Zhenyan's November Reflection
Overall, what aspects of the workplace culture stood out to you, and how did they impact your experience at U+/YRES?
The workplace culture at U+ was incredibly refreshing. One of the most unexpected yet rewarding aspects was the opportunity to work alongside 20+ other university co-ops who were similar in age to me. I’m grateful for this experience as it made it much easier to talk to people my age, while also providing the opportunity to meet a diverse group of people and form lasting friendships. Even as I transitioned into the latter four months of my co-op term, I still had a close-knit bond with the smaller team remaining from the first four months. I wouldn’t have met all these wonderful people if it weren’t for U+ education, which I am truly grateful for.
Something that U+ does really well is allow for the employees to have freedom to choose their shifts and hours. Working in a hybrid model makes maintaining a work-life balance a lot easier as we can allot days off on a tracker and sign out whenever work is completed. The latter is also a benefit that comes with having a smaller sized team and more responsibilities.
Another thing that I really appreciate is how supportive my supervisor is about the professional development of his employees. Not only is he well-receptive of my career aspirations, but he is also accommodating when it comes to giving me projects that align with my goals and skill-building needs. It is really rare to find such an opportunity elsewhere and I appreciate the level of trust needed to pass responsibilities like HR duties to me without hesitation.
How do you think your work has impacted your team and the organization as a whole? Is there any feedback you’ve received that guides your understanding of this?
In a team setting, I try my best to offer help to my team members when needed. For example, as someone who is familiar with a lot of procedures and platforms used in the company, I helped Jessica with getting comfortable running virtual classes, troubleshooting hootsuite, onboarding new hires, etc. I also helped out with Christina’s LEGO Robotics workshops at schools across the York Region to ensure that she doesn’t have to teach a class of 20-25 all by herself. Lastly, I help Tanya with HR duties such as onboarding, interviews, and more generally— HS coop management to alleviate some of her HR workload. I believe this impact is evident as I received some shoutouts in the previous months, highlighting their appreciation of my support.
As the manager of monthly virtual programs under YRES, my work ensures that every step of the process from flyers and newsletters to registration forms and email reminders, these virtual programs are running smoothly with little to no issues. These monthly classes are the backbone of the services we provide, so it is important that I keep myself on high alert when classes are running to ensure that registrations are being sorted, reminder emails are being sent out, classes are being held with no issues, and attendance is being recorded in the end. While I do maintain active communication with our teachers during these times, I still have to give a lot of credit to them for consistently keeping up with this process; together we continue to bring positive impact to the company.
If you could give a piece of advice to your past self at the start of the term, what would it be?
One piece of advice I’d give to my past self at the start of the term would be to be kinder to myself. Early on, I found myself juggling four jobs and a university course all at once. While I told myself it was something necessary for my career development, it quickly became overwhelming. Eventually I had to take a step back to readjust my workload and shift my mindset to find a better balance. Although I commend myself for pushing my limits, I now realize that I didn’t have to take on so much at once. Since then, I’ve learned to manage my workload in a way that’s more sustainable and realistic.
Please give a shoutout to someone who deserves employee of the month and briefly describe why.
I want to give a shoutout to everyone on our fall team:
Tanya: for always being on top of things while maintaining detail and being reliable
Christina: for successfully marking the end to LEGO robotics after its immense success
Jessica: for onboarding, managing, and supporting a team of WEA students like a boss.