Ch ch ch changes… with Host Susan Ney | HR 67

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Hi, Welcome to HR inside out. I'm your host, Susan

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a. Wow, January 2024. At a time for new beginnings. Dear friend

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and colleague business intuitive Cheryl Brewster does monthly

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intention setting sessions and she shared that her motto was

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free to be me in 2023. It's now moved with the new year to I

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want more in 2024. And I don't think she's alone. Now it's

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obvious listening to her clients that she is indeed helping them

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to discover who That to me is, including what their personal

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Northstar looks like, to the point of indeed, wanting more. I

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know it's a journey. And it's one that I've certainly traveled

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many times in my own years. As I move closer to contemplating

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full retirement, it's one that it's a question that is again,

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increasing in importance for me. Who are we once we let go of our

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work identities? Or our heavier bodies? Or what are you working

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on that will result in change in your life? And how do we change

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to be able to get there? So topic for today's podcast, give

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me a drumroll dudududududu. The tool. Phil Eastwood for your

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group is encouraging us to take the 31 Day Challenge. Now this

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involves journaling every day for the next month. And he like

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I have found journaling to be a really valuable tool. And yes,

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contact information for all of those who I referenced, is

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included in the show notes to the podcast. He included an

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article in his day three prompt called tiny steps for massive

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change. And it reminds us that indeed, it is about the little

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things, the small actions that we take, that help us move

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progressively towards those goals. Phil shares that and I

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quote, massive change is not how we measure our progress. It's

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the little things, the small victories one day after the next

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that began to form the new picture of life. And we start

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putting them all together week after week, month after month

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after month consistently, that those tiny steps that we take

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will have a massive impact on our lives. Apparently, as soon

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as the 1% roll, it's also known as the aggregation of marginal

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gains. Yes, I know that's quite a mouthful. Interesting that

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it's a very same message that James clear shares in his

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excellent book, atomic habits, an easy and proven way to build

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good habits and to break bad ones. And the change, tiny

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changes do indeed create remarkable results. And jeez, it

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must be true. I was cozied up with a book over the holidays,

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called callings, finding and following an authentic life by

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Greg laboy and found the same thinking that was supported. Now

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the voice shares that the great breakthroughs in our lives

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generally happen only as a result of the accumulation of

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innumerable small steps and minor achievements. He also

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talks about how this can happen and how we can get prompted to

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make those changes. And he shares that we may be called out

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to reach out to someone to pick up an odd book on the library

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shelf. To sign up for a class even though we're convinced we

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don't have the time or the money. We go to our desks every

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day we turn left instead of right, and that these are the

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fire drills for our bigger calls. This led me to think of a

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time that I've been called to pick up an odd book off the

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library shelf, actually, like I did over the holidays. And that

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particular action prompted me to share my learning and thinking

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with you through this podcast. Why did I think that might be

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important? Because I like you and dealing with change in my

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life. Now some of its self inflicted, like my intent to

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find the hidden sletten slender body within me. And some had

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been created by my realities of the world that I live in family

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dynamics, work pressures, you know them. I want to do better

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in these areas and with some of them, I'm not sure when or how

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to start. When I reflect back on we're making changes been

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successful for me. It has indeed often been as a result of those

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small, incremental, forward moving changes that I have made

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along the way And it's often been as a result of those

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sometimes intuitive prompts, listening to what feels

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authentic and right for me, that has helped fuel my success. I'll

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give you a couple of examples. It was actually a conference I

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was sent to because my boss had registered and could no longer

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attend, that I was introduced to a whole new world of knowledge,

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new connections, New Directions, one that I suspect I would make,

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I would never have encountered, but for saying yes to the

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opportunity that had presented itself. That experience totally

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enhanced my life, it changed my life. And it very much broadened

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my thinking. Another example, was my decision to attempt to

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make peace with my father, that led me to become involved in my

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union many, many years back now. Now, that led me to involvement

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with the larger union movement, and eventual offer of employment

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with the Communication Workers of Canada. At the very beginning

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of my employment career, now this is experienced that have

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been extremely grateful for, because I eventually

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transitioned to working with employees within HR throughout

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most of the rest of my career. And going back to my roots has

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very much helped me understand people differently, and I think

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better. What small, incremental steps could you be taking to

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positively affect areas of your world that you wish to be

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different? Hey, couple more examples. I purposely parked

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four blocks from a doctor's appointment. And I took the

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stairs this morning. Another example, after being advised by

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a facial specialist that my skin was dry, because I was not

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hydrating adequately, and not drinking more water on a daily

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basis. Although changing habits through atomic changes works, it

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does also require patience, and persistence. If you're like me,

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seeing results quickly really motivates me. And though the

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wrinkles have not gone away, just in case you're wondering,

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just because I'm drinking more water. But it is a big problem

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of change. We tend to want to see that it's worth the effort,

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and we want to see it soon. I was on a call with a group of

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consultants the other day and we chatted about organizational

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change. I know it always felt to me that I had not yet adapted to

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one change before the next was upon us. I knew that everyone

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was struggling to keep up and as an HR professional, I saw the

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impact of constant change on our organizations. Over the course

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of my career, I witnessed the very real challenge of getting

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change initiatives to stick. Just like those weight loss

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programs that don't tend to work long term, the root cause of the

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matter needs to be addressed. And the steps are required to

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ensure that the change initiative is maintained, need

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to be in place. I see too many change initiatives fail both

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personally and within organizations, because it is too

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easy to return to what was more comfortable, the old way of

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doing things. And excellent recently published book titled

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work different 10 truths for winning in the people age speaks

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of the challenges that people leaders are up against daily.

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And what we need to be considering when creating the

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organizations that people actually want to work with it.

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And I will be interviewing one of the authors of that book on

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next month's podcast, and the final pages of the book they

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share and I quote, one of the biggest challenges that

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organizations face and implementing the recommendations

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in the book is resistance to change. Many organizations are

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used to doing things a certain way. And it can be difficult to

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get buy in from stakeholders for new approaches. So how can we

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change this? Whether we are reflecting on change for

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ourselves personally, or dealing with change elsewhere in our

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lives, like in our organizations? If the great

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breakthroughs in our lives, gender generally happen only as

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a result of the accumulation of innumerable small steps and

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minor achievements. Would not a similar strategy be appropriate

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at work? And when I think about it, most corporate change

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initiatives were the go bigger go home. Big project Big changes

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and big scary for many

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I know that we're I've broken projects into smaller bites,

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they have become less overwhelming and therefore more

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doable. And I also know that where there have been something

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requiring much change and many moving pieces, just starting

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somewhere has worked for me. Like when you write an exam and

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start with the easy question to build your confidence before you

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tackle the more difficult areas, or when dealing with annual

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performance reviews of working your way towards the more

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challenging ones, not starting with the most difficult ones.

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Then a shared by Greg and in the book callings. It's a drop in

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the bucket. But that's how a bucket gets filled up. Lots of

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different drops love that 2024 And New year, new challenges and

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new goals to accomplish. I'm going to listen to how I'm

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feeling I'm going to think about how I can meet those objectives

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by taking small steps towards them. And perhaps, as I see that

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I am capable of keeping those small steps, I will be motivated

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to take bigger steps and integrate those into my habits.

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If I fall and I'm very likely to, I will pick myself up, dust

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off those knees and get back onto the path forward. And there

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will be new. And so when I'm dealing with something new, and

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hey, I am I'm learning how to play chess. I'm a beginner and

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it is okay. That I need to read the introduction to chess book,

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many times that I still can't remember all the details of how

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the various pieces move. But I'm proud of myself that I'm finally

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taking the time to learn this game. I can't wait to play with

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my brothers. I know they're equally excited to hear that

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their sister is learning something they will be able to

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share and enjoy with her. And something old, how can you tell

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I have a daughter who's just getting married? No, I'm not

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going to continue on with something blue. But something

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old I have decades of paper files to go through and dispose

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of I have cupboards to purge and clothes to move along to someone

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who fits them better than I do. These are chores that have

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resided on my to do list for many years, it's been easier to

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ignore them. If they were not urgent. Yeah, they take up space

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in my life and certainly in my cupboards a drawer at a time,

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the shelf at a time. One handful of old documents at a time,

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small incremental steps. I know I can do this. What about you

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and work. All of those great ideas that were generated

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through your employee engagement survey, those projects that have

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been requested by the board, those emails that are still

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needing responding to after a period of time away. Start with

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something that resonates with you an idea that genuinely

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interests you, the client that you enjoy speaking with anyway,

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a piece of a project that gets a part of it on its way. And this

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indeed is how we change and how we have a better chance of that

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change sticking. I'm going to give it a try. And I'm going to

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let you know how it goes over the months coming up. Because

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yes, being accountable always, always also helps. I know

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there's a slim person hiding inside this body of mine. I know

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that I am capable of making fresh space within my home. And

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I have faith that whatever it is that you are wishing to make

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change on. You can do it too. And how about next month, I

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asked what the Mercer consultants and the authors of

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work different. My podcast guests next month, have found

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have been effective in the work that they do internationally

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with their clients to help ensure that those change

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initiatives are indeed successful. I wish you a

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wonderful new year and the very, very best in 2024 Thank you for

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supporting and listening to me on HR inside out. Remember,

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there to soar. I believe you can. Thanks for joining me and

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have a fabulous rest of your day. It's Susan signing out. Bye

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for now.