How one HR Director found a way to say ‘no’ at work
Eilin Gillesen is a highly engaged HR Director for GroupM, a large, Nordic media agency. She is so engaged that that her instinct has always been to say ‘yes’ to everything. But Eilin quickly learned that this wasn’t always the best answer.
I first met Eilin after presenting at an HR Norway conference. She approached me afterwards, seeking more insight on how to create a more agile working environment in her company. As our conversation evolved, she revealed that she was also on the hunt for a coach, to help her navigate some challenges she was facing at work.
Eilin is a career HR professional. She is a dedicated and passionate team member at GroupM, and she was seeking ways to become even better, to manage new opportunities, and to overcome some obstacles in her path.
Navigating in a complex, matrix organization
Eilin told me, “I am working in acomplex organization, as we are four companies with strong brands under one owner, which makes for a complicated matrix set-up. For the HR function, this means that it can be challenging to prioritize and support the business needs due to different visions, mandates, goals and directions.”
Not only was Eilin in a situation with four distinct companies under one owner, there were also regional variations in the Nordics that added to the complexity. When you are in the midst of a matrix organization such as this, sometimes the most difficult thing of all can be to prioritize. Does the global directive trump the local? Does this local initiative clash with the other company’s initiative? Which goals should we follow? These questions can be endless, and Eilin realized that she needed some support in managing the situation.
A complex environment requires strong prioritization skills
We started out our coaching sessions by focusing on prioritization, taking the time to stop and think, in order to reflect on what is short-term and what is long-term. For a ‘yes’ person, saying ‘no’ can be extremely challenging, but it’s critical when you need to prioritize.
“I’m a yes person,” Eilin said to me. “I’m so engaged, but I realized that I needed to learn to say ‘no’ to some exciting things as well, even though I really wanted to say ‘yes’.”
For Eilin, the saying ‘no’ part may always be a challenge, as saying ‘yes’ is just instinctual in her. But she’s learned that timing is everything, and just because she says ‘no’ right now, doesn’t mean it’s a ‘no’ forever.
“Maybe I’ll take it up next quarter, or the quarter after. For me it’s about my capacity to have the right focus at the right time and with the right amount,” said Eilin.
One of her pitfalls is that she is so engaged in her work, and there are so many initiatives in the company, that she can easily find herself in a situation with zero extra capacity.
“I have learned to have more focus on the activities we are doing, which means fewer activities with higher quality,” she said.
When I asked Eilin if her colleagues have noticed any change in her since our coaching sessions, she told me, “I’ve been told several times that I’m still a very engaged person, but I’m much more focused now. We are now more able to get the full-effect of our initiatives because we have the capacity for it.”
It’s also about finding a solid work-life balance
She told me that she and her colleagues have a better work-life balance now, as well. Eilin and the other leaders in GroupM are much more focused on ‘keeping up’ and maintaining traction in their activities, rather than simply adding on more activities.
As a long-time HR professional and a coach in her own right, Eilin was quick to embrace the coaching experience. She’s learned to prioritize and to think more before just saying ‘yes’ to something new. She said, “I feel that after my coaching session with Jon Erik, I really have the tools to handle a complex workday, which has made all the difference.”
Eilin Gillesen