Leadership seminar lecturer offers perspective to employers and future employees

Riverside, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2017)—“When [employees] say a ‘great place to work,’ it doesn’t mean having your HR team put in a lot of training programs and a lot of perks. It means mentoring and coaching,” Dr. Gaynell Vanderslice, organizational change management specialist at Esri, told a California Baptist University audience.

Vanderslice spoke as part of the Leadership Seminar Series for the Bonnie G. Metcalf School of Education on Feb. 6. Vanderslice travels the country addressing conference audiences on topics focused around change management.

“Employers must provide development opportunities and also provide leadership training at every level,” Vanderslice said.

Hiring employees who think like an entrepreneur is the key to successful work culture, Vanderslice said.

“When you bring people into your organization think entrepreneur. You want them to be creative, you want them to have a vision and then you want them to take that vision and align it with your vision,” Vanderslice said.  

Vanderslice also offered advice for students who will soon be seeking employment.

“There is a huge gap between the experience and the soft skills that you need, those professional skills that you will need outside of your education.” Vanderslice said.

Students should be proactive about developing those soft skills such as communication, she said.

“You have to take it upon yourself and ask where can I get those skills?” Vanderslice asked. “Volunteer within your own profession and outside your profession. Communications is communications no matter what field you’re in, so a lot of your soft skills you can glean in any field.”