How my love for good processes led me to Parbery

‘I could see your passion’ was the response from my Parbery interviewer, after asking me why I worked in Business Process Management (BPM), and technical issues caused the volume to go on his computer. I am passionate about documenting good processes. Ask anyone who’s worked with me. I truly believe a good process and regular avenue for review and adjustment can identify and solve many issues within a workplace. I get frustrated by people who think of what I do as only beneficial for senior management when cost cutting. Sure, cost cutting can be a driver and a benefit, but it shouldn’t be the only driver to document and improve a process. In my experience, the greatest benefit is felt at the level of those performing the activities, day in, day out. Senior management get the flow-on effects. 

I had a great introduction to the full-time workforce. I worked at a hotel in Canberra where I had training not only in my direct area but overview training in all aspects of the family-run business. They valued training and knew the importance of understanding, at a high level, the processes applied across the company. Here my love of processes commenced. 

I knew I loved processes and documenting procedures, but I had no idea how this translated into a career, so I spent the next 10 years floating from company to company, working in office administration. Although I worked in a variety of industries, from health to finance, to publishing, all my positions had one thing in common: how people worked together and how I could make their jobs easier. Time and time again I found I was documenting a process or providing training or assistance in how people worked. 

It wasn’t until I was working in higher education that I discovered my love of processes was an actual career path. A manager asked me why I hadn’t applied for a position with the improvements team. I hadn’t even thought about it. It took someone else to point out to me that what I loved was Business Process Management, and I could make a career out of it. 

As I mentioned, those who’ve worked with me know my love of processes and that, to me, it’s about helping people make their jobs easier. When my friend saw the job at Parbery, she knew it was right up my alley, even though it was in a different part of the country. A role must be pretty special for you to pack up your life and move interstate. I’m a Melbourne girl, through and through, and the thought of moving out of Melbourne was a tough decision, but Parbery demonstrated they were not only on the same page as me with their passion for good processes, but also with me in their passion to helping people work better. That’s something I just couldn’t pass up being a part of. 

I’ve recently moved back to Melbourne (as I said, Melbourne girl!) but I still work with Parbery and I still help government departments document and improve their processes.