BCM313 – WORDS BY THE SEA

Narrative interview with Alison Halpin

Alison Halpin. Head of Human Resources at Sport Australia, qualified in organisational communication, vocational education and leadership, my biggest role model, my mother.

I have had the privilege of looking up to my mum’s career journey since I was a kid. She nailed balancing being a full-time mum and a full-time worker. She climbed the corporate ladder not to fulfil herself, but to best love and spend time with her loved ones.

Her club of life mainly consists of her husband (my dad), my sister and myself. She always worked to provide for us, and to give my sister and I the best opportunities possible. I will always admire her for that.

I have noticed throughout her career journey that she has consistently stayed true to herself. She has been challenged and treated poorly at times, but her values always bled out into her actions, and she never lost of who she was. These values include:

Integrity
Respect
Excellence
Compassion
Empathy
Fair go
Psychological safety

So, you can see why I aspire to be a boss lady like her one day. I believe this class can learn a lot from her experiences, particularly regarding values, flexible work, and the future of work. Thus, she was the perfect candidate to interview for this project.

Let your values define your work, not vice-versa.

The first thing mum and I spoke about was the importance of knowing your values in the workplace, and how they are reflected in your actions and words. She emphasised that your values must align with your organisations, otherwise you will be forced to be a fake version of yourself.

This is known as emotional labour– the “emotion management and life management combined. It is the unpaid, invisible work we do to keep those around us comfortable and happy”. Therefore, if you are putting on a false persona to please people around you, or if you are asked to conduct work that does align with your values, it is emotional labour. Not having the freedom to be your authentic self in the workplace is hard effort (hence considered a ‘labour’), and can lead to burn out, poor work performance and mental health issues.

I believe mental health takes priority over anything, and so I found this extremely validating to hear. If you suffer from emotional labour within the workplace setting, it is okay to leave that workplace. In fact, it’s best you do.

The good and bad of flexible work.

Mum and I spoke about her experience of flexible work during lockdown. She loved it for the extra time it gave her with her husband and dog, but as an extrovert, she simultaneously missed being around people and bouncing ideas off them.

Flexible work is fantastic in that it offers different hours and locations to cater for employees needs outside of the workplace. Mum identifies two types of workers in our interview- independent and collaborative. She highlighted the fact that flexible work great if you are an independent worker, as home can be a distraction-free place to complete focused and high-volume work. However, if you are a collaborative worker and get energised by people’s ideas, working from home may be more difficult.

I always believed flexible work would fit in with my on-the-go lifestyle, however after hearing mum’s perspective, I considered that I actually work better collaboratively, and therefore flexible work may not be as ideal as I once thought.

Technology cannot replace human skills in the workforce

In our interview, it was evident that understanding human emotion and creating a psychologically safe space for her employees are key elements of her job. I was interested to hear how the on-going boom of technology fits into this and the future of work.

Mum says technology will continue to replace manual and transactional tasks with computers, however, she believes that humans cannot be replaced for solving wicked problems, human problems, innovation, strategic thinking and oversight. This is because technology does not have the ability to read and respond to human emotion.

Additionally, our current generation values soft skills above anything else. Soft skills focus less on how you do your job, and more on who you are as an individual. They include (but are not limited to):

Communication skills
Organisational competencies
Passion for learning
Risk-taking ability
Public service orientation
Independence in decision making

(Deng, Thomas & Trembach, 2014)

Employers look for employees who encompass these skills and are overall mature and social (Robles, 2012). Soft skills are rated as number one in importance for entry-level success on the job (Robles, 2012). Therefore, technology is also unable to replace any work that relies on soft skills.

This interview made me admire my mum even more. As I enter the workforce, there are many characteristics of her I would like to encompass- her values, how she treats people, her perspective on flexible work, and her passion for vulnerability and emotion in the workforce. I hope her story and who she is as a person inspires you like it inspires me.

References

Beck, J 2018 ‘The Concept Creep of ‘Emotional Labor’, The Atlantic, accessed on 06/11/2021 at https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/11/arlie-hochschild-housework-isnt-emotional-labor/576637/

Deng, L., Thomas, A. & Trembach, S. 2014 ‘Shaping the 21st-century information professional: A convergence of technical and “soft” skills for workplace success’, Proceedings of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, vol.51, no.1, pp 104

Robles, M. 2012 ‘Executive Perceptions of the Top 10 Soft Skills Needed in Today’s Workplace’, Business Communication Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, pp 453-465.

Lessons from Layne Brown to succeed in the modern workplace

The modern workforce is making a positive shift towards valuing their employees for who they are as unique individuals, instead of simply valuing them for their ability to do certain tasks. I was recently struck by a recent guest speaker in BCM313 called Layne Brown due to his honest and genuine perspective of the workplace. He shared his experiences and relationships in the workforce that have shaped who he is today. I learnt that genuine authenticity fosters real relationships, to not be afraid of making mistakes, and that soft skills are crucial to survive in the modern workforce.

Authenticity is an important dimension in the development of more meaningful careers. No longer do individuals just look at financial rewards for work options, they strive to also find meaning in what they do that correlate with their personal values and beliefs (Reis, Braga & Trullen, 2017). Authentic leaders are described to ‘know who they are, and their self-knowledge empowers them to transform their lives and the lives of the people they lead’ (Hollis, 2018). They build relationship with their co-workers and understand each individual employee has a set of valuable attributes that is beneficial to the team.

Layne gave a beautiful example about of an authentic leader in his community who had the intention of building a relationship with anyone he met. Layne recalls “He just came in with friendship, with love and with a gift. Everywhere he went he went with a with a packet of Tim Tams. And everybody knew him. How could you not have a relationship with someone brings in a gift like that?”. It is important leaders make the time to create relationship with their employees, so they can gain broader understanding of why they work like they do, how they communicate, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. It makes employees feel valued and more inclined to work diligently. Therefore, without leaders fostering relationships, it can lead to dissatisfaction and conflict. As Layne said, “workplaces where those relationships haven’t been built is often where it’s been time to walk out the door and find a new job”.

Mistakes are inevitable. When it comes to work, everyone goes through four stages of competence- these include unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence. Thus, everyone is incompetent at one point, but if you view mistakes as a learning curve instead of an error, it can lead to significant growth. Layne stated, “sometimes you got to accept that you’re going to make mistakes. Things aren’t going to happen the way that you would like them to happen, and sometimes you just have to do it. The biggest lesson that I learned was just doing things, regardless of the result, without getting caught up in your head in your heart.” Therefore, creating a culture where mistakes are seen as an opportunity to grow can help employees to break outside of their comfort zone and achieve great results.

Mistakes are also vulnerable, and vulnerability is a massive asset in a workplace culture. As Professor Brene Brown recently said in an interview with 60 minutes, “innovation is idea, iteration, failure, iteration, failure, iteration. Places where they’re doing the most high-risk high reward innovating- they have huge tolerances for vulnerability. If you’re preaching a gospel of vulnerability is weakness, or modelling that, just don’t expect great things” (Brown, 2020). Vulnerability can help employees be more confident in their authentic selves and can overall make teams stronger in the workplace setting.

Soft skills are our innate human qualities that we apply to the workforce. They include communication skills, organisational competencies, passion for learning, risk-taking ability, public service orientation and independence in decision making (Deng, Thomas & Trembach, 2014). In the modern workforce, soft skills are more sought-after than technical skills. An employee’s ability to interact in a team and deal with conflict is seen more valuable than how they perform their job. A recent study proves this, where results indicated hard sills contribute only 15% to ones success, whereas 85% of success is due to soft skills (Robles, 2012).

Layne emphasised how important people skills and conflict resolution techniques are in the workforce. When asked “has that absence or lack of human acknowledgment affect your career path or career journey?”, he replied “Yes it has…. I’ve had situations where I’ve just been my authentic self and they’ve been their authentic self, and because of that difference, that led to continual disruptions in the workplace through misinterpretations of each other”. Soft skills are essential to create a workplace environment of understanding, harmony, and communication.

In conclusion, Layne taught me the importance of valuing employees for their strengths and weaknesses instead of their ability to work. To practically implement this workforce leadership, culture and relationships must be evaluated. Leaders must be authentic and create rapport with employees to increase their self-value and work motivation. Leaders must also create a culture of allowing room for mistakes and vulnerability, which ultimately leads to employees pushing themselves to achieve even greater results. Furthermore, identifying soft skills helps leaders to understand how employees deal with team settings, conflict and work processes. No longer are employees valued solely for the work they do, instead, individual attributes are celebrated and seen as benefits to the workplace.

References:

Brown, B. 2020 ‘Vulnerability, not oversharing’, 60 Minutes, accessed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e257BL851Uw on 01/10/2021.

Hollis, N. 2018 ‘Blueprint for engagement: authentic leadership’, 1st edition, Taylor & Francis, New York

Reis, G., Braga, M. & Trullen, J. 2017 ‘Workplace authenticity as an attribute of employer attractiveness’, Personnel Review, vol. 46, no.8, pp 1962-1976

Robles, M. 2012 ‘Executive Perceptions of the Top 10 Soft Skills Needed in Today’s Workplace’, Business Communication Quarterly, vol. 75, no. 4, pp 453-465.

BCM313 Blog- Disruption to work

I have been part-time working for over a year now, and have only recently faced my biggest working disruption. Due to the 2021 COVID19 lockdown, my job has shifted from working in an office to working in my room. I work as a marketing assistant at a local private school, and typically my job entails taking photos and videos to use for advertising and social media.

Since working from home, I have significantly less work to do, and the nature of my job has completely changed. I no longer roam around the school to capture content. Instead, I sit at my desk all day, emailing staff and relying on them to create content and send it to me for uploading to social media. This naturally comes with many frustrations and complications regarding photo quality standards. Additionally, not being able to physically go into the office and work in a set amount of time has unfortunately led to a habit of underworking or overworking.

Image source: https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/health/lockdowns-dont-get-easier-more-we-have-them-melbourne-here-are-six-tips-help-you-cope

In saying this, I do have the benefit of being a Gen Z- meaning I grew up in a cell-phone dominated world where electronic communication is familiar. This has been a huge benefit in combating my work disruption, as I can easily adapt to working through a screen. This does not mean I haven’t struggled with being extremely unmotivated and uninspired.

This new way of working feels unnatural to me, and I believe this is because my club of life had profound influence on my work expectations and standards. The term ‘club of life’ was coined by Michael White in 1997 and is the idea that “for all of us there are members to our club of life who have had particular parts to play in how we have come to experience ourselves” (Russell & Carey, 2002). Growing up, both of my parents worked full time so we could have a roof over our head, food to eat and good experiences. I remember multiple conversations I had with my mum over the years about what it’s like being a full-time mum and a full-time worker. She shared the difficulties of climbing the ladder as a woman and the guilt of working as a mum. These conversations led me to believe that to have a successful career, it would take sacrifice, long hours and hard work. Equally, she demonstrated there is much more to life than work- so I also knew the importance of time with family and friends. My parents displayed a healthy balance of work and rest. Therefore, not being able to live out that balance due to lockdown has felt frustrating and has severely decreased my motivation levels.

Image source: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/freelance-vs-full-time-graphic-design

While I am grateful for my parents’ great example, I do not believe my work experience will look like theirs. The modern workforce is making a positive shift towards flexible working, and COVID19 has skyrocketed this approach. Flexible working can be defined as a “worker’s control over when and where they work, and the concept has increased dramatically in recent years” (Chung & Van der Lippe, 2018). The younger generation particularly demands for a flexible work experience (Chung & Van der Lippe, 2018). The concept of flexible work appeals to me as I hope one day to work while travelling.

Eamon and Bec- full time ‘van lifers’. Image source: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/diy-van-life-bec-and-eamon-sweet-digs

A recent experiment conducted in Iceland supports this. Iceland recently trailed a four-day working week, and results saw a large increase in productivity and wellbeing (ABC News, 2021). The most beneficial element of flexible work is that it strives to fit around other life priorities- such as family, travel, and passion. Flexible work hours increase motivation and overall life satisfaction. As a result of the trial, 86% of Iceland’s working population now works shorter weeks (ABC News, 2021).

With this recent shift towards flexible work, soft skills are more important than ever. An article on the modern-day workforce identifies the key soft skills being communication, teamwork, motivation, problem solving, enthusiasm and trust (Dean & East, 2019). Modern day employers search for workers who attain these traits and are self-motivated. Since working from home, I have found myself developing these skills more than ever.

I have learnt new ways of communication- such as Zoom meetings, emails, and shared Google documents. I have also created a new routine to keep myself motivated- which entails breaking up the day through walks, rest, and exercise. Most importantly, the soft skill of trust has been fundamental to my working from home experience. I need to prove to my employer I am reliable and capable of doing my work efficiently outside of the office setting. Therefore, I have learnt to be extra intentional with communicating to my boss to ensure we are on the same page.

https://www.techradar.com/au/news/what-is-zoom-how-does-it-work-tips-and-tricks-plus-best-alternatives

Overall, this disruption of work has led me to discover that flexible work is great for a balanced lifestyle but cannot be done successfully without a good routine and personal motivation. Although it has come with many challenges, I am grateful that this experience has led to me developing my soft skills and learning self- discipline.

ABC News, 2021 ‘Iceland’s four-day working week trials an ‘overwhelming success’, report finds’, ABC News, accessed on 20/08/2021 at https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-06/iceland-four-day-working-week-trial-success-report-finds/100270388

Chung, H., & Van der Lippe, T. 2018 ‘Flexible Working, Work-Life Balance and Gender Equality: Introduction’, Social Indicators Research, vol. 151, no. 2, pp. 365-17.

Dean, A. & East, J. 2019 ‘Soft Skills Needed for the 21^st-Centrury Workforce’, International Journal of Applied Management & Technology, vol. 18, no.1, pp. 17-32.

Russell, S, & Carey, M. 2002 ‘Re-membering common questions’, The International Journal of Narrative Therapy and Community Work, accessed on 20/08/2021 at http://narrativepractices.com.au/attach/pdf/Remembering_Common_Questions.pdf

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Growing up with two full-time working parents, I naturally assumed I would eventually do the same. I learnt worked they worked these hours so we could have a roof over our head, food to eat and good experiences. So, from the very beginning, I knew to be comfortable in life it would take sacrifice and long hours.

What I didn’t know was how I wanted to fill these 9 hour working days. When adults asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, I couldn’t give them an answer. I never had a set idea of what I wanted to be. Maybe if you caught me after I went to Sea World when I was 12, I would have told you I wanted to be a marine biologist. However, once I entered high school, it didn’t take long for me to realise Science was not my forte- and that dream quickly expired. Throughout school, I was never focused on working towards one dream job. I more just trying to accumulate skills that would hopefully broaden my horizon.

Coming into University, you perhaps should know what it is you want to achieve from your degree, or what field of work you aspire to be in. I didn’t know until about three months ago, when I found a job that could intertwine my passion for travel with the skills I am learning through this degree- tourism marketing. I only started to take steps toward this goal recently, and I feel really excited (and relieved) to finally discover a job that suits me.

I’ve been preparing for full-time work my entire life, and although it’ll still be a rude shock, I know all the learning I’ve acquired over the years was leading up to it. I’m thankful for my parents influence of being hard full-time workers. With that being said, I am also positive my 9-5 working experience will be a lot different to theirs, with flexible work becoming more common. Technology has proven that if situations occur when I need to work remotely, I can quite easily do so. I’m interested to see what my full-time work experience will look like as the world continually reevaluates how traditional and flexible workforce scenarios work together.

Hello BCM313

Hello! My name is Amy, nice to meet you. I am in my third year of study at UOW. I major in Visual Communication Design, and minor in Marketing. Currently, I work as a marketing assistant at a local private school, and have recently picked up occasional work with International Traveller magazine. I hope to get into the tourism marketing field after I graduate to intertwine these skills with my love for travel. In my spare time, I love spending time in nature- especially the beach. I also love going to cafes, reading, and spending time with my friends. I have recently taken up pottery as a lockdown hobby, and although I am still very much a beginner, I love it! A skill that I have learnt in the last two years is graphic design. In high school, I never did any art or design subjects- I was a humanities student through and through. This wasn’t because particularly passionate about it- I just saw it as means to an end. However, after my first year of uni, I realised I was not enjoying the content I was learning- which naturally made studying tedious. So, as I entered my second year of uni, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and enrolled in Visual Communication Design. The best decision I’ve made at university. I’ve adored learning how to convey different messages through colour, type and composition. Graphic design allows the freedom to express who you are, and I’m constantly inspired by how unique it is to each individual. Taking up this subject meant becoming familiar with Adobe Creative suite. This wasn’t easy, as I had to learn the ropes through online learning (peak COVID times). After endless googling and playing around, I finally got the hang of it. My Adobe skills are still very much in the making, but I thoroughly enjoy it. I have thrived having this subject as a creative outlet. Visual identity and cues are so important in the modern-day work field. I know these skills are versatile and will broaden my horizon for when it comes to finding work post-university. I’m excited to see where it takes me! Amy.