Melanie Vala grew up in Australia as a daughter of a small-business owner and the eldest of three children. She moved to London in her twenties to launch her career.
Over the course of the next 15 years, Vala lived in the U.S., Singapore, U.K. and Australia in different executive roles, always having to be the one to adapt to new environments and be the person reaching out to make personal connections.
Vala’s need to bond with colleagues and team members in past roles has positioned her to excel in today’s remote, work-at-home environment, where making connections is not always as easy as it used to be. Additionally, her company Splitit has experienced strong growth in the last year, which led to rapid hiring — Splitit has hired 44% of its team through the pandemic.
This means that almost half of the company has been fully recruited and onboarded remotely.
“Staying connected as a team and with individual employees during these times requires a more concerted effort,” said Vala, chief commercial officer at Splitit. “Where we would have once 'caught up while making coffee' or walking to grab lunch, today we need to consciously check in and schedule time to speak. We utilize Slack and Zoom a lot to bridge the 'remote working gap.' While it is not a replacement for in person connection, the technology is certainly available to make sure you're making those connections.”
As a leader, Vala sees all feedback as valuable. This is an important distinction as it is often too easy to look at the source of feedback and discount it based on the rank of the individual providing it or if it’s from outside the team or even outside the company.
“For me, receiving and taking on feedback back doesn't change at any level,” said Vala. “If someone is taking the time to share feedback, it is my responsibility to hear it and take it on. I truly believe feedback is one of the best gifts someone can receive. I proactively and openly encourage feedback from my team, my peers and the broader organization. This feedback should be seen as a reflection of how you're seen and experienced as a leader, and we should always be looking for ways to continue to get better.”
In balancing work and life responsibilities during the pandemic, Vala confessed that life is not always “peaches and cream,” especially for families with children at home. Vala is a mother of three and has had to balance the needs of her global team with the demands of her family life.
Normally, Vala would be traveling across the globe to meet with Splitit team members, clients and prospects. This has been replaced with the need to spend more time on video calls very early in the morning and late night — not quite the “9 to 5” job that could lend itself to an easier work-life balance.
“I don't believe there's the utopia of 'Work Life Balance' but rather a 'Work Life Harmony' and this will flex and change depending on the macro context of my life at the time,” Vala said. “Right now, the pandemic means I'm working from home, and not travelling. However, I 'balance' this with taking moments through the day to connect with my kids. Maybe I'll eat lunch with them instead of dinner. Or celebrate their small wins, like a good spelling test result, in the moment during the day, vs. getting the full download at the end of the day.
"Work and home is blended right now, and the kids understand that and work understands that. I appreciate the opportunity to bring these two very important parts of my life together and … [I am] grateful that the pandemic environment has in many ways made that totally acceptable and the norm."
