Stanwell’s values of “we care, we adapt, we deliver” align with Information Resources and Service Desk Manager, Vicki Dyer’s personal values too, and reflect the twists and turns of her own career journey.
As a working mum, Vicki has successfully juggled a challenging career with Stanwell with her busy family life. She credits Stanwell for helping her continue to develop professionally and personally and for encouraging her to explore new opportunities.
Develop skills and gain experience
Since her first role at CQUniversity in the Records Department, Vicki has always been passionate about Records Management and Information Science and studied both throughout university.
Although she didn’t have a lot of computer experience to begin with, she was able to pick up the skills she needed quickly and, after a few years, became the Corporate Records Manager at CQUniversity. When Vicki felt it was time to take on more of a challenge, she “jumped at the opportunity” to apply for the role of Registry Coordinator at Stanwell. A site-specific role, managing a small team, Vicki looked after the technical designs and drawings – ensuring latest revisions were accessible to engineers and plant technicians – records and archives across the organisation. Vicki says:
“I knew I’d made the right decision to further my career with Stanwell when I started to interact with the people. It gave me a real feel for the wonderful culture at Stanwell.
After gaining Energy Sector experience, Vicki then moved into a corporate role, and took on the “responsibility for setting and managing the strategic direction for records and controlled document management across Stanwell.”
Play a part in the future
Vicki has worked at Stanwell for 14 years and in her current position she now leads two teams with members across all the Stanwell sites. In her time at the company, she has seen many changes across the industry and is eager to be part of that ongoing evolution:
“The energy sector is experiencing an unprecedented period of transformation, not only in Australia but throughout the world, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
In recent years, Records has evolved from being predominantly paper-based to digital and electronic, meaning that Vicki needed to be more involved in the technology component of records and document management. As the industry continually develops, Vicki knows that her team, and especially her work within the area of Information Communication Technology (ICT), will have an important role to play. Being part of a changing industry, which impacts so many people every day, is part of the appeal working at Stanwell:
“The global scale of energy and being able to work in an industry that impacts so many people, keeps my job interesting day-in and day-out.”
Did you know Stanwell offer internal individual coaching programs with accredited coaches, as well as mentoring opportunities?
Learn more about Stanwell’s professional development policies and other employee benefits.
There’s always something new to learn
Always looking to expand on her experience and leave herself open to opportunities for growth, Vicki is grateful to Stanwell for encouraging her to continue learning.
“Stanwell has a real focus on developing their people, offering fantastic learning opportunities and career development pathways. There is an abundance of internal training, as well as on-the-job opportunities for role diversification.”
Vicki also credits her colleagues with inspiring her to want to know more about the business:
“Working with my highly skilled team, colleagues in ICT, engineers, and energy professionals every day helps me expand my knowledge of the industry.”
Just over two years ago, Vicki was asked to lead the ICT Service Desk Team, which is the first point of contact for anyone in the organization with ICT questions or issues. It wasn’t something that Vicki had considered before, but she is hugely grateful for the chance to take on this new role:
“I felt very privileged to be offered the opportunity to take on more responsibility, and for the career and capability development. I love this part of my role and find myself learning new things every day.”
The role is very diverse and, as well as the increased technical skills required, Vicki has also found she has developed vital interpersonal and relationship skills too:
“I think my biggest learning is how to communicate effectively with so many different people. I try to put myself in their shoes so I can understand where they are coming from.”
Learn the skills of great leadership
Leading two very different teams that are geographically dispersed, can have its challenges. Echoing Stanwell’s values, Vicki cares about her team and their wellbeing and wants them to succeed:
“Doing a good job is important for me personally. I am very empathetic and always want to see the best in people and want others to succeed in life and at work.”
Vicki enjoys being a manager and her proudest career highlight so far was being part of the Leading for the Future Program in 2020, an advanced leadership development program. Ten people are invited to take part in a very intense six-month program, and at the end participants are required to present to the Executive Leadership Team. Knowing that the ethos of a company comes from the top, she takes her role as a leader seriously:
“I’m really proud of the mutual respect my team members and I have, as it means I’m doing something right.”
“I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given”
Most of all, Vicki wants to encourage other women to look for the opportunities around them and not to dismiss something just because they hadn’t thought of it before:
“Don’t let an opportunity go to waste. Managing a technical Service Desk team was not on my radar but I am so glad that I took that opportunity because I love that aspect of my role.”
A high-flying career certainly wasn’t in her sights when she was at school, but she wants young women to know that you really can enjoy having a family and a career:
“I thought I’d be a stay-at-home Mum or work part-time, but I’m so glad that I was able to raise my family and also have a career. It involved lots of juggling, but I did it!”
Vicki’s 2 mantras for success
Over the course of her career so far, Vicki has lived by her personal values and encourages others to do the same. She knows how important it is to respect other people, to learn from those around you, and to share your knowledge. The two pieces of advice she’d share with others are:
- “Listen, because there is so much to learn from others. Take opportunities, back yourself, respect others and be humble.”
- “Build relationships and make connecting with others a priority because we are all one team working towards the same goal.”
At Stanwell, it seems that Vicki has found her perfect fit. As she moves into the next phase of her career, progressing in her leadership roles, and with her daughters leaving home, we’re sure she will carry on caring for the members of her team and helping them grow and develop too.
