Human resources is often thought of as the department that’s all about people. While obviously true, there is plenty more that goes on behind the scenes in this essential field. In today’s changing world, the HR department is moving faster than ever to ensure employee and organizational needs are met. People are always at the core, but sometimes the work includes analysis and data mining, while other times it includes data entry and reporting.  

The fact is that HR takes a complete team of both generalists and specialists. Some may have taken a human resources program and spend their days completing the stereotypical tasks. Others may have more technical work that is a far cry from the image of interviews, onboarding and providing support when employees have challenges. It comes down to what is needed for the organization to move forward positively. 

It’s an exciting department to be part of and the job diversity is vast. Consider these 5 growing specialized HR roles: 

1. Employee relations manager

This is the ideal job for someone who likes to create harmony between two parties within the organization. An employee relations manager facilitates positive relationships between employees and the management team. While this is sometimes done at a group level (think union and management) this HR specialist also intervenes to improve relationships between individuals (think supervisor and employee on the same team, or co-workers having a conflict). Training, like a conflict resolution certificate, can help them identify, de-escalate and resolve. Additionally, they may also have a mediation certificate which helps in negotiating contracts and procedures and they will also have advanced knowledge in applicable labour laws.  

2. Manager of employee experience

This role is all about creating a more enjoyable, inclusive workplace that ensures happiness and job satisfaction are on everyone’s minds. Diversity and inclusion training are essential for this job (although most HR jobs will require this kind of training) as are other elements to consider when creating programs and activities that create a positive company culture. There may be an employee committee that works with this individual while other tools like surveys and random informal interviews may contribute to organizational knowledge.  

3. Change management specialist

As economies, markets and regions shift, organizations will also need to change. It’s no doubt that change can be harder for some than others and many organizations turn to a specialist to help employees with the preparation and outcomes. No matter what the project is – a new internal communication system, blending of departments, re-alignment of the workforce to meet new needs – people will need assistance understanding how they fit into something new. A change management specialist will likely have change management certification and will work closely with all project stakeholders to understand the situation, suggest opportunities and implement solutions to minimize negative outcomes.  

4. Compensation and benefits manager

One of the primary elements of a job offer is the compensation package. Compensation and benefits managers assist with organizational success by ensuring these packages are competitive and able to attract (and retain) the best talent possible. This is a more detailed role that gets into the nitty-gritty of salary ranges, market standards, benefit programs and how these fit within organizational budgets, needs and structure. There are a lot of spreadsheets and data mining for this individual to tackle. A compensation and benefits manager will also work in an educator role to help managers and supervisors understand regulations around compensation as well as assessments of changes.  

5. Remote work advisor

While not quite a commonplace job title, the remote work advisor (also known by flexible workforce advisor or other titles) is exactly what you’d assume from the job title. This individual liaises with employees, managers and team members to identify needs and opportunities for a remote work force. This may include ensuring equipment and safe work environments are in place outside of the traditional office space, but it may also look at tools for interactivity, work hours and structure of a remote employee’s role. With COVID forcing many employees to find new places and ways to work, the move to more of a remote workforce is likely to continue and a remote work advisor will be a key part of facilitating that positively. 

HR is all about people, but in different roles, the amount of human interaction varies. Depending upon what you like to do, you may feel excited by one of these, or another new and growing role in HR. 

Becoming a successful life coach requires you to have a few important traits and skills. You need to genuinely want to help people grow and succeed, you need to be honest and filled with authenticity and you need to be able to help people see the real picture of their lives while encouraging them to be positive.

If you are not naturally a positive person, it can be hard to work as a life coach, but it certainly is not impossible. Just like earning your coach certification is part of the journey and involves education, growing your positivity skills can also be part of this path of learning. Consider it an aspect of your life coach training. With that positivity, your clients are bound to benefit because you can bring that feeling and approach into your interactions. Here are five ways to bring positivity to your clients:

1. Explore the Positivity Ratio

The Positivity Ratio is the consideration that the best balance between being positive and negative is 3 parts positive for 1 part negative. So, for every negative thought, it will require 3 positive thoughts to create the ideal balance. The great part of this tool is that it acknowledges there are negatives in life, but puts the emphasis on looking at things positively more often.

2. Consider what you would prefer

Often, life coaching clients are able to talk at great length about the things they do not want. They hate their job, their business is not growing the way they want it to, they are tired of feeling stuck and so on. These responses are great for getting people to voice what they do not want, then, as a life coach, you can help them talk about what they do want. If the thing they do not want is eliminated, what would be the result? What would they prefer to have in its place? Asking the client to consider and voice what they would prefer helps them stay focused on the positive outcomes they want to see take shape in their life.

3. What is the Best Possible Future?

The Best Possible Future exercise allows you to help a client visualize, then write or verbalize their future at its best. This can build on the “what would I prefer” exercise in that it takes the current problem or problems out of the equation and looks to the future for what the client truly wants. Ideally, this will include aspects of who they are, what they are doing, who they are doing things with, what their strengths are, how they have succeeded, what they have accomplished and more. Once the visualization is firmly understood, it is important to consider what is needed to get to this future and the steps that can be taken.

4. Embrace the parts that are not liked

Pretty much everyone seeks to be whole and that is definitely one of the aspects that comes up in life coaching. But when a client has a part of them they do not like, they often seek to disown or detach that part of themselves. To be more positive about their whole being, a life coach can work with them to find ways to bring those parts in to be nurtured and loved, even though they may initially be perceived as flawed.

5. Present the value of being positive

Positive thinking has long been part of the general vocabulary, but there are actually studies that prove how positive thinking has a beneficial impact on health. There are a number of theories on the “hows and whys” of what positive thinking does for the body. To bring this forward to clients, find a study or two that you can share to show them what positive thinking can do beyond simply creating new ways of thinking. Having data may be helpful in making a case for bringing more positivity into their life.

Serving clients as a life coach requires a lot of thought, emotional intelligence and understanding. Your coaching relationship will also deeply benefit from sharing ways to be more positive.

If you’ve read this blog for a while, you’ll know that at Ashton College, we feel pretty strongly that the 1983 movie with Matthew Broderick, War Games, was the first REAL movie about hacking. If you can get past the fact that it was made almost 40 years ago, you’ll likely have a chuckle at some of the references and enjoy the movie none-the-less. 

 While it’s somewhat unclear if Broderick’s character engaged in any computer programming to mistakenly access the War Operation Plan response (WOPR) (he mostly entered passwords, made use of DOS commands and hacked systems through undisclosed means), it was the first movie of its kind and one that led to many others about life with computers and the hazards (or opportunities). It also inspired “geeks” from around the world to be proud of their interests in computing.  

 Movies and TV have taken things in new directions as computers have evolved and so has hacking, programming, etc. The phrase “I have Python certification” in the days of War Games would have led movie-goers to think “Wait, why is he certified in snakes?” whereas now, it would be generally understood the character had programming skills and would have probably taken a Python for beginners course. 

In that vein, here are a few of our other favourite movies that inspired programmers and portrayed their skills fairly accurately. 

1. The Social Network  

Welcome Mark Zuckerberg and the advent of Facebook. Based on the true story, the movie explores Zuckerberg’s legal battle over intellectual property theft and how Facebook came to be on the computers and phones of everyone from tweens to grandmothers.  

There are minimal segments that show programming, but those that do are done well. References to coding, algorithms and the pains of a tech start-up abound throughout the film, which helped it earn fairly high praise.  

2. Pirates of Silicon Valley 

Another throwback, though not quite as far back as War Games, Pirates of Silicon Valley came out in 1999. This is more of a personal events exploration (and a somewhat humourous one) of the formation of the personal computing industry’s leaders – Steve Jobs and Bill Gates – and their rivalry. The mention of BASIC programming language (used on Bill Gates’ Altair computer) is part of the film’s appeal.  

3. Source Code 

Perhaps the most programming-specific titled movie out there, this was a 2011 action thriller based on the concept that a military artificial reality system can determine and prevent a suicide bomber on a Chicago train. Source Code is the name of the experimental machine that recreates past events based on up the last eight minutes of memory of the passengers killed on the train.  

It sounds very sci-fi, but keep in mind that at one time movies about robots and AI seemed far fetched. There’s a lot of questions about what Source Code (the machine in the movie) is and what it does while watching the movie, but without throwing out spoilers, we’ll just say it’s definitely worth a watch.  

 4. Antitrust 

Programmers are the main characters in this 2011 film and while programming is highly featured, those in the industry will easily spot fake GUIs placed in the movie. Fortunately, these issues are minimal and in Antitrust we see a bright computer programmer join a disturbing employer’s ranks. While he sees his employer as his mentor, he soon begins to notice things that aren’t quite right and uncovers secrets that lead to a lack of trust and the need to dig deeper.  

Code features heavily in this film where the origins of necessary source code are kept secret from the main character and programmers who create code are being killed. It’s a high-stakes life-and-death look at the programming and software world and whole lot of fun.  

If you’ve been wanting to check out a film or two that feature programming and the world of sharp minds, inside jokes and brilliant geeks, there are plenty, but we suggest starting with these five. And yes, please do start with War Games. 

Read our other blog: Most Effective Spends for a CyberSecurity Budget

This isn’t a news flash, but it’s sure as heck a shot fired over the bow for people in the accounting world to pay attention to, if they haven’t been already: In 2019, CPA Exam candidates were the lowest number they’ve been for more than a decade.  

That fact alone may not sound terribly concerning, after all, not every business needs a CPA. Let’s put it into context though; the bigger picture reveals that it isn’t just CPAs who are in short supply. The current talent shortage is unfortunately a reality for many (most) of the roles in the accounting field from entry level to accounts receivable managers and CPAs to CFOs. These positions are going vacant in both accounting firms and organizations that are in need of team members for accounting departments. For those struggling to hire accounting staff, things are feeling dire. No longer are there hundreds of qualified applicants for a single job posting.  

 In the 2020 ManpowerGroup Talent Shortage Survey, globally, accounting and finance roles ranked seventh out of the 10 hardest positions to fill (eighth here in Canada). Imagine trying to run a company without people who have the acumen to look at the numbers, analyze data and make key financial decisions. It’s a frightening spot to be in from the hiring side of things, perhaps even more scary for those who rely on these accounting minds to keep things running optimally in an organization.  

This does, however, present a massive opportunity for individuals who like balance sheets, finance, receivables, numbers, data and all that accounting offers. With some education and a passion for the industry, those who want to work in the accounting field have tremendous options available to them. 

Opening New Doors of Opportunity 

Education institutions such as Ashton College have long been leaders in providing accounting courses that can help individuals make a career change into the accounting field or move up from a basic, entry-level role to a more advanced one. A certificate in accounting can be what allows for a new realm of opportunities.  

Taking continuing education courses can easily permit an individual to continue in their current career while striving for a new one in accounting. If you have an interest in the accounting field, now is the time to start exploring courses and options that allow you to make the transition or step up into the career you seek.  

Why is there an Accounting Talent Shortage?  

Quick reviews of interactive sites like Reddit and blogs about the issue point to numerous contributing factors:  

• We can blame COVID for people realizing they don’t want to commute 3 hours a day to a job they aren’t loving and they’ve realized it’s time to find something they do love. This opens the door to people who absolutely love accounting and are located in the right areas or can negotiate flexible working arrangements which many organizations have embraced thanks to COVID 
• COVID can also be partly to blame for the mass exodus of retiring accountants; some thought they’d stick it out for a while longer until the pandemic hit and they pulled the proverbial plug on going into the office. This is again a benefit to those up-and-comers int eh field who want to establish a career in the accounting field 
• Technology was long touted as a way to reduce accounting staff and while this has done so to a degree, the reality is that human beings are still needed to make assumptions and judgements leaving some organizations understaffed and unprepared. The end result is that human beings with accounting course knowledge are still essential and highly sought after 

Certainly there are more issues, but this illustrates there is no single thing to point a finger at for the shortage of accounting staff. Again, while this is a hardship for those seeking accounting staff, it lights the way for those who want to make their way into the field. 

Time for Creativity 

For firms that are facing a staffing shortage, there is a need for creative solutions on the inside to bring more harmony and less stress to the organization. This creativity needs to come in the form of re-considering traditional roles and individuals applying as well as bolstering hiring and retention practices. Basically, firms need to be flexible, get good people in and keep them in place.  

This repeats the message of opportunity to those who want to pursue a career in the accounting field. With few candidates in the pool, there is much more opportunity to ask for, and receive more of the perks people seek in today’s job market. This can be anything from more vacation time and a better work station to flexible work arrangements and improved benefits like advancing your education further.   

Anytime there is a talent squeeze, it’s the employers that get creative which come out for the best. These organizations are more successful in retaining great talent, they are also better at attracting more great talent because word gets out about how people are treated. Take your time as you look for your next employer because you will be in demand!  

Read our other blog: Building Your knowledge Better Supports the HR Team and Your Future