What Matters to You?

In the mad pace of the work world, do you take time to reflect at all? Really. Do you reflect or do you react?

Most HR people I know constantly share with me that they react more often than anything in their daily jobs. Part of this is a fact of being in HR because people can be unpredictable. (That’s one of the things that makes working with people so cool!)

I had a conversation recently with some people about the challenge of having people report to you. It really is daunting if you think about it. It’ s not just a matter of performance reviews, systems and tasks. When someone reports to you, they are at the mercy of your decisions for their careers and their daily work experience.

So, back to the reflection question. Do you think about how you affect those that report to you or work with you?  Do they matter to you or are they just a means to an end to get work done? This is something to really look at. 

Think about this . . . you are with the people you work with more each day than anyone else including family and friends. This alone should be a motivator to really check into what matters to those around you.

What would work be like if you shared what mattered to you with those that report to you or work with you? You’d be amazed at the depth and vibrancy you’d find in the people you sometimes won’t even take the time to say, “Hi” to because it’s too important to get to that critical e-mail that you just HAVE to answer.

Try a new approach this week. Take a deep breath and go out into your work environment. Talk to the people that you spend each day with and see what matters to them. You’ll start to understand what true diversity is because it’s all around you just waiting to be tapped.

Need to go now.  More great humans to hang out with!

About the Author

Steve Browne

Steve Browne is the ultimate connector and social media guidance counselor and also works in the trenches of Human Resources. Steve is the Executive Director of HR for LaRosa’s. He has responsibilities for the strategic direction of over 1400 employees. In his spare time, he is active in Ohio SHRM and runs a subscriber-based newsletter called HR Net. Connect with Steve on Twitter as @sbrownehr and on LinkedIn.

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