reviews
By Alyson Nyiri, CHRL
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THE EPISODIC
CAREER: HOW TO
THRIVE AT WORK
IN THE AGE OF
DISRUPTION
By Farai Chideya
Atria Books, 2016
Despite the temptation to favour
candidates with steady
employment histories, candidates
with episodic careers
– including breaks, transitions
and repositions – are
becoming the norm, often
bringing with them a greater
variety of skills. The recent recession
decimated many jobs,
forcing people to rethink the
work they would be willing
to do in order to make ends
meet. Central to Chideya’s
book is the focus on integrating
our work within the larger
framework of our lives.
Point of interest
No one gets a free ride in
life or work, writes Chideya.
Whether you call it resilience,
grit or optimism, in
the world of jobs we must
learn to evolve into a different
form, tapping into what we
have done, finding a new focus
and leveraging aspects of
ourselves previously dormant.
Point of interest
In the military, the first priority
is the mission, then the
team and finally the self. In
civilian work culture, this is
often reversed. Military members
can find it challenging to
move from a hierarchical, conforming
environment with
clearly defined roles to organizations
with little structure or
clear roles.
Point of interest
Maternity leave is a pause in a
career much like a medical or
education leave, and should not
be viewed as a year off. Doing
so can negatively impact other
aspects of a working mother’s
career, such as years of service,
pensions, benefits or promotional
opportunities.
Point of interest
Identifying and analyzing systems
and utilizing the latest
data to pivot are popular strategies
in business management
and human resources. But
sometimes we need to hear that
all we can control at our company
is ourselves. Mackenzie
offers techniques to take ownership
and accountability for
creating a career you want. n
MAKING IT WORK!
HOW TO EFFECTIVELY
MANAGE MATERNITY
LEAVE CAREER
TRANSITIONS: AN
EMPLOYER’S GUIDE
By Avra Davidoff, Laura Hambley,
April Dyrda, Julie Choi, Collen Lucas,
Rebecca Teebay-Webb
CERIC, 2016
A disproportionately large
number of new mothers felt
that taking maternity leave had
negatively impacted their career
opportunities, according
to research by Canada Career
Counselling. Surveyed employers
felt that maternity leave had
either a neutral or positive impact
on the career development
of their employees.
While this manual provides
proven practices to manage
maternity leave career transitions,
it also sheds light on
the nature of career transition
faced by new and expectant
mothers and how employers
can ensure that working mothers
reach their potential.
THE COURAGE
SOLUTION: THE POWER
OF TRUTH TELLING
WITH YOUR BOSS,
PEERS, AND TEAM
By Mindy Mackenzie
Greenleaf Book Group, 2016
Mackenzie is a 20-year veteran
of HR and a trained psychotherapist.
The Courage
Solution brings the best of
what she learned over her career
with Walmart, Jim Beam
and Campbell Soup. This is not
a book about leadership theory
or big data. Instead, Mackenzie
shares from the heart how she
built enduring relationships,
transformed team effectiveness
and accelerated positive
peer relationships. In an age
where honesty and vulnerability
are hard to come by,
she argues both are essential
for personal and professional
transformation.
MILITARY TO CIVILIAN
EMPLOYMENT:
A CAREER
PRACTITIONER’S GUIDE
By Yvonne Rodney
CERIC, 2016
This guide is written for those
with little experience working
with former or current
military members of the Canadian
Armed Forces (CAF). It
offers an overview of how families
support the military member,
the challenges in providing that
support and best practices for
career coaches and counselors
working with members and
their families. Many of those
who leave the CAF have little
or no experience in the civilian
job market. However, the skills
attained through their service
include a broad range of transferrable
skills useful to the civilian
workplace. The book includes a
helpful guide of civilian occupations
and the military equivalent,
as well as a section on the career
needs of military spouses.
HRPATODAY.CA ❚ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 ❚ 47