This year has probably not gone to plan for anyone. Those well-laid plans in January swiftly went out the window as the Covid-19 pandemic took hold. But out of the disruption and devastation has also come opportunity. For many people of working age, it has become a year of radical transformation.
Often it takes someone or something significant to push us from our comfort zone and that was abruptly delivered to us in 2020. Whether people were forced to adapt because of redundancy, or whether the global situation made them affect their own transformation, it has become the year of resilience, learning and personal development.
As a talent and recruitment business we are champions of growth and development. We have a strong sense of personal growth and supporting our people to become the best versions of themselves.
What did we do?
In the early days of the pandemic we became the official resourcing partner of the Scottish Tech Army. This meant many of our employees were thrust into a new environment and new ways of using their existing skills. Not only were they all adapting to the newness of working from home, but they were voluntarily dedicating their time and skills in new, and sometimes scary, ways.
We caught up with Lisa Dempsey from our Head Contractor Solutions team to find out how her 2020 experiences have shaped her personal growth & development.
Q. Were you immediately ready to face the challenge?
Challenging ourselves is how we grow, build confidence, build strength and learn. But, sometimes we can be scared of a challenge because we have a fear that we might fail.
I started furlough with a to-do list which included collating my info for my tax return, painting my garden fence and doing an online course about employment law. All very boring and all half done!
Instead I chose to do something I thought would be a challenge and test my skills and experience. I volunteered to lead the Head Resourcing Volunteer Team for Scottish Tech Army.
Q. How did it feel once you had made the commitment?
As a cautious overthinker (which I 100% am!) I questioned whether it was something I could do. Could I be involved in something from the beginning with very few processes in place? What happens if I don’t do a good enough job - the failings fall on me as the Project Lead? People will look to me to have the answers - will I have them?
I told myself “it’s nothing I can’t handle”. I’ve found telling myself this when wanting or needing to do something out of my comfort zone it helps push me forward.
Q. What did you learn about yourself through the experience?
What I realised was that I actually know more than I believed I did. I didn’t realise all I knew until I needed to put it into action. Working with people I hadn’t with before, I felt I was able to make meaningful contribution to the conversation. Setting up processes, managing expectations and engaging our delivery team in what was a very busy volunteer position. For things I didn’t know, I knew who to go to for support and advice.
Q. What will you carry forward from your time with the Scottish Tech Army?
I learned more than I could have hoped for. I learned about the work that goes into building a community, the process a Triage Manager goes through, how to use Jira, governance and reporting, deeper considerations around data security, project set up. I attended meetings and was involved in conversations I would have never had the opportunity to be part of in my normal role.
Taking the time to develop, challenge, learn new skills builds self-confidence and helped me believe a bit more in my ability. It gave me focus and more of a purpose to my day in a very difficult time. It was very rewarding to support an amazing organisation deliver to fantastic charities doing amazing work in the community.
Moving forward
Head Resourcing continues to be the official resourcing partner for the Scottish Tech Army and our teams are proud to be the conduit between skilled tech experts and the businesses & charities who need help with digital projects. We truly believe in continuous learning and empowering our people to realise their full potential, develop new skills and supporting the Scottish business community - these are our key positive takeaways from 2020. We will focus on carrying this experience forward with us.
Let’s talk
If you want to chat further about the business benefits of people growth and development across your teams, please get in touch with me over here. You can also get in touch with Lisa over here if you want to find out how her garden fence turned out.
The information contained in this article does not constitute business advice and should not be acted on as such. This content is based on our understanding in October 2020. Head Resourcing are not liable for the information contained on any third-party websites linked to this article.
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