Let's Talk Worklife

What is the definition of successful working women? From this episode's perspective women who have grown in their careers to leadership position at a quicker pace or women who have grown in their career in a rate at par with their male colleagues or at least close.

For some women being a successful working women is a goal , for some being a working women in itself is a goal to succeed. In this episode the focus is to highlight the attributes common attributes picked from other working women who have been more successful in their careers than others. It's a learning point for all of us  women who want to be successful or be at a place better than where we currently are. 

Barring people in the age of 50s or 60s everyone in their teens, 20s , 30s and 40's are all addicted to social media in one form or the other. We are all addicted to such quick wins and lightning second highs you have to wonder when this affects our behavior outside in the society in general, how will it not affect our behavior in workplace. The key words to underlines in social media addiction is "minimal effort" "max immediate reward" our brain is getting wired to this cause and effect "minimal effort" and "max immediate reward".

So what are the effects this social media addiction could potentially produce in work place behavior. Some of it is already happening.

1 ) Quick rewards and appreciation

2 ) Thinking short term

3 ) Focus on breadth than depth (meaning count matters more than relationship)

4) Focus on me than the team or org goal

Join me in exploring each point in detail in this episode of #letstalkworklife

An article from HR Dive says " Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives may be among the first parts of a business to be eliminated in a recession, per data from Monster’s January 2023 future of work report" . Eleven percent of employers surveyed said that DEI programs “are among the first to go when they are forced to cut costs,” second to company events and bonuses."

Isn't it surprising why organisations would cut DEI cost if those initiatives are bringing positive changes?

So in this episode we explore the costs allocated on DEI initiatives, where does it go and what are the practical changes that needs to be brought in to make the DEI cost allocation provide meaningful returns. Also, can DEI objective be set up as an absolute objective?

#letstalkworklike

If you ask any hiring manager what is the experience bracket they look for esp in the IT industry environment -they would say 3 to 8 years. This group is neither freshers nor too old where you have to give very high hikes or bigger job titles. They have the right amount of experience, right burn in the stomach to work hard and earn and not old enough to get complacent.

This episode specifically focuses on IT industry in India - IT industry has a weird supply demand problem - on one side it has supply of young engineers coming out of colleges every year and on the other hand it's not easy to get quality engineers/designers. Where do the experienced SE/SDs go? SE-SD layer is the oxygen layer of the industry yet it's the layer that's undernourished and hence lost in the sea of workforce.

In this episode we explore how to nurture the SE/SD layer into their decades of experience. How not to let them become a liability, rather respect their experience and help them thrive.

Jacinda Ardern quit as New Zealand prime minister early Feb this year, ahead of this year's election in October saying she no longer has "enough in the tank" to lead. While it was surprising many around the world were shocked. It wasn't perceived only as a political news, it was more than that. She was a celebrated darling of the left wing politics and a role model for women leaders, whether she called for it or not, she was portrayed so. So when she decided to quit, it shocked many. There are many unasked, unanswered questions - the main question what does it imply to be a women leader? Can women leaders handle pressure? Can vulnerability shown by women leaders celebrated and copied? Can women leaders have it all?

So this episode explores all these questions.

#lifeasworkingwoman

Working woman especially working moms get asked this question - how do you do it? Meaning how do you manage both home and work and most women absolutely hate it

Keira Knghtley in an 2018 interview to Vogue mentioned  "WHY don’t journalists ask men how they balance their home life and their career?,” “Why don’t you ask male actors how they feel being a father and going off to shoot a movie? More times than not, that’s the first question that I’ll be asked — how do you balance motherhood with your career?”

In general it's taken as a condescending question. Its widely and generally written out that this question is not a right or a great question to ask women ,  working mothers that is

In this episode let's flip it and ask ourselves - from one working woman to another is the  question that offending after all. If it's infact offending is it entirely the society's fault in asking the question to working mothers.

Imagine Thomas Alva Edison lived in our times and he chose to invent electricity influencer style. He would have started creating a VLOG first before even touching his equipment for experimenting. Then he would have worried about growing his audience and addressing their concern even before perfecting his experiments. Would electricity have seen the light of the day if he tried doing all experiments before a big audience through his VLOGs?

Influencer as a career option shouldn't be aspired by everyone but it seems to be the case. Can this be ignored?

#let'stalkworklife

EaseMyTrip co-founder's tweet on a candidate's behavior - it caused a bit of noise in twitter. In this episode we dissect the tweet - is it appropriate for a leader of a startup in unicorn club to tweet in the given situation. What does it say about the leader and lessons for future leaders!

#letstalkworklife

Working woman get frustrated and decide to quit, as in quit permanently at different stages of their career.

It could be at a point where you decide to dedicate more time towards kids and elderly, managing both home and work has become just too much, something got to go.

It could be at a point when you search for a job to re-enter the workforce and you feel there are many obstacles on the way be in terms of the role you would like to get or salary  isn't enough or many different reasons.

There are very many reasons you as a women might decide to quit. But whose loss is it anyway?