by Janine Nicole Dennis | Mar 27, 2015 | Ask Czarina, Featured, Random Fun
Series Introduction
Every year, I like to find a different way of celebrating my favorite day: my birthday. Since I am turning 32 next month (I know…awww…), I’ve decided to share 32 revelations I have had during the course of my life about everything from life in general to business. Think of it as daily inspiration for you and therapy for me. It is a challenge for me, because I don’t think I have ever published a post everyday in the entire existence of The Aristocracy of HR. Plus, I recognize that while I am fairly generous in sharing on social media and here, I have only just scraped the surface on sharing who I am when I’m not pontificating how HR and Business can do better. Let’s use the month of March to get to know one another better. I hope at the end of the month, you walk away with something you can use in your own life or business.
Day 20 of 31- 32 Fun Facts About Me
I can’t thank you all enough for reading, commenting and following this series. I was a little hesitant about switching gears, but I must say I am happy I did. The outpouring of support has been tremendous.
The day that has made this all possible has arrived. I am happy to announce that my 32nd birthday is today. Woohoo! I love celebrating my birthday. I started my day with reflection and giving thanks to the big man upstairs for another year of life.
In honor of my birthday, I am sharing 32 fun facts that you probably don’t know about me. I hope you enjoy them.
Here you go…
1) I am a Hofstra University Alumni.
2) When I started college, I was a Biochemistry Major with a minor in Spanish.
3) I initially planned to major in Biochemistry because I wanted to become a Forensic Pathologist.
4) In high school, I was in my school’s Intel Program. My project was: The Mutagenesis of Poliovirus and Picornavirus
5) My first job was working as a waitress for a catering hall in a Jewish Temple.
6) I was part of Macy’s TapMania – it was an event that got 5,600 tap enthusiasts of all ages together in an effort to break the Guiness Book of Records for largest tap dancing event.
7) I played the Alto Saxophone in junior high school and high school. I was in both the marching band and jazz band.
8) I really wanted to play the Soprano Saxophone, because my idol, Kenny G played it- but had to settle for the Alto because that’s all the school had.
9) I read in two languages other than English- Spanish and Portuguese. I can speak Spanish and am emerging in Portuguese.
10) I am of Guyanese and Trinidadian descent.
11) I have a West-Indian accent, but it only comes out when I’m around other West- Indians.
12) When I was younger, I used to steal my mom’s black eyeliner to draw on a beauty mark, so I could look like Cindy Crawford.
13) My favorite colors are: teal and hot pink.
14) I love rollercoasters and any thrill rides. I will scream like a baby, but there is no keeping me away from thrill rides,
15) I’m a Walking Dead fan.
16) My favorite cartoons growing up were: Jem, Looney Tunes, Darkwing Duck, Duck Tales and the Smurfs.
17) I am a trained belly dancer. I was part of a troupe called Fem Fire for three years.
18) I was once on a daytime show called: Living It Up With Ali and Jack. I was one of the models during their teeth whitening segment.
19) I’m a Cooking Channel fanatic. If I am left to my devices on the weekend, I can watch it all day.
20) Speaking of cooking, I love to cook and bake. It’s a labor of love and my happy place. Check out my chops on Instagram.
21) I am the eldest of two kids in my family. I have a younger brother.
22) My favorite sport is: football.
23) I am a diehard NY Giants fan.
24) I played Tennis in high school.
25) My favorite movie is: The Sweetest Thing
26) I was a tomboy growing up. From hopping in creeks to playing crash dummies on bikes, it wasn’t all about dolls and dress-up for me.
27) I love expressing myself through fashion and makeup. It makes me feel great.
28) I was born in Queens, NY.
29) My favorite genre of music is: Soca
30) I have been known to fall asleep standing up.
31) I was probed to start blogging based on my tweets.
32) I love Philosophy and believe in my previous life I sat on a rock extolling the virtues of life and other phenomenon. My favorite philosophers are: Rene Descartes, Kant and Socrates.
I hope you enjoyed these fun facts about me. Share a fun fact about yourself in the comments. Now for a musical outro with 50 Cent.
https://youtu.be/_E2w5HiNtic
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Mar 19, 2015 | Advice, Career, Featured, Life
Image courtesy of Flickr.com
Series Introduction
Every year, I like to find a different way of celebrating my favorite day: my birthday. Since I am turning 32 next month (I know…awww…), I’ve decided to share 32 revelations I have had during the course of my life about everything from life in general to business. Think of it as daily inspiration for you and therapy for me. It is a challenge for me, because I don’t think I have ever published a post everyday in the entire existence of The Aristocracy of HR. Plus, I recognize that while I am fairly generous in sharing on social media and here, I have only just scraped the surface on sharing who I am when I’m not pontificating how HR and Business can do better. Let’s use the month of March to get to know one another better. I hope at the end of the month, you walk away with something you can use in your own life or business.
Day 14 of 31- Ask Questions
Questions are more important than we give it credit. In the past I have accepted salary offerings and never once asked if there was room to go higher. My lack of confidence and inability to live with the temporary discomfort that would come as a result of asking for more money cost me thousands of dollars in earnings over the course of my career. A lack of questions is damaging as it leads people to think we are satisfied or even happy with a set of circumstances when we aren’t questioning things. When I didn’t negotiate or ask for raises it gave my superiors a false sense of comfort that I was happy and even satisfied with my work and compensation. By the time, I went to have a serious discussion about my salary they were acted as if I ambushed them with my seemingly out-of-the-blue concerns. I have learned over the years that you get what you ask for. People who negotiate and ask for what they want-usually get it.
The real issue with asking questions isn’t necessarily the question itself, but the answer. There is a fear that the answer may not favor our initial intention of asking the question. No one wants to be seen as a fool or have a request rejected. As such, we sit in silence never knowing what could have been if we only had the courage to simply ask for what we want. When I finally learned the value of a question, things were revealed to me that I wouldn’t have known otherwise . This new knowledge helped me to drive decisions regarding my life and career. When I had enough guts to ask for what I wanted, I was told “no” which pushed me to keep working towards my goals. However, in 50% or more of these instances, I got exactly what I asked for.
That journey to figuring out my purpose that I discussed earlier in the series has only been made possible because I have been asking lots and lots of questions of myself and others the past few years. I see questions as my foundation and the answers as the sails that are steering my ship.
What about you? What sorts of questions are you asking these days to evaluate your life, career, etc?
Czarina’s Lesson: Even if the answer is “no” there is something to be learned and/or gained from asking for what you want.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Jan 6, 2015 | Business, Data and Analytics, Featured, HR Innovation
Photo Courtesy of Flickr
For at least the past three years, there has been no shortage of articles written about the urgency of businesses and HR adopting a data mindset. Business analysts and experts on this subject have tried everything from threatening the existence of data-ignorant companies to making innumerable cases for why it should be a part of your company fabric. Admittedly, data is important. We cannot just go about our days wishfully doing business without the context behind what is really driving and affecting our operations. When you ask for that new system that costs $500,000 you can’t just tell your boss you need the money- you need to provide a business case for how this new system will exponentially improve an operational segment and/or solve a business problem. The only way I have seen these requests approved is with data.
Now notice I simply refer to “data” and I don’t try to make it out to be this monstrosity that lies far and beyond the average person’s comprehension. My friends this is where analysts and big thinkers are losing the masses.
When we talk about data, data is data to the average practitioner. Moreover, most companies have barely scratched the surface of utilizing simple data to make business decisions- that it is hard for them to comprehend anything bigger. According to Bersin by Deloitte’s Talent Analytics Maturity Model– over 50% of companies are still working at the Reactive- Operational Reporting Level.
Why is the message “buy into the idea of big data” rather than a focus on helping the everyday practitioner or CEO utilize the data they have to make the decisions they need to make? I suppose I’m taking money out of someone’s pocket by saying this, but I don’t get why this concept can’t be explained simply.
Bigger isn’t always better… but the perception of it is scarier.
One of my connections on Twitter mentioned last week that she was both “ fascinated/concerned with big data”for 2015. To which I replied: “big data is a focus on data points that helps us operate in business more efficiently.” My response got me thinking further: shouldn’t all data achieve that result? All data isn’t good, relevant, or useful. Big data will not solve all of our problems, if we don’t first reframe our thinking about the purpose and use of data in business.
To that end, here are some simple thoughts that can assist you with using data in your organization:
- Start simple. What do you want to know about your business that data can shed light on? Start here and start to build out the narrative with data.
- Find purpose. What is the reason this data is important to your business? How will it help you modify or change what you do currently? If you don’t have a specific, actionable purpose for this data- why bother? The data should at a minimum serve as an operational baseline, but it can also be used to identify issues and opportunities.
- Train your people to extract, synthesize, analyze and sensibly utilize data for the optimization of your business. I remember being asked ad nauseum for “Time-To-Fill” reports for my positions at a former employer. Leadership was convinced that aged requisitions over 60 days meant a recruiter was not efficient. They would use these reports to chastise recruiters that weren’t filling jobs within 30 days. While efficiency could have been a contributing factor to this metric, the truth was there were many other variables causing requisitions to age over 60 days (i.e. high requisition volume, hiring manager delays etc.). I provide this short anecdote to show you how a single piece of data was misused based on lack of clarity around its purpose and the inability of leadership to sensibly use the data.
One of the most important things HR can do this year is to become more data savvy.However, take the pressure off yourself of having to be a certified expert in big data. Instead, focus on piecing together the narratives that are most important to your business that way you can tackle the “bigger” and more complex scenarios later.
by Janine Nicole Dennis | Nov 12, 2014 | Business, Career, Featured, Life, Talent Management
When I graduated from college, I had a fire in my belly that you could see from miles away- I was hungry for opportunity. I purposely went into to HR having done my research on it as a profession. Additionally, I was told that there was an ongoing need for someone with this expertise in the future. My plan at that time was to become the CHRO at some big corporation- preferably a company in pharmaceuticals, healthcare or science.
From the day I graduated and landed my first career job, my focus was on driving results, being a game changer and going above and beyond. In my head, these were the things that were going to get me to the promise land of CHRO’s. As you have read in some of my previous posts, my career travels in HR have not been without challenges. However, through perseverance and that fire in my belly I kept pressing on- trying to find something different, challenging and unique in each progressive position.
Well…the buck has stopped.
You see something interesting happened in 2013. The first thing was my long-term plan of starting my own business became a short-term plan when one of my mentors/friends ran an assessment on me that reported me as being 100% entrepreneur. With several phone calls taking place between she and I plus others in my circle of trust saying “why start your business in 10 years, Janine?”- I took the leap of fate and started my talent management firm, Talent Think Innovations, LLC. Even with starting it, I made a plan to be working full-time in it within five years. Again, a colleague of mine told me at a conference- “it won’t take you that long- you will be blown away by how soon you get up and running.” I appreciated her sentiment, but I had a plan. Then came, performance evaluation time last year where I figured I’d give one more shot to my company to promote me or at the very least have a short-term plan for my career. I wrote up a four-page summary of my accomplishments and achieved business outcomes tying them back to the overall strategic business plan of the organization. Excited for the very first time in my career to have a performance conversation, I went in with my head high and hopes to hear that they liked my summary.
Instead, I was given a paper for my increase for the year (internal equity was the culprit- see my thoughts on that here). I was then told that all things are superb with my performance. Still things are good. Here’s the zinger and pay attention to this: “Janine, you are talented but I don’t know how to get you where you want to go.”
I could go on for days explaining to you, my beloved readers how damaging this approach is for your attraction and retention strategy, but this is not my purpose today. That one statement -along with the rest of the conversation that resulted in me having to justify my telework days for the thousandth time (again another post, different day) both angered and moved me . It moved me to rethink what that 22 year old so earnestly wanted early in her career and what this 31 year old woman needs and deserves today. What I decided was to take one year to rediscover what moves me. In under one year, I have realized that the 22 year old me was not well-informed about the business-side of things and the assessment was onto something important. Which is why, I happily put in my resignation over eight weeks ago and am sailing into my business full-time effective this Friday.
In hindsight, I was never prepared for the barrage of corporate politics, greed, the lack of ethics, the red tape, and the hierarchical crap that is so prevalent in today’s business environment. I handled and I survived it, but paddling in these murky corporate waters trying to anticipate fires, character assassinations and pleasing people that have built careers off of lucky breaks and breaking rules.
Plans fail, but new doors open…
When I say I was “both angered and moved” by what happened last year I was. In fact, I cried the whole car ride home trying to discern what my next move needed to be. What I’ve learned is it is not any company’s job to succumb to my career aspirations or professional requests; but it is absolutely my job to create the life and career I want for myself and my family. Since I made this decision to leave my gainful employment, I have received the following feedback:
“Janine, what will you do?”
“Are you going to work for another employer?”
“I’m so jealous, good for you.”
“You suck, I’m really going to miss you.”
” Sorry to see you leave, you were one of the good ones.”
All of these statements make me happy. For one, I am clear on the plan for now and even a few years out, but I am so open to new experiences-so those first, two questions just make me giggle. The latter three make me smile, because I know I made a great impression on colleagues at all levels and achieved lots of what 22 year old Janine set out to do.
Corporate America you’re losing a soldier on Friday. It may not be indefinite, but for now I can’t stomach you. I’m hard-working, caring, intelligent, forward-thinking and damn good at what I do. My only intention was to be of service and do meaningful work. I’m not mad at you per se- in fact I should thank everyone who has told me “no” for the past ten years. You have now ignited a new fire in my belly. Now my goal is to make an impact and it doesn’t have hierarchical implications but global ones. Thank you for helping me raise my standards and take back control of my career.
The future is bright…
To find out more about me and my baby, check out Talent Think Innovations, LLC here.
