We are living amidst unusual circumstances. The ongoing global pandemic has left us in a novel situation. It has indeed changed the meaning of life as we know it. It has given us time to take a moment and think about ourselves. Employees who are now working from home may have realized how they can take advantage of this newfound flexibility.

Remote working comes with several benefits. You save time on the commute, you get to spend more time with your families, you save your financial resources, you can rehab your career, and the digital tools that most of us have easy access to make working from home exceedingly convenient.

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Reach Your Career Goals

In this episode of Let’s Humanize The Workplace, hosted by the workplace wellness advocate Vivian Acquah, features an inspiring guest, Kanika Tolver. Kanika is a motivational speaker, thought leader, the Founder, and Career Coach of Career Rehab. Career Rehab focuses on assisting career transformations for students, professionals, and retirees.

Her company provides career coaching programs, events, webinars, and digital resources to help people reach their career goals. This episode talks about how employees can create a brand for themselves, develop their careers, and move toward a path of enlightenment and thriving professional life.

More Sympathy Within The Workplace

When questioned about her connection to humanizing the workplace, Kanika Tolver said: “My connection with humanizing the workplace is about bringing in a place where people can have more sympathy within the workplace and have workplace forgiveness.” Employees go through various experiences at their workplaces. From toxic superordinates to gender or racial discrimination, certain encounters leave an imprint on one’s mind.

It is essential that you process these emotions, rather than dismissing your feelings and carrying a burden on your shoulders that adds to your stress and leads to workplace burnout. There are many resources, including coaches, therapists, and self-help books like Kanika Tolver’s book Career Rehab, that you can use to get the help you need to progress in your professional life.

Let It Go!

Let go of past experiences, forgive those who hurt you, and move on towards success and prosperity. Career Rehab deals with how to end your addiction to a workplace that fails to treat you right and rebuild your brand to get to a better place in your professional life.

According to the author Kanika Tolver: “This book is a career mindset shift book. I wanted a book that enables people to understand that it’s okay, that you’ve gone through career heartbreaks, it’s okay that you have had anxiety, depression, and stress due to work.” It is a book that helps you fix your mindset, work on yourself to become healthy enough to find a job that is the best fit for you.

As per this book, individuals can build their brand by dating their jobs. When one starts dating someone, they have a checklist in their mind. It would help if you had a similarly designed checklist for your job, and how it benefits your career to take control of your work life.

Develop Your Career

When a college graduate joins the workforce, they tend to be excited to begin working, earning money, and contributing. This is a stage where people do not focus on career development. However, as they mature, they transition into what Career Rehab characterizes as a ‘corporate rebel.’ A corporate rebel is someone who has the experience, is aware of what they want in their career life, has had bad encounters, and refuses to stay in an unsuitable workplace.

The last category of people at a workplace is ‘career dropout.’ This is someone ready to give up their regular job to accomplish their life-long dream. They want to become entrepreneurs. “A career dropout is someone ready to build a product or service and have a business. And they also could be someone that’s doing a career change within retirement.” -says Kanika Tolver about her ‘career dropouts’.

Prevent The Career Depression

The adverse experiences that an employee acquires at their workplaces have a damaging effect on their mental health. This leads to career depression caused by a job. Kanika Tolver defines career depression as: ” You feel that you may have been discriminated against, or you feel that there’s sexism going on in the workplace that could cause you to feel depressed about your current career state.”

When you wake up in the morning not wanting to go to your job or dreading what awaits you at your workplace, these are indications of the fact that you need to leave your current workplace and find something more fulfilling. In such a situation, you need to find the strength to help yourself. As Vivian Acquah put it: “Nobody is going to help you, but you.“

You need to leave your old workplace baggage behind you when you move on to a new job. It is only when you are working with a healthy mindset that you can build your brand, polish your skill, and let your career flourish. As Kanika Tolver says: “It is important to break up with your jobs, You want to break out of a job because you know that you’re ready to be home, you’re ready to heal. You’re ready to move to a new relationship.“

Go For Companies Who Value Your Uniqueness!

Aspiring young individuals tend to start out seeking a prestigious job at a renowned Fortune 500 brand. The goal of attaining a job at a popular company that may not value your talents or provides career-growth opportunities is flawed. It is more rewarding and satisfying to work at a small or medium-sized company that appreciates your contribution and gives you an environment to develop and progress your career.

As Kanika Tolver eloquently puts it: “Stop focusing on being so eager and so excited to work for Fortune 500 companies who don’t care about you or your needs. It’s important to know who you are and align your brand with your personality and what you want to give to a company that’s willing to give you the same back. Smaller company companies and medium-sized companies, sometimes they have better cultures, have more work-life balance, and it’s more feasible to grow.“

Evolve From Employees To Brands!

People need to evolve from employees to brands and embrace the difference between employees and brands. While an employee is restricted to their job description and does exactly as they are told, a brand offers unique expertise and knowledge with the ability to go above and beyond for a job.

If managers provide an atmosphere for employees to become brands, they will find it easier to retain their workforce. As Vivian Acquah says: “When they treat their employees as an ambassador, they wouldn’t have to spend that much on marketing. They wouldn’t have to spend that much on the employer branding.“

Moreover, managers may also find it challenging to manage and retain their employees if they take them for granted or refuse to enable them to be themselves. “You’re gonna have a hard time retaining good talent, if you don’t allow people to be their authentic self and bring all their expertise in knowledge to the workplace.” -Kanika Tolver is discussing the importance of treating employees with the respect and recognition they need.

Maximize Their Potential

To maximize the output of an employee, managers need to give them opportunities to exhibit their talent, think outside the box, and provide them with essential training and tools that help them grow rather than stagnant. According to Vivian Acquah: “ It’s important to invest in your people and make them aware that they have a brand or how they can build their brand or work on their brand.“

Talk About Well-Being

Times have indeed changed. We have a long way in getting rid of the stigma attached to mental well-being. While there is a need for further awareness, we are now having conversations about mental health and workplace wellness without any awkwardness. Answering the question about her hopes and vision for workplaces in 2025, Kanika Tolver said: “I foresee the new generation and even within the workplace, them really being open to help people manage their anxiety, stress, and depression.“

Learn more about the Amplify
Diversity Equity Inclusion Summit

Amplify DEI Summit Attendee 2020: “Sincere thanks for Amplify DEI! I learned a lot (including some things about myself that I did not realise before) and thoroughly enjoyed it.“

Attendee 2020: “It was great – a really classy event, very interesting and informative whilst still being chatty and personal.“

Related Topics

Women of Color Secure A Seat At The Table
Let’s Pull Up Diversity, Equity & Inclusion!
The Power Of Working Mothers

Host: Vivian Acquah 
As a Workplace Wellness Advocate & Amplify DEI consultant, Vivian advises managers on how to keep their team members healthy, happy, and safe by using a holistic approach called workplace wellness. She is also the digital strategist for this live stream production.

This live stream will be broadcasted via LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube & Twitter/Periscope simultaneously. Involve your audience by using live streams! Would you like to know more? 
Feel free to send a 📧 via LinkedIn or info@vivalavive.com