Organisation: Queensland Recreation Centres ] Sport and Recreation Services
Job Title: Manager
Word Limit: Maximum 2 pages
Location: Currimundi
With a vibrant and diverse career encompassing information technology (IT), community services, recreational activities and national security spanning over 20 years, I have demonstrated my ability to lead and manage large operational teams in the delivery of high quality service outcomes. My success to date can be attributed to a passion for making a difference within the community and a commitment to “improving the mental and physical wellbeing of humanity.” This personal mission has been a strong motivator throughout my career and in my own self-development and I feel very fortunate that I can contribute to society in a meaningful way through my continued involvement in programs that promote awareness of social, cultural and health issues. In my experience, this helps to encourage a vested community interest in a common goal and can lead to the development of new skills and the pursuit of different interests, such as sport and recreation. For example, while working closely with the Australian Sport Commission, I developed and ran fitness programs for the Active After School program that were designed to foster a greater connection to sport. In this capacity, I encouraged the primary school children to actively participate in safe and fun physical activities that offered many benefits, including increased activity levels, enhanced skills, development of new friendships and social groups, and a greater sense of belonging.
This exciting position as Manager with the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre will give me the unique opportunity to align my personal beliefs and values with the NPSR vision of “flourishing parks and forests, physically active Queenslanders and public confidence in the racing industry”. In particular, my experience managing my own personal training and weight loss business has allowed me to contribute to the provision of quality recreational opportunities to Queenslanders and I look forward to continuing to encourage them to lead active and healthy lifestyles. Recently, I have been developing a community initiative called the ‘1 Tonne Challenge’, designed to help the Sunshine Coast community lose one tonne of weight through walking and eating real food in real portions. This is currently in progress and I have approached and promoted the idea to several business networking groups and the Honorary Steve Dickson (Federal Member for Buderim) who have all expressed great interest in getting involved in this initiative.
Contributing in multiple leadership roles throughout my career, I have employed a servant leadership style that puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible under any conditions. My tenure as a ranked soldier in the Australia Regular Army provided a strong foundation for the development of these skills, where I led by example through commitment, competence and character to promote a team environment of shared enthusiasm and accountability. Leading up to 40 staff in a shared accommodation building, it was crucial that I identified the broader factors, trends and influences that could impact the accomplishment of our mission and the welfare of the soldiers. With a focus on overall unit effectiveness, this included issues of morale, esprit de corps, discipline and proficiency and I managed these by ensuring that plans and policies were implemented effectively, directions were clear and concise, and the soldiers were given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities.
By influencing, motivating and persuading them through individual adoption, not just management instruction, I built strong working relationships that offered my team the support they needed to succeed in the long term. In subsequent leadership roles with Badge Constructions, Underwater World, Queensland Police Service (QPS) and Queensland Treasury, I demonstrated these same attributes to lead busy teams of IT personnel in the achievement of team goals, organisational objectives and work plans. For example, in my current position as the ICT Systems Administrator at Badge Constructions, I developed several strategies designed to improve our overall customer service experience. This included a customer feedback survey as well as the implementation of a new process in which staff provide follow-up with users at the completion of a service desk job to ensure any issues are resolved to the complete satisfaction of the user. This has been a highly successful initiative that has improved service delivery standards and provided an additional opportunity to identify areas for development and reduce performance gaps.
As leader and mentor, it is my intention to encourage and empower my team to be involved in the direction of the company through self-development and a high level of commitment to customer service excellence. Acting as an effective representative of the organisation, I encourage and provide feedback through regular team meetings and forums to create an environment that is conducive to sharing ideas, seeking input, and promoting change. Central to my success to date is the desire to promote services that meet the needs of customers and staff and I achieve this through regular coaching, mentoring, feedback and recognition of value in both formal and informal ways to enhance staff performance and achieve business goals. My passion for becoming a successful and highly regarded leader has grown over the past eight years through my own period of personal development and I have actively studied human factors, effective communication skills and desirable leadership traits. I strive to apply what I have learnt on a daily basis, sharing this information with others and helping them achieve their goals.
Throughout my career, I have applied my strong project and change management skills to successfully manage the full lifecycle of large, complex and organisation-wide projects from initial conception to successful implementation. With a strong background in IT, this has included contributing at a senior level to optimise results and develop risk mitigation strategies to ensure that new initiatives are introduced effectively and deliver appropriate returns. Of particular note is my valuable contribution to the QPS Desktop Replacement Project, which involved replacing over 1000 desktops from PC to Mac for the department. Due to the high-profile nature of the project, it was critical to maintain strict levels of security and establish clear plans and timeframes for implementation to uphold the integrity of the QPS. Following best practice methodologies for change management, I maintained open and regular communication throughout the project that ensured a fair process of consultation and gave staff adequate opportunity to be involved in decisions that affected them.
Understanding that change can cause feelings of uncertainty, I worked closely with senior management to create an environment that facilitated the ability of staff to cope with this significant change through regular training and acknowledgement of individual needs. This project was successfully implemented within a tight timeframe with minimal disruption to the day-to-day operation of the Police force. Applying these highly valuable skills to manage activity programs and large community projects outside the workplace, I currently act as the Chairperson and main driver of the BADGE Queensland Charity Committee, raising $17,000 in 2015. Additionally, I have worked closely with the Noosa Council on several key initiatives, including managing and developing a fitness equipment awareness and training program for equipment along Gympie Terrace in Noosaville. Approaching the Council Community Department with a proposal and a plan for delivering the program, I subsequently obtained approval and funding. This was a highly successful project that received positive feedback for educating members of the public in safely using the outdoor fitness equipment.
Collaborating with a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders throughout my career, I am pleased to say I have achieved a great deal of success building and maintaining relationships with a diverse group of staff, supervisors, customers and internal and external bodies across multiple sites. This is demonstrated by over 20 years of career success in frontline and operational roles where I have assumed a high level of responsibility that has demanded exceptional interpersonal, liaison and communication skills. With the ability to remain calm and intervene during crises, my internal and external customers know they can rely on me to work in partnership with them to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes. Accustomed to providing authoritative guidance and advice within the scope of my role, I tailor my approach to my audience in order to deliver information in a way that is easy to understand and apply to their situation while avoiding unnecessary technical jargon. A good example of this is demonstrated is my current role as the ICT System Administrator for BADGE Constructions, where I provide a high level of customer support for two offices in the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, as well as up to eight construction sites.
At the construction sites in particular, I am required to regularly liaise with staff with low-level technical skills who are often agitated or frustrated when undertaking basic computer literacy tasks. Always entering these situations with a calm and conciliatory approach, I apply effective questioning and active listening techniques to determine the problem and the urgency of the request. Once this is established, I use step-by-step instructions, simple commands and a sense of humour to guide them through the process. By not engaging in an argument but rather delivering a solution in line with organisational policy, I am able to defuse potential conflict. Further, I make a considered effort to follow-up after these jobs, as often there are other issues adding to their frustration that I may be able to offer assistance in by providing upskilling, reference documentation or software upgrades as appropriate. My extensive knowledge of contemporary IT systems will also allow me to bring added value to the role of Manager as I can provide onsite ad-hoc support and oversee system issues from an analytical perspective.
Having contributed within public sector organisations throughout my career, I possess an informed understanding of public service professionalism and the APS Code of Conduct, including a demonstrated commitment to customer service, organisational values, workplace diversity and occupational health and safety. I take great pride in the quality of work I produce and consistently operate within the boundaries of organisational guidelines, exercising tact, discretion and initiative in roles involving all aspects of stakeholder management with a strong community focus. Through my experience working with a diverse community group, I hold a current Blue Card and have a strong commitment to creating and maintaining a child-safe environment that aims to optimise a young person’s potential, wellbeing and participation in the community. I will bring the above values, strengths and passion to any future role and am confident in my ability to truly make a difference within the Sunshine Coast Recreation Centre by leading a team in the delivery of quality recreational opportunities and activity programs for the community.
