susancarson

Do you jump off the sinking ship? Three reasons not to…

I want to share a conversation I had with a friend earlier this week. Let’s call her Dot:

Dot: “Susan! Help me re-do my resume. My company just laid off 20 people today so I need to look for a new job right away!”

Me: “Yes, but have you been let go?”

Dot: “No, but I might be!”

Me: “True, but what have you been told about your job”

Dot: “That it’s safe for now”Me: “So why are you fretting?”

Dot: “Because I might lose my job and I need one!”

Me: “Don’t jump off the sinking ship!”

I have supported four companies through their restructures, which resulted in the termination of employment from six to 500 people. I am always fascinated by the variety of people’s reactions to such adversity. Whilst it is understandable to be concerned about your future liv
elihood when it’s happening in your company, here are my three HR Hot Tips to help you not fret and to try and stay calm during what is a very stressful time: Continue reading →

Are you the victim of office gossip? Ten Hot Tips to assist with constructive confrontation

The focus of a recent coaching session with one of my protégés was the treatment of her by two other colleagues, who had been allegedly spreading rumours about her perceived extra-curricular relationship with a senior member of staff.

Naturally, my protégé was terrified of confronting the situation. In fact, I believe most people don’t confront issues that are bothering them, for fear of retribution or worsening the situation. So people go on to tolerate unfair and unreasonable treatment, which, in truth, can negatively affect someone’s reputation, performance, self-esteem and consequently, life in general. Continue reading →

September 23, 2015 by susancarson Categories: DevelopmentTags: conflict, confrontation, development, leadership 1 Comment

Are you an aspiring leader? Three questions to regularly ask yourself early on in your leadership journey

After a month away from the office and travelling around Canada, and back to Australia, it got me thinking about the presence of leadership in all of our travels. And we all travel. It may be to the store, it may be to another town or it may be to the other side of the globe, but one consistent thing across town, borders and continents is the importance of leadership. From the grocery store, to political parties, to your school, university or workplace, it is leadership (good and bad) that is ever-present and what mostly drives us to want to succeed.

Leadership doesn’t necessarily come naturally to people who are in positions of managing other people, and people are promoted to leadership roles on the basis of their technical skills, rather than on their leadership skills, all the time. If you’re an aspiring leader, here are three questions to ask yourself daily – that you must answer “yes” to daily – in order to provide a solid foundation and boost your chances of early success, as you travel through towns, industries and even borders in your leadership journey:

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September 18, 2015September 18, 2015 by susancarson Categories: LeadershipTags: development, growth, leadership Leave a comment

Are your goals setting you up for success?

Workplace goals exist to move the business forward in line with the organisation’s vision and strategy. They can come in varied forms but the SMART acronym (the letters of which have many interchangeable versions with the same idea) is one basis often used to assist with goal creation and setting. Generally, your SMART goals will be set for you either by direction from your leader, or collaboratively, in line with what the business wants to achieve. But what about what you want to achieve?

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August 18, 2015February 21, 2017 by susancarson Categories: DevelopmentTags: development, Employment, experience, goals, growth, hrhottips, success, workplace Leave a comment

Is your social media activity helping? Or hindering?

In today’s age of social media, information about prospective candidates is more readily available online, and recruiters will go beyond the traditional reference check phone call in search of anything about you. This involves accessing and scrutinising your social media activity, and gathering as much information to use to gain an idea of your character. Furthermore, this research probably occurs before they have even met you. It’s important to ensure that you manage your social media activity in the right way, to support your brand and not inadvertently damage it in any way.

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August 11, 2015 by susancarson Categories: Recruitment, Self-marketingTags: candidate, career, Employment, experience, interview, media, RECRUITMENT, self-marketing, social, success 2 Comments

Seven Tips to Conducting a Memorable Interview

I have experienced many interviews where upon completion, the panel and myself have been truly ecstatic that we have found the right person, and hope the feeling’s mutual. Others, we look around for Ashton Kutcher because we think we’re being punk’d. Seriously.

This is it: the make or break stage of your job application. The interview is pretty much what it comes down to. Interviews can be daunting, but at the same time they are simply a two-way conversation, with each party assessing the other’s suitability for their needs.

So how can you make your interview the most memorable? Continue reading →

July 29, 2015July 29, 2015 by susancarson Categories: InterviewsTags: career, Employment, experience, hrhottips, interview, questions, RECRUITMENT, success, workplace Leave a comment

Five ways to improve your chances of gaining an interview

Interviews can be worrisome and daunting, so the more opportunities you can get to practice, the better you become. A lot of people have said to me “If only I could just get an interview”. Here are five ways that I have found can greatly improve your chances of getting an interview.

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July 24, 2015July 29, 2015 by susancarson Categories: Job ApplicationsTags: career, Employment, hrhottips, interview, mission, RECRUITMENT, strengths, success, values, vision, workplace Leave a comment

101 HR Hot Tips… Here we go!

Welcome! To my HR Hot Tips blog and thank you for your participation! I am excited to be creating this blog and thrilled that you’re reading it… So, here we go!

Why did I write this book?

I was recently asked, what was my inspiration for writing 101 HR Hot Tips: Handy Secrets for Success in the Workplace. Well, the answer to that is simple:

I want to help, and I can. So I’m going to.

Continue reading →

July 17, 2015 by susancarson Categories: UncategorizedTags: 101 hrhottips, career, Employment, human resources, RECRUITMENT, success, workplace 2 Comments