Rachel Mawson
Manager
We met with our very own Rachel Mawson to find out what gets her out of bed in the morning, what her journey was like before LACE, as well as what it’s like to be a part of the team.
What do you like about your job?
I’m a very curious individual. I remember at one of my very first jobs I met with the CIO. It was a typical onboarding process where you sit down with a member of the leadership team. I remember sitting down and immediately firing questions at him. I enjoy learning about where people come from and what makes you you. At the end of it he laughed; ‘I have not got to ask you anything about yourself, you have just picked my brain this whole time’. Working at LACE Partners gives me the opportunity to be curious every day. What I like about my job is finding out about the people who are at the core of what we do and together, seeing how we can bring about change within HR, however big or small.
Successful adoption and change (which you can find out about in Rachel’s previous blog on the LACE Partners website), to my mind, is all around the relationships you build and the way you work together to create an environment where people feel prepared for the change they will go through. A lot of the time it can be about winning people over. Often, you’re meeting a lot of resistance, so being able to understand how to approach resistance in an empathetic fashion is often key.
‘Change’ is more than just training and communications. Don’t get me wrong, these are both a large part of the change work we do, but there is a lot more that sits behind successful change programmes. This is why I think ‘adoption’ is a truer representation of the work we do as change professionals. It signals the relational element to our job, working with leaders and businesses to drive, motivate and sustain the change in behaviour that is often needed to see true success.
What did you do before LACE?
I finished high school wondering what university degree would get me a job. I chose to study Law, Political Science and International Relations.
Truthfully the first job I took after university was the one that paid the most.
For all the New Zealanders out there, I worked for ACC (the Accident Compensation Corporation) for all those non-New Zealanders ACC provides compulsory insurance cover for personal injury for everyone in New Zealand. It was a great first job and I learnt a lot within the Portfolio Management Office for their Strategic Change Portfolio. Basically, governing all the amazing projects and programmes that bring about significant change to ACC’s customers. On reflection, at such an early start in my career I got some great exposure to senior leadership and strategic decision making at its finest.
Eventually I got itchy feet and wanted to see the rest of the world. So I jumped on a plane and travelled through some interesting places eventually finding my way to the UK and working with LACE as an Associate and then as Practice Lead. I have been with LACE since 2015.
How would you describe the culture at LACE?
I could never work somewhere where I didn’t enjoy the people I work with. The LACE culture for me is about working with passionate driven people to deliver the best possible experience for our clients, and having fun doing it. The trust we have between one another really does mean we can work at our best.
I’m really passionate about how we create high performing teams and maintain a healthy company culture. Everything I know from my own experience tells me it is about is around feeling empowered through trust.
If you would like to talk to us about joining the team then get in touch here.
