Human on the Inside with Accor’s Lydia MacDonell
Maxme: We’re big believers in the power of human skills. But don’t just take our word for it - the evidence for excellence powered by human (‘soft’) skills is everywhere! In this engaging, ever-enlightening series, we speak with industry leaders, innovators and game-changers to learn a little about their personal career journeys, and how human-led strategies, philosophies and cultures are proving a force for good in their working worlds …
Welcome Lydia and thanks for stepping into the #SuccessIsHuman Spotlight! You’re currently Area Talent & Culture Manager, Northern New South Wales for Accor Apartments and Realty.
In 1 sentence (ok, we’ll give you 3), what does your role entail?
Lydia MacDonell: I have the privilege of supporting team members and hotel leaders to enjoy and excel in their careers. I spend much of my time consulting and advising on people processes including performance and talent management, recruitment, safety compliance, team development and more. As a business, we create welcoming and memorable spaces, and it’s critical to my role that this is the shared experience of our team in the course of their work.
This often means I spend as much time pouring over emails, memos, reports, data to generate reports, policies and contracts etc. as I do in face to face or virtual meetings. Happily this affords me the opportunity to work flexibly across multiple locations.
M: You’ve been with Accor in various guises since May 2019, but your professional pedigree in career coaching, talent & culture management is of course much deeper.
It all started with Facilitation for Futureworx - a social purpose organisation responding to employment and skills development needs based in your home of Nova Scotia, Canada. In late 2014 you landed your first gig in Australia - an Employment Consultant for WISE Employment in Melbourne, and have since held roles for the likes of Workskil Australia, Telstra, Selection Partners and Darebin City Council.
In early 2017 you Founded Career for Years (a business you continue to run in parallel to you Accor role) - a consultancy & coaching platform enabling a ‘career for years’ for your clients regardless of employer/employee relationships, experience, geographic location, or personal circumstance.
How does all this work speak to your personal purpose and what drives you as an individual?
LMD: I believe so strongly that when our work (our labour) is in alignment with our strengths and in the service of our values, we not only thrive professionally, but in all areas of life.
I also guard quite fiercely the principle that people deserve fairness and equity in all things, but particularly in employment, where power balances can be so disproportionate, whether consciously or unconsciously. Both as a Talent & Culture Manager and as a Career Coach, I seek to develop and protect the agency of people as drivers of their own careers.
My personal purpose is to help people connect their own mission to their career, and recognise how to live that mission in a way that generates a career for years. We will all have multiple roles over our career, and the tighter the connection between our work and our mission, the more doors and windows appear to express it.
I’m very fortunate to have a portfolio of work that serves my own mission, it was entirely intentional.
M: Tell us a little about your personal education pathway/s - what led you to where you are now? How closely do your formal qualifications match your current career?
LMD: I love how patchwork my CV reads in its rawest form. On paper, I look like someone who flew from one interest to another, but in reality, I’ve had a common goal in all my roles, which has been to augment the experience of those I work with.
I completed a Bachelor Degree of Arts in Human Rights and Political Science. This Degree spoke to my interest in justice and societal systems. I loved it, and considered law as a next step (in Canada you must complete an Undergraduate Degree before applying for law school). I wanted to follow another passion first though which was food, leaving no passion unexplored! I completed the equivalent of a TAFE Certificate in Pastry Art, while working in an employment services centre (Futureworx) where I discovered the intersection of dignity, human rights and employment while learning so many peoples stories.
After my employment and studies, I decided to travel and worked in hotels and restaurants while preparing to apply for law school. My travels took me to Australia where I returned to employment services work in Melbourne, and was rejected from law school. With this set back I applied to a Masters of Industrial Relations/Human Resources program. It had a large focus on employment law, labour market policies, organisational behaviour and employment conditions of all sorts.
I returned to Canada to complete the program, and it was then that Career for Years developed. I knew I wanted my substantive work to move into HR formally, but I worried I would miss client career coaching. I also became certified as a Career Development Practitioner.
After my studies I completed a further Certificate IV in Human Resource Management from the Australian Human Resources Institute and became a member of the Career Development Association of Australia. I knew I would be returning to Australia and wanted my studies to be understood as relevant and contemporary.
Today, five years after returning to Australia, I’m in a senior role that is highly aligned to my education, values and strengths. My coaching business flexes up and down depending on my personal bandwidth for supporting clients and remaining well balanced in all areas of life and work.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice to your 21 year old self it would be ...
LMD: No knowledge or experience is wasted.
I have made a few wedding cakes and catered many parties for loved ones over the years using my Pastry knowledge, and love that I never wake up wishing I had gone for it when I had the chance.
M: Maximising the potential of individuals, communities and businesses through the power of human skills is the reason Maxme exists. Can you tell us a little about the role and / or value of human skills in your workplace or industry right now?
LMD: Human skills are what people rely on to develop their technical skills. Plus, human skills fuel human connection and help us to express ourselves and build relationships; build trust. Human/soft/employability skills are the most valuable currency in the hospitality industry. The work is dynamic and you can meet, work with, and provide service for many different people in the course of a single shift.
Someone’s capacity for kindness and commitment to delivering for others is the vehicle that makes technical abilities worthwhile. We can teach people to clean rooms, make coffee, conduct check ins, but it’s the capacity to make others feel valued that matters.
M: Self awareness sets the critical foundation for all Maxme learning experiences. What’s your strongest trait / personal super power?
LMD: I’m often told I’m very patient and friendly, which I think contributes to my super power of creating a space where people can safely share their stories. Whether it’s conducting an interview, investigation, or coaching session, I make sure not to lose the person in the process.
M: And on the flip side, what’s one human / ‘soft’ skill you’ve had to really work on improving over the course of your career?
LMD: Being someone who listens as much as, if not more than, they speak is something I’m constantly reminding myself to work on.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice with recent university graduates or candidates keen to work a field like career, talent & culture-building, what would it be?
LMD: Don’t judge it on one poor experience. I have spoken to a surprising number of people who pursued this industry only to leave after working in places with poor culture or in roles they simply weren’t ready for. This work can have so many iterations in any industry that employs people. Hospitality, Healthcare, Education, Trades, Government etc., all have a People function for payroll/processes/culture/talent/development and more! Finding a business that aligns to your values and a team that builds you up makes all the difference.
M: You’ve been granted approval to add one university graduate to your business, but have 100 applicants, all with outstanding academic results. How do you find your perfect candidate - what are you looking for?
LMD:
How self-aware and open to coaching are they? Do they value self improvement and will they transform setbacks into development opportunities for themselves and the business?
How do they support a team and how do they like to be supported?
Does the opportunity to join the business align to their own goals?
How I determine that might be based on combination applications of CV, cover letter and video submission addressing the above. This can only whittle things down so far though, so I’d also run a group interview session and final formal interviews with a small business case assignment as the determinant.
M: In the words of John Dewey, “education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.” What’s next on your #learning agenda?
LMD: The constant student. I’m pursuing my certification in Reiki, an intuition and mindfulness building practice. The energy and intention we bring into a conversation, a room, a problem etc. has a profound impact on the outcome. Similarly the energy and intentions of others can have heavy impacts on us, and this is a practice that helps me to be present, calm and independent of but not indifferent to the feelings of others. People work is energy work, and management of others requires the management of myself.
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