by Paula Quinsee

What does it take to be an empowered woman? When it comes to juggling careers, family, and social obligations, it's easy to put our own development on the back burner. However, the truth is that investing in your personal growth is not just a luxury - it's a necessity for creating a life of purpose and fulfillment. Here's why now is the time to prioritize your self-investment and some practical considerations to keep in mind.

by Paula Quinsee

In today’s competitive business landscape, the development of your employees is not just a strategy - it’s essential for the success of your people and organisation. At Engaged Humans, we believe that understanding and nurturing your employees can lead to a more positive and productive work environment. That's why we incorporate the PDA assessment platform into our people processes.

by Paula Quinsee

A recent Harvard Business Review article highlights a study indicating that 10% of U.S. jobs will be automated this year, with predictions that nearly half of all U.S. jobs could face automation within the next decade. Jobs most susceptible to automation are those involving repetitive and routine tasks, such as reading X-rays, truck driving, and stocking warehouses.

by Paula Quinsee

People work for money but go the extra mile for recognition, praise and rewards - Dale Carnegie

One item that regularly comes up as a low rating in our employee surveys is: "The company makes enough use of recognition and rewards other than money to encourage good performance." Recognition makes a person feel valued, appreciated, and most importantly visible (i.e. I see you).

by Paula Quinsee

When data was studied on why so many employees were resigning, it was found that employee discontent is rooted in the intrinsic need for status and autonomy, two essential drivers of human motivation. When employees feel their sense of status and autonomy are under threat—creating a physiological fight-or-flight response—they’re more motivated to quit. (Source)

by Paula Quinsee

Do you know what your staff turnover is costing you? Stats based on Remchannel's survey of almost 40,000 employee resignations and the recruitment and HR process costs associated with filling those vacant positions total almost R24 billion. The main reasons cited for resignations in the PwC Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey is because employees don't find their current job fulfilling, feel they can't be their true self at work, don't feel their team cares about them, and feel like their managers don't listen to them.

by Paula Quinsee

Many employers and managers underestimate just how much employees are struggling with their well-being: According to a recent Deloitte survey, one out of three employees and executives reported struggling with fatigue and mental health - and it's only continuing to get worse.

by Paula Quinsee

We're hearing a lot of feedback in our networks that so many people are feeling exhausted already and it's only April....what are they going to feel like when we get to December....burnt out, stretched and hanging on for dear life?

by Paula Quinsee

We all know remote working has had a large impact on our mental health with loneliness being cited as the most common emotion being experienced by entrepreneurs, leaders and employees. This can cause us to withdraw and be less committed, creative, collaborative and attentive, and both the quality and quantity of our work can deteriorate. Loneliness has also been identified as a factor in workplace burnout. We often associate loneliness with being on our own or alone. 

by Paula Quinsee

Why would I want to establish healthy relationships in the workplace when I have my own friends and family? Corporate relationships are very similar to our personal relationships. We don’t realise it but there is very little difference between work and personal relationships – the basic principles are the same.

by Paula Quinsee

There are times when we need have to have a serious conversation with someone, whether it is our partner, a friend or a work colleague. It’s one of those conversations where we need to be open and honest, not only with ourselves but also with the person in front of us. It could be about an incident, something they have said or done (or not done), non-performance or non-delivery. Many of us are uncomfortable when it comes to situations like this. I like to call these discussions courageous conversations.

by Paula Quinsee

Did you know parents experiences at work have a direct impact on their children’s development? Research shows that children’s developmental outcomes are directly and significantly affected by their parents’ work lives. Children of employees who had more-positive work experiences such as supportive supervisors and co-workers in their first years as parents, had better reading and math skills, better social skills, and fewer behavioral problems in their first grade. 

by Paula Quinsee

We live in a world where we glorify professional stress, extensive work hours, extreme dedication. We live in a world where saying ''no'' to extra work is seen as a weakness. As a result you end up over-worked, exhausted, traumatized... which you then simply call ''the price of being successful’'. As my colleague Bogdan Manta says, ''Balance is not something you find; balance is something you create.''

by Paula Quinsee

Do you find it difficult to say no to others? Do you find yourself agreeing to things that you don’t want to do or functions you don’t want to attend? Are you constantly worried about what others might think of you and that you don’t want to disappoint or let others down? You might very well be a people pleaser. The important thing here is to know the underlying causes of what has contributed to this type of behaviour.

by Paula Quinsee

Talent Management has been a focus for quite some time now, but what we’re really implying is that a candidate needs to have the knowledge, skills and abilities to do the job perfectly from day one. (i.e. a self-starter that can hit the ground running). Instead, what we really need to be looking for is not only does a person already know how to do something, but can they also learn it? How flexible and adaptable are they to learning new things whether that be skills, systems or ways of working?

by Paula Quinsee

So many people’s jobs have been impacted financially by the pandemic either by having to take salary cuts, being made redundant due to the financial impact on business, or sadly business having to close down because they just couldn’t find a way to keep their doors open anymore.

by Paula Quinsee

If you have been feeling lost, out of sorts, not quite yourself, or like a lone survivor on an island in the middle of nowhere lately, you are not alone. We all have moments of despondency when things that should inspire us just feel boring or unstimulating. The tasks on our list don’t get a second look, and some days even getting out of bed is too much effort.

By Paula Quinsee

Have you ever drawn up your Life Line over your lifetime? Drawing up your life line is a great way to identify both positive and negative experiences in your lifetime that have contributed to where you are today.

By Paula Quinsee

Last year was supposed to be the year of #20plenty. This year, let it be the year of #20won.

by Paula Quinsee

With the majority of people working from home these days, there are less team and one-on-one interactions with the majority of communications being done almost entirely online. Some concerns that are already being flagged in organisations are that of: "employees are increasingly disconnected and as a result, projects can take longer to complete. New hires are failing to integrate effectively and young professionals can take longer to professionally develop without mentors at hand or behaviours to emmulate.”

by Paula Quinsee

I’m hearing so many couples say that there’s not much they can do when it comes to date nights with being in lockdown. That’s because traditionally when it comes to date nights, the majority of couples have resorted to dinner at their favourite restaurant, or maybe even a movie and popcorn thrown in too – it was quick and easy. However, being in lock down, we are not able to go to restaurants and movies anymore so it’s become harder for couples to implement date nights and they are needing to be much more creative.

by Paula Quinsee

You might’ve heard of Maslow’s hierarchy and having to meet our basic needs of food and shelter being key for our survival. Well, as human beings one of our other basic needs is to be loved and accepted for who we are – especially when it comes to our relationships.

by Paula Quinsee

Digital meetings are very different to meeting in person, we miss the real essence of human connection and can miss many of the subtle cues we would have potentially picked up when being in front of someone such as body language, facial expressions and the energy/vibe of the person.

by Paula Quinsee: Relationship Expert, Tedx speaker and author of Embracing Conflict and Embracing No.

Coming out of lock down is going to mean different things to many people but for the majority of us it smacks of freedom. Freedom to move, to go back to work, to see our families and friends – or does it?

by Paula Quinsee

If you're anything like me, then perhaps you are already starting to feel the impact of being in lock-down. Most days I wake up enthusiastic and ready to tackle my day and task list, but it does seem to be getting harder and harder each day as we head further into our extended lock down.

by Paula Quinsee

Up-skilling yourself has never been more critical than now, whether that be to cope with what is happening in our world at the moment, or to cope with what the world is going to look like in a few months (or years) from now.

by Paula Quinsee

With many people going into self-quarantine, being asked to work from home, schools and businesses shutting doors to do their bit to try and contain the impact of the Corona virus, it also brings with it a lot of change, anxiety and fear. If you missed our discussion on the Expresso Breakfast Show, you can view it here.

by Paula Quinsee

There is a lot of talk going on about the 4th Industrial Revolution and Robots taking over the World...ok not really the world but our jobs and leaving us redundant. Whilst there may be some truth in this, it is not entirely true. Yes, the Robots are here, and work streams are being automated, so we need to constantly up-skill ourselves to remain relevant in the job landscape of the future. This doesn't only apply to individuals but also to organizations.

by Paula Quinsee

I heard so many people saying this phrase during these past few weeks. I remember when I first noticed the decorations going up in Pick 'n Pay and thought to myself, "No, not yet. I'm not ready for December to come around, there's still so much I have to get done!"

by Paula Quinsee, Relationship Expert

Spring season has always been associated with decluttering, clearing out, spring cleaning and making space for the new. This gives us wonderful opportunities to take stock of what we have, what's working, what's not working, what is valuable and what has passed it's 'sell by' date. It's not that different when it comes to our relationships.