A decade of learning; lessons I have learned

The last day of 2019 has been and gone and as we have entered a new decade I thought it would be a good exercise to reflect on my decade in HR. Looking back on the past decade, I'd say so much has changed within HR; technology is changing the way we work with and engage with employees, there is a big shift towards self-service and GDPR has had a big impact on the way we work.

Generally, things have gone really well for me both personally and professionally in the past ten years and I am fortunate to start a new decade happy and fulfilled. But instead of thinking about what I have accomplished in the last decade, I wanted to reflect on what I have learned over these last 10 years and what I would want to tell a younger version of myself in 2010. When starting my career in HR.

It's OK not to have all the answers

I was often hard on myself for not having the answer, I would see this as a weakness and I would feel vulnerable admitting to somebody that I didn't know. I have learned that no matter how much I have learned, no matter how much I know about things, there is always something that you will not have the answer to yet.

I've had to embrace the fact that there will always be questions that I don't have the answers to, no matter how much that frustrates me. I have managed to adopt a mindset that every question I don't have the answer to is a valuable learning opportunity to go and find the answer.

It's OK to ask for help

Somewhat related to my first point, I had a stubborn characteristic whereby if I didn't have the answer I would be determined to find the answer out myself, rather than simply ask somebody for help - as if I thought asking somebody for help would mean that I am not performing well or am not good at my job.

It is important to switch the focus so that instead of limiting yourself or becoming overly concerned with how you are viewed by others, the primary concern should be that of growth. Knowledge gaps are not "failures"; rather, they're learning opportunities, therefore it really is OK to ask for help (just try not to ask the same questions over and over).

Quite simply, don't be a know-it-all be a learn-it-all. The know-it-all may have better capabilities at this moment, but I believe that the learn-it-all will always do better.

The fact is and will always remain that I do want to know everything and become a true HR subject matter expert, which is why I take the time to learn, develop and am constantly asking for help. But I understand that this is a commitment to become a lifelong learner as it is almost impossible to know everything, especially in HR whereby there is constant change and knowledge is expanding so rapidly.

Own your mistakes!

As mentioned above, no-one expects you to be perfect (its a trap!) and have all the answers, but EVERYBODY expects you to be honest. Whilst not ideal, failures can and often do happen and it is almost a necessary part of the learning experience. However, I learned a valuable lesson that there is more to just learning from your mistakes, there is owning up to them, too.

When starting my career I was naive and believed that if I fixed my own mistake that would solve the problem, and I wouldn't have to admit the mistake as people wouldn't realise. I was not confident enough in myself to admit that I had made a mistake or failed.

Experience has really taught me that accountability and integrity really are core values within a business and in order to be successful within your role the business needs to have trust and confidence that they can rely upon you - the only way this can happen is if you take full responsibility for your actions.

The importance of self-reflection

All too often I would find myself getting caught up in the day-to-day aspects of life and forget to pause, self reflect and look at the bigger picture. Most recently I have found that taking the time to think has been extremely helpful in creating a better sense of who I am, where I want to be and how I am going to get there.

I am really trying to make self-reflection a part of my everyday routine instead of a yearly task as part of my performance appraisal.

It is a shame that early on in my career I was too focused on getting ahead in jumping from one task to the next. I didn't invest in the time to build my personal brand and think about what my lasting impression would be in the mind of my key stakeholders.

Work and Fun can go together

For those of you who have worked with me, or know me well will know that I always try to bring a sense of fun and energy to the workplace. This decade has taught me that the happier I am the more productive or efficient I will be.

There were times that I had thought that in order to progress at work I would need to be more serious and in some cases have less fun, but this isn't the case - it is absolutely possible to have fun at work and be a complete professional and be good at your job.

The realisation is that we spend one-third of our working lives at work, so it really is important to have some fun and enjoy what you do.

The Sacrifices are worth it in the end!

In 2010 I was just starting my career in HR, I had no real experience, no professional qualification (other than a Business Studies Degree) and I didn't know if I was going to actually be any good at what I was setting myself out to do. At this point, I couldn't foresee what my life would look like in 2020, but I trusted my instinct to follow this path and make early sacrifices to give up 3 years of a comfortable life to juggle full-time work and also study for my professional qualification (CIPD).

It was a challenge trying to juggle work, classes, assignments, social life and also the battle to stay sane. I certainly had times when I felt overwhelmed but what really helped me was the fact I LOVED my job and I had a really supportive network of family, friends, and colleagues.

Having a professional qualification really has opened doors and created opportunities for me and if you would have told me in 2010 where I would be now I would agree that the sacrifices were definitely worth it!

What do I want to learn in the next decade?

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, I plan for one of my next blogs to focus on looking ahead to see what I think the next decade will entail and what I think I will need to learn in order to remain relevant and adapt well to future changes.