Advocating for Support and Resources in the Workplace

In this episode, Dalamu Sherpa, HR Director at I’RAISE Girls and Boys International Corporation, shares her unconventional journey into HR and her commitment to mentoring interns. Dalamu discusses her experience starting as an intern in a mall and her relentless pursuit of HR knowledge. She emphasizes the value of resources in career growth and the importance of support in the workplace. She also shares her approach to training interns in HR, creating engaging newsletters, and promoting transparency as a way to humanize the field of human resources.

Dalamu Sherpa is a dedicated HR professional and current Master in Management student at Fordham University Gabelli School of Business. With a passion for cultivating positive workplace cultures and fostering employee well-being, Dalamu has over two years of experience as a Director of Human Resources at a New York City non-profit, where she leads various HR initiatives and mentors students in the field. Outside of work, Dalamu is an outdoor enthusiast and enjoys volunteering as an Ice Skating Coach, embodying the importance of work-life balance. Here are a few of the topics we’ll discuss on this episode of People Analytics Podcast:

• Dalamu's HR journey began as an intern at an ice skating rink in a mall, where she discovered her passion for human resources.
• Despite not initially landing an internship, Dalamu persevered and found an unpaid HR internship at I’RAISE Girls and Boys International Corporation.
• Dalamu emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and shares her involvement in various training and certification programs.
• As an HR Director, Dalamu takes pride in mentoring interns, providing shadowing opportunities, and preparing them for success in the HR field.
• Teaching interns about the full recruitment process and using AI tools for drafting job descriptions.
• Designing newsletters using Canva to keep employees informed and engaged.
• Emphasizing the importance of education for leaders to understand trends and stakeholders' values.

Resources:

• I’RAISE Girls and Boys International Corporation
• StaffGeek 

Connect with Dalamu Sherpa:

• LinkedIn

Connect with our host, Lindsay Patton:

• LinkedIn 
• Email

Quotables:

• 08:54 - “I have three at the moment who intern with me for either three months or six months, depending on the program that they're doing. I usually like to ask them, what's your preferred timeline? Right? What's your preferred timeline? What is your availability like? So that they have that nice flexibility going on. And as their supervisor, I like to make sure that they're learning about the human resource field. So it's like a shadowing. I like to give them shadowing opportunities and like just allowing them to ask me questions. And I also like to just do either one-on-one training or group training. And it just becomes like a teamwork effort of learning together.”
• 17:28 - “So newsletters, we started launching it this year, let's call it launching, right? We started launching it this year. It's been six months now. The newsletter has been really helpful with not only like keeping the employees, but also like the volunteers, contractors and interns informed about what is going on with the organization, what are the trends that's happening, what is the policy change that might be happening, right? So just making sure that everything is up-to-date, that we are being transparent about what is happening with the organization, if there's any hands-on opportunities that might be happening, making sure we share that.”
• 15:46 - “It doesn't always have to be like Google searching and being strict about like, “oh no, I cannot use AI at all”. But, rather having them just feel free to use AI to be able to draft the, the descriptions, making job postings, anything like that. But it's just like that whole HR but like the administrative part that I like to train them about. And then I also, we also do newsletters together, designing newsletters, using Canva and doing layouts or sending out like mass newsletters or mass email through the emails.”
• 19:32 - “In the newsletter, we have left this spot that says, “give us a feedback”. Give us feedback. We think about the newsletter and by just emailing the HR team. So we have had a couple of staff members let us know, “oh, the newsletter is very engaging”, “Oh, thank you so much. This is so informative”. So even if not all staff have to respond, not all team members have to respond, but just those comments have been so valuable and just letting us know, hey, we are doing a good job.”
• 22:56 - “So for our organization, one of the things that I have been working on and that I am promoting is, which I think it already happens everywhere, transparency. Transparency and what is happening with the organization? What are we planning to do? Making sure that we keep our employees informed. And just for them to not only feel, but for them to know that we care about you and the newsletter helps with that part a bit. And also, you know, like when employees have any concerns going on, being available for them. So whether it is like email communication, phone communication, making sure that I let them know, “Hey, I'm here for you”.”