GwendolynHR

Read. Write. Explore. Grow...

[gwendolynhr]

The Fine Line Between Teamwork and Taking Credit: Why Recognition Matters

In every workplace, teamwork is praised — and rightfully so. Collaborative teams get things done, share responsibility, and adapt quickly in a world where no one person can succeed alone. But what happens when “teamwork” is used to mask a deeper issue — when contributions are misattributed, and the wrong people receive the credit? Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash Over the years, I’ve seen a…

The Fine Line Between Teamwork and Taking Credit: Why Recognition Matters

[gwendolynhr]

Before You Meet With a Recruiter, Read This It makes sense to include an employment service like AppleOne in your career planning. They are experts in the local employment market, and they have the connections you need with local companies.

[gwendolynhr]

Amazon's Wristband Tracks Workers' Movements and Breaks

Amazon’s Wristband Tracks Workers’ Movements and Breaks

Would you wear a wristband that tracked your every move at work and nudged you via vibrations if it thought you were doing something wrong? Tracking workers like this may become the norm, in the future, since Amazon has a patent for a wristband that knows if a worker is slacking off. According to CNBC, “the company won two patents for a wristband that could track workers’ movements and breaks.”…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Just Swipe Right to Network

Making meaningful connections is essential to success as well as building your professional network. Well, here’s a quick question. If meeting a mentor, cofounders or investors for your business, a partner for a startup project, or new friends in your industry was as easy as swiping right, would you? If you are answered yes. You might want to give Shapr a try. Shapr is a fairly new way to meet…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

You Shouldn't Tell Your Coworker This

You Shouldn’t Tell Your Coworker This

Susan and Carla have been working together for a couple of years. Since the ladies confide in each other all the time about job related matters, Susan felt she could open up a bit more and let her hair down with Carla.  They started sharing not only personal opinions with each other, but also professional goals, future career plans, interest, etc. One day while shooting the breeze at their desks,…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

The Hardest Part of a Liquid Fast

It’s day sixteen of the forty day fast. No solid foods.  Absolutely no coffee.  Only liquids. And get this, I am drinking decaffeinated green tea. I can’t speak for anyone else on the forty day fast journey with the Warrior Nation; it has been surreal. You know that saying, “You’re not you when you’re hungry”…  It’s an understatement! On a blistering cold winter day like to day, there’s nothing…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Most Employees Are Not Off Work on MLK Day

Do you know what today is? It’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day that marks a time of reflection and a call to service. This is the civil rights icon’s 89th birthday. If your employer offers a paid day off today, that’s awesome as most workers in the United States “still” do not get Monday off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. According to a study by Bloomberg BNA,  only 37 percent of…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Are You Ready to Get Paid in Bitcoin?

  Blockchain and bitcoin have been trending for quite some time. If you still don’t know anything about them, it’s time to learn. Or someday you may be left out. Increasingly organizations are becoming comfortable with dabbing into to world of cryptocurrencies. You don’t need to start mining coins or sell your home to become the next Bitcoin or cryptocurrency millionaire instead, I’m saying…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Part of the journey is becoming one’s best self. I am ecstatic to share what I’ve been learning on the journey with others. Last year was filled with rewarding experiences and accomplishments from continuous learning.

If you know me, you know I love reading, writing and honing skills, knowledge and abilities that help me learn and grow.  One area I want to hone is speaking Spanish. I want to become fluent in Spanish.

Like many, I took Spanish because taking a foreign language was sort of requirement in high school. That was one of the most enjoyable courses I took in high school because of my teacher. She was all the way UP! She knew her stuff. Anyway, I passed that class with flying colors, but over the years I never really had to hold any conversations with others. Even when I did, it was just saying a basic word here or there.

While I learned the basics in high school. As that old saying goes, “whatever you don’t use, you lose.”  Sure, I remembered several words. It just wasn’t my native language. I never initiated conversation in Spanish either probably due to fear. However, that’s changed. Being in HR, you quickly find out the benefits of being bilingual. Plus companies nowadays seek workers who are bilingual. Spanish is increasingly appearing as a requirement for professional positions including HR roles.

Last May, I accepted a challenge to learn Spanish all over again. I searched for “free” tools to help on this wild and crazy adventure. I found this cool app, Duolingo, “the world’s most popular way to learn a language. It’s 100% free! You can even practice on your app or online at duolingo.com.

  35% Intermediate Spanish Fluency

  I am so excited my Spanish fluency is now Intermediate. I have increased my understand of the language tremendously even though I took a much need pause during the winter.  It is amazing how much I am learning with this tool. I love learning new Spanish words.

    Two features I love most about Duolingo is it allows users to set goals and the app sends a reminder every morning. It provides instant feedback on your answers to speaking, listening, translation, and multiple choice challenges including chats with bots.

While the lessons include a variety of challenges, you still have the option of turning of the audio aspect if you are somewhere you can’t talk and listen or if you don’t have headphones. You can still make significant progress with the other challenges though.

Depending on your progress or the number of points you have, you can unlock additional lessons. And the lessons includes all the words learned from previous ones you completed. I just purchased idioms and proverbs with a 1000 points earned last year in the shop.

One of the most challenging aspects for me was getting used to translating to the various voices. Yeah, users are not stuck listening to just one voice. There are several voices who sound like the real thing.  Although the listening challenges allow for slowing down fast talkers, so you can actually hear each word, this feature does not always work. You have to provide an answer even when words are not clear or you can click a link to let the app know you can’t speak and/or listen right now.

Talking about some real world learning. Seriously, how many times have you overheard some one speaking fluent Spanish fast and wondered what in the world he or she said?

Oh BTW, if first Lady Trump is fluent in five languages, surely it wouldn’t hurt to become fluent in two. In addition to her native Slovenian, Melania Trump speaks four other languages: English, French, Serbian and German, according to CBSnews.com. Now that’s impresive #LifeGoals… Don’t you think?

I am looking forward to learning more Spanish in 2018. How about you? Do you speak more than one language? If so, what tools, books, websites and resources did you use to learn them? What are language are you learning?

Adios! Mantenlo 💯

  Hola! Learning with Duolingo Part of the journey is becoming one's best self. I am ecstatic to share what I've been learning on the journey with others.

[gwendolynhr]

40 Day Fast

As mentioned yesterday, I am on a 40 day liquid fast. I know what you are probably thinking, what in the world are you thinking? Why are you fast? And why 40 days? That’s a long time to go without eating solid food. Well, let me briefly explain. My twin sister Linda shared a link with me sometime early last year of a video by Dr. Kellie E Lane where she talked about fasting and how God was moving…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Five Goals for 2018

I just finished watching the Goal Setting Workshop – Get Ready for 2018 by WP Elevation. It was over an hour and a half, but worth it. I watched as drank my lunch, butternut squash bisque. I am on day 2 of a 40 day liquid fast (more about that later). The guys shared helpful tips and resources such as how to use Trello for yearly planning; Year Compass a free booklet that helps close your year…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Happy New Year #2K18

Out with the old, in with the new…. Oh my, 2017 flew by quickly…  I don’t know if it is just me, but it seems like only yesterday, we were celebrating the #2K17. Time is passing by too fast! Looking back at 2017, overall, it was a good year. I spent more time with family, friends, and love ones, sharpened the saw, learned new skills (including a foreign language), worked on side coding projects,…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Merry Christmas Wishing you and yours a Merry Christmas!

[gwendolynhr]

Friday Funnies: Twitter Employee Called American Hero for Deactivating President Trump's Twitter Account

Friday Funnies: Twitter Employee Called American Hero for Deactivating President Trump’s Twitter Account

A former Twitter employee decided he would go out with a bang on his last day of work. He took down President Trump’s twitter account for 11 minutes. The @realDonaldTrump twitter page could not be reached for what seemed like a lifetime (to him). This was not an accident either. Some people are calling him an American hero just for taking it down. Twitter says that this was done by a Twitter…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

You Can Be Fired if You Bring a Watermelon to Work

You Can Be Fired if You Bring a Watermelon to Work

People love watermelon. Like many of you, I have eaten watermelon at work and enjoyed every single bit of it. The sweet fruit is often on decorative fruit trays at company functions, but you could be canned if you bring it as a gift for your coworkers. Robert Pattison, a 41-year-old, learned an invaluable lesson on race relations when he introduced himself to his fellow firefighters at Engine 55…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

C'mon. Just Tell Me What I Need to Know

C’mon. Just Tell Me What I Need to Know

Benefits are vital to my health and financial security, but I don’t rush to enroll. Before I started this HR journey, I used to wait until the last minute to read benefit enrollment information each year. Whenever the mail carrier delivered that hefty benefit envelop, I immediately open it, scanned it for anything that warranted attention, shoved it in a pile somewhere on the desk, and set a…

View On WordPress

[gwendolynhr]

Don't Mix Your Personal and Professional Lives Together on Company-issued Devices

Don’t Mix Your Personal and Professional Lives Together on Company-issued Devices

It is amazing the number of workers who use their company-issued smartphone, laptop, or computer for personal reasons. Seriously, it doesn’t matter whether you’re the boss, a manager, line supervisor, HR professional, or an elected official, mixing your personal and professional lives together via a company-issued laptop or device is risky business for both you and the company. Think about the…

View On WordPress