Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure

Services

Qualifications relevant to the duties of the position and/or substantial

work experience relevant to the position

My career, which spans some 23 years, has been firmly based in customer
service and administration.

Whilst in more recent years I have held management roles, these roles have
been very hands-on rather than purely supervisory roles.

During the time I was employed as a Retail Support Assistant with the
Woolworths Regional Office, I provided high level administrative support to
various senior management including the Regional Manager, Retail Support
Manager and Regional Project Coordinator to name but a few. These duties
included: the compilation of data to formulate store operating standards for 74
Woolworths supermarkets, coordinating and organising new store openings,
including staff, resources and materials, report preparation, management of
waste removal and recycling for 74 Woolworths Supermarkets, dealing with
customer complaints and enquiries and the operation of standard office
equipment including faxes and photocopiers. In the absence of the Retail
Support Manager, I was required to ensure the smooth operation of the office
and ensure the required workflow was completed. Other duties included the
training and development of staff both face to face and over the phone for new
computer systems introduced into stores. I was also required to manage,
maintain and order general office supplies including stationary and general
requisites.

My current role as Administration Manager with The Good Guys is very diverse
and requires me to perform a multi faceted role.

I am responsible for a small team of administration staff on a daily basis who

receive and process cash payments from customers and deal with customer
complaints, enquiries and returns. I am also responsible for all staff, up to 25
team members, in the absence of the Proprietor of the store.

The role I perform focuses not only on supervisory functions but financial and
reporting functions including the extraction of sales and financial data and
compilation of figures for presentation to the Proprietor on a daily and weekly
basis. These figures are also used as a basis for payment of commission to sales
staff on a monthly basis, for which I am responsible for calculating.

Other duties include first point of contact for customer enquiries, training,
development and supervision of staff, report and submission preparation and
Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) team leader and Return to Work
Coordinator. I am also responsible for processing stock orders and overseeing
the receipt of this stock through our warehouse operations.

Current Class C Drivers Licence

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

I am in possession of a current Class C drivers licence No 6591DJ.

Solid experience working effectively in a team based environment

Each of the positions I have held during my career have required me to work as
part of a team as well as alone or with minimal supervision when required.

Effective teamwork requires the ability to communicate openly and the ability to
listen and share ideas to ascertain the best possible way to complete a task or
resolve a situation. Effective teamwork also involves the ability to work
individually on tasks as required.

Experience in adapting to and influencing change in a working

environment

Change within a working environment has become a norm in today’s society.

Woolworths especially, due to competition was continually changing policies,
procedures, store layouts and management staff. These changes required
different adaptation methods. Whilst these changes were challenging in
themselves, I found meeting them head on with an open mind to be the best
tactic. The last two (2) Woolworths Supermarkets I was located in were part of
the ‘2010 Concept’ trial which meant a complete refurbishment and restructure
of the store. The most challenging aspect of the refurbishment being customers
having to deal with another relay or change in location of products within the
store. I found an open minded approach and an extra willingness to assist
customers with the location of products enabled me to adapt to the change with
some ease. Encouraging other team members and leading by example with this
philosophy ensured that even in my absence customers were receiving the same
treatment. The assistance we were providing as a team gave customers a
feeling of being important with that extra touch of customer service.

Influencing change and change management in a working environment can be a

very delicate process. Many people are reluctant to embrace change and there
are usually a multitude of reasons for an individual’s reluctance in this pursuit.
The most effective way of overcoming resistance to change that I have found is
by showing the ‘resister’ what is in it for them. Communication is also very
important in the change process. Recently in The Good Guys we have gone
through a restructuring of staff where there was a great resistance to the
changes that were put in place including rostering issues and staff conflict
issues. I found that communicating the positives to all staff involved in the
changes made them easier to implement and there was less resistance to the
changes when they were put in place.

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

Willingness to embrace new ideas/learning

I am able to embrace new ideas and willing to learn new skills. As part of my
career development and progression through to department manager with
Woolworths, I was required to adapt to new ideas and methods of learning.
When I commenced with Woolworths, I had never been part of a large retail
organisation. On commencement of my employment in 2001, I was part of a
team who set up a Regional Office providing support to 74 stores. We were
required to learn current policies and procedures from a National Office level and
adapt them to a regional format. Whilst national policies and procedures were a
large component of our learning, these procedures were then modified to work
on a regional level. As I progressed through to the management level within
Woolworths, many of the systems and procedures changed with the introduction
of touch screen registers and the self serve registers which were placed in some
of the stores including the Wagga Marketplace store where I was last positioned
as Customer Service Manger. These new systems completely changed the role
of Customer Service Manger where many of the daily and weekly duties
performed went from being manual to automatic with the use of new computer
technology and systems. The new format was designed to reduce the time
required to perform certain tasks through manual labour and reporting methods
for both myself and service cashiers. This system required many changes in
ideas, formatting and required me to relearn a role I had been performing for
some time prior to this. I feel I adapted to the change and new methods of
learning very well.

On commencement of employment with The Good Guys, I was required to learn

a completely new role and function as Administration Manger. This role change
required me to learn a new set of computer programs, procedures and methods.
Each report received from the Support Centre Training Department indicated
that I had learnt and understood these policies and procedures with ease.

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

Well developed communication (oral and written) and interpersonal

skills relevant to the position and strongly focused on the provision of
quality customer service

Over the last 23 years I have developed strong oral and written communication
and interpersonal skills. In my roles with the Water Board at the commencement
of my career, I was required to deal with customer complaints, both oral and
written. Since then, having worked in fields dealing with customer service, I
have been able to further develop these skills including the time I performed
static security work.

In each of the fields I have worked in I have been required to deal with all levels
of people including internal and external customers. I have also been required to
prepare training documentation and reports and submissions for presentation to
all levels of staff including high level management. This written documentation
has always been received well.

In my role as Customer Service Manager with Woolworths I was required to deal

with customers, staff and management of all levels on a daily basis. Many of my
dealings with customers were when they were agitated or expressing concerns
over customer service within the store or the relocation and inability to locate
products. The installation of the self serve registers at the Wagga Marketplace
Woolworths was also a major concern for customers who would either find
difficulty in the use of the newly installed registers or would raise concerns in
using them because of the possibility of staff losing their jobs. Dealing with the
customer complaints and issues with this system was very challenging but one
that I successfully managed for the first three months of the systems installation.

Again in my role as Administration Manager with The Good Guys, I am required

to deal with internal and external customers including members of The Muir
Electrical Company board. The range of people I deal with on a daily basis
requires me to be able to judge a situation and the people involved and adapt
my responses to each of the individual situations. This ability to adapt to various
situations requires very strong and well developed communication skills.

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

Sound conflict resolution and negotiation skills

During the course of my career I have developed strong negotiation and

conflict resolution skills. Various roles, including my position as Customer
Service Manager with Woolworths and my duties as a Security Office have
required me to deal with agitated and aggressive people from all walks of
life. I believe that any situation I have been required to deal with has
resulted in a win / win outcome.

Sound conflict and negotiation skills are also necessary when dealing with other
team members on a daily basis. Conflict between internal staff members may be
caused by personality clashes. External influences in a staff member’s life may
also cause conflict in areas where none has previously been evident.
Ascertaining the cause of the conflict and negotiating a positive resolution in
these instances can be delicate but, with the right approach to each situation, is
not impossible. I have recently had to deal with situations where a staff
member’s personal life has lead to conflict within the workplace. Once the root
of the problem was evident, the resolution of the conflict became much easier to
deal with for all members of staff involved.

Solid time management, planning and organisational skills

I have excellent time management and organisational skills. I find the use of a
diary or the electronic equivalent beneficial in the setting of goals, deadlines and
in prioritising. I have also found the setting of ‘early lines’ assists me in
achieving desired results on or before time by reducing stress and pressure. I
pride myself in my ability to be organised in both my work and home
environment.

During the last 16 months since commencement of employment with The Good
Guys, I have found these skills being tested and challenged where I have had to
not only manage, organise and plan my own time but that of the Proprietor of
the store. I have handled each of the challenges posed in this matter and have
been able to ensure that all tasks and appointments have been met to schedule.

Sound experience in financial, budgeting and administrative skills

relevant to the position

My varying roles during the course of my career have been administrative

based, including those management positions I have held. I have
practical experience performing all facets of administration functions
through hands on experience. I have also worked in financial roles which
have included maintaining financial records, cash handling and budget
control. I have handled these tasks very well and am confident that I have
all the necessary attributes you seek for this role.

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

As Customer Service Manager with Woolworths I was required to work to a

monthly budget for the store to not only purchase requisites such as plastic bags
for customers shopping but also to allow for hours to operate the registers at the
store. Budgets were set by our Regional Office as a percentage of sales and
then each store was allocated a certain amount of hours depending on the
expected sales for the store, the average cost per hour for staff as well as the
size of the store.

Solid experience in the use of Microsoft Office and other relevant

software/database programs relevant to this position

I have sound experience in the use of all Microsoft Office programs. I utilise
these programs on a daily basis in the course of my work and also in the pursuit
of my hobbies in poetry and story writing. I also utilise them to maintain
personal financial records and as a time management facility. I completed a
component through OTEN, TAFE NSW in Business Computing which I passed with
distinction.

Whilst I have had no hands on experience with Council internal computer

programs, I am of the belief that they are based on the same platform of the
Retail 1 system that I currently use at The Good Guys on a daily basis. I am
certain that the use of any computer system utilised by Council would pose no
problems to me. I have found learning and using new systems to be both
challenging and rewarding.

I understand the requirements of the Local Government Act for Council to retain
all records. I am aware that a software package, known as ECW, is used for this
purpose. ECW is similar in its operation to other software with which I am
familiar. A similar type of system was utilised by me when I was employed with
the Water Board in their Inquiry and Investigation Unit to record both criminal
and Workers Compensation based investigations including the recording of
evidence and individuals statements.

Practical experience in risk assessment of projects, activities and tasks

As Administration Manager and team leader of the Safety Committee in my

current role at The Good Guys I am required to carry out risk assessments of
tasks, projects and new systems introduced to our workplace. With a spate of
recent injuries in the workplace and as Return to Work Coordinator, I have found
myself conducting these assessments on a regular basis.

As Customer Service Manager and again as a member of the OHS Team within
Woolworths, I was required to frequently conduct assessments on new
procedures. Looking at and assessing any process or task means breaking down
the elements and being able to determine possible cause and effect that it may
have on an activity or person.

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Mhairi Cartwright – Claim for Position AS002 – Executive Assistant Infrastructure
Services

Knowledge of statutory requirements of various acts and regulations

relevant to the position

I am fully conversant with current OHS and EEO policies and principle. I pride
myself in ensuring that the policies and procedures are met and adhered to in
my current role. I am aware of the Local Government Act and I understand that
its purpose is to regulate and standardise the functions of councils across NSW. I
also understand that there are many other pieces of legislation that have an
impact on councils, including the legislation that relates to roads, railways,
waterways and the environment.

Willingness and ability to complete job related training

I am always willing to learn new skills and concepts. I am keen to complete any
on or off job training that Wagga Wagga City Council would be willing to send me
on to further develop my skills and career with them. I have a proven record in
training, both on-the-job and external. I am currently undertaking my Certificate
IV in Management.