Lara El Ghandour
Chief People Officer (Hypermedia, DXTA & AiOO) at W Group Holding
I’ve spent the past 11+ years building and leading People & Culture teams across startups and mid-sized companies, with a focus on creating HR that’s practical, tech-enabled, and truly...
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- HR Transformation and Automation: Streamlining HR processes with technology solutions
- People-Centered Leadership: Building strong teams through empathetic leadership
- Employee Experience Design: Creating impactful and engaging work environments
- HR as a Business Partner: Aligning HR strategies with organizational goals
- Art Therapy for Personal Development: Exploring creativity as a healing tool in workplaces.
Meet the mentor
TALK SHOW VIDEOS
Tricky Workplace Situation Handled
- By using analogies, storytelling, or other unconventional methods, we can help other people better understand the concepts of CRMs for sales boosting and how they can be applied to their own businesses.
- I don't work with CRM being in HR, but all the Sales/Product/Marketing/growth/etc team do. It helps us identify our sales and marketing strategy and target our clients with the right products in the right time. So we meet their needs and suggest help them identify what they need even when they don't know they do
- It creates and manages a unique and consistent database of customers
- It helps understanding the needs of clients and their buying behaviours and sales cycle
- It helps analyze and predict which clusters are more profitable for upselling and cross-selling
- It helps us understand the needs of the clients and the buying behaviour to assess which product bundle and in what sequence
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- If you know more about a potential customer, you can customize your sales pitch to fit their needs. For instance, if you know that they have a problem that your product can solve, you can focus on that when you're selling. If you know what they like, you can tell them how your product meets those needs. Also, it's useful to know a customer's history with your company or industry so you can pitch to them in the best way possible. If they're a long-time customer, you might want to offer them loyalty programs to keep them coming back. But if they're new, you might need to explain more about what you offer.
- Schedule a meeting: Rose should schedule a one-on-one meeting with her mentee to discuss the communication issues. During the meeting, she can explain how the time difference affects her work-life balance and request her mentee to refrain from contacting her during certain hours. Set communication guidelines: Rose can set guidelines for communication with her mentee, such as specifying the preferred modes of communication (e.g., email, messaging, phone call), and when she is available to respond to her mentee's messages. Establish emergency procedures: In case of an emergency, Rose can work with her mentee to establish an emergency procedure that outlines what constitutes an emergency and how her mentee should contact her in such situations. Follow-up: After the meeting, Rose should follow up with her mentee to ensure that her communication guidelines are being followed. She can also use this opportunity to provide feedback to her mentee on their progress and to reiterate the importance of respecting her boundaries.
- Communication: The first step in conflict resolution is communication. Rose needs to communicate clearly with her mentee about the challenges she is facing due to the odd-hour messages. She needs to explain how this affects her work-life balance and request her mentee to refrain from contacting her during certain hours. Active listening: Active listening is another essential technique in conflict resolution. Rose needs to listen to her mentee's perspective and understand why they are contacting her at odd hours. This will help her identify potential solutions that can address both parties' needs. Collaboration: To resolve the conflict, Rose and her mentee need to work together to identify a mutually agreeable solution. They can collaborate on establishing communication guidelines, emergency procedures, and expectations for communication. Respect and empathy: Both parties need to approach the conflict resolution process with respect and empathy for each other's perspectives. Rose should acknowledge her mentee's need for guidance and support, while the mentee should understand the challenges of working across time zones. Flexibility: Finally, both parties need to be flexible in their approach to resolving the conflict. They should be willing to consider alternative solutions and make adjustments to their communication patterns to meet each other's needs. By applying these conflict resolution techniques, Rose can address the communication challenges with her mentee in a respectful and collaborative manner, which can strengthen their mentor-mentee relationship and improve their overall communication.
- Divide the group into pairs and assign each pair a different scenario in which conflict arises. Each pair will then act out the scenario, with one person playing the role of the person in conflict and the other playing the role of the mediator. The mediator should use the conflict resolution techniques we discussed, such as active listening, collaboration, and respect and empathy, to help the person in conflict find a solution. After each role-play, the group should debrief and discuss what worked well and what could be improved. This will help reinforce the conflict resolution techniques and provide an opportunity for reflection and learning. As a follow-up, participants can be asked to reflect on a real-life conflict they have experienced and apply the conflict resolution techniques they learned to that situation. This role-playing exercise will provide a hands-on and interactive way to learn conflict resolution skills, while also allowing for peer-to-peer learning and feedback. Additionally, it provides a safe space to practice conflict resolution techniques, which can build confidence and proficiency in handling conflict.
- Our company takes employee turnover seriously by closely monitoring rates and reasons for departure. We use this data to improve the overall employee experience while they are still with the company. Losing valuable team members can be disruptive and expensive, so we focus on improving employee benefits, offering career development opportunities, and fostering a positive workplace culture. In today's world, having new perspectives and ideas is crucial, and a low turnover rate that comes with positive experiences and growth can be beneficial. Our goal is to reduce both the rate and negative effects of turnover by emphasizing company culture and leadership, and the commitment of our leadership team to company values and leading by example.
- Keep on helping employees grow and learn by giving them chances for development and training. Look for ways to balance work and life, like letting people choose their hours or giving more time off for holidays. Figure out what's making work crazy and try to fix it by finding ways to make things easier and less stressful. Think about giving people chances to move up in the company and pay them fairly so we're competitive with other companies in the same field. Check how much we're paying people and what benefits we offer to make sure we're being fair and keeping up with the times. Make sure we're keeping everyone happy and healthy by listening to them and making changes to improve things whenever we can.
- Imagine the company is like a big bowl of salad, and the employees are like the different ingredients. Each ingredient has its own unique flavor and nutritional value to make the salad delicious and healthy. If we don't include all the necessary ingredients, the salad won't taste good or provide the right nutrition. Likewise, if we don't provide our employees with what they need to thrive, they may leave. Employee turnover is like removing a key ingredient from our salad. Without that ingredient, the salad won't be as tasty or healthy. When an employee leaves, we lose all the time, effort, and resources we invested in them and until we replace them and onboard new members. To prevent turnover, we need to regularly check in with our employees and give them the resources and opportunities they need to grow and succeed in their roles. It's like adding the right ingredients and dressing to the salad to make it tasty and nutritious. By recognizing and rewarding their hard work, we can keep them happy and motivated to stay with our company. So, let's think of our employees as essential ingredients in our bowl of salad. Just like we need to maintain and nourish our salad to make it delicious and healthy, we need to take care of our employees to keep them happy and committed to our company.
- Emotional Distress: Vulnerabilities can cause emotional distress and negative emotions such as anxiety, fear, and self-doubt. These emotions can interfere with our ability to focus, think clearly, and perform well, leading to decreased performance. Self-esteem: Vulnerabilities can also affect our self-esteem and self-confidence. When we feel insecure or inadequate, we may avoid taking risks or trying new things, which can limit our growth and potential. Interpersonal relationships: Vulnerabilities can also impact our interpersonal relationships. For example, if we have trust issues or fear rejection, we may struggle to form close connections with others, leading to a lack of support and social isolation. Physical health: Vulnerabilities can also have an impact on our physical health. For example, chronic stress caused by vulnerabilities can lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, and decreased immunity, which can affect our performance at work and in other areas of life.
- by practicing brain dumping techniques. Before going to bed. And during the day by identifying a stressful situation, acknowledge it and try to observe how our body feels with this and write them down to reassess later on
- My closed people who I could be completely vulnerable with, close friends, mentors, spouse and family members.
- By asking someone I look up to to give me a clear and objective feedback about my judgment. It always helps to see things from a different perspective.
- Yes. Had to deal with multiple situations like this and especially at work work as I'm like a sponge and I absorb negative energies around me. I learned to set healthy boundaries and speak up about how this is making me feel
- It's part of my daily life. It's one of my core values and the reason I do well at work. I lead with empathy! And I couldn't have reached to this without being vulnerable myself and have a deep self awareness.
- My vulnerabilities affected me from moving towards my values. Affected me to become workaholic. To be distant from the ones I love the most. To be exposed and always looking for validation. and all this created a lot of stress and anxiety in my life and took me some time to understand myself and work towards the best things for myself and those around me
- I would use metaphors and analogies. Think of our vulnerabilities like weak spots in a building that can make it vulnerable during a disaster. Similarly, we have areas of vulnerability that make us more prone to emotional or physical harm. We need to protect ourselves from harm by taking care of our mental health, relationships, and well-being. And I would introduce people to gallup strengths and different personality types and how we could leverage all this knowledge and become confident about our vulnerabilities and embrace them as they make as unique in every single way
- 1- Work/life balance - move forward towards my values and principles 2- Set boundaries for those who don't matter and stop seeking validation from external sources 3- Stop procrastinating on executing my great ideas and start doing them
- Self-love, self-affirmation, therapy, mindfulness and meditation, spend quality time with loved ones, have a balanced life, listen to my mind and body, practice being present, learn how to live the here and now
- by relating to people background, culture, emotions, and experiences. And by telling my personal story and how it influenced me to learn about myself. A real human experience and the phases I went through
- The Objectives and Key Results (OKR) methodology is like a roadmap for organizations to reach their goals. It's a way for companies to set ambitious objectives that really matter to them. Then, they break those objectives down into smaller, measurable results that act as milestones along the way. It's all about staying on track, working together as a team, and regularly assessing progress. It's a tool that helps organizations like yours drive performance and make sure they're making meaningful strides towards success.
- To make better decisions in the FinTech industry, there are a few key approaches that can really make a difference. First, leveraging data-driven insights is crucial. By analyzing lots of data, we can uncover valuable patterns and trends to inform our decision-making process. Second, fostering collaboration among different teams and stakeholders allows for diverse perspectives and more well-rounded decisions. Third, in such a fast-paced industry, continuous learning and adaptability are essential. Staying updated on the latest trends and regulations helps us make informed choices. Fourth, putting the customer at the forefront is a must. By understanding their needs and preferences, we can make decisions that truly resonate with them. Additionally, managing risks and complying with regulations is critical to protect our customers and business. Lastly, adopting agile methodologies enables us to be nimble and responsive in our decision making, allowing us to seize opportunities as they arise. By following these strategies, we can enhance our decision-making process and achieve success in the ever-evolving world of FinTech.
- Transparency in the workplace plays a crucial role in combating misunderstandings, ambiguity in instructions, and detrimental rumors. By promoting open and honest communication, providing clear information, and addressing concerns promptly, transparency helps to foster a more effective and harmonious internal communication environment.
- It is crucial in effectively managing and mitigating crises. Open and transparent communication within an organization helps in disseminating accurate information, enabling swift decision-making and coordinated actions during times of crisis.
- Defining company goals among employees is essential for effective internal communication. It fosters alignment, shared purpose, and accountability within the organization. Clear communication of goals helps employees understand how their work contributes to the overall success of the company.
- In a creative approach to teaching "Enhancing Decision Making in FinTech Business," I would design an interactive simulation that replicates real-world challenges. Users would make decisions based on market trends, customer demands, and regulations, receiving feedback on the consequences of their choices. Experienced mentors from the FinTech industry would offer personalized guidance and share insights. The experience would include gamification elements and interactive discussions to foster collaboration and critical thinking. This unique approach aims to provide an immersive and engaging learning opportunity for individuals seeking to improve their decision-making skills in the FinTech industry.