Amy Casciotti

Customizing your resume to show how your previous experience relates to the new industry is important. Depending on the recruiting process, you might be able to share a cover letter, portfolio, or video to highlight how your experience would be a benefit to the new industry. Networking can also be very beneficial to helping to show how your experience translates to the new industry.

Observe what your boss does well and what they don't do well. Learn what to do from what they do well and what not to do from what they don't. What could they do differently that would make them better at the things they don't do well? Learning what to do is as important as understanding what not to do/what to avoid doing. As you are observing, if you have questions about what they are doing, ask them. You can take the lead as a mentee to ensure you learn and grow.

We have incorporated video and images into our communication. They help convey information while breaking through all of the daily text communication your employees get. Not everyone can understand things that are just written. We need to share information in many different ways and repeat it several times to be heard. Especially the important messages and information. We have also found that video helps show that we are people in HR. We can show our personalities, which helps us be more approachable to staff who might not interact with us as frequently as others.

We have worked to get integrations between our various vendors and systems. Our ATS does all of the work from application to onboarding. It then integrates that information with our HRIS. Our HRIS sends benefit changes to our benefit providers. This has not only increased our efficiency but has helped eliminate errors when entering the information by hand. We have also implemented video screens, which have eliminated the scheduling of the initial phone screens and allow the candidates to answer the questions when it is convenient for them.

Role play can help managers understand how to apply what they have learned and get them more comfortable with it. We do hear grumblings when we bring up role play. I take that as an opportunity to reinforce why it will benefit them and show how incorporating role-play into their preparation for various conversations and situations can be helpful for them. I share how my team and I incorporate role-play into preparing for situations and conversations. Before we have a difficult conversation, a couple of us will role-play the different directions the conversation might take so we feel prepared and confident going into the conversation. That way, if it takes a turn unexpectedly, we are prepared to handle it and not caught off guard.

Color and lighting are integral parts of your workspaces. In an area where employees need to look at monitors, bright lighting could make it hard to see the monitors. If lighting is too low in an area where employees need to see to do intricate tasks, it could lead to issues or injuries. Color and lighting can also set the mood and feel of a space. Interior designers can be beneficial in ensuring the colors and lighting in your workspaces are conducive to what you want happening in the different areas.