Elena Alois

Assistant Vice President of Human Resources

Granite Edvance

For over 15 years, Elena Alois has pursued a career in human resources. After graduating from Southern New Hampshire University with her MS in organizational leadership and graduate certificates in human resource management and marketing, she held such roles as the disability/pension coordinator and then the benefits representative with Catholic Medical Center as well as the human resources specialist for Northeast Delta Dental.

In August 2018, Alois joined The NHHEAF Network (now Granite Edvance) HR team as assistant vice president. In the community, she is chair of the Capital Region Food Program Board of Trustees and sits on the board for New Hampshire Jobs for America’s Graduates.

What has been your biggest challenge?

Probably the most recent challenge on a professional level is when I had my first child. Now I’m a working mom, which is always different once you start to live it yourself. So, there’s a challenge of finding that (worklife) balance yourself.

I appreciate the ability of all women caregiving for their child or caregiving for any other family member and figuring out how to do that and work full time. I’m still trying to figure that out. Some days feel like you’re doing really good, and other days you’re like, oh man, I’m giving myself an F for the day.

I think it’s about figuring out who you want to be with it.

What are the values that make a great mentor?

Everyone has the ability to serve in that mentor role.

Some of the best mentors are also helping shape you to find the ways you don’t want to do something. Just because it works for them, maybe it doesn’t necessarily work for you. Mentors have to be someone that is able to listen, share some of their experience. It’s great to be able to connect and compare experiences, but if you’re doing that too much, you can inadvertently direct someone to emulate that. (Mentors) have to find the ways to connect with that person, help them find the way to ask the questions to get to the answer that they might need without giving it to them. But sometimes, they might need to learn (some things) themselves.

Mentors have to be comfortable and have as little ego as possible to know that it might not be exactly how you did it, or they might take bits and pieces and then make it their own. And if they’ve done that, you’ve done your job. You’ve done what you need for them to be able to find their way.

Being in HR, I’m sure you honed your skills to help diffuse problems in the workplace.

People have questions they’re asking and they want answers, but you have to guide and advise versus direct them.

During those more challenging or heated conversations, I ask what would (my mentor) be telling to me?

Would they be saying, “Make sure that face is not the face you have on right now because it’s not giving off the impression you want to give.”

In some trainings, we need both sides: We need somebody who can be direct or more collaborative. They can decide to either dial it up or dial it down. So, if the building is on fire, I’m not collaborating with you. We’re not talking about our feelings. No, I’m going to be the drill sergeant and get you out because that’s what we need. And then afterwards ask, “Let’s talk about how traumatizing that experience was.”

It’s something you definitely have to practice.

What is some advice you have for future female business leaders?

One that I’m trying to give myself is to not diminish the experience that you’ve had or the value that you can provide just because it doesn’t look like somebody else’s. It’s so easy to compare, but everybody has some experience that has shaped them, that could be beneficial to somebody else.

Imposter syndrome can be tough; the feeling that I should do this, or I should have done that, or when you’re never feeling like you’re being 100% perfect all the time. Be able to sit back and look at the things that you have done — look at it as if it wasn’t you. What would you value out of that so that you can recognize what it is that you’ve contributed to your community, to your organization, to your family. It’s going to be different for everybody else.