A Human Perspective

Ask most females who they first admired and emulated when they were very young, too many will tell you Cinderella... and I’m one of them. This expectation of women to have a feather-like personality is planted so deeply, most are unaware of it, but it’s there and it’s impacting the way women are perceived and navigate the workplace. --- I am conscious I am approaching this topic discussing traditi...

Last week I shared tips for candidates attending remote interviews. This week we wrap up with advice for hiring managers. Though easier to schedule in, remote interviews can be so difficult because you lose so much context when not sitting in the same room. It’s harder to connect or build rapport and people are harder to read. Their background setting may disrupt and influence your thoughts about...

I’ve been actively recruiting again recently and noticed interviews are becoming easier to attend yet more difficult to navigate and judge. Not meeting face-to-face physically can mean you don’t get a good grasp of a person or company, and this can lead to mistakes being made on both sides, including a company hiring the wrong person due to not qualifying their skills correctly or communicating th...

It's been a while, but I'm back! 😊

I’ve been pondering this topic for some time. Starting and stopping and starting from scratch over and over again. You see, the topic of of accents and English speaking ability is onion-layered but I do feel this is a very important conversation to have. I've tried my best to hit the areas I feel are particularly important. When you hear someone with an accent, what judgements do you make?

The nature of resignations is changing. Where there was once a high probability of someone being convinced to stay, people are much more sure about wanting to leave and move on. With that, managers need to be much thoughtful and proactive about how they handle the exit of leavers. I’ve put together some tips inspired from my own learnings to help managers navigate this inevitable experience more e...

Meet Peter Karius , founder of Peter Karius Coaching and specialist leadership and career coach. Peter had a successful career in a leadership position in one of the world's leading engineering companies. Though Peter received some of the best training available, he still felt the training was missing something fundamental... a focus on leading yourself first. On this episode, we discuss the ideas...

On this episode of A Human Perspective we explore how Toxic Positivity shows up in the workplace and has a negative impact on both those who appear to be positive as well as those who don't. The Psychology Group defines Toxic Positivity as "the overgeneralisation of a happy, optimistic state, that results in the denial, minimisation and invalidation of the authentic human emotional experience."

I had a fun conversation with Oliver Short , Founder of SEEKR , a tech recruitment consultancy. We talk about the current challenges of recruiting Software Engineers. We cover: the current market the expectations of hiring managers the expectations of candidates diversity ... and Oliver's fantastic initiative DV8. Find out more about DV8 @ https://www.d-v-8.com/ .

On this episode, I discuss the differences between large company culture vs small company culture with Keisha Akinwunmi, Talent Mobility Program Manager EMEA at Netflix. This conversation evolved into a sneak peak of what life is like inside Netflix and why the company is so successful. The concept of Freedom & Responsibility is easier said than done, but I believe Keisha has shared some key s...

This year, companies are experiencing higher levels of resignations than usual. This event is being referred to as The Great Resignation or Resignation Boom. 💣 According to a Microsoft report, The Work Trend Index , around 46% of the global workforce are considering leaving their employer this year.  In this episode, I share some musings about some of the reasons this may be happening.

In a previous podcast episode with Stijn Smet called Pride & Prejudice, he introduced the term, "False Acceptance"... and for some reason I have not been able to shake it. When preparing for this episode, I was pondering how to demonstrate examples of false acceptance, and then Bukayo Saka did not score the last penalty shot at the end of the Euro 2020 Finals...

This is a special podcast, my first ever (published) interview and I couldn’t have asked for a better guest. A colleague, Stijn Smet, joined me to discuss Pride month and Prejudices. This is quite a vulnerable and exposing conversation for both of us. I’ve personally been nervous about sharing this because we do also touch on some of the prejudices I have to navigate as a black person. I hope you...

Everyone claims to be a hard worker in the summary of their CV profile, but for some of us, this is a harsh reality. I used to always proudly say I was a workaholic, but I didn't realise at the time that this was actually toxic. In this episode, I explore my experience with workaholism and I share some tips to help you support anyone you may know or work with who suffers in a similar way or perhap...

I'm back after a week away which happened to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK. I've come back from this break rested, calmer and with a fresh new outlook on intentions vs goals and appreciating the Now. ❤️

Some people run towards managerial roles. They see this as progression, a reflection of their own superior knowledge and standing. Working in the tech space, I've learnt this is nonsense and pure ego.

Find out a little about me, the human behind A Human Perspective. Website: https://www.ahumanperspective.com/ Medium: https://ahumanperspective.medium.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lolaoguntokun/

I recently stumbled across a great Harvard Business Review video on YouTube about How to Say No at Work . If you are uncomfortable saying No, meetings are a great playing ground to build up this skill. One thing I love about my current company, Silverfin, is we are proactively trying to find ways to bring back work-life balance to our employees. One of these initiatives is encouraging our team mem...

I recently wrote a three-part series on tackling the job market, which touched on three core areas: The Search (https://ahumanperspective.medium.com/tackling-the-job-market-part-1-the-search-2560f95d201d) Your CV (https://ahumanperspective.medium.com/tackling-the-job-market-part-2-your-cv-40003fd55632) The Interview (https://ahumanperspective.medium.com/tackling-the-job-market-part-3-the-interview...