Vicky Blogs: COVID-19 (& beyond)

  Lately, I've been feeling as if I'm on a roller coaster for a number of varying reasons.  Personal physical struggles and a greater mental stress load due to family and planning being just two of the multiple reasons.  As the holidays approach this year, things are looking a little bit different and I'm trying my best to take that in stride.  (Spoiler alert: I don't think that I'm doing that great with it....) As some might have read from my last post, I have very recently allowed myself to get back into playing in a social basketball league.  A large part of me is insanely happy to be back out on the court and can acknowledge that it just feels good  to be playing again.  Another part, however, can't help but notice that my body is not responding in kind.  The random bruises and scratches that I used to wear as badges of honor are now weighing more heavily on my spirit and my body.   During our first game, I hit the floor pretty hard ...

Today I registered for a basketball league that starts at the end of September. I have many mixed feelings about it. I am excited to get back on the court, but also apprehensive. I haven't run in a very long time. I do feel like I have a decent amount of cardiovascular work under my belt from being consistent with my Peloton.... but cycling and running are not the same. I don't know how my body will react to getting back into the higher impact of running. I also haven't played a proper game of basketball in years now.  I have done some shooting around and working on my form on my own, but the competitive nature of the game is something that I haven't experienced in quite some time.  I'm trying to stay optimistic and positive, but I hate to say that it isn't always easy. A game.  That's what basketball is supposed to be.  But it was such a big part of my life that it felt like part of who I was..... who I still am trying to be to some extent?  I thought...

  I honestly can't believe that it is already August.  The months of June and July have been an absolute whirlwind of ups and downs and lefts and rights.  For me, June was the month that I started my new full time job with The Josh Bersin Company .  I am a client success manager for them, dabbling in sales, client engagement, and marketing.  This role is exciting and fast paced and I am getting to interact and learn from some very senior HR individuals from companies around the globe.  Just last night I was on the phone at 7pm my time to speak to a client of ours in Australia.  I just think that it is super cool to see the reach that our small team has. Onboarding and getting adjusted to full-time work again took a lot out of me.  Add a busy schedule in the month of July and I feel like I haven't been on top of this blog or even really many of my friendships.  Three of the five weekends in July, I was in NJ with my family.  But, these th...

Three vaccines.  Fewer masks.  More smiles.  Less fear. All in all, it seems that the world, in general, is trying its best to move past what could be viewed as the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.  It doesn't hurt that the weather is warming up in areas where many were stuck inside for the duration of the colder winter season.  Events are starting to fill our calendars, as many postponed celebrations are finally allowed to go forward.  And, many employees are staring down the potential for an impending return to the workplace. When this pandemic all started, we were shocked.  We didn't know what to do.  We sheltered in place, we sanitized, we masked up, we avoided gatherings and many of us were sent home from work until further notice.  That further notice, for some, has been made permanent.  Some companies have announced that they will allow employees to stay remote indefinitely.  A few companies have even decided to get rid ...

It's not shocking to learn that certain personalities get along well while others tend to clash.  As you can see from the cheeky comic above (credit to one of my favorite cartoonists, The Awkward Yeti ), often times we can even find clashing within ourselves.  It is a natural occurrence for individuals to have certain tendencies and to disagree, vocally sometimes, when one is pushed to work in ways that contrast those ingrained tendencies. How do we know what our own personal tendencies are though?  Self-awareness is something that many people don't come to naturally and also don't want to put effort into discovering.  Yet, when we know ourselves, we can understand what might be a trigger of our not so great qualities.  If we know our triggers, we may be able to lessen their effects or even react differently to them. Lately, we've been dealing with an unprecedented time where face-to-face interactions are likely to be virtual.  It is already known that some...

  Some of you may know that I've been interning with Josh Bersin Academy while I've been job searching over the past year or so.  The HR research that is being done by the academy is so incredibly important, as it will shape the decisions of many HR leaders as they plan or test their own company's return to work policies and protocols.  For the most recent iteration of The Big Reset , I was working with a group that focused on Organizational Redesign.  Our group was absolutely incredible and inspired me to touch on a concept that I find personally fascinating.  During one of our sessions, a participant mentioned the idea of utilizing a network analysis to harness the social powers of influential employees to facilitate change within an organization.  This idea of network analysis is what I'd like to take a deeper look at throughout this post. Rob Cross, one of the main researchers in the field of network analysis, breaks down the concept quite well on his ...

I've now been a dog mom for about a month.  I am sleeping less, worrying about another little furry being all of the time and have an increased number of responsibilities on a daily basis.  I also have discovered an ever higher level of respect for working parents, especially during this pandemic.  I wrote a post previously about my nannying a pod of children and the research surrounding working parents during this time, but I was only peripherally aware of the energy drain that it truly takes. Now, I recognize that a dog is not a child, but my puppy is still a living and breathing thing that depends on me for almost everything.  Many have said to me that having a puppy is good practice for what it is like to have a child and I can confirm now that I am not ready for kids.  Maybe sometime in the next 5 years, but not in the immediate future.  Having this puppy has been a real challenge.  I know that the benefits will far outweigh the costs in the long...

  As a personal update, THIS IS MY NEW PUPPY, PUCK.  Named after the main character in my favorite Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream , I know he will bring some magic and light into my life.  And his arrival is timely.  I've been feeling a darkness in my mood that makes me uneasy....  This little fluffball here can divert that energy into more positive things like getting him exercise and training him to be the best boy. My family had a golden retriever when I was growing up, Amber.  I begged my parents to get me a dog for most of my life, honestly.  I had a few Christmas mornings where I would wake up to find a dog toy or a dog bed, often with a note that said 'Puppy coming soon!'  My parents now laugh about this when we chat about it, saying that they realize that maybe wasn't the best way to let a little girl know that her parents were trying to decide if they could take on a puppy.  I had almost given up hope by the Christmas th...

  Most individuals can say that they have heard about the benefits of taking a break.  Whether it is from corporate work, school work, or even just personal decision making, taking a step back from our daily challenges can provide incredible relief.  Yet, many of us struggle to make the decision to actually take a break.  We feel compelled to keep going and working, pushing through whatever burnout we may feel.  The phrase 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' comes to mind when I think about this topic.  It's a phrase that I myself have said many a time. It's not very surprising that many of us have said something similar.  After all, Americans in general tend to be workaholics.  Our culture is all about squeezing every ounce of productivity out of an individual before discarding the husk of that person when they have burnt out.  According to SHRM, many employees cite three main reasons why they don't often vacation.  They are as follows. Fear Gui...

  The image above pretty accurately describes one of the initial feelings that many individuals might be dealing with right now as they seem to be in a perpetual job search during the COVID-19 pandemic.  CNBC reports that there are still tens of millions of Americans receiving unemployment benefits and there is about one job opening per every two people out of work.  They also cited studies that demonstrate that extended periods of unemployment or underemployment can have a negative long-term effect on the job seeker's mental and even physical health.   I, personally, am working in an internship capacity, without pay.  I am passionate about the work that I am doing and grateful for the opportunity to be involved.  However, the lack of pay contributes to my high levels of job search related stress.  Some weeks, the work I do for my internship cuts into the time that I have to do my weekly tasks for my job search.  I, like many, have been job ...

I last posted about this topic back on February 18th.  Since then, the warehouses workers in Bessemer, Alabama have had their time to cast their votes on the issue.  More than 5,000 ballots were mailed out to the workers of BHM1, the building in Bessemer.  The vote that will decided if these individuals will join the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union was closed on March 29th. I've been reading up on this topic, trying to understand how both sides are communicating with the workers.  The RWDSU communication is mostly trying to let employees know that it is their right  to be able to vote on this issue, regardless of what else they might hear.  It is also important to note that they are informing workers that Alabama is a right-to-work state, which means that workers at unionized companies can opt out of paying dues.  Amazon, on the other hand, is inundating their workers with anti-union messaging and often resorting to intimidation, which ma...

  I have been surprised multiple times over the past couple of months by the way one phrase can have a truly profound effect on me.  I've been feeling the winter slump especially hard this season, which definitely has something to do with the COVID-19 pandemic and the length of time that we all have been feeling off.  I've always been somewhat effected by the darker days of the frigid winter because I feed off of the energy of the sun and my ability to be outside in nature.  But this season is different.   Whatever effect winter normally had on me or the average individual in a regular year seems entirely multiplied.  We've all been staying at home, wearing masks, working remotely, not having social gatherings and generally just being isolated from anything that is normal for over a year now.  Add in some darkness at 4pm, freezing temperatures and news stories that continue to posit that we aren't out of the woods yet, and it makes sense why this ...

  Today I read an article  published by Thrive Global  with a very bold title, one that enticed me to click and read more.  The gist of the title suggested that 'work is the single most important way of proving your worth in the U.S' and it is 'making Americans miserable.'  Our country very much still lives with a protestant work ethic as somewhat the ideal for individuals.  In this view, being a hard worker is a sign of one's value as a human.  Additionally, our public policies are built on the concept of 'deservingness', which is defined by working a traditional job. Now, it is true that not all countries share this ideal.  In fact, most European countries, tend to value leisure over work and benefit from a higher level of life satisfaction because of that.  The top 5 happiest countries all have 'strong social safety nets, trustworthy institutions, well functioning governments, high quality of life, and an emphasis on work-life balance, rat...

  Tiny Vicky, Age 4 As you can see from the photo above, I've been an athlete since a very young age.  I chose this picture because basketball is the sport that I've kept up with my whole life and hope to get back into playing.  That is, of course, once I feel appropriately recovered from my spinal surgery and social sports leagues resume post-pandemic. I, for one, have always understood the power of influence that coaches possess.  Be it consciously or unconsciously, I've noticed that my performance on the court could change based on who  I was playing for.  I've even drawn on my experience with a few of my coaches for a core value speech in an Art of Verbal Communication class in grad school.  In the speech, I mention three coaches and the impact that they had on me throughout my sports career. More recently, I have felt an incredible emotional wave when I watched Jason Sudeikis as a coach in Ted Lasso  on Apple TV.  I knew absolutely noth...