Well, here we are.
At the end of what feels like another long, oftentimes hard, year.And yet on the other hand, it was only last month (November) that I finally accepted it wasn’t actually March or April anymore.Time is a little weird like that, don’t you think?!?Do you know what isn’t weird though?The inspired idea that I received from one fabulous Ms Holly Cardamone of Blue 51 Communications back in 2020: to write a blog at the end of each year which provides a wrap up of what I have been up to during said year.[caption id="attachment_3642" align="alignnone" width="305"]
The one and only Ms Cardamone and I, getting our writing on in Sydney NSW.[/caption]Ok, ok, yes. I *might have missed a couple of years there.But the good news is that I’m back with a vengeance and ready to share my top three professional and personal highlights of 2023.So buckle in and let’s get this celebratory party started.BTW because it’s me, and I get a little excited about things like highlights, this wrap-up will be in two parts. That way, I can share the wrap-up love over two weeks, and you are more likely to keep reading to the end. Win win.
Professional Highlights
1. Writing the damn book
I have always loved to read and write. When I was a kid, I wanted to be an author. As a teenager, that dream morphed into wanting to become a sports journalist.The dream changed once again when I headed off to University, because in Tassie where I studied for my undergraduate degrees, there was no Journalism degree back in the day.And so one bright and sunny day as I went with my mates to campus for enrolment, I took the advice of one Ms Katie B as she said
“Alby [that’s me] look! For only one extra year, we can have two degrees - Arts /Law - instead of just one - Law’.
Thinking that an Arts/Law degree sounded like a solid backup plan as a way to get into journalism, I did just that. And so, my journey began along the path that led to me becoming a lawyer, then a HR professional, then a journalism/communications graduate (yay, finally) and eventually the self-proclaimed workplace culture nerd that I am today.Over the three decades of work experience that I have gathered, I’ve learned a fair bit about what makes a workplace culture good/great/high-performing /exceptional.Especially since I launched Workology Co back in 2017, and began to concentrate on what are the key ingredients necessary for said high performance and engaged culture.In 2022, inspired by my fellow *Band of Batches member Angela Esnouf, I decided to share some of those learnings in a blog series called the A - Z of Workplace culture.What happened next was that the aforementioned Ms Holly Cardamone told me that a) I needed to turn this into a book and b) I was going to kickstart the project by joining her First Draft Fast Track writing program.Ever the obedient friend, I did as Holly ‘suggested’ and in late February I joined her FDFT program and hit the ground running.Fast forward to now, and as I write this wrap-up blog, my business book has been through 4 rounds of edits including two with a professional editor; is about to be handed over to a highly-skilled graphic designer and book layout specialist; and is set to launch in late Feb/ early March 2024.[caption id="attachment_3641" align="alignnone" width="267"]
Here I am working hard on the book (and yes, having *one or two belly laughs) with two of my fellow Band of Batches members who are also writing books.[/caption]I am super excited to share my wealth of accumulated knowledge via The ABC of Exceptional Workplace Culture; and I’m pumped at the thought of the difference my little tome is going to make to organisations everywhere.And yes, little Ali is over the moon at the fact that she is finally going to realise one of her dreams and become a published author.Stay tuned for launch details…or if you are keen to pre-order, drop me a line here and I will get that sorted. [Official pre-order details to come].2. Developing a People and Culture StrategyOne of the things I am always banging on about, is the need for organisations to LISTEN TO THEIR EMPLOYEES.In case you need any proof, here is a link to 3 occasions when I have done just that.
L is for ListeningWhen-your-annual-engagement-survey-is-like-coles-prices-down-down-downTwo-way-communication-simply-good-business-sense
Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to work with a small, quasi-government business, who were all about the Listening to your Employees thang.The organisation employs around 14 staff.As part of a new organisational strategy, the business was seeking to develop its first people and culture strategy, and wanted to ensure that the strategy was one that aligned with what their employees deemed to be the most important people and culture issues in the organisation.I worked with the business to:
- Interview all staff (including the Executive) to understand what they perceived were the key people issues
- Identify themes arising from the 1:1 interviews
- Conduct Focus Groups to tease out how the issues identified could be solved
- Seek Executive input into which of those issues could be prioritised in the coming year
- Survey staff with a summary of all of the above and seek any additional feedback
- Analyse all of the above and from the information gathered, and with a view to Executive priorities and the broader organisational strategy, thereby develop a simple two page people and culture strategy.
I loved the combination of individual interviews, facilitating group conversations, and strategic thinking required to develop the strategy.And staff repeatedly told me how happy they felt to have been engaged in the process.If you are developing a people and culture strategy in your business for the coming year, may I offer you the following thoughts/suggestions/direction:1) You need to canvass your employees to discover what are the issues that have the most impact on them. There is little value to be had in developing a strategy that doesn't address these issues.2) If you want or need some assistance in doing just this, then I’m your gal. Reach out here and let’s chat about how that might look for your business.3. Largest investigation I have ever doneWorkology Co is all about helping organisations to build exceptional culture so their business excels.Generally speaking this means I help organisations to fix their broken culture, or improve the current culture, before the proverbial shiz hits the fan.However from time to time, I do dabble in what I *jokingly call the dark arts, and conduct investigations into that shiz and why it has hit that organisation’s fan.This year I conducted a record number of them (well, record number apart from the 18 months I spent ONLY conducting investigations 7ish years ago); and one of those was a standout.I was engaged by a solicitor on behalf of one of their global clients; I conducted interviews with many, many people including the Complainant and Respondent across several different countries and time-zones (Europe, China, America and Australia).[caption id="attachment_2839" align="alignnone" width="310"]
*Actual footage from a previous investigation...or not...[/caption]Everyone I interviewed was either a lawyer, para-legal or HR professional. #pressuremuchAs with all investigations, but particularly this one, time was of the essence - there was no sitting around on my you know what and twiddling my thumbs.Yes, this investigation was a challenge. Particularly when this extrovert had to cancel a few social engagements due to needing to work on said investigation.However, the satisfaction I felt after completing my first truly global investigation; plus drafting the longest Table of Evidence I have ever drafted (coming in at 80 plus pages)...yeah, that feeling of accomplishment in what I had achieved was a pretty darn special feeling.I also took the learnings I gathered from this investigation (and the others I conducted this year) and turned it into a blog. Non-identifying of course. Confidentiality is after all the KEY ingredient when it comes to workplace investigations.You will be able to read this blog in the new year. Because what better way to kickstart your 2024 culture than by learning from the mistakes of others!
Annnd That's a Wrap!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this wrap-up of my professional highlights of 2023.Stay tuned for a wrap-up of my personal ones coming your way next week.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]