Third Presentation at the Belarus High Tech Park

On Tuesday I had my third presentation at the Belarus High Tech Park as part of my Strategic Human Capital Leadership training series, entitles: "Productive Work Environments: Creating a High Performance Work Culture."  You can see a write-up on the visit here (in Russian, so use Google Translate to see in English if you are so inclined).  In addition to the 60+ in attendance in person, the presentation was also live streamed to participants in Brest. 

  

All told, leaders and executives from more than 40 Belarus High Tech/IT companies attended these three sessions.  I am still in discussion with the Belarus High Tech Park about doing sponsored visits to other cities around the country to do similar seminars with management at other companies in the Belarus high tech/IT industry.  We shall see how that all gets worked out.

Weekly Update

Monday was a good day. Jacque was still not feeling well, so we let her rest while the kids and I played and I got some work done.  Also, the weather was nice we were able to spend some time outside at the playground.  Jacque also did the big shopping trip for the week.  In the evening, we had a yummy dinner and then had family night, before the kids went to bed.

Tuesday morning we had our typical routine and we let Jacque sleep in a bit.  I also got some work done in the morning before getting picked up for my second presentation at the Belarus High tech Park (which I posted on earlier in the week).  It was very well attended and I think it came off quite well, so I was pleased.  I got home in time to take the girls to the park before dinner.  Then Jacque went to her English class.  It was a good day.

Wednesday was a very rainy day.  It was basically a downpour all morning.  I had a series of meetings, presentations, and workshops at BSUIR in the afternoon (which I posted on earlier in the week) and everything went well.  Jacque had her English class again in the evening and by all reports it went well.  It was her last day and she is sad to been done.  She has really enjoyed her time with the students.

Thursday morning we had the typical morning routine and then I took off for my long day at the university.  I was able to get quite a bit of work done and then I had a good class with my MBA students in the evening.  It was rather rainy all day, so Jacque was stuck in the apartment with the kids all day and I think they all went a little stir crazy.  I got home from work a little after 9:30 pm and Jacque and I relaxed for a bit before it was time for bed.  

Friday was another really rainy day, but Jacque and the kids were dying to get out, so we just went out anyway.  Of course we ended up getting soaked by all of the rain, but it was fun!  We went to see the Afghan war memorial, commemorating fallen soldiers from Belarus, who died in the USSR/Afghanistan war between 1979 and 1988.  We then made our way over to McDonald's for our weekly fix!  When we got back, we got all of the kids dry and they had rest time.  When the kids were up and about later in the afternoon, I took them to the playground.  It was very wet, with puddles everywhere, but they had a great time and even made a new Belarusian friend.  We had ice-cream sundaes for ice-cream Friday and then Jacque and I had a nice evening after the kids were in bed. 

 

Saturday morning I was off early for my 3-hour MBA class.  Everything went well and by the time I got home the kids were down for naps.  The sun was shining, so around 3 pm when everyone was up, we took off to do some souvenir shopping (they also wanted to get me a present for Father’s Day).  We found some fun traditional Belarusian souvenirs and then had my Father’s Day dinner at TGI Friday’s (right in downtown Minks).  They were quite accommodating to the large family and even had English menus!  Unfortunately, several of the things we wanted to order from the menu they did not have after all.  But by the end of the meal we all were stuffed silly and we had a great time!  We got home in time to get the kids to bed at the normal time and Jacque and I had a nice evening together.

Today is a super sun, hot, and humid day!  We will take that over the rain, but it did make for a less pleasant trip to and from church.  Now we are back and enjoying a quiet afternoon.  Jacque made me a nice Father’s Day breakfast and I am sure we will have something delicious for dinner (we always do)!

Presentations this Week

This week I have been busy with more presentations.  On Tuesday, I made another trip the Belarus High Tech Park for my second presentation in the Strategic Human Capital Leadership training series, entitled, "Employee Motivation: Leveraging Employee Capacity to Optimize Workplace Potential."  The training was attended by more than 60 heads of HR departments and recruiters in High Tech and IT businesses in Belarus.

You can find blurbs of this visit, as well as a brief follow-up Q&A narrative at the following links (the first two are in Russian, so my U.S friends and family will need to use Google Translate to read):

• Belarus High Tech Park Website Post 
• Belarus IT Marketing Website
• Brief Q&A Narrative 

Also, of possible interest may be a video clip summarizing the vast research on motivation, which I showed and we discussed as part of the training:

Additionally, yesterday I visited Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics for a series of meetings with school administrators, a tour of the facilities, and a presentation to students and faculty, entitled, "Effective Personal Branding and Skills & Competencies Required to be Successful in One's Professional Career."  I really enjoyed the visit and presentation and I appreciated the opportunity to see another Belarus university campus and talk about educational/teaching issues with faculty and administrators.  You can see a blurb about this visit on the university website here and at the Belarus IT Marketing website here.

 Now I am back in the BSU MBA office today preparing for my MBA class tonight. 

Week in Review

Monday was a very casual day.  We had our normal morning routine and I worked most of the morning and afternoon from home.  Around 4 pm we got picked up by Sergei and went to his family’s home for dinner and family home evening.  They are such a friendly, happy family.  Dinner was delicious and we really enjoyed our time with them (and the kids loved playing with all of the toys!).  We arrived back home around 9:30 and got the kids to bed and Jacque and I enjoyed the rest of the evening together before crashing.

On Tuesday morning, I was with the kids until about 11 am.  We all just did the normal morning stuff and I worked some.  At noon I got picked up by a HTP car and arrived early for my 1 pm presentation.  There was a pretty good turnout, and despite some technical difficulties with their equipment, I think it all went very well.  I then came home and we enjoyed the rest of the afternoon together before dinner and Jacque’s English.

The weather was bad again on Wednesday but we were all getting a little stir crazy so we decided to just go out anyway.  We ended up at the mall (the underground one beneath Independence Square).  We had a lot of fun walking around and looking at the kiosks mostly.  They have some fun souvenirs (we didn’t buy any at the mall because everything is expensive there, but we got some ideas).  We grabbed some lunch and then ate an ice-cream outside before trekking home for rest time.  While everyone else napped, I got some work done, we had a nice evening, and then I held down the fort while Jacque went to English class in the evening.  It was a good day.

We had a typical morning on Thursday (me helping the kids/working, the girls playing/reading/etc.).  I went in to work after lunch and had a busy afternoon of whatever it is I do!  Later in the afternoon I did a presentation/workshop with the BSU business school faculty on preparing students for their future careers.  It was a lot about teaching methods, but also what we teach and a discussion of the skills/competencies the students need to be prepared with.  It was a rather interesting discussion/exchange.  After that, I came home, we did dinner and got the kids to bed, and then I went off to English class in the evening.  At English class we discussed everything from politics, to the economy, to the business environment, the education system, families, etc.  It was an extremely interesting discussion (almost like a focus group for me!). 

We had a casual morning around apartment on Friday, followed by a picnic at the park (the weather was gorgeous and sunny for the first time in a long while!).  After rest time, I took the kids back to the park to play, to get them nice and warn out, and then we had the male young volunteers (the elders) over for dinner.  That was a lot of fun.  The girls just love them and I think the volunteers enjoyed having an evening of English interaction!

Saturday was a full day of work for me.  I taught my MBA class in the morning and then sat in on a bunch of MBA thesis defenses in the afternoon.  The program is looking to change the way it works the thesis defense process and they asked me to sit in, provide feedback to the students, and provide my thoughts to the program.  Following the defenses, we had a rather long discussion regarding everything and I hope they found my input useful.  While I was gone, Jacque took care of the kids back home.  They played at the apartment, went to the park, and also walked over to a nearby Holocaust Memorial, where 5000 Belarusian Jews were killed and thrown into a giant pit.  Those remains have long since been moved and the spot is now a memorial to them.  I have just seen pictures and heard Jacque’s description, so I will have to go and visit myself one of these days.  After I got home around 5 pm, we took a walk and ended up eating dinner at McDonald's (our weekly American fix while we are here!).  We got back and the kids to bed a bit late and then Jacque and I had a nice evening.

Today is a beautiful, sunny Sunday and we are looking forward to church in a little while. 

A Week of Presentations and Publications

I have been rather busy this week with different presentations/workshops I have been preparing/giving.  

On Tuesday afternoon, I gave my first of 3 presentations as part of the Strategic Human Capital Leadership training series at the Belarus High Tech Park.  The session was entitled “Strategic Employee Selection: From Effective Interviewing to the ‘Moneyball’ Approach to Selection."  The following three links provide a review of the session (both in Russian, so my English speaking family and friends will need to use Google Translate to read it):  

• HTP Link
• External Marketing Link
• BSU SBMT Link

I think the session went very well and I am looking forward to session two next Tuesday.  Also, as a result of this presentation, I have been invited by the chair of the economics department to come and do a series of presentations/workshops at Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR).  We still have to work out the details, but this should be an interesting opportunity to interact with a different kind of faculty and students. 

Later this afternoon I will also be making a presentation to the BSU SBMT faculty entitled, "Preparing our Students with the Skills & Competencies Required for them to be Successful in their Professional Career."  The session and discussion should be interesting.  

Also, today marks the national release of my new HRM textbook, Human Capital Leadership: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Workplace Potential.  The publisher had been working on negotiating some of the national copyright releases for quite a while now, so the national release has taken longer than we all had hoped, but I have been using it in my classes for the past year and it seems to have been received well by students.  I am excited for the national release!

Also, I found out that one article stemming from my dissertation research just got accepted, and another just got published.  The newly accepted one is "The Impact of Comparative State-Directed Development on Working Conditions and Employee Satisfaction" in the Journal of Management and Organization.  The newly published one is "Comparative welfare state impacts on work quality and job satisfaction: A cross-national analysis" in the International Journal of Social Economics.

So it has been a good week for publication news and for some interesting presentations/workshops.  I will be helping out with an English class tonight at the BSU English Language Institute and then I will have my normal MBA HR classes as well.  Good times!

Week in Review

Sunday evening we had David’s family party.  We had chocolate cake for David’s party, which he loved, and then he opened his presents and the kids all played until bedtime (no wrapping paper, so he just took it out of the bag!).

Monday was a good day.  Things started out normally in the morning and then I had a car pick me up at 10 am to go and meet the director and deputy director of the Belarus High Tech Park.  We had a very interesting discussion about their ongoing education and training efforts, they showed me around, and we also discussed my involvement in providing workshops to organizational leaders both in Minsk and at other locations around the country over the next couple of months.  I am looking forward to this opportunity.  After I got home, the kids had rest time and I worked while Jacque did the grocery shopping for the week. Last night I had an idea for a Harvard Business Review article, so I spent some time working on a short proposal, to float the idea by the editorial board.  Likely nothing will come of it, but at the very least it was a useful exercise for me, and if they are not interested I have something I can publish someplace else.  I took the girls to the park in the afternoon but we were only there for 15 minutes before it started to rain.  So we promptly came home and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the apartment.  We then had dinner and family night.   It was a good day.

Tuesday was a good day.  We had our normal routine in the morning, but then around 9 Jacque left for her trip to the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Office to give her presentation to 30 Belarusian teachers from the Minsk Regional Teachers Retraining Institute (teachers of English from rural schools in the Minsk region).  She had a great time and she was home around lunch time.  After lunch, the kids had rest time and I worked prior to being picked up to go meet with management at ScienceSoft, where I spent most of the rest of the day yesterday meeting with the CEO and other company leaders/employees (I posted on this earlier in the week).  

Wednesday was a very casual day.  Jacque was nice enough to let me sleep in a bit, and then we got ready and ventured out to visit the Belarus National Library (a really cool building and one of the places Jacque absolutely wanted to be able to visit during our time here).  We couldn’t go past the lobby, but we bought some cool souvenirs and got some pictures.  They have an observation deck up on top, but that was not open until noon, so we decided to try and do that another time.  Instead, we headed back into town and got some McDonald’s for lunch.  After lunch we came back to the apartment and got the girls down for rest time.  Jacque took a luxuriously long nap and I worked while the kids played and colored.  It was a nice afternoon!  After dinner, Jacque went off to teach her English class and I stayed with the kids and watched a movie.  It was a good day.

Thursday was my big work day.  I had a lot I wanted to get done, so I spent most of the morning working and then came in to the office after lunch.  I worked on research on some other workshops I will be doing in the next couple of weeks and I met again with Vladimir (director of the business school) to talk about strategy stuff.  I had a short dinner break and then taught my MBA class (went well) and then got home a little before 10 pm. 

Friday was a rather relaxing day.  Much of the morning and afternoon was devoted to playing with the kids, reading, and otherwise hanging around the apartment.  Shortly before 5 pm, Valya (from church) came to babysit the kids and Jacque, David, and I left for the Fulbright reception at the U.S. Embassy.  The reception was very nice and David was the life of the party (he pretty much entertained everyone!).  We arrived back to the apartment around 8 pm, got the kids to bed, and then finished the night off with a treat and a movie.  It was a good day.

Saturday was a very relaxed day.  I actually spent most of the day reading a book ("Defending Jacob") and hanging out with Jacque and the kids.  It was nice!   Today was church, which was very nice.  However, it was a bit rainy on the way back, which made it a bit interesting!  All part of the adventure!  Now we are back and warm!

More on my Visit to ScienceSoft

A couple of days ago I briefly posted on my Tuesday visit to ScienceSoft.  Yesterday, the ScienceSoft PR director sent me this intranet post related to my visit, as well as a few other pictures she took during the presentation and Q&A.  

After a one-on-one with the CEO, I had a training/Q&A session with 30+ members of the ScienceSoft management team, where the topic of the presentation was "Strategic Human Capital Leadership: Leveraging Employee Capacity to Optimize Workplace Potential."  We had a great discussion and there were many very good questions about how what I was emphasizing could specifically be applied to the IT outsourcing industry in Belarus (which is what ScienceSoft does). 

It was a fun visit and I am looking forward to having similar opportunities in the future.  

 

Also, since my visit Monday with leaders at the Belarus High Tech Park, we have formalized details for my "Strategic Human Capital Leadership" training series, which will begin this coming Tuesday and be offered on three consecutive Tuesday afternoons to management of the more than 100 High Tech Park companies.  It should be quite the learning experience for me and hopefully I can add value to these business leaders who will be taking time out of their busy schedules to come and participate.  We still have details to work out on my visits/presentations to leaders in other cities around the country.  It should be interesting!