Vicky Blogs: COVID-19 (& beyond)

Image Source:  https://www.district32.com.au/business-growth-articles/the-importance-of-human-connection/ One of my internships during the COVID-19 pandemic has been with the Josh Bersin Academy (JBA). This organization aims to be a leader for global HR professional development, offering programs, practical resources and an engaged community. Josh Bersin and the Academy have also been actively doing research in the field during the entirety of the pandemic thus far. For my internship, I have assisted the group with their "Sprint #3" segment, specifically working on a breakout focused on Human-Centered Leadership. This sprint just wrapped up right before Christmas and I'll be sure to share the final report when it is published sometime in January. For those that are interested, the reports for Sprints 1&2 can be found here . Recently, Josh Bersin himself shared a report with our team from The Steering Group that spoke about the idea of Disruptive Leadership. I...

I just wrote a short paragraph for one of my internships regarding this year's holiday season and the different stressors that people are feeling.  Just like the gingerbread cookie above shows, masks and social distancing are going to be present in many celebrations this year.  Many people are struggling with the idea that they may not be able to see the majority of their families over the holidays.  The season that is normally sprinkled with festive parties, cookie swaps, gift exchanges and reuniting hugs will now be unusually uneventful and isolated. So how can we deal with these confusing new rules, hoping that it is just for this year?  The CDC encourages everyone to do what they believe is best for their health, even if it means staying home and remaining apart from others.  An article from USA Today said it well when it said that the ‘persistent checklist of demands which may have caused you stress and anxiety last year has been replaced by the fear of the...

To Sweat or Not to Sweat, that is the question. Inspired by Hamlet's speech about life and death, the concept of fitness and exercise has become akin to living or not living during this pandemic. I recently read an article from The Financial Times called "The extra mile: How Covid-19 transformed exercise" that made me feel both inspired and depressed. On the positive side, the author noted that the majority of their coworkers reported increase activity throughout the pandemic.  These individuals found a sense of comradery with their friends, families and coworkers through virtual team workouts or fitness challenges between teams.  That being said, these coworkers were those that were working remotely and did not have children. The author went on to acknowledge that those individuals that do have small children at home might actually be exercising less because they no longer have the time or energy to do so.  Unless these individuals can hire a nanny or babysitter, a c...