Career Advice From Australia’s Leaders In Financial Services

Kaizen Recruitment had the honour of sponsoring the annual Current and Future Leader’s event organised by FINSIA. The event attracted over 200 aspiring future leaders who were there to gain insights from experienced financial services leaders.

Key takeaways from the event

Keynote speaker, Joseph Healy, CEO of Judo Bank, stressed the need to focus on the core values of the industry such as ethical practices, which are at the risk of dilution. Culture; once set in, is always difficult to change.

His key message is to be, “committed to lifelong learning” which enables one to encourage others and impart suitable advice, helping shape the future.

Kylie Gardner, Head of Human Resources at Bank of Melbourne discussed how organisational culture is increasingly being led by psychometric tests. She explained how differently organisations use these to meet various objectives, from determining aspiring candidates’ aptitude and ability to learn, customer centric mindset, and the resilience and agility to change. Ethics and the respect for rules rank highly. These invariably determine what the future leadership may look like.

Historically, titles and salaries were measures of success; however young professionals now care more about the exposure they gain, the environment and the value they can add to an organisation, along with the value the firm adds back to society. Given the mindset, Kylie encourages aspiring leaders to evaluate opportunities on how this nurtures an employee to make the most of the experience and contribute to a more sustainable future.

Kylie discussed how restructures form a natural part of a business’ story; leaders hold a crucial role in the process. Her advice is to get the strategy right first, allowing processes and workflows to follow second after having communicated the message of the reason and significance of the restructure across the entire organisation. This fosters better acceptance and a smoother experience for all involved.

Erika Perkins, Regional General Manager, Westpac echoed Joseph Healy’s advice on continuing to learn to get off the plateau and think of one’s future as compounded interest.

She encouraged enjoying the present but not losing sight of the future. One should write down goals, whether it is personal, work-related or financial, and take action.

A vital contributor to what shapes us is who we surround ourselves with, both professionally and personally. Being intentional and thoughtful can define this if we consciously reach out to someone different each week. In Erika’s words, “life is the best university.”

In the same line of thought, it was the openness to new challenges that helped chart the path for Deanne Keetelarr, General Manager, Financial Services, Australia Post. She emphasised the need for a commercial outcome in everything that she does.

Deanne mentioned that there is no silver bullet and that the important recipe for success is to have a vision, clarity of the broader opportunity and to break down into bite-sized chunks the actions one takes to deliver. Complementary to this is being authentic, irrespective if one is a manager or not. When working with stakeholders, it is important to be clear of the support one needs from them and why, what is the buy in, which once achieved wins trust.

Some additional words of wisdom included the importance of networking which multiple leaders such as Randolph Morrison, CEO, Beyond Strata and Michael McQueen, Head of Investment Strategy, LUCRF Super highlighted.

Michelle O’Brien, Head of Finance Operations, Coles also emphasised the importance of creating a balance between personal and professional lives. Establishing clear expectations is important; this stems from trust and open communication, strong pillars of an employee – manager relationship.

On the whole, the event served as a great avenue for the youth to gain guidance on a variety of topics from the industry’s spearheads and learn more about how they can pave their own path. As recruiters, it is heartening to see how such advice helps shape careers, and on behalf of Kaizen Recruitment, thank you to all those who shared their stories.

Regards

Nupur

Nupur Gill – Senior Recruitment Consultant