A Balancing Act
A balancing act
BY: GENEVIEVE PRIMUS
If there was ever a time when you thought your personal life didn’t impact your professional life, well, that was promptly dismissed in March of 2020.
I, like many others, experienced the collision of these two worlds— especially as the owner of a women-led business. Women are some of the hardest hit during the pandemic because of having to shoulder the majority of childcare responsibilities. With kids being forced to learn at home, I had to learn how to balance the need to get things done, while also being flexible and adaptable in both my personal and professional lives.
My business, Daeco HR Consulting, is structured to operate remotely. While we are able to either work from home or from our clients’ offices, this is not the case for a lot of our clients. My clients were challenged with having most of their staff working from home and needing to manage that from an HR perspective. They had to learn how to communicate, trust and manage performance while being distanced. The solution was to set expectations and over-communicate with each other. Leaders had to go out of their way to touch base with their staff. That’s why so many organizations began planning a Friday Beer/Wine Zoom after work. It was a way to stay connected.
Early on in the pandemic my business provided HR support “on demand.” Clients were constantly reaching out because they were unsure of how the ever-changing circumstances impacted their people. It was a time when HR professionals were having to stay on top of any new developments (and there were a lot!) and figure out how that affected each industry. I supported our clients when I didn’t always know the answer and helped them make decisions in an uncertain and shifting landscape. Throughout the rest of the pandemic, it’s been helping them strategically plan ahead while transitioning back and forth from restrictions and work-from-home, to restrictions lifting and a hybrid work model, to open for summer and return to work, etc. And unfortunately, it’s not over yet.
I found that my role as an HR professional truly transitioned into that of a coach. As a Mentor with VMS, coaching is a skill I’ve practiced, but I really honed that skill with my clients this year. I didn’t have all the answers, but instead I collaborated and brainstormed with my clients to help them discover the solutions for themselves and their business. One takeaway for me during these past 18 months is to really listen and pay attention to what someone is saying or not saying. Listen for the emotions underneath—the pause, the hesitancy—and dig deeper into that. Sometimes it’s simply taking a break and giving the other person space to figure it out. I realized that it’s in these moments that you can really be there for the other person.
The pandemic taught us all how to pivot, but it also taught me grace. I learned how to set boundaries even though they weren’t always popular. I also learned it’s okay to ask for help. The important thing was realizing that I couldn’t do it all on my own, especially since the lines of home and work became so blurred. I had to give myself some grace too. My hope through all of this is that we learn to be a little bit kinder to one another and learn how to get through it together.
