This Week in Talent (20th October)

Welcome back to Week 3 of October TWIT with Jody.

So this week I’ve been busy working on a bunch of different things, and one of those things is planning our End of Year event for the team. I love event planning, and I am usually the first person to volunteer their time to plan a party because I am a party snob. Yes – I’m fussy about parties. They have to be properly organised, accessible, well catered for, and fun.

I’m sure everyone would agree with me that having to attend a poorly organised party is … a horrendous experience. Not enough food, not enough drinks, not enough space, or not enough people turning up. It’s just easier if I take things into my own hands.

BUT … the feminist side of me stumbled across this article around unpaid labour in the office, and “non-promotable tasks” (NPT’s). Now I’m having a weird, internal struggle around whether I should actually be organising the office parties all the time, or whether that load should really be spread around – in particular, to the people that don’t do any NPT’s.

HR/P&C has always been a hub of predominantly women, and so by default I’ve only ever seen women doing the NPT’s in the office. Things like cleaning and tidying, stacking and emptying the dishwasher, welcoming new people to the office, cleaning the desk when someone leaves or a new person starts, organising parties and morning teas, arranging gifts and cards for birthdays and leaving events. “We expect women to say yes to NPTs, so we ask them first. Our expectations come from shared stereotypes of women as “helpers.””

These are tasks that are integral to a well functioning workplace, however they are not something that will get you to the next step in your career, and could actually detract from it. Taking on a NPT might mean people like you more, but being liked ain’t gonna get you that next promotion and your personal brand could change to become the person that everyone asks to do the NPT’s that need doing because you always do them.

It’s all well and good to just “start saying no” to things, but in the society we live in women are more likely to be labelled as not a good ‘team player’ if a surprose “no” is thrown into the mix. So how can we get around this, and respectfully decline a NPT?

The article suggests the following:

  • Provide a reason for saying no. You don’t have to go into detail, but it can be good to highlight the important promotable tasks you are currently working on and why you won’t have time for a NPT this time around. In the perfect world it might mean the asker properly considers who they ask next.
  • Solve the problem for them. A “No, but …” is what I’d call this where you can’t help out at all but you know who or what can! Send the asker in another direction so they still get their problem solved and you’re of the hook.
  • Split the NPT into separate tasks. Potentially there is literally no other option, and if you don’t do the NPT then it ain’t gettin’ done. In this instance, potentially offer to split the tasks into smaller bite sized pieces to share with the asker OR with someone else in the team.

All in all, I’m going to keep doing the end of year event if asked because … #PartySnob. But it will make me reconsider some of the tasks I tend to automatically do in the office just because I always have, or because I’m friendly and nice to deal with.

One totally promotable task I would suggest you DO do is heading along to ATC’s upcoming internal talent acquisition event at Luna Park (Sydney). Rides, showbags and … talent acquisition. The trio we have been waiting for our whole careers. Together at last. Get your tickets here.


Quiet Quitting: what is it and why should you care?

The newest trend across workforces – quiet quitting is the new Great Resignation. Culture Amp held an event recently on what it is, and why it’s important to address. I wasn’t able to make it along in the end, and they sent me the link above to be rewatched on demand. Now I’m sharing with you all.

Should You Allow Your Employee To Work Remotely From Another Country

Someone mentioned to me the other day how they are going to be working from Bali for a month (immediate FOMO) and how the had to investigate how that would affect their pay. I was like “WHAT?!” because it’s not something I’d ever thought of – the legal, tax and insurance implications that come with living the dream and working abroad!

Can SoftBank convince more restaurants to use robots?

Do my hospo recruitment friends out there experience staff shortages – have you thought about using robots instead of people?

Why working in a second language is now the default in today’s global remote work landscape

An interesting perspective on remote hiring, and adapting to suit the situation. I can only imagine how much international workers must struggle if they have Aussie colleagues. The SLANG, the casual swearing, the double meanings, the colloquialisms. Sheesh!

Half of the migrant engineers in Australia are either unemployed or working in other sectors, despite their qualifications

An interesting read, and pertinent in an engineering skills shortage. Is it time to think broader in terms of the talent we are looking hire? Alwyas happy to chat about this, as I believe LXRP does this really well (we have programs built specifically for this type of situation).

The New World of Work, two years on: A 2022 Worker Survey

“Normal led to this” … 2019 Jody would never have expected THIS to be the new normal. A really handy survey response that highlights the “new” world of work, and the sheer un-normalness of it all.

Diversity & The Candidate Experience

Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is a priority for 75% of global organisations. But only 5% say they’re succeeding with their D&I initiatives…That’s bad news in today’s tight labour market since 76% of candidates said that a diverse workforce was an important factor when considering a new job! Check out this report by PeopleScout and take some notes.


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