Lets Get Down to Business

Hey there Fashionholics,

I hope your Valentine's Day was delicious, sweet, and romantic. This week, I'm going to get a little off topic, but don't worry, next week we will get right back on track with our fashion confessions.

This week at Saint Leo University, there was an International Business Conference that we had. The session I attended had to deal with innovation in the workplace. David Harmon, who is Director and Chief Human Capital Officer of the US Federal Reserve Board of Governors was the speaker and the first sentence he said was, "You have to be open to change in the business world." That is exactly what the workplace does, it changes, and you have to be able to adapt and work with changes.

Photo of David Harmon

He talked about how companies focus on trends such as, globalization, understanding diversity, and that technology and social media are extremely important. When looking to get a job, you want to get a job that makes you feel valued and respected, sponsor advancement, genuinely invest in growth and development, and also, exposure to people of influence.

 Example of globalization

It is also very important to understand demographics in the workplace like telework (which means working from home, the library, the beach, etc.), technology, feedback, and support. Feedback was my favorite demographic because I’m a communication major and this deals with being in constant communication with a supervisor on your performance, whether it is good or bad.

Example of telework

He also went on to talk about how it is important to embrace social media and that innovation is all about technology. Technology helps you find resources through different websites, applications, and many more. One statistic that he shared with us was that, "40 percent of the United State’s population uses tablet devices." These devices are becoming more and more resourceful in the workplace, whether that is using applications through work, or collaborating with a co-worker on a smartphone.

Needless to say, I learned a lot from David Harmon at the International Business Conference. I learned that innovation, adapting, and learning about resources are all good qualities to have in the workplace and that technology in the workplace is only going to keep growing.

Kisses,

Sam