Stress @ work and Agile in HR : Takeaways

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Working in HR, and more specifically in recruitment at THE RECRUITER, has been a revelation for me in terms of my professional career and ambitions. First, I consider myself to be fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues and managers who care about the work they do and who encourage and support me in fulfilling my potential. Second, I am grateful to be part of a larger HR community in Luxembourg that is driven to establish connections and share best practice knowledge in order to improve the Grand-Duchy’s work culture.

Last Wednesday, September 25th I attended the first edition of an HR Meetup, organised by Kasia Kowalska. We were treated to two insightful presentations by Jerome Huggup, a recruitment expert and positivity spreader, and Julian Troian, a organization alignment specialist and people well-being evangelist. As sharing is caring, here are some of the takeaways from this meetup.

“Stressed is just Desserts spelled backwards”

Jerome Huggup

1. Organisation

When do you feel the most productive ? Most will say in the morning, and that is why you should take that time to attack your biggest tasks. Taking on those challenges early will provide a sense of satisfaction that can carry through the rest of the day by completing medium and smaller tasks. I’m sure you can think of a time where you had a good lunch and felt that afternoon heaviness get to you... Another reason not to keep important tasks for the afternoon !

2. Lunch

Jerome preaches that lunch should be a time to disconnect and to step away from your desk in order to give your mind breathing time. Lunch hour is a crucial element in maintaining a healthy relationship with our work environment. Indeed, there will be some days where deadlines feel closer and we will have to sacrifice on our lunch time, but this should in no way become a habit. Jerome insists that meal-time should be a time to enjoy good food, the company of your co-workers/friends, or the chance to get in a quick run or workout.

3. Taking critique

I don’t know many people who will openly say: “I’m great at receiving feedback !” As a matter of fact, I think most of us would take negative criticism/feedback personally. Moreover, giving feedback is also a skill that can be developed. Remember that this is a two-way street. There is a way to communicate such feedback depending on the personality that is in front of you, and depending on the content of that feedback. Jerome suggests that the keys to taking critique is to actively listen, and to ask questions such as: “Why do you feel that way ?” This should help distinguish between the professional and personal aspects.

4. Managing stress

Finally, Jerome completed his presentation with sharing some tips to manage our daily stress. He even guided us through a short meditation session ! Regardless of your line of work, there will be some stress that originates from the office environment. In itself, that is pretty normal, however, Jerome warns us that we should not induce self-inflicted stress. Self-induced stress can originate from over-thinking, working long uninterrupted hours, and contributing to a negative work environment (by participating in office drama, having negative relationships with other coworkers, etc.). Other important aspects that fall under our control are getting enough sleep, having a healthy diet and exercising.

Julian Troian - Why should HR become agile ?

According to Julian, no employee starts a new job amotivated, meaning that they are unwilling to participate in normal social (in this example, work) situations. However, it is not uncommon that companies will have these types of employees, which means that they lost motivation somewhere after having integrated their new positions. Julian underlines the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) which notes that humans have 3 basic needs:

1. Competence: The experience of mastery and being effective in one’s activity;
2. Autonomy: The feeling one has choice and willingly endorsing one’s behavior;
3. Relatedness: The need to feel connected and belongingness with others.

HR can positively influence all 3 needs by helping create a company culture that helps align its employees with the wider mission. Indeed, the first challenge for a company is to efficiently communicate their mission statement, which explains WHAT they do, what value does the company bring ? This is usually followed by the company’s values, which states what the company stands for. Having clear values has many benefits such as increasing employee engagement, improved production and increased accountability.

The reason is simple: when you have a group of people, regardless if they are part of a basketball team or a company, believing in a common goal or purpose will instill a deep sentiment of responsibility and ownership towards that cause. (See Simon Sinek’s Start with WHY for more insight on this).

Julian continued by explaining some ways that agile methodologies can help organisation’s improve:

• Deal with changing priorities
• Increase visibility, predictability and alignment
• Working together
• Increase pleasure
• Shorten lead times

Finally, Julian shared multiple tools that are worth studying and implementing for HR departments:

• Agile Scrum
• Objective Key Results (OKR)
• Pulse surveys
• Structured conflict resolution
• Design thinking
• Kanban board
• Eisenhower matrix

Of course, there is lots more details to be shared for each of these subjects. I hope this short summary will be of service to the ones in need and could inspire others to take action as these speakers have inspired me to take better care of myself and my organisation !

Zach Traer is a Talent Acquisition Consultant at THE RECRUITER in Luxembourg. Originally from Chelsea, Québec (Canada), Zach is passionate about sports (especially basketball), positive routine-building, personal development, and the World. Follow him on instagram @zachtraer