Mentee: Amie Sanfilippo
1.Tell us about your current role, qualifications and experience.
I am an HR advisor for HCF, Australia’s largest not-for-profit health fund, and have been in my current position for three years. As my role is generalist in nature, I really enjoy the variety this provides.
Broadly I am responsible for providing advice, support and training to my main client group, the HCF Dental Network, which consists of around 300 staff. Day to day, I act as a point of reference for staff and line managers on employment, remuneration and performance management matters. Other responsibilities include managing workers’ compensation claims, re-negotiating Enterprise Bargaining Agreements and managing the HCF Dental Assistant Traineeship.
I completed a bachelor of business (majoring in HR and IR) and have worked in HR for the past eight years, gaining experience in various industries such as insurance, hospitality and higher education.
2. How long have you been in the mentor program?
This is my first experience as a mentee and I began the program in July last year.
3. Tell us about your first session.
After getting to know each other and agreeing on how often we would meet, Athena and I talked about our backgrounds, why we entered the HR field and our career progression. Athena was particularly interested in my motivation for joining the program and what I hoped to achieve.
4. How has Athena been of help to date?
I really enjoyed Athena’s approach to mentoring and found it very effective. Athena kicked off the mentoring by suggesting that I select a number of goals to focus on over the next year.
The goals varied from ‘having’ goals to ‘being’ goals, which related to both my work life and personal life. After selecting my goals Athena provided guidance on how to formulate SMART goals (smart, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) and reviewed my action plans. Since undertaking the program, I have received a significant pay increase and will be acting in my manager’s position for a period of time while she is on leave.
Separate to assisting me achieving my goals, Athena supported me with preparing difficult conversations that I needed to have in the workplace, allowing me to learn from her experiences, forwarding helpful learning materials and guides and encouraging me to apply for my manager’s maternity leave position.
Most importantly, Athena helped me by being open minded, willing to listen and understand, and by sharing her positive approach.
5. Would you encourage other young professionals to join the program?
I would definitely encourage other young professionals to join the program. It is a fabulous learning opportunity and one that I have continued to learn from – particularly when reflecting back on the program and reviewing the goals I had set. I also think that by taking the initiative to undertake a program such as this, young professionals are able to show their employer that they are serious about managing their own career and getting ahead.
Mentor: Athena Chintis
1. Tell us about your current role, qualifications and experience.
I lead the HR function for the Property Council of Australia, which is the leading industry group for Australia’s $600billion property industry. My role is busy, challenging and diverse – I’m responsible for the day-to-day operations and strategic direction of the organisation’s HR agenda.
My career in HR has spanned 20 years and includes various management and specialist roles, mainly within the finance sector. I have graduate and post-graduate qualifications in HR, and am a chartered member of AHRI.
2. How long have you been in the mentor program?
This is the fifth year I’ve been involved as a mentor in the AHRI mentoring program.
3. Tell us about your first session.
When Amie and I first met, she’d just had a performance review and wanted to use that as the impetus for setting some program goals, but we took it one step further. I used the ‘One2One Mentoring Sort Cards’ (developed by McCarthy Mentoring).
This is a really easy-to-use exercise and it helped us identify a number of personal and professional goals that Amie wished to tackle over the next 12 months. From there, we developed action steps to work towards achieving those goals. I was really impressed with Amie’s enthusiasm and willingness to learn and take on new challenges. She was a fantastic mentee.
4. How do you feel you’ve helped Amie?
I know that Amie appreciated our discussions and the advice I gave on a number of fronts – personally and professionally. Career growth was one of Amie’s goals. She put her hand up for an internal promotion opportunity and I was stoked when she was successful! To be honest though, Amie came up with the answers herself most of the time. I just acted as the sounding board and made sure she stayed true to herself and the original goals she set.
5. Would you encourage other professionals to share their time?
I was surprised to see one of my old uni friends at an AHRI mentoring event. When I asked what she was doing there, she reminded me that I once advised her to consider being a mentor. So yes, I would encourage other professionals to share their time. I’ve really enjoyed being part of the program. It’s a great opportunity to give back to the HR profession and it’s satisfying to see others develop and grow.