"Fear and uncertainty are huge challenges for leaders right now; leading from a place of fear is never a good idea."
Amy Feind Reeves is the Founder and CEO of JobCoachAmy, a Boston-based consultancy where since 2012 she has leveraged her experience as a senior executive and hiring manager to help professionals at all levels find and keep jobs that make them happy. She has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, The Baltimore Sun, Chicago Herald Tribune, McMillan Digital, and Job-Hunt.org.
She is a regular speaker for undergraduate and new alumni groups as well as at women’s conferences and wellness resorts. Amy graduated cum laude from Wellesley College and has an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College. She is a past President of the Tuck Club of Dartmouth and a current member of the Board of Trustees of The Nature Conservancy of Massachusetts. She lives in Boston with her family. Her first book, College to Career, Explained: Tools, Skills and Confidence for Your Job Search, will be published this summer.
Check out more interviews with entrepreneurs here.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FEATURED?
All interviews are 100% FREE OF CHARGE
Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Amy Feind Reeves: Thank you Jed! I founded JobCoachAmy 10 years ago as the culmination of a long held personal passion for helping people believe they can find work they love, and teaching them how to get it. It’s a strange passion, but it is rewarding. ,I knew people at all stages of their careers could benefit from my insight as an experienced hiring manager, and I provide clients with a unique perspective and significant value because I have been exposed to the inner workings of many companies and industries in my career as a banker, global management consultant, entrepreneur, executive, and non-profit executive.
Two life experiences ultimately led me here.: The first was when I graduated from college and really floundered trying to find my way. I spent a year after graduation as an admin, meanwhile learning all I could about the Wall Street jobs I wanted and teaching myself how to get one. Which I did, and quickly learned that I was good at that job and enjoyed it. So why had I failed to even be able to get an interview the year before? I simply did not know-how. As a result, my passion was born for letting others know that job searching is a skill that, like any other, you can learn to be good at.
The second experience was unexpectedly becoming a single mother and needing to find a job with much less travel than I was used to doing at the same time that I could not afford to give up income. There were just no tactical resources for helping me approach the problem. So I created methodologies for tackling those types of transitions as well. My service offerings have grown as my practice has grown and I love the challenges that every client brings, whether they are just starting out or in the C-Suite.
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Amy Feind Reeves: I think one thing every surviving business owner has learned as the result of the last few years is how to build flexibility into their cost structure. However one thing we still need to pull into the light and address more comprehensively are hidden costs, chief among them employee turnover costs. Recruiting fees associated with employee turnover are just the tip of the iceberg: lost productivity for time spent interviewing candidates, training new hires, burdening a team with the leaving member’s workload, a potential reduction in work quality during times of transition, and interrupted customer relationships can weigh heavily on the profits of an organization..To thrive going forward, employee retention strategies should be on every corporate agenda.
I’m not sure we have learned our lesson from The Great Resignation. We’ve been in a confusing time where competition for good people has been fierce, yet when key managerial professionals resigned they were not necessarily replaced, which triggered (in my opinion) The Great Resignation from those overworked employees left behind to make up the slack. So while there are more jobs available now, it may be that many higher level jobs have been systemically eliminated by being left unfilled. If the cracks in the economy deepen as 2022 continues, we may find this to be yet another curveball from the COVID years.
For businesses to thrive in a post-COVID world, having an organizational structure that supports an effective number of levels and jobs for peak effectiveness is going to be key. And the key to being both effective and profitable is going to be retaining a staff of carefully curated employees. In my own business, I mainly see revenue opportunities to link my former career in organizational restructuring to one of my current roles helping employees and managers build the pathways of communication and growth that lead to improved retention.
I have learned in recent years that the premise on which I founded my business, that there are alway good jobs for good people, held true even during the global pandemic. The career newbies, professionals in transition, and C-Suite executives I worked with all were able to identify clear goals and find new roles that made them happy. They no longer suffer the “Sunday Night Scaries” that had plagued them previously. It doesn’t matter what is happening in the world at large if you are ready for a change, and people turn themselves down for way more jobs than anyone else ever does by simply never applying. The lesson is to be bold in your own career goals as an employee, and work hard as an organization to keep your employees once you have made an investment in hiring them.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Amy Feind Reeves: Stop trying to guess what is going to happen next and focus on your business’ fundamentals. A company with happy customers, strong cash flow, a flexible cost structure, innovative ideas, and happy employees is never going to fall too far behind no matter what the world has in store. Of course, keep your eye on external factors (you can’t beat the classic Five Forces Model by Michael Porter) but don’t try try to outwit the unknowable. You’ll just drive yourself and everyone around you crazy.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Amy Feind Reeves: Well, the coaching industry grew like crazy during the pandemic! It seemed like everyone I know began taking coaching courses of some sort in order to launch a practice. But most people were interested in becoming generalists, and I am very purely a specialist. My passion has always been supporting people in starting and managing their careers, or organizations seeking the best out of their workforce . I have only needed to confirm my focus: I am not in competition with coaches who help you with other things- my expertise is with all things work related based on my 30 years of professional experience.
The corporations and the candidates I serve became more skittish during the pandemic so my job providing tools, skills and confidence got a little harder. But the fundamentals did not change. My methodology for both companies and people is rooted in common sense, which never needs adapting.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Amy Feind Reeves: Spend your time and attention the way you spend your money – carefully and in way that you can track it.
At the beginning of the pandemic, it seemed like we all had a huge amount of free time on our hands from cancelled meetings, events and plans. All that luxurious time felt like a reward for having to make such radical lifestyle changes. I used some of it well by spending time playing games with family and being outdoors exercising. But I spent much more downtime doing things that I really don’t recall or don’t want to. If I could get that time back I would be much more productive.
In 2022, I’ve started to budget my time into “buckets”: career and writing, family and friends, health and well being, fun. I’ll be making sure that I balance those buckets every week or two weeks, knowing that if I lose a lot of time doing something dumb (scrolling online for example) then another “bucket” of time will suffer.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Amy Feind Reeves: I don’t think we can expect hybrid or remote work environments to last forever. Already in 2022 I’ve heard of leading organizations telling employees to get back to the office or find a new job. If conditions worsen and the market becomes more of an “employment buyer’s” market and less of an “employment seller’s” market, expect this phenomenon to spread even more rapidly. The bottom line is productivity rates vary significantly in remote environments, and low producers are harder to identify and manage.
The exception will likely be service providers that offer value to customers through a more streamlined online process, such as virtual medical providers, or shopping without the hassle of traffic or parking. That can also vary widely however, as some patients may want to have a human interact with them physically when discussing physical issues, and shoppers for some types of products will always want to touch and see what they are buying IRL rather than virtually.
We are unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels of IRL interactions and business, but there will be a lot of factors at play before we know how the dust will settle on how much of our lives play out online. My 18 year old daughter and her friends love their FILM, disposable digital cameras. So who knows?
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Amy Feind Reeves: Too many! At least 6 to 9 for work, sometimes 1 to 2 for fun. It would be more if I read books online, but I’ve switched to audio (does that count?) or paper.
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Amy Feind Reeves: My personal story is a big part of communicating that I have been where my clients are and I am not shy about sharing that I have been in their shoes. I want people to understand that my business is really a calling for me to share what I have learned because I know it can make a difference in people’s lives. Part of my story is also the statistics for new graduates in this country: only 40% of college graduates today find jobs that require a college level education and the other 60% often take 5 years to work their way into a role that requires a college degree.
That is a lot of time to spend playing catch up because you did not know how to get the kind of job you took on debt to get. Another study indicates that while 90% of college presidents state they feel graduates leave campus well prepared for professional life, only 11% of employers feel they GET graduates who are well prepared for the workforce. So that data tells a story about the value I seek to provide. Stories definitely make a difference, and I teach my clients how to develop and tell them effectively as part of my core training as well..
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Amy Feind Reeves: Fear and uncertainty are huge challenges for leaders right now; leading from a place of fear is never a good idea.
As 2022 continues fear is bleeding into management styles, leadership and decision making. Everyone is trying to read the tea leaves on the economy,, the anticipated employee resignation wave, and what unforeseen side effects may arise as the result of those factors. This level of fear can create a kind of paralysis that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for stagnation.
The real challenge for leaders is to find their way to psychological safety. Amy Edmondson at Harvard Business School wrote a great book called “How To Create a Fearless Organization” with practical tips for creating psychological safety within an organization in order to innovate and grow. In my opinion, developing the kind of bold leadership that allows an organization to capitalize on uncertainty and not be afraid of it is going to be the key to winning the next few years.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Amy Feind Reeves: Groceries! And other companies that are being transformed by robotics. For my business, I need to know what kind of jobs are available in every industry and how those jobs are changing. Robotics are changing the way a lot of industries operate- automotive, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals…the list gets longer every year. I’m always studying to stay on top of how advances in technology impact or change the jobs around them.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Amy Feind Reeves: Many of the leaders I speak with do take it personally – they feel bad when they lose a good employee, they will often do some introspective thinking about it, and they will definitely worry that they will be judged as deficient leaders for not being able to keep their people. However, that is not going to help any more than turning a blind eye to to the turnover would do. We are experiencing resignations so widespread and so significant that we should not be responding on a 1:1 personal basis but on a systemic level.
If half of all employees are likely to leave their jobs this year, and 80% are doing so because they do not feel valued, there is something structural built into the workplace right now that is causing this phenomenon. What is triggering these resignations and why now? As leaders, we need to go back to basics and identify why employees feel alienated. We all have ideas, including me, but we need actionable data. What are the root causes and what are the solutions?
“Unheard,” “undervalued,” and “misunderstood” are vague examples of the breakdown between an organization’s leadership and its employees. It could translate into feeling disconnected to the company’s goals and not understanding the big picture strategy. It could mean frustration over watching executive pay rise exponentially while annual percentage raises for ordinary workers are small. It could mean employees’ work- life balance is not given consideration, even when it would be very possible to do without mitigating opportunity for organizational achievement. My recommendation would be to identify specific and actionable issues, then identify and implement solutions, as well as cross-organizational forums to share best practices.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Amy Feind Reeves: I would definitely want the ability to instantly figure out any acronym! I work in a lot of industries and a lot of organizations. I do my homework on the important acronyms for every one, every time. And still….I get inter-department and even intra-department acronyms that drive me crazy!
And I hate to halt a conversation to ask what “MLT” means or to waste time trying to figure out whether its a financial or operating term when it reality its just shorthand for something I would never, ever guess like “Mark’s letter tray.” I’ve given up trying to get people to stop using acronyms- I’m ready for the superpower to instantly know them!
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Amy Feind Reeves: Honestly, this year I am publishing my first book with the materials I use to work with private clients who are new or recent grads starting careers. I’m very proud of it because I’ve used it to help some really great people start great careers, after they initially came to me discouraged and frustrated about ever finding their way. This is my chance to share it with a broader audience for a much lower price.
I am very excited about the opportunity to share what I know with more people. Success this year would mean getting out my message to as many people as I can and really making a difference for them.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Amy Feind Reeves for taking the time to do this interview and share her knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Amy Feind Reeves or her company, you can do it through her – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
