Tag: mental health

Exclusive Insights Live from our 2022 #TEAwards Surveys

Over 80 recruiters and industry professionals attended our 2022 TalentEgg Awards and Conference to celebrate the best recruitment practices among students and recent grads. During the virtual event, we conducted several surveys to uncover exclusive insights into the future of recruitment and the workplace.

EMPLOYEES ARE HAPPY WITH HYBRID AND REMOTE WORKPLACES

We asked recruiters and industry professionals questions: “What kind of workplace do you have?” and “What is the best part of your new workplace model?” 5% responded “In Office”, 36% responded “Remote”, while 59% responded “Hybrid”. Regarding the best part of their new workplace model, most respondents are happy about the comfort of working from home while still being able to connect with colleagues. In the post-pandemic aftermath, hybrid workplaces are the newest trend that will become the new normal.

SOFT SKILLS ARE THE NEW CRITICAL SKILLS

In our Guide to Recruitment 2022, we empathize the importance of soft skills for the career success of students and new graduates. We asked our awards and conference attendees to tell us if they think “soft skills are critical for young talents in the workplace?” All respondents said “Yes.” When we asked them if they believe their company should invest in Soft Skills Training, all respondents said “Yes” too.

Students’ hard skills are learned in the classroom, whereas soft skills come from experiences, group projects, and daily interactions, which people must go out of their way to develop. Soft skills make for a healthy working environment, drive positive change, help solve problems more efficiently, increase sales and help improve employee retention.

Before the pandemic, students and grads expressed their need for additional training before entering the workforce and continued learning opportunities. Therefore at TalentEgg, we are egg-cited to excited to announce the launch of our E-Learning Platform. TalentEgg’s eLearning Academy offers courses that teach introductory workplace soft skills for students and grads and intermediate soft skills to advance careers. These courses support Canada’s top talent’s school-to-work transition and early career development. To learn more about our eLearning Academy and Soft Skills, download our Guide to Recruitment 2022.

THE DEMAND FOR TAKING ACTION ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION IN THE WORKPLACE

It is now a habit for students, recent graduates, and working professionals to research each company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion policies before applying. We asked attendees, “What is the most important DEI initiative in your workplace?” Among the answers were “having appropriate hiring practices in place,” “accessible website,” “ERG,” and “inclusive recruitment strategies,” to name a few. If you are a recruiter or HR professional, sit down with your company leaders and discuss practical ways to integrate diversity and inclusion into the workplace.

Social media, blogs, and websites are great for promoting your DEI initiatives, but it can sometimes be hard to target those initiatives to the audience you intend to promote. That’s why coming soon to TalentEgg; we will be offering DEI eblasts. These eblasts will be targeted and sent to DEI clubs in over 30+ universities and colleges across Canada.

If you’re unsure of what implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives or training in the workplace may look like, we at TalentEgg are here to help you take that first step. We have a whole chapter on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace, in our Guide to Recruitment 2022.

NEW TRENDS FOR THE FUTURE OF CAMPUS RECRUITMENT

Due to the many options for recruiters, it can be challenging to choose where to put your campus recruitment efforts. When we asked attendees: “Do you think your campus recruitment strategies were up to date and effective in attracting young talent?” 57% of respondents answered with a “Yes” while 43% answered with a “No.” When we asked them, “Do you think your company should invest in new strategies to attract young talent?” all respondents agreed that their organizations should implement new strategies.

For many employers, a meaningful way to showcase their employer brand and capture students and recent grad’s attention is through events. Workplaces increasingly shifted to digital events during the pandemic, and this is a trend we believe is here to stay. Having your employer brand online is also critical to capture the attention of students and new grads.

Students and new grads overwhelmingly look for jobs on job board websites. Centralizing your organization’s recruitment efforts on job boards like TalentEgg is essential to developing and growing your employer brand beyond your career website to meet job seekers where they are. TalentEgg is not just a job board; we are also an employer branding platform to help you build and amplify your brand with hundreds of thousands of new grads and students.

But besides job boards, social media is by far the best way to engage students and new grads. Due to the rise of TikTok as the new preeminent platform, the digital landscape has dramatically changed. Successfully reaching students and recent grads on social media platforms requires a lot of work and time. Therefore, TalentEgg has invested heavily in the past year on Instagram and TikTok to enable our clients to use our TalentEgg platforms to access a broad audience of students and recent grads.

We are happy to announce that TalentEgg now offers TikTok Takeovers. During these TikToks, your organization can access TalentEgg’s TikTok account for one week, helping showcase your employer brand.

In addition, we are also launching TalentEgg Shorts, a video series showcasing your employer brand to help you grab students’ and new grads’ attention. With the fast pace and engaging graphics and music of our TalentEgg Shorts, the videos will be jam-packed with information while keeping them tight, concise and compelling. To learn more about our TikTok Takeovers and TalentEgg Shorts, download our Guide to Recruitment 2022.

THE CONTINUING IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HEALTH IN THE WORKPLACE

Finally, mental health initiatives and awareness have gone a long way in the past few years, but much work still needs to be done. We asked our awards and conference attendees to tell us, “Do you think your employer provides sufficient mental health and wellness support?” The most common answer was “Yes.” We asked them, “Do you think your leadership would benefit from more training in supporting mental health and wellness of their employees?” 100% of respondents said “Yes.”

Workplaces can play a crucial part in mandating positive mental health for their workers. Furthermore, students and graduates report that mental health support at work is an essential factor in deciding where they want to work.

Here at TalentEgg, we realize that mental health training is in high demand amongst students, new grads and working professionals. We also know that as employers, schools and career centers, you want to continue to grow your mental health initiatives and create a safe and welcoming environment for all students, new grads and working professionals.

That’s why we created our new Mental Health & Psychological Safety In The Workplace Master Certificate Program on our TalentEgg eLearning Academy site. With these courses designed for managers and team leaders, you can build a psychologically safe workplace where employee mental health is a high priority.

For more trends on recruitment, the new digital recruitment word, and a glimpse of the future of the post-pandemic workplace, check out our Guide to Recruitment 2022 package, brought to you by our team at TalentEgg.

Eliminating Recruitment Bias Through Diversity

May 24, 2022 / James Highet / 0 Comments

Bell is packed full of superstar recruiters who find and hire hundreds of high potential students every year, including Minami Alguire, Senior Manager for Talent Acquisition. TalentEgg had the chance to hear how the Bell recruitment team is passionate about welcoming students, helping students find their fit, eliminating bias and seeing students’ potential to contribute meaningfully straight out of school. Finding one’s path after school can be daunting, and it makes Bell proud to know how the company’s recruiters show up for students. Recruiters make connections and share their expertise with students at recruitment events and work with hiring leaders to make matches between students and teams that are great for business and key post-graduation milestones for the student hires.

Bell is a space where recruitment and development merge. The company recognizes that there is so much opportunity for student hiring to bring fresh ideas and skills into the organization and invest in future generations. With solid support from its executive team, Bell has the passion and the commitment to make great things happen in the campus recruitment space!

Please keep reading to learn more about how Bell welcomes new grads and students and what opportunities are available after joining the company. As well as Bell’s commitment to mental health & what steps are being taken to create an inclusive workplace.

Bell’s Main Initiative for Students and New Graduates

Bell welcomes students and new graduates into the telecommunications, media, and retail industries via the company’s award-winning internship and recent graduate leadership programs. Bell knows precisely how important the transition from school to work is and has over ten years of experience successfully launching new grads into leadership positions.

Commitment to Mental Health in the Workplace

Bell Let’s Talk partners with schools across Canada to equip post-secondary schools with digital tool kits to engage students in conversation around awareness and self-care. Last year, Bell announced the launch of the $3.1M Bell Let’s Talk Post-Secondary Fund to support Canadian colleges and universities in implementing the National Standard of Canada for Mental Health and Well-Being for Post-Secondary Students.

One of the four pillars of the Bell Let’s Talk campaign is workplace leadership, and Bell is proudly committed to leading by example in this space. Since 2010, more than 18,000 Bell employees and 13,000 Bell leaders have completed mental health training. Bell’s initiatives to improve mental health awareness, training and benefits have reduced short-term disability claims related to mental health by over 20% and reduced relapse and recurrence by more than 50%. Earlier this year, Bell has enhanced its psychological care benefit to provide unlimited coverage for mental-health services!

Essential Aspects of the Career Path

Bell is a leader in taking care of its employees, and it shows through the mentorship and experience provided.

Executive Mentorship – Bell helps students and recent grads gain exposure to exceptional leaders throughout the company. Minami’s executive mentor was paired with her during her time in the graduate leadership program, and they still meet regularly!

Real experience – Whether a student joins Bell for the summer or a full-time role after graduating, they can expect to work on real projects that impact how Canadians communicate with each other and the world.
A sense of community – Bell’s cohorts have many opportunities to bond during onboarding and stay connected as they move through their careers. For new hires, this means joining a company with a built-in network of over 1500 alumni that finished the program before them!

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Initiatives

For Bell, diversity, equity and inclusion are more than a seat at the table; it’s the key to the skills and innovation that make the whole more significant than the sum of its parts. Everyone benefits from a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment! Sometimes DE&I shows up at work in meaningful ways – like Bell’s 2020 announcement to hire a minimum of 40% BIPOC talent in its new grad and intern programs – sometimes it shows up in the little things, like colleagues eagerly learning how to pronounce someone’s name. At Bell, they don’t just accept difference – they celebrate it!

#TeamBell is also passionately committed to DE&I. Bell currently has three employee resource groups run entirely by employees to support its members and allies. These include Women at Bell, Pride at Bell, and Black Professionals at Bell.

Taking Steps to Eliminate Bias in the Hiring Process

Bell has several steps to reduce and eliminate bias in its hiring process. These include conscious inclusion training to help employees and leaders better understand unconscious bias and their critical role in fostering an inclusive workplace. Bell also ensures hiring decisions are made with various thoughts and inputs to guarantee that Bell continues to be one of the best companies to work for in Canada.

The best way to help students and new graduates get involved with Bell opportunities is for them to speak to recruiters directly! Bell publishes its events calendar on its career site and its TalentEgg page throughout the year. The company’s virtual career fair is one of the highlights of the recruitment calendar. Students will meet some current grads, hiring leaders, and recruiters, hear from executives, participate in speed interviews, and access exclusive webinars and resources from the recruitment team. In the meantime, you can read more about Bell HERE!

Habits to Become the Best Version of Yourself

January 18, 2022 / Luki Danukarjanto / 0 Comments

I’ve been asked more and more to share my insights on developing habits with various organizations since the start of the pandemic. Many have found themselves with extra time with their commutes removed from their day. Some are choosing to feel that extra time with habits like exercise, reading, meditation, and a multitude of other activities. Some are successful at turning them into habits. Many or not. I share my insights as to why.

Why are habits important in the first place?

For anyone who has ever tried to start a new routine, oftentimes an act of sheer willpower is needed to get started. That willpower often drains energy and you don’t want to be using that much energy every time you do something. Habits can help you reduce that energy train so you can use that energy for other things.

Parts of a habit

Habits can be sliced and diced into various segments. I like to use Charles Duhigg’s version.

Cue: A trigger that signals the habit to start
Action: The activity of the habit itself
Reward: A reinforcement for the behaviour

Habits don’t always form when you start doing things primarily because without the cue or the reward, The habit has nothing to anchor itself to in your brain.

Getting rid of a habit or starting a new habit

One of the most surefire ways to get rid of a habit is to remove all cues for that habit. Unfortunately that is easier said than done if you cannot completely control your environment.

Consider the FOGG behavioural model. Think of one vertical axis for Motivation and a horizontal axis for Ability. There would be an action line that starts from high Motivation and low Ability and curves down and flattens towards low Motivation and high Ability. When something is above the line then it occurs and happens. When something is “below” the line then it does not occur or happen.

That means to get rid of a habit you need to decrease your motivation or decrease your ability.

You can decrease your motivation by pairing your habit with a consequence.

Want to stop snoozing and sleeping in? Set an embarrassing social media post to go out just after your alarm wakes you up. You better get up, or that post will tell the world about your embarrassing moment!

You can decrease your ability by making your habit more difficult to do.

Want to stop snacking on some junk food? Stash it way towards the back of your cupboard where you have to inconveniently take out other items to get to it.
Want to stop spending so much? Put your credit card in a hard to access spot. Or even freeze it in a block of ice so that you literally have to melt it to access it – Hopefully by the time you get your credit card out, your impulse to buy has subsided. Make sure you also delete any saved credit cards on your browser for online sites.

On the other hand, if you want to start a habit, you need to increase your motivation or increase your ability. You can increase your

You can increase your motivation by finding the core purpose for wanting to set up the habit or finding a partner to hold you accountable for your actions.

To find your core purpose or why for the habit, ask yourself: why is that habit important to you? With whatever answer you provide, ask yourself: why is that important to you? Repeat that five more times. If you don’t repeat yourself and really focus on it’s important to you then you’ll often find the core reason
An accountability partner can help many stay on task. That’s why study buddies, gym buddies and other type of accountability partners can’t be so helpful

NOTE: for most people one or the other works better. Take a look at when you’ve been successful in starting a habit in the past and repeat your success.

To increase your ability, understand your tendencies.

The acronym SPACEBEAR can help you to find some of your tendencies.

Step-type: Do you prefer small steps, or do you “go big or go home”?
Pace-type: Are you a marathoner (consistently spend time to move towards your goal), sprinter (hit things hard, then take a break then hard and break), procrastinator (wait until the last minute before you get something done)
Aversion-type: Do you react better to a “carrot”, or a “stick”?
Chrono-type: Are you a Lion (get stuff done early in the morning often before anybody else is awake), Bear (slower to rise and get stuff done in the middle of the day), or Wolf (our most productive late night)
Expectations-type: Are you an Obliger (need someone to help hold them accountable) or a Questioner (need to know why something is important to them)
Buying-type: Are you an Under-buyer (buy just enough or wait until you’re almost out), or an over-buyer (buy so much that you’ll never run out and always have some in reserve)
End-type: Are you a Finisher (like to check things off your to-do list), or an opener (like to start new things – though not necessarily finish them)
Availability-type: do you prefer simplicity, or abundance
Recognition-type: do you prefer familiarity, or novelty?

Knowing your tendencies can do wonders to get that habit going. For example: you might start a habit like exercise and only continue it if you constantly find new and novel parts of it to do. Or you might need to start with familiar and easy to do exercises before you gradually move on two more difficult exercises.

Summary

Wow there are many more ways and considerations to effectively start or stop a habit, these will hopefully be some useful tips to get you started.

By setting up habits, you might find that you have more energy to do other things throughout the day.

Pick something from the above to implement. Try it out for a few days or weeks. If it sticks then keep it. If it doesn’t, then try something new.

You’ll likely find that when you set up these habits you become even more productive in your work and life.

About Luki

Luki is a career coach and likes to say that he has found his purpose helping others find theirs. A former management consultant and campus recruiting lead, he shares his SIWIKE Stuff I Wish I Knew Earlier through books, podcasts, videos and other content. Connect with him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukidanu/ or Subscribe on YouTube to access other content https://youtube.com/focusinspired

Staying “Mentally Fit” During COVID to Combat Job Stress

January 18, 2022 / Luki Danukarjanto / 0 Comments

I’ve received many positive reviews on workshops on staying “mentally fit” during COVID. These sessions were delivered for the staff and faculty of a few colleges/universities. Here are a few highlights from the session to help combat job stress.

It’s worth noting that stress is helpful. Stress is what kept our ancestors alive. We wouldn’t be around without stress. However, even though we no longer have to deal with the threat of sabre tooth tigers eating us, our modern day stresses often seem just as dangerous.

In these challenging times, many are having their mental states tested. It is interesting how we are often ready to take care of our physical health, yet when was the last time that you prioritized your mental health? Whether you’re an employer or an employee, faculty or staff, (or really anybody), we could all use a little help on the “mental fitness” front. Here are a few of my favourite helpful concepts.

Awareness

The first step is to admit that you have a problem. You may not be on a 12-step program to recover from addiction, though you may be stressed from work, constantly changing circumstances, uncertainty of the future or a number of other anxiety-inducing thoughts many of us are having during lockdown.

Take a note of when you have those thoughts. Or think back on your day/week and identify those moments of stress and anxiety. If you have stress in your workplace you might not be able to remove the factors that cause it, though you could change your perspective. Start with Awareness then you can shift your perspective.

Perspective

“For there is nothing good or bad and thinking makes it so” -Hamlet, Act 2 Scene 2: William Shakespeare

Here’s a thought: COVID is neither good nor bad. Our thoughts about COVID make it good or bad.

Wait, how can I say that when people have lost loved ones? Could that loss turn into gratitude for the times you’ve spent with that person or the people that you still have around you? Could you give it meaning so that you can move on and thrive instead of just surviving? I’m not saying that you have to, I’m just asking if you could.

Go through those points of stress and anxiety that you recorded in Awareness and see if you can change your perspective. Gratitude can be a helpful tool to change that perspective.

“I have so much more work now that everything has been moved online” can turn into “I’m so thankful I have a job”.
“I lost my job due to COVID” can turn into “I can find my next new opportunity and chapter in my career”.
“I have no idea what the future holds” can turn into “I’m excited about the infinite opportunities and possibilities for the future”.

While it might seem like semantics, consider if your thoughts become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Wouldn’t you rather have better thoughts to be fulfilled?

Think of perspective as your “mental COVID mask”. You may encounter negative thoughts, though with an awareness to reflect and potentially change your perspective, you can prevent those thoughts from “infecting” you and ruining your day.

STFAR

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom” -Viktor Frankl

If you’re with me so far, you might be asking yourself: How do I change my perspectives?

Something out there (or maybe in your head) happens and you often just react to it. Sometimes in a positive way. Sometimes in a negative way. What if you took some time to reflect?

I use the acronym STFAR to help with the reflection process:

Stimulus: Something that happens. That something could be outside. Or sometimes that something is inside your head.
Thought: The Stimulus triggers a thought. Sometimes conscious. Often not.
Feeling: An energy in your body that comes from the Thought.
Action: What you did as a result of that Feeling (which could be doing nothing)
Result: The outcome based on what you did (or didn’t do).

Let’s put this into practice.

What comes to mind when I say COVID?

For many, it is THOUGHTS of stress. Cabin fever from having to stay locked down. Missing summer vacations. Loss of opportunities.

Those thoughts may cause you to FEEL sad, lonely, angry, and even more stressed.

The ACTION you take might be to eat to distract yourself, escape in your social media feed, or watch a streaming service to numb the stress.

However, the RESULT is a few extra COVID-pounds gained.

Let’s try that again while intercepting thoughts and changing perspectives.

What comes to mind when I say COVID? Let’s find a beneficial perspective.

For some, the THOUGHT of not having to commute comes to mind and having more time to do what you want to do.

With that thought you might FEEL more motivated to exercise or learn that skill you’ve always wanted like speaking a new language or the ukulele or whatever that is.

Hopefully that feeling is enough for you to take ACTION and start practicing your Spanish/Mandarin, chord positioning or strumming.

The RESULT is a new skill plus a sense of achievement on the growth.

While being aware, and changing your perspectives may seem challenging now, consider that if you were training to run a marathon, you’d slowly but surely be able to run a kilometer, then 10, then 20, then 42 and beyond! With practice, you can do it.

Practice

“Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.” -Napoleon Hill

Mental fitness is not about just knowing a tactic or strategy. It’s about putting them into practice consistently and over time. Being aware of your thoughts can be hard enough. Let alone constantly changing your perspective on the thoughts that don’t serve you.

The key is to prioritize time. I use the concept of “non-negotiable time” to help. That’s 60 mins daily (or 30 mins or as much time as you can manage) to invest time on these and other helpful mental fitness activities. Just like you might take time to go to the gym, take some time to go to the “mental gym”.

Use part of your non-negotiable time to reflect on your awareness throughout the day. As you reflect on your thoughts, look to change the perspectives for the thoughts that don’t serve you. Turn those thoughts and perspectives into action towards whatever result that you want.

Meditation is another great practice to help with your mental fitness. Think of it as practice to increase the space between stimulus and response. When meditating, you focus on your breath, your thoughts, a word or something else depending on the type of meditation. Mediation exercises your focus on the present moment.

Even simple mindfulness exercises where you pay attention to mundane activities (I.e. washing your hands), or use your non-dominant hand to do something (I.e. brush your teeth), could help you put your mental fitness into practice.

Summary

Start your path to mental fitness with awareness. Take that awareness and change your perspective. Use the STFAR model to help reflect and change your perspective. Allocate time to “exercise” and put your mental fitness activities into practice. When you do so, you’ll probably find that you’re less stressed at work, as well as less stressed at home. Especially in these trying times. They have worked for many others.

Why not give it a shot?

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