After working for 15 years in senior human resource management roles in the consulting, energy, telecommunications and education sector Pamela Frost found a passion for developing the potential in people.

In 2002, qualified with a Masters of Human Resources, Masters in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Bachelor of Economics and Diploma in Law, Pamela founded Because. This venture specialised in employee engagement as well as life and work enrichment.

Avhieving great success with her ideas and projects, clients of Because now include giant  corporations such as Canon, MYOB, ANZ Bank, Coles Myer and BHP Billiton (just to name a few). Pamela  provides these companies with a coaching framework that enables people to explore and leverage their unique talents and passions to drive improved business results.

A ‘mind, body and spirit’ approach to employee engagement is certainly fresh and innovative. What has led you to this way of thinking about human resource management?

I have been working in the human resources field for almost 20 years and what I have encountered in developing and coaching people from all different levels of management is the need to have employees well integrated and congruent in the various parts of their life.  I have also witnessed the consequence when managers have neglected some of these dimensions in their personal and professional life with underperformance, increasing levels of stress and anxiety in the workplace.

Our minds, body and spirit are very much inter-related and if you are out of sync in one aspect then it will affect your effectiveness and productivity in other areas.  For example if someone is overwhelmed by the technical challenges of their work and cannot grasp the complexities (mind) that can cause them undue stress. Often that stress will manifest itself in higher blood pressure, hypertension, and shortness of breath (body) or in reduced levels of exercise and increased drinking / smoking which place even higher pressures on the body.  This in turn causes further challenges for the mind to exercise the mental agility to solve the problems it needed to in the first place.

Often employees know at a deep level that they are not coping so well at work but due to shame or pride do not seek help.  If situations like these are left unchecked and employees feel overwhelmed on a daily basis it is a guaranteed ingredient to lead to loss of self-esteem and depression (spirit).

Other influences in my thinking have been my own professional development in my Masters of Human Resources and work in the area of motivation and employee engagement.

Do you often recognise any untapped potential in organisations? In which case, do you think many employers overlook the signs that the intellectual stimulation of their employees could be improved?

I see untapped potential in people ALL OF THE TIME.  It is an organisational hazard.  One of the biggest challenges that managers face is to manage the levels of boredom and frustration experienced by their staff.  Over time it is inevitable that if an employee has been in a role long enough; their confidence and competence in completing their tasks in the role will grow.  They will feel challenged and stimulated and feel that they are growing and making a contributions. However there is a limit to how much you can grow in a role if the tasks do not vary.

Human beings by their very nature like to grow and develop; expand their minds so to speak.  This is no different at work.  The problem is that many of us are in roles which are rigid in the job descriptions and do not allow for the variety and stretch to keep people stimulated and engaged.

The signs are easy to recognise – over time people become lethargic, complacent, less eager to contribute new ideas, they lose their spark and zest which they once had.  The problem is even more compounded when the very managers who should be looking for these signs are lethargic themselves and are working in a haze of apathy and cynicism themselves.

The key is to look for opportunities to enrich careers and workplaces by constantly redefining jobs and the way that work is done.  In this current economic environment it is win-win for business to tap the creative and innovative talents of their employees to keep ahead of the game.

Have you always set out to achieve specific career goals, or have you grabbed the opportunities as they presented themselves?

I used to have specific career goals.  When I first started working as a graduate fresh out of university I was keen to become CEO as soon as possible.  However a strange thing happened in that the further I progressed along the corporate ladder and acquired more and more senior positions the more disillusioned I became with the “trimmings” that came with those roles i.e. corporate politics, unethical behaviours, ridiculous workloads and high stress levels.  My values also changed and I valued much more highly independence and autonomy, flexibility and creativity.

So now I tend to manage my career much more spontaneously and be opportunistic rather than sticking to a rigid career plan.  This works well for me particularly in business because as entrepreneurs you need to be constantly sensing what changes are occurring in the environment and adapting your services and product offerings to accommodate.  You also need to be able to pick up new skills to fill gaps and therefore careers and constantly evolving.

Another way of looking at this is to create your opportunities by taking advantage of gaps in the marketplace or perhaps workplace.  What isn’t happening that should be happening and if it was would make things better, faster, simpler in some way is how I like to approach my career and work.

The current economic climate has cast a cloud over many industries around the world. Do you think positive reinforcement and individual attention are just as important for employers to consider as profits and losses?

I think positive reinforcement and individual attention are more important than ever.  In hard economic times where organisations are tightening their belts and doing more with less they really are going to depend on the discretionary effort and goodwill of their employees to stick by them and see them through these tough times.

Companies still want employees to perform and they expect them to do that when they are watching their colleagues and friends become retrenched.  It is during tough economic times that we need employees to be more innovative than ever – to think about ways to save costs, streamline processes, invent revolutionary new products and so on.

We all have a psychological contract with our employers where we aim to strike a balance between what we put into an organisation (effort, long hours, a smile, expertise) with what we get out (money, perks, growth and development, career advancement, sense of belonging and so on).  If this gets out of balance i.e. fewer perks and other benefits then we will attempt to rebalance this equation by withdrawing something.  This could be effort, or it could be commitment or ultimately a resignation.

So if we lose sight of those individual needs of employees than those organisations doing so are going to be left behind.

Besides the economy moves in cycles – although we are in tough economic times now it will not always be the case.  By the time the cycle shifts into a more buoyant market, if we have neglected these needs the damage will be done as corporate memories can be long and fierce.

How do you maintain your positive attitude towards work?

I have a strong vision for what I aspire to have in my work and personal life.  That vision of the long term is what keeps me motivated and the knowledge that I am on the path to achieving it.  It means that even if there are set-backs in my day or week than I see them as slight detours rather than earth-shattering events.  So what if that prospect did not convert – there will be others and it means that I can spend my creative energy on a different aspect.

I also see things that did not work according to expectation as opportunities to learn and grow.  Some people will see these things as failures and allow themselves to be negatively impacted.  I see them as opportunities to reflect and change my path of action if required.  For it is the things that do not work out that provide the greatest insights and allow us to develop the wisdom we need to navigate our professional careers.

A final way is not to take myself nor my work too seriously.  To be able tos tep back and keep work in perspective along with other important priorities in my life like my husband and family.  I define my work rather than my work defining me allows me to stay grounded and happy in myself.

Interviewed by Nicholas - entrepreneur and founder of Nimbler Website Design and Development

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Posted on March 25th, 2009 by Nicholas