"This has been one of the most career enriching experiences of the year for me" Jennifer Joypooranachandran Research Technician, Department of Infectious Disease
Jennifer Joypooranachandran, Research Technician at St Mary’s in the Department of Infectious Disease and her manager Hannah Cheeseman reflect on the ways Imperial’s Values can live and thrive as a result of positive manager-employee relationships.
Jennifer, who has been at the Department for two years says she enjoys the autonomy she has been given over her work: “This has boosted my engagement with the team and Hannah, improved my time management skills, and increased my motivation and productivity. I have had the privilege of reaching out to learn new skills, gain new qualifications, and work with a variety of colleagues outside my team. This has strengthened my professional network and enriched my experience as an early career researcher.”
Hannah adds that, as a line manager, she aims to encourage team members to recognise their strengths, but also to reflect on their weaknesses.: “It’s important for them to acknowledge that these weaknesses may, one day, become strengths. I often say that they will learn more from their mistakes than they ever will from doing everything perfectly first time. I support development because even weaknesses can become strengths.”
For Jennifer, the Imperial Values of collaboration, respect, excellence, integrity and innovation were brought into focus during her participation in the College’s IMPACT development programme. This led to discussions around the need to increase awareness of diversity and inclusion across the board, such as for minority ethnic and disabled staff:
“These members have more workplace barriers to overcome,” says Jennifer, “such as cultural, social, and physical barriers, higher rates of imposter syndrome, particularly in women, and lack of representation in senior leadership roles, to name a few.”
This led Jennifer and her IMPACT peers to design a pilot project which sought to increase interaction between employers and employees. The pilot aimed to enhance a workplace culture of recognition and positive reinforcement so that employees feel their needs are being met, and career enrichment opportunities are provided. Empowering all employees, particularly managers to take the lead in enhancing positive reinforcement and self-promotion practices in their workspaces will create sustainable culture change for all involved.
Speaking about the pilot, Jennifer said: “I am very proud of our achievement in working together to design this pilot project and thankful to the team for pulling together to successfully deliver our personal ideas to improve collaboration in Imperial. This has been one of the most career enriching experiences of the year for me. We got positive comments from the EDI Committee and the Provost, plus ODI are interested in the pilot design of managers running the development sessions”
Echoing Jennifer’s thoughts, Hannah feels that managers have a big part to play in bringing the Values to life: “Being a good people manager is about listening and communicating effectively. As a line manager, you should respect your team members and nurture their skills and ideas. Only by doing so can you encourage collaboration, integrity, innovation and excellence.”
Jennifer concludes with a shout out to Hannah’s management style: “She has been the one to inspire and encourage me to explore the opportunities given at Imperial, and externally, which will help me to improve my professional skills so that I can enjoy my work and perform to the best of my ability. I am truly grateful to have a manager who is willing to discuss my needs and pro-actively support me to meet them.
“And I would also like to give a shout out to my former colleague Leon McFarlane (Senior Research Technician). He was an excellent mentor and a role model as a minority ethnic researcher who always looked for ways to grow professionally and help others in doing so.”