are not vulnerable to ‘human distractions’ is clear; technology offers a huge financial gain. For business owners, CEOs, and shareholders, it’s appealing to be able to minimize the costs of labour and benefits while also avoiding the problems associated with workplace conflicts and absenteeism that cut into the bottom line.

Ok, so we know who the winners are in this scenario. What about those ‘displaced’ and ‘replaced’ people who need those jobs in order to make a living? How are they to compete against machines, artificial intelligence, and other forms of technology? How do they avoid being replaced and displaced in the first place?

 

Pennywise, pound foolish – Robert Burton

The saying ‘pennywise, pound foolish’ is over 400 years old and yet, it’s extremely relevant and timely. In the past, we’ve seen machines replace repetitive tasks such as factory work and larger scale manufacturing. More recently, we saw that technology and artificial intelligence could also manage more nuanced tasks, such as:

  • routine bank transactions at ATM machines,
  • copy editing software to fix typos,
  • various ‘bots’ who address routine customer service issues when we contact technical support by phone or online chat,
  • voice-to-text dictation software that now completes many administrative tasks, and
  • other services that were once entrusted to human workers.

 

artificial intelligence at workNow, the repercussions of these modern innovations are starting to become unsettling to professionals in a broad range of occupations (e.g., law, financial planning, and to a lesser extent, medicine). White-collar workers who thought that their education and professional status insulated them from being replaced by technology are now feeling professionally/financially threatened in ways that have already become familiar to others.

To be clear, I don’t believe that automation, artificial intelligence, or other modern technologies are the enemy. That said, one of my main concerns is how people, especially my clients, can stay ahead of the changes and avoid becoming irrelevant.

Some of my clients have started to share their concerns with me about this very topic:

“It’s bad enough that employers seem to just focus on technical skills when interviewing and approving job candidates. I mean, look at how hiring managers and interviewers review cover letters and resumes these days. It’s all about showcasing how many degrees you’ve racked up, how much of a human calculator you can be, how many software programs you’re familiar with, and how flexible you can be with an ever-changing schedule. I feel I’m already competing with robots. There are so many people being hired who have the technical skills but lack interpersonal or creative abilities. And now it’s looking like in the future I could actually be replaced by real robots! This confirms my worst fears that my value as a respectful and creative worker, resourceful thinker, and great communicator is no longer an asset in the workforce.”  – Anonymous Client

 

artificial intelligence can't do everythingExpertise and experience still count for a lot. Plus, us humans have some spectacular traits that have not been replicated in machines or software as yet.  And although there is talk of that changing soon, I want to focus on the advantages of having soft skills, which aren’t commonly found in AI, automation, or robots. Since these qualities can’t be provided digitally or automatically, they represent ways that humans can remain relevant and valuable in the workplace.

I also want to remind employers that properly evaluating soft skills at the time of hiring and promotion is an important step so that they are building a workforce that meets current and future needs.

 

Here’s a ‘starter’ list of soft skills that will make you irreplaceable by a machine, artificial intelligence, or technologies:

  • Conscientiousness
  • Empathy
  • Interpersonal skills
  • Creativity
  • Behavioral Flexibility
  • Initiative

 

The need for these soft skills is unlikely to go away, regardless of emerging technologies. If you are looking to start a new career or keep yourself relevant and valuable in your place of work these qualities are worth working on. Reliably evaluating the presence of these soft skills isn’t easy for employers but as a specialist in I/O psychology, this is an area where I can help improve hiring processes.

If you’re interested in other aspects of future-proofing your career and/or your business read this article. Among other things, it explains how professionals are no longer immune to being replaced by technology.

If you’re an employee who wants to stay relevant, or, if you’re an employer/hiring manager who wants to choose future staff wisely I invite you to connect with me privately. I offer a free 15 to 20-minute initial consultation by phone. Or, if you prefer, you can contact me by email, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Nuanced Career Advice … Why Professionals Need It The Most

Have you ever been excited to see a job listing that you know you’re qualified for … and then after confidently clicking ‘submit’ you only seem to hear crickets instead of the phone ringing or the sound of an email pinging a promising notification?

These days possessing a university degree or even a professional designation doesn’t mean that you’ll be immune from career-related challenges (see this blog post about the perceived value of a university degree). Sometimes, it’s possible to graduate from a program and then learn that there are too many graduates with a similar background for the available positions (e.g., law school graduates who struggle to find an articling position or certified teachers who settle for supply teaching, or for work outside of the area of their hard-earned degree).

If education isn’t enough, what is needed?

This raises an important question: if a solid education is no longer enough to guarantee a good career, what else is needed? Where can you find out? Who can you count on to help? A quick Google search for career advice from career coaches and consultants will turn up countless pages with options. An endless supply of reliable and supportive information … right? Not necessarily.

The vast array of coaching options and sources of career advice that are listed online can make it hard to know who is the real deal. One problem is that the career coaching industry is not regulated so it can be hard to tell who’s suitable versus who’s marketing makes them appear that way (see this blog on the value of expertise). If you dig deeper, you will discover that many of the career coaches have earned their certifications/ designations in a relatively short amount of time (e.g., hours or days). Even worse, many haven’t accomplished much professionally in a relevant field before taking on the coaching role and starting to dole out career advice. It’s one thing to give some career advice to a high school graduate looking for part-time work while attending school, but tackling the role of a coach when handling an established professional’s livelihood and other high stakes situations is a different matter, in my opinion.

So, which occupations are experiencing this professional ‘overcrowding’? Which career paths are now being ‘disrupted’ after decades and decades of being stable? These include the following fields and roles:

  • Law
  • Teaching/education
  • Managers/supervisors
  • Administrative roles/simple project management
  • Journalism
  • Financial services (banking, financial planning/advisory, etc.)
  • … plus, others

Unwritten rules may be hidden obstacles …

The current workplace dynamics are even more complicated for people who are dealing with additional challenges. For example, if you’re a relative newcomer to Canada you may not understand some of the unwritten rules that govern effective job searches, the reality of the Canadian workplace, and the actual hiring process. The hiring process is daunting for aspiring workers who have relevant experience but have not mastered the new rules ofonline screening.  In certain professions including the financial industry, law, engineering, and academia, there are nuances and hidden assumptions that are not common knowledge. Because of these unwritten rules, ‘regular’ career coaches who have not earned advanced or professional degrees will probably be unaware of how to navigate those systems, let alone help someone else prepare for them. Simply put, not every career coach has the insider knowledge or connections within those circles. It takes time and exposure to certain experiences and environments to acquire the kind of expertise and insight that’s necessary to fully grasp all the nuance and complexity of certain professional jobs.

With so much invested, you need a return on those efforts

Since I spent almost 10 years obtaining my B.Sc., Master’s and Ph.D. in Psychology, I understand what it’s like to invest heavily in one’s professional training and education. Likewise, I can understand why professionals may prefer to work with me since they have confidence in my breadth and depth of experience, training, discretion, and approach.

The more difficult or complex the situation, the more useful my services become …

5 ways my career advice stays nuanced:

Most professionals and aspiring professionals see me as a suitable resource for them particularly when the risks are high, and/or their current situation is overwhelming and complicated. Typical obstacles that I help my clients to resolve include:

1. Leaving a job because of their managers’/supervisors’ professional jealousy and/or other factors which have created a toxic workplace (e.g., workplace bullying or sexual harassment)

2. Planning to leave a job for which they are overqualified so that they can avoid being sidelined into an unsuitable role for the long-term

3. Applying credentials and/or experience obtained in another country in a way that makes good use of the person’s abilities – even if those skills and experience are used in a somewhat different context

4. Navigating real or perceived complications that may relate to race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation (please see these previous blog posts related to discrimination and values).

5. My standard practice of being discrete and directing clients to appropriate resources, including sensitive interventions for people who are dealing with threatening/unsafe situations in their personal and/or professional circles.

 

Have sensitive career or HR-related concerns? I invite you to contact me byemail, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss any of these topics in more detail.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services– Building Resilient Careers and Organizations.

Insider Threats And Data Breaches: They’re Not Always What You Think …

There’s something you should know before you invest your entire IT and information security budget on technical solutions – if a smart thief wanted to steal your intellectual property and/or your client’s confidential information (e.g., credit, financial, and contact information taken during the Equifax data breach), they’d act like a gangster and walk in the front door and take it.

Why? When it comes to protecting what’s worth stealing, it’s your employees, not your computers, that are the weakest link.

Employees are within the human resources (HR) wheelhouse, so this is a topic of great importance to me. Some years ago, I worked in an organization that invested a lot of effort to keep its intellectual property and confidential employee information protected. This was done in two ways: (1) careful hiring and HR processes and (2) technical measures including firewalls, information security protocols, etc. Both approaches were necessary. It hasn’t become a popular concept, as yet, but it’s easy to argue that cybersecurity alone is not enough.

Many of us have heard of Edward Snowdon, the former NSA Subcontractor who disclosed an immense volume of confidential information to journalists and online sources. After working in an organization that shares some similarities with the NSA, I think it’s safe to say that the presence of sophisticated technical measures was not enough to prevent the intentional disclosure of confidential information. In fact, this scenario is an example of an Insider Threat.

“Insider threats can be defined as risks posed by rogue employees who deliberately cause harm, or by those who may be negligent in the workplace.

Security Hinges on its People, FrontLine Security Magazine, October 2017).

 

 

If insider threats are a real problem why isn’t it better known?

 

analog insider threats

Not all data breaches are external or digital …

Most of us have heard about data breaches that have occurred in organizations that have much bigger security budgets than ours. For example, the NSA and Equifax breaches that I just mentioned. Plus, there have been big breaches at Yahoo, Home Depot, Target, and others. I’ve done extensive research on this topic and one thing is crystal clear: 75% of these data breaches originate inside organizations. Often, we don’t hear about the causes of those breaches because they make the organization look terrible. It has a negative impact on the public’s trust and confidence in the organization’s ability to protect corporate information, including clients’ and/or customers’ personal information. When an organization experiences a security breach, their current and future clients, strategic partners/affiliates, and members of the general public are likely to see the organization as irresponsible. Negative financial consequences usually follow. Approximately 60% of smaller companies are bankrupt within 6 months of a major security breach, so it’s no wonder this is kept quiet.

How can HR, based on I/O psychology help?

I’m addressing this topic because I understand that HR has an important role to play in preventing these insider threats. One problem is that most organizations don’t recognize that HR can make valuable contributions to the risk management process. Another problem is that the C-suite and the IT/information security folks don’t necessarily recognize the role that HR could be playing to keep confidential intellectual property and client information from leaking out of the organization. For example, many organizations don’t address workplace bullying as proactively or completely as they could. They haven’t understood the link between malicious insider threats that are inspired by anger or a desire for revenge that comes from being severely mistreated at work. The consequences of ongoing suffering in toxic workplaces are even more severe when essential government services and critical infrastructure are at risk. So, if the threat of lost productivity and lawsuits aren’t a big enough justification for improving HR policies and practices, the likelihood of insider threats should catch the attention of key decision-makers.

no wonder this is kept quiet.

 

How can HR, based on I/O psychology help?

I’m addressing this topic because I understand that HR has an important role to play in preventing these insider threats. One problem is that most organizations don’t recognize that HR can make valuable contributions to the risk management process. Another problem is that the C-suite and the IT/information security folks don’t necessarily recognize the role that HR could be playing to keep confidential intellectual property and client information from leaking out of the organization. For example, many organizations don’t address workplace bullying as proactively or completely as they could. They haven’t understood the link between malicious insider threats that are inspired by anger or a desire for revenge that comes from being severely mistreated at work. The consequences of ongoing suffering in toxic workplaces are even more severe when essential government services and critical infrastructure are at risk. So, if the threat of lost productivity and lawsuits aren’t a big enough justification for improving HR policies and practices, the likelihood of insider threats should catch the attention of key decision-makers.

If you’d like to learn more about how psychology and HR can help prevent insider threats, listen to Episode 27 of The Insider Threat Podcast where I speak to host Steve Higdon about this topic. Note – since the time that this article was published, I was an invited guest on Scott Wright and Tom Eston’s Shared Security Podcast and we spoke about different aspects of this issue.

Have a sensitive career or HR-related concern? I invite you to contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn if you’d like to discuss any of these topics in more detail.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers.

Do Experts Still Matter?

These are dangerous times. Never have so many people had so much access to so much knowledge and yet have been so resistant to learning anything. – Tom Nichols, Professor of National Security Affairs at the U.S. Naval War College, and five-time undefeated Jeopardy! Champion.

Lately, I’ve noticed increasing criticism of and disdain towards professionals regardless of their areas of specialization. It’s as if ‘experts’ are a now a silly myth. Are they really something to shrug at, or dismiss like an annoying opinion poll?  This growing mindset is disturbing in part because I invested almost 10 years to earn my doctorate in psychology and I have been equally dedicated while working in my chosen profession.

Definition of expertsIn the past, I used to chuckle at anecdotal arguments against facts that were 100% evidence-based. This was mainly because I assumed most people were informed or at the very least humble enough to recognize when they weren’t experts on a given topic. Moreover, when it mattered, they would seek advice from someone who really knows about the relevant subject area.

I’m no longer laughing.

Right before my eyes, I see too many instances where experts are ignored in favour of people who have a big audience regardless of their knowledge or credibility. For example, public figures and celebrities with zero medical or health-related education that declare vaccines are useless, or worse … dangerous … despite reams of scientific evidence that shows their true value. Similarly, powerful politicians and special interest groups have joined forces to ignore the science and knowledge around climate change. These folks are determined to deny that climate change is real. They argue that the scientific literature is fake.

It’s off-putting to watch someone disregard a genuine specialist, and then seek help or guidance from a source that has no skills or established credentials. For instance, Adam Frank noted in his recent article, whether it’s legal advice or car repairs, getting services from someone with relevant training and experience is usually what people want. Normally, these are decent, sought after qualities.

So what is happening? Why has the use of the word ‘expert’ significantly changed? 

In part, the problem stems from the evolution of social media. We live in an era where anyone who wants to share their thoughts, whether it’s a well-informed thought/opinion or it is based on biased and superficial opinions, can easily reach out to thousands if not millions. In today’s world, it’s easy to ‘publish’ whatever we want on websites, YouTube, or blogs without the obligation of going through an editor or a peer-review process.

Why are we so ready to make the experts irrelevant? In our professional and our personal lives, we must continually question the printed words that come from newspapers, social media, and magazines. This is a crucial time when we should reconsider our expectations of what an expert is, and reclaim the importance of finding the ‘real’ ones.

One advantage of this new reality is that it’s lowered the barriers to public self-expression. It’s made information sharing appear more democratic. Yet, one glaring disadvantage is that occasionally well-funded misinformation can get passed off as factual (e.g., the combined efforts of fossil fuel industry insiders and certain politicianswho reject the existence and threats of climate change).

Similarly, in unregulated fields and industries, any ‘coach’ or ‘consultant’ can publish a website and promote themselves as a service provider. When the marketing is effective, it is very difficult to distinguish between better and poorer quality services. This means that there is a lot of variety in the coaching and consulting industries.

Consumers deserve more

I won’t say that people need ‘big’ credentials to excel at what they are doing, but given what’s at stake for people’s businesses and careers, shouldn’t consumers demand and be given more? At a minimum, shouldn’t we all request a certain level of experience and training? When you’re paying an ‘expert’ to solve a problem that has you stumped is a few days of training enough?

In previous articles, I’ve discussed some of the complex challenges that recent graduates and moreexperienced workers are facing. The circumstances that both cohorts now experience leave many stuck and unsure of what to do to get unstuck and make gains in their careers. The changes that we can anticipate within many workplaces due to automation will add to those challenges.

Finally, when it comes to your career or your employees, the stakes are high. Count on credible experience and knowledge that you know you can trust.

If you’d like to discuss any career-related challenges that you’re experiencing – or you’d like to do some strategic planning to prevent these types of problems, I invite you to contact me by email, phone, or via direct message on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn  to discuss any of these topics in more detail.

More than career coaching, it’s career psychology®.

I/O Advisory Services – Building Resilient Careers.

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