Thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic, the past few years have brought new challenges for both employers and employees. Companies and individuals were forced to quickly adapt to remote and hybrid work schedules. Because they no longer needed to be in an office, many people chose to move away from major cities in favor of calmer, more affordable locales. Finally, inflation and rising interest rates have impacted people’s sense of financial security, which has prompted unexpected employment decisions. All of these factors play a role in current hiring trends. 
 

“Quiet quitters” — employees who are simply meeting their job description — make up at least 50 percent of the U.S. workforce, according to a Gallup poll. This trend has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the workplace got worse for young professionals. Between working remotely and limited interaction with colleagues, employees’ motivation and drive waned. Are you among that group? 
 
Reality Check

As you spend more time in the professional world, you may start to think more about where you are and where you want to be. Do you aspire to be an executive one day, or be in a position that allows you to work remotely from anywhere in the world? Are you happy in your current line of work, or is there something else you’d like to be doing? To answer these questions, and make your dreams a reality, you’ll need to set goals, and then focus on achieving them. Setting and achieving goals can help in many areas of your life.

In this world of hybrid and remote work, the ongoing pandemic, and the great resignation, work can be a stressful place. It certainly looks very different than it did a year ago, and many of your elders might not even recognize the workplace as you know it today. In the modern workplace, it’s easy to become stressed, and hard to find your work-life balance. If this is the case, look to your Native traditions to help ground you, and bring some calm back into your life.
 
Connect with Mother Earth

As working professionals, we’ve all received performance reviews. Some may have been helpful; others may have felt cursory or lackluster. It’s a manager’s responsibility to ensure that direct reports are receiving honest, appropriate, and timely feedback. But the performance review process can be daunting, especially if you have to deliver an unpleasant message. Here are some tips to help deliver performance reviews that resonate with your employees.
 
Provide Feedback on a Consistent Basis

A negative workplace can be one of the most challenging aspects of your professional career. Whether the negativity comes from colleagues, your manager, or the overall workplace culture, it can make every day a drag. So how can you prevail against all the negativity? Here are few tips to help you focus on yourself and your work — and not the negativity.
 
Break the Chain

Are you ready for this year’s AISES National Conference? From October 6–8, 2022, you’ll have the opportunity to join Indigenous STEM professionals and students from all across the United States and Canada. Over the course of the three days, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to connect with other professionals, learn new information that you can use in your own career, and discover the many opportunities and programs being offered through AISES. With so much to see and do, here are a few ways to help you prepare for the conference.
 
Prepare in Advance

Are you someone who always feels like there aren’t enough hours in the workday? Do you find that when the end of the day rolls around you haven’t accomplished anything you set out to? Some of these feelings may be due to poor time management. Whether you’ve been working for one year or 20, every professional needs to make the most of their day. Here are some ways to master time management.
 
Find Time Wasters

In most professional settings, you don’t always choose who you work with. Some colleagues you might get along with right away, while other relationships take more time to establish. Being able to work with individuals who have different personalities is crucial to being successful, and knowing how to build rapport can go a long way in helping to establish those relationships. Here are a few ways to build rapport and ultimately develop stronger professional relationships.
 
Find Common Ground

Lee Johnson hunts bugs. Not the kind with six legs, but flaws in computer code. He’s living his life’s dream as a security engineer working on MuleSoft, a Salesforce product, in Phoenix. “This is my passion. I’ve always loved trying to hack into things,” says Johnson.