Andrew Pearce

Tell us a little bit about your career story and what you do now.

I didn’t start out pursuing a career in change management. In fact, I attended university to become a secondary school music teacher; a world away from what I do now. I’ve always played & loved music so I thought that would be the career for me, until I realised I wanted to keep my career and my hobbies separate.

After some overseas travel I made the move to work in banking for various banks in New Zealand before landing my first leadership role – National IT Help Desk Manager. This role was my first exposure to the world of IT & I really loved it, so much so that I was inspired to undertake my MBA specialising in organisational change and strategic IT.

Gaining my MBA gave me the confidence and knowledge to start my own consulting business, which I ran for six years, consulting to organisations to improve customer service in the IT environment. I was working closely with help desks and contact centres in New Zealand before moving to Australia in 2001, to focus on service delivery improvement project management. Customer service is very much about connecting with people and building relationships, and that is something you don’t do as much in an 100% IT role. My consulting background meant I could enjoy the best of both worlds, so I really suited the people focus required in organisational change management.

I’ve been fortunate enough to complete change management work for organisations such as Brisbane City Council, NAB, Origin Energy, City of Gold Coast and Urban Utilities. My last two years have been at Allianz Partners where I worked in projects across both IT and business improvement, as well as raising change management maturity within the organisation. I’m now working for Senex Energy within their digital transformation change management team.

Senior Change Manager

Senex Energy

Do you have any tips for anyone looking to pave a path in change management?

One of the best things to do is jump onto the Change Management Institute website and take a look at the resources about change management. It’s a global volunteer organisation that’s both supporting & promoting change management as a profession. I’ve been a CMI members for over 15 years and, as change managers often work alone, I love the energy of CMI networking get togethers & professional development sessions.

Another tip or an approach I use in my change management practices has always been to start with the end in mind. For example, if you work backwards from a timeframe like six or twelve months into the future, you need to foresee how something you are implementing will be received. Ask questions like, ‘will people talk about how this improves their day-to-day?’, or ‘will this new system improve how employees are talking to customers compared to six months ago?'

How do you balance work and life?

When you have kids, a lot of your personal life is consumed by raising them and spending valuable time together. But as the kids grow up and they start creating their own lives, you’re left with more spare time to fill, and sometimes that spare time ends up being consumed by work. It’s easy to do but it’s not good for you. Just like you manage your work calendar with meetings and to-do lists, you need to schedule in time to unwind in your private life as well. It takes discipline to not work all the time, and that’s why I have hobbies such as playing guitar and going to concerts to relax and fill up my spare time. I also volunteer time with the Change Management Institute, and I’m involved in mentoring there too.

Gaining get buy-in from people who have been in an organisation for years, and ones that have just joined, to adapt and adopt to new systems and processes. It’s that challenge that I enjoy, and that’s why I keep doing it. I’m continuously learning about and meeting new people and affecting impactful change with consideration of people at the centre of things.

My career has evolved around people, from customer service to change management, but it’s absolutely not been a considered or planned career. There’s been variety across industries, business outcomes and technologies, and I embrace that variety.