Bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge from the private and the public sector, Deborah Jenkins shares how she has adapted to her role as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR).
What’s it been like coming in as the COO for the Corporate and Enabling Services Group of DEWR - and leading HR professionals in an agency that has a focus on employment and workplace relations?
I’m seriously passionate about people and leading people, so to have a job that incorporates leading our Chief People Officer and the People team is a dream come true.
DEWR is only a year old, so we’ve been building the frameworks for a new department from the ground up, which is really exciting because you get the chance to think about what culture, which policies and what environment you want to create, and not be limited by what others have created before you. We also had a brand-new Secretary and changes to our leadership group which allowed us to think about what we wanted to be and how we wanted to do it: #teamDEWR and #departmentofgreatjobs.
When you think about what DEWR does, our People team is involved in almost everything we do and not just typical ‘HR things’ such as supporting our leaders with recruitment or performance management. They’re also involved in our location strategy, IT strategies, recruitment, integrity, and enterprise risk management.
Obviously, we’re always conscious that people look to us as a model employer, and we take this very seriously - one side benefit is we have the workplace relations policy expertise on tap!
You advocated using a collaborative approach while at the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), do you have any advice for HR professionals and how they could be more collaborative day to day?
Anyone who has worked with me will know I can’t stand ‘them and us’ situations. I focus on ‘what is the outcome we are all trying to achieve?’ A sense of shared values makes such a difference. It doesn’t mean you aren’t clear about roles and responsibilities; it means you are working together to achieve the higher order purpose - in our case to support people to have safe, secure, and well-paid work with the skills for a sustainable future.
To be collaborative though, I always say you need to understand the world of the people you are supporting so you can be a real partner. For HR professionals this means spending time to get to know your internal clients; what they are trying to achieve and what are their challenges and opportunities. HR professionals can add so much more value when they understand strategic as well as operational challenges. As a testament to that, some of my HR business partners from 20 years ago are still good friends and trusted confidants. When done right it’s a really special relationship, so think about it as a great opportunity for collaboration.
There are currently a lot of changes across the APS, which are you most excited to see?
It’s really hard to pick just one change - I’m really excited about the opportunities the APS Reform can bring - it just feels so right to be part of the APS at this time. It really is our time to shine; to bring our role as stewards of the system to life and to think about how we can use human centred design to create policies and delivery that really understands users/clients.
There are four APS reform priorities. An APS that:
- embodies integrity in everything it does
- puts people and business at the center of policy and services
- is a model employer, and
- has the capability to do its job well.
If you’re not familiar with APS reform, I’d recommend you check out www.apsreform.gov.au.
There is one part of enhancing our capability that I’m delighted to be focussed on as the chair of the COO Subcommittee, which is about SES Leadership Performance Frameworks. I’m passionate about this work, which acknowledges that we have traditionally rewarded SES for delivery and outcomes, but we haven’t focussed as much on the how, i.e., the behaviours exhibited in getting things delivered. Our proposed leadership framework ensures that in assessing SES performance, we look not only at what the SES delivers but how they deliver it. I’m sure in our careers we’ve all encountered leaders who deliver time and time again, but the way they treat people in achieving this leaves a bit to be desired. The focus on leadership frameworks is important at all levels of the APS, but we are starting with SES.
What do you think the tight labour market means for APS employers?
In a really tight labour market, the public service doesn’t have as many levers to pull as the private sector; for example, we can’t throw bonuses at our people. But what we can do is focus on a few things that set us apart - our point of difference and our employee value proposition.
Very few workplaces can offer the same shared sense of purpose, the wide variety of work and roles (often within the same organisation), and opportunities to be part of nation building opportunities. No, it’s not Utopia - just the opportunity to work on incredible initiatives that can make a massive difference to Australia. For example, I’ve had the opportunity to work on Single Touch Payroll, COVID stimulus measures such as Cash-Flow Boost and JobKeeper, eInvoicing and some innovative projects to stamp out the shadow economy. We are so lucky to be part of these projects and sometimes we take these opportunities for granted.
Importantly, at the end of the day people don’t work for organisations, they work with people. That’s why when recruiting, when thinking about culture, what will attract people to our organisation - I often think about the importance of visible leadership, our employee networks, demonstrations of active allyship, and a commitment to the Priority Reforms on Closing the Gap as things potential employees are looking for. HR has such an important role in ensuring an organisation’s commitment to diversity and inclusion is real and demonstrable.
But don’t forget our HR leaders need the support of business owners within their organisations, working together with them to frame the employee value proposition and to bring it to life.
Finally, what career advice would you give 18-year-old Deborah?
18-year-old Deborah wore socks with high heels and inappropriate suits to interviews because I didn’t have parents who worked in the corporate sector to tell me what to wear! But seriously, there are three things I wish I knew 30 years ago:
- Be yourself - don’t try to be someone else - it’s called authentic leadership. Over the years I’ve had so many people telling me to conform to a certain look, style, approach and then I had this one coach who said - no, don’t change to suit others and it was a game changer. My point of difference was that I wasn’t like all the other leaders - and it was also much easier to be me!
- You will never please everyone, but be transparent, fair and communicate well. I never like letting people down or disappointing people, but in the end, I learnt the hard way that whatever you do, you’ll never be able to please everyone. How you make your decisions, how you engage with people, how you consult and how you communicate makes the world of difference.
- Every job you ever do adds to your ‘tool kit’ of skills - don’t think of yourself as ‘only’ a technical specialist. Think about the skills you use every day, in problem solving, negotiation, relationship management, project management and many more areas. When I worked out I wasn’t ‘just’ a GST technician the world opened up to me - and now I’m the COO for a Federal Government Department… who would have thought? Not 18-year-old Deborah!