HR Coffee Time

Strategy is a topic we’ve explored before on HR Coffee Time (and we’ll look at again in the future) because it’s an important aspect of HR leadership. Whether you’re a seasoned strategist, or you feel uncomfortable and worried when it comes to strategy, this episode is here to help you build your skills and confidence.

Strategy expert and author of the award-winning book, “The Strategy Book: How to think and act strategically to deliver outstanding results”, Dr Max Mckeown shares:

• What strategy is & what it isn’t
• How you’re already a strategist (even if you don’t realise it)
• Why people doubt themselves when it comes to being strategic
• The three parts of being strategic – timescale, scope, & sequence
• An example of strategy done badly
• An example of a good strategy (McDonalds)
• Strategy is simple but simple is complex
• Max’s strategy tool, Speed Strategy – where are we now, where do we want to go, what do we need to do to get there, how do we need to do it, what do we need to measure along the route, what is pushing us, what might stop us?

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Free Speed Strategy template
• Max’s website
• Connect with Max on LinkedIn

(Disclosure: the book links are affiliate links which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through them)

• The Pocket Oracle and Art of Prudence, by Baltasar Gracián
• The Strategy Book: How to think and act strategically to deliver outstanding results, by Max Mckeown
• The Innovation Book: How to manage ideas and execution for outstanding results, by Max Mckeown
• Adaptability: The art of winning in an age of uncertainty, by Max Mckeown

• Episode 102: Boosting your strategic knowledge to step up in your HR role
• Episode 98: HR insider insights: how to create a powerful People Strategy for an SME, with Kelly Vincent
• Episode 93: Creating a more inclusive work culture: how to make an impact, with Toby Mildon
• Episode 77: How to create an effective DEI strategy, with Metra Rowe
• Episode 61: The 4 pillars that will help you be strategic in your HR role
• Episode 26: How to be strategic in your new HR leadership role

You can find the transcript on this page of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Have you ever felt like a fraud at work and worried you were about to be found out at any moment? Do you ever hold yourself back from asking for what you want for fear of hearing the word, “no”? Do you ever procrastinate because you’re worried about getting things ‘perfect’ enough? Do you work incredibly hard – perhaps harder than your colleagues and peers because you want to make sure you’re achieving good results at work?

If you can answer ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are not alone. You may be experiencing imposter syndrome; something that affects many of us at certain points throughout our career.

In this episode of HR Coffee Time, guest Aoife O’Brien explains what imposter syndrome is, the impact it has at work and how to tackle it head-on.

Listen to the episode to learn:

• What imposter syndrome is (and what it isn’t)
• Where her interest in imposter syndrome comes from
• Results from Aoife’s research into imposter syndrome
• How imposter syndrome impacts performance (including procrastination and burnout)
• What Aoife thinks about claims that imposter syndrome doesn’t exist or that it’s an unhelpful label
• Practical strategies to tackle imposter syndrome throughout your organisation
• Tips to help you overcome imposter syndrome for yourself, including ABC (A = acknowledge, B = belief, C = courageous action)
• How knowing your strengths and asking for feedback can help

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Aoife’s Imposter Syndrome Survey Report
• Aoife’s Happier at Work website
• Aoife’s Imposter Syndrome website
• Gallup Clifton Strengths Assessment
• The Essential HR Planner

• Connect with Aoife on LinkedIn
• Follow Aoife on Instagram
• Follow Aoife on Twitter / X
• Subscribe to Aoife’s YouTube channel

(Disclosure: the book links are affiliate links which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through them)

High Performance Habits: How Extraordinary People Become That Way, by Brendon Burchard

• Episode 1: How to feel more confident at work
• Episode 36: Four simple but powerful techniques to banish imposter syndrome, with Joanna Lott
• Episode 57: Using the Johari Window to develop & grow in your HR career (the Johari Window is a feedback tool)
• Episode 75: What psychometrics are, how you can use them & why they’re so helpful, with Sue Colton (psychometrics can be a helpful way of learning about your strengths)
• Episode 78: 5 tips to get useful feedback at work to help your HR/People career

You can find the transcript on this page of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

If you have no idea what to post on LinkedIn, or why you should be posting on there, this episode of HR Coffee Time is here to help. Fay explains why it’s so important to be active on LinkedIn to build your professional and employer brands. She then explains 7 types of posts to share on LinkedIn that will help your HR career.

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching

• Episode 11: Networking – the three most important networks for your career - Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Episode 15: How networking can help your career - Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Episode 16: How to become more confident about networking - Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Episode 17: 3 little-known LinkedIn features which will help you get your next job - Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Episode 101: How to build confidence with networking for HR career success, with Yvonne Walsh - Bright Sky Career Coaching

You can find transcripts for all episodes on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Although pensions can feel like a boring or complicated topic (especially if you’re not a Reward specialist), HR Coffee Time guest Pete Hykin shows this doesn’t have to be the case. In this episode he helps strip away any worries you might have about choosing a pension provider or talking about pensions at work. He also shares some great tips on how to get everyone engaged with their pensions and focused on their financial wellbeing.

Listen to the episode to learn:

• Why it’s important to prioritise getting pensions right, even though you have other projects and issues competing for your time and attention.
• You can draw a direct line from employee productivity to employee wellbeing and financial wellbeing.
• Aside from their house, their pension is the largest financial asset your employees will have in their lives.
• Pensions are a major part of financial wellbeing.
• The importance of educating people about pensions.
• Help bring the amount of money in peoples’ pensions to life.
• You can use tools like salary sacrifice to put more money in your employees’ pockets.
• Create a culture and environment where people can talk about money and their financial wellbeing.
• Inclusion and pensions.
• Tips on choosing a new pension provider – consult with your employees to find out what’s important to them.

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Book a virtual chat with Penfold

(Disclosure: the book link is an affiliate link which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through it)

Becoming, by Michelle Obama

Episode 48: How to support your colleagues with bereavement at work, with Michelle Smith

You can find transcripts for all episodes on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Gravitas can help you make an impact throughout your HR career, but it can feel hard to define, and even harder to work out how to develop it. Antoinette Dale Henderson is on hand to help. Having made it her life’s work to decode the elements that contribute to gravitas and teach us how to improve our own personal gravitas, she shares some of her key insights and tips in this episode of HR Coffee Time, including:

• Antoinette’s definition of gravitas, “The ability to command respect, get taken seriously, and get your voice heard. All while retaining your own authentic self.”
• How gender impacts perception of gravitas.
• The six components of Antoinette’s model, The Gravitas Wheel.
• Internal components: self-awareness, expertise, authenticity
• External components: presence, connection, projection
• Sitting in the centre of the wheel: purpose
• How to plan using OPRAHS to make sure you have maximum presence in a situation:
• O: objective – what’s your objective?
• P: people – which people will be there & what’s their objective?
• R: role – what role am I playing?
• A: attitude – what attitude do I need to have?
• H: hear – what am I going to hear?
• S: say – what am I going to say?
• Increasing or decreasing your presence using body language, voice, eye contact and clothing

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Connect with Antoinette on LinkedIn
• Follow Antoinette on Instagram
• Antoinette’s website

(Disclosure: the book links are affiliate links which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through them)

• Leading With Gravitas: Unlock the six keys to impact and influence, by Antoinette Dale Henderson
• Power Up: The Smart Woman’s Guide to Unleashing Her Potential, by Antoinette Dale Henderson
• Look Like The Leader You Are: A 7 step strategy for ambitious women, by Lizzie Edwards
• Compelling People: The Hidden Qualities That Make Us Influential, by John Neffinger & Matthew Kohut

• Episode 91: How to be more assertive at work – a fresh approach, with Trisha Lewis
• Episode 73: 5 ways to feel more confident in your next interview, meeting, or presentation

You can find transcripts for all episodes on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Contracting (taking on a role that isn’t a permanent position) can be a great option for your HR career. But how do you know whether it’s the right fit for you?

This episode of HR Coffee Time is here to help you answer that question. Experienced HR contractor – Eleanor Minshall, shares her insights and explains:

• How she made the switch from permanent employment to contracting.
• The benefits of contracting
• The downsides of contracting to be aware of
• Useful skills to have as a contractor
• How to get a contract role
• How to set yourself up for success in a contract role

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching

(Disclosure: book links are affiliate links which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through them)

• ‘Will It Make The Boat Go Faster?: Olympic-winning Strategies for Everyday Success’ by Harriet Beveridge & Ben Hunt-Davis
• ‘Legacy: 15 Lessons in Leadership’ by James Kerr

• Episode 04: Finding your next HR job – key tips from an HR Recruiter, with Tansel Omer
• Episode 13: How to get a senior-level role, with Craig Elvin
• Episode 101: How to build confidence with networking for HR career success, with Yvonne Walsh

You can find transcripts for all episodes on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Build your confidence and knowledge about strategy with this episode of HR Coffee Time. Fay talks you through the key takeaways from Richard Rumelt’s modern business classic, “Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters.”

Not only will this help you create more powerful People and HR strategies, but it will also help you understand how to craft and contribute to the overarching strategy for the whole organisation you work in.

This episode will be helpful for you, no matter which role you’re ultimately aiming for, but it will be especially useful if you’d like to move into a Board-level role (or are already in one).

Ideas shared in the episode, include:

The kernel of good strategy is made up of:

• A diagnosis that defines or explains the nature of the challenge
• A guiding policy for dealing with the challenge
• A set of coherent actions designed to carry out the guiding policy

9 sources of power:

1. Leverage
2. Proximate objectives
3. Chain-link systems
4. Using design
5. Focus
6. Growth
7. Using advantage
8. Using dynamics
9. Inertia and entropy

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching

(Disclosure: the book link is an affiliate link which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through it)

• Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The difference and why it matters, by Richard Rumelt

• Episode 26: How to be strategic in your new HR leadership role
• Episode 61: The 4 pillars that will help you be strategic in your HR role
• Episode 77: How to create an effective DEI strategy, with Metra Rowe
• Episode 98: HR insider insights: how to create a powerful people strategy for an SME, with Kelly Vincent

You can find transcripts for all episodes on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

If you’ve heard networking can help your HR/People career but are nervous about it, or you're not sure how to do it well, this episode of HR Coffee Time is here to help.

Seasoned networker and HR professional Yvonne Walsh shares her personal experiences when it comes to networking. You’ll hear the fantastic impact networking has had on Yvonne’s career, and she shares invaluable tips to build up your confidence and skills when it comes to networking:

• How to get started with networking if you’re a bit nervous and perhaps not a naturally outgoing person
• The benefits of attending events
• Overcoming nerves about networking
• Thinking rigidly about what networking ‘is’ and what it ‘isn’t’
• Knowing how to network
• Networking in a remote environment
• Simple but effective tips: talk to people, smile, be interested in what they have to say, exchange contact details, and follow up afterwards.

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Connect with Yvonne on LinkedIn

(Disclosure: the book link is an affiliate link which means that Fay will receive a small commission from Amazon if you make a purchase through it)

• ‘The Light We Carry: Overcoming In Uncertain Times' by Michelle Obama

• Episode 11: Networking – the three most important networks for your career
• Episode 15: How networking can help your career
• Episode 16: How to become more confident about networking

You can find transcripts for all episodes from episodes 66 onwards on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

For this special milestone episode of HR Coffee Time, Fay shares three of the lessons she has learnt from creating 100 episodes of the podcast. They’re lessons that can apply to everyone, no matter what point they are at in their career and no matter what job they do:

1. You can make time for what matters, even if you think you can’t.
2. Aim for progress over perfection.
3. People are wonderful and happy to help.

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• The Essential HR Planner

• Episode 90: How a ‘Personal Board’ can help solve your challenges at work
• Episode 29: Making a success of your promotion to a leadership role, with Jacqui Jagger
• Episode 89: How to reach your HR career goals by understanding your tendency
• Episode 92: Time Management tips to stay on top of your busy day, with Louisa van Vessem
• Episode 67: How to get on top of email overwhelm when you’re in a busy HR role
• Episode 45: 6 ways to stop procrastinating & find time for important projects at work
• Episode 07: What to do when there aren’t enough hours in the day
• Episode 80: How quarterly reviews can help you thrive in your HR career
• Episode 85: 6 questions to prioritise what matters for your HR/People career
• Episode 43: The one thing that will boost your resilience throughout your HR career, with Tom Cleary
• Episode 32: How to write work emails that get results, with Kim Arnold
• Episode 37: The ‘first 100 days’ plan to succeed in your new HR leadership role, with Niamh O’Keeffe
• Episode 11: Networking – the 3 most important networks for your career
• Episode 15: How networking can help your career
• Episode 16: How to become more confident about networking

You can find transcripts for all episodes from episodes 66 onwards on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.

Conflict is something you’ll often be asked to help with in your role as a People professional. So, mediation skills are a useful conflict resolution tool to have in your toolbox, ready to put into action when you need them.

In this episode of HR Coffee Time, Pete Colby, Director and lead Mediator at Pragmatism joins host, Fay Wallis, to talk through how mediation skills can help you resolve conflict at work. Some of the many things he covers include:

• Exactly what mediation is and what mediation skills are.
• Why grievances don’t solve workplace issues, but mediations do.
• How mediation skills can be used to nip problems in the bud before they escalate.
• Why mediation skills can have huge benefits for People teams and organizations as a whole.
• What makes a great mediator.

• Connect with Fay on LinkedIn
• Fay’s website: Bright Sky Career Coaching
• Connect with Pete Colby on LinkedIn
• Pete’s website: Pragmatism
• Pete’s blog post: Would I make a good mediator?

• Episode 22: How to handle conflict at work, with Ginny Radmall
• Episode 56: How to do a great job with collective consultations for redundancies, with Pete Colby
• Episode 83: Destructive team dynamics – how to spot them & get things back on track, with Gabriella Braun
• Episode 03: Building relationships with difficult people at work

You can find transcripts for all episodes from episodes 66 onwards on the HR Coffee Time section of the Bright Sky Career Coaching website.

If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please rate and review it on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. If you're kind enough to leave a review, let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: [email protected].

Be notified each time a new episode of HR Coffee Time is released and get access to other free career tips, tools and resources by signing up to receive the free weekly HR Coffee Time email.