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<h1>Chris Smith uses Life Leave to make “a fairy-tale come true”</h1>Earlier this year, Chris Smith, Leasing Executive, was one of 90,000 fans watching as Luton Town won their spot in the English Premier League. With only a week’s notice, Chris used his Life Leave to get to London for the match, which “was a fairy-tale come true” and just one example of how our employee benefit is helping our people achieve true work life balance.Chris Smith on the right at Wembley StadiumChris said: “I was born in England and went to watch a Luton Town football (soccer that is!) match for the first time in 1989, aged 12. It was Luton v Manchester United in the old first division. “Since then, over progressive seasons, Luton was relegated to the fifth tier of the English football league – the league below Wrexham AFC for Welcome to Wrexham fans! “Over the past 10 years, I have followed Luton from afar as they have risen like a phoenix from the ashes. Unbelievably, in May this year Luton was one game away from a place in the Premier League. All they had to do was beat Coventry. To put that into context, Manchester City pays one substitute player more than Luton pays their entire team, so it was a big “all”. “One week before the game I secured a ticket to the match at Wembley Stadium in London. “Without our Life Leave policy and the support of my Scentre Group team, I simply would have not been able to get there. The extra leave, and the support of my team to help me achieve the kind of work life balance that saw me in London within a week, was amazing. “The game went all the way to extra time and penalties before Luton emerged victorious!! It was a fairy-tale come true. “Having a policy like Life Leave, that enables you to take the time to do things you otherwise wouldn’t, is incredible. I’m already thinking that maybe I can use my 2024 Life Leave to watch a game in the Premier League?!”<hr/>Our Life Leave Policy provides eligible team members with an additional five days of paid leave per year, pro-rated for part-time team members, aimed at helping our people achieve a better work life balance. It is just one of our employee benefits designed to help our people thrive.<div></div>

"Without our Life Leave policy, I simply would have not been able to get there."

Chris Smith

<h1>Emma Chesterfield talks about activating iconic partnerships.</h1>Having announced our <a href="https://www.scentregroup.com/news-and-media/scentre-group-and-live-nation-to-bring-live-performances-to-customers-across">newest strategic partnership with Live Nation Entertainment</a>, we sat down with our Head of Strategic Partnerships, Emma Chesterfield, to understand a little more about her career journey and the work she’s doing bringing these partnerships to life.I fell into a media sales career straight out of university. I didn’t consciously pick the path but I was having a good time, learning a lot and moving through the ranks, and before I knew it, it was 14 years later. I spent eight of those 14 years with BrandSpace and during that time, I engaged clients to strategically leverage the Westfield environment for their advertising campaigns.Towards the end of my time in BrandSpace I started to build a new vision for my career. I didn’t want to leave Scentre Group but I wanted something new. I considered how I could leverage my disciplined and strategic skillset that was successful in business-to-business sales and apply it more broadly within our business. With support of senior leaders, I moved from sales into Group Manager of Commercial Growth. It was the career change I’d been looking for with all the benefits of staying with a company I loved. At the same time as building my career, I was also going through a personal fertility journey, which Scentre Group was incredibly supportive of. It was a blessing when I finally fell pregnant, but I was nervous that I would lose momentum in work. At the time I was part of the Emerging Female Leaders group and through many honest and vulnerable conversations with those women, as well as senior leaders across our business, I reframed my thinking about parental leave; it wasn’t a stop to my career, it was just the next step in my journey. I was thrilled when I was promoted to the role of Head of Strategic Partnerships while still on parental leave. Through those earlier conversations, my leaders knew my aspirations and capabilities and the messages I’d received before going on leave rang true: taking a break to build my family was part of my career within Scentre Group, not a barrier to it. At its core, my role helps us deliver our plan to create the places people choose to come, more often for longer by building partnerships that deliver unique and exciting experiences for Westfield customers. We have just announced our partnership with Live Nation, that will provide the opportunity for customers to intimately engage with music artists through a program of live music events hosted across our Westfield destinations.I’m really enjoying my new role and I’m so pleased that I sought the support of my leaders and colleagues and openly talked about my career aspirations, while also focusing on my family – Scentre Group wants to be the place for talent to thrive, and they have certainly supported me achieve that. <div></div>

"I was promoted while still on parental leave."

Emma Chesterfield

<h1>&quot;My love for customer service was the most important capability&quot;</h1>We want to be the place for talent to thrive and that includes fostering our people’s professional growth and continuously providing new opportunities so our team achieves their full potential.Addison McGovern, our National Customer Contact Manager, leads a dynamic team of 65 dedicated professionals who work in the Customer Centre. Located in Westfield Parramatta, our Customer Care Centre operates from 7am to midnight every day, providing customer support for parking intercom calls, online enquiries and membership services. Addison shares how his passion for customer service and willingness to explore new opportunities led him from the shop floor to leading our Customer Care Centre. Addison McGovern with a customerI basically grew up working for a large retailer moving through the ranks to become a Store Manager in various locations across NSW. In my last Store Manager role I was also managing online fulfillment for the region gaining experience in e-commerce as well as physical retail operations.I have always been extremely passionate about customer service and it has become ingrained in everything I do. I drive my partner nuts when we go shopping because I can’t help but adjust the clothes on racks in every store we go to!When I was working in retail, I often met with the Westfield Centre Management teams and could see the genuine commitment they had to the customer which is what ultimately led me to apply for the Services Manager role at Westfield Parramatta. I knew I could continue to build my customer service skills in a new industry and within a company that has a wide range of career opportunities.In just four years, I have already had a varied career at Scentre Group.Following the Services Manager role, I took a secondment opportunity as Retail Manager at Westfield Chatswood, before being offered the position permanently at Westfield Penrith.I thrived at Westfield Penrith. With an incredibly supportive Centre Manager I learnt a lot and discussed my future career plans – to become a Centre Manager. Knowing this, my manager actively sought development opportunities to support me, including acting as Centre Manager at one point in time. Later, my manager moved into a support office role and approached me to join her team as an Operations Manager. I was pleased she had thought of me and was still advocating for my career, but it wasn&#39;t a quick decision. I was on the path to becoming a Centre Manager and this opportunity was not the obvious path.With some further reflection I decided to take the opportunity and I am so glad I did! The role allowed me to expand my network and grow my personal brand across the business.Most recently, I have taken on the National Customer Contact Manager role, leading our Customer Care Centre. At first, I was apprehensive about applying for the role as I didn’t think I had all the technical skills, but I realised my experience working in our Westfield centres and my love for customer service were the most important capabilities to be successful.My core focus at the moment is continually improving the Westfield customer experience across all touchpoints outside of the physical experience – and I’m loving it. I’m not a Centre Manager but I’m still building my skills and capabilities, and I know at Scentre Group the opportunity is always open.<div></div>

Addison shares how his passion for customer service has focused his career. 

Addison McGovern

<h1>Talia and Andy share their parenting journey</h1>In celebration of Families Week we spoke to Talia Champagne, Brand Marketing Manager - BrandSpace and Andy Vegter, Project Architectural Manager - Design about how they are creating the right work life and family life balance for their family.Both Talia and Andy have worked with Scentre Group for over 10 years and started a relationship in 2019. Fast forward to today and they are busy parents of 15-month-old August and 12-year-old Leo. Talia said: “Scentre Group offers up to 18 weeks paid parental leave as part of up to 18 months unpaid parental leave. Being with August continuously in her first 12+ months was really important to both of us, and I was able to take approximately 14 months away from work and flexibly use a mix parental leave and long service leave. The timing of my leave worked out well, as I was also able to support Leo as he transitioned to high school. “Now that I’ve returned to work in the last month, it’s great that Andy is able to seamlessly step in to extend this time by using his primary carers parental leave as well.”Andy said: “I agree the level of support we have received from Scentre Group has been great. “It was a fantastic benefit to have an initial four-week period of secondary carers&#39; leave when August was born because it enabled me to support both Talia and August. To have access to another 14 weeks as a primary carer on top of that is an amazing opportunity.“In talking to family and friends it’s not something that all companies are doing. We have a lot of friends that have taken annual leave or tried to maintain the juggle of work and it’s not been easy.”Talia said: “Scentre Group’s parental leave is really inclusive and it allowed us to plan how we wanted to support each other in the last few weeks of pregnancy through to my coming back to work and Andy stepping in. It can be a really stressful time but it’s stress we didn’t have to navigate.”Andy said: “For us, the main thing we want to achieve as a couple is a better family balance. When I was working, August’s reliance on her Mum, even when we were both at home, was still at around 95%. The opportunity for August and I to spend more one-on-one time together has strengthened our relationship so Talia and I now play a more equal primary parenting role ongoing.”Talia concluded: “It was a bit of tricky transition to start, August would be crying as I was leaving, and cried when I got home. Now, really quickly, we are at a point where she waves and says goodbye and it’s been a really great shift for her to know that she can rely on both of us. For us as a couple, it’s also a great opportunity to experience and appreciate the differing roles of full-time parenting versus balancing parenting and work.”<hr/><h5></h5><h4>Our parental leave policy</h4>
Our parental leave policy is 18 weeks gender neutral paid leave with no qualifying period, with up to 18 months unpaid leave. It also includes four weeks secondary carers&#39; leave. We provide continuous leave accrual and super contributions throughout parental leave. Our policy includes leave for team members who experience loss through stillbirth and support for team members who experience loss through miscarriage. <h4><a href="https://www.scentregroup.com/careers/working-with-us/benefits">Explore the full range of benefits we offer designed to help our people thrive.</a></h4>

Using parental leave to create the right work and family life balance.

Talia and Andy share their parenting journey

<h1>Deb Akins </h1>When she joined our business 10 years ago, Deb Akins was drawn to the direct impact she would have on the customer experience and hoped our portfolio of Westfield destinations would one day offer her the opportunity to move interstate.Since then, Deb has positively impacted customer experiences every day and recently made the move from Sydney to Adelaide to take on the role of Regional Facilities Manager. Deb told us her story.Deb presenting a service recognition award to Wajih Mawassi, a member of our cleaning team at Westfield Bondi Junction.<h5>Attracted by the focus on the customer</h5>Prior to joining Scentre Group I spent several years working in the sporting/leisure industry in various facilities roles. I was attracted to the shopping centre industry because of the impact I could have on the customer experience all day, every day. Scentre Group was an obvious choice given the iconic Westfield brand and leading portfolio of destinations across Australia and New Zealand, which I hoped would one day lead me to moving states. I was also drawn to the flexibility on offer. I was fortunate to work across several Westfield centres in Sydney as Facilities Manager before being appointed the Senior Facilities Manager at Westfield Bondi Junction. More recently I was promoted to Regional Facilities Manager in South Australia, allowing me to move interstate as I had always wanted to do.<h5>Career development means lots of opportunities</h5>Scentre Group supports team members to continually develop their skills and achieve their career goals – whatever they may be. Over the years I had the opportunity to work on multiple additional projects. These opportunities extended my network and provided me with a more comprehensive understanding of our business, which includes over 70 job types across design, construction, operations, leasing and marketing.Becoming a Regional Facilities Manager was always part of my desired career path and I discussed this goal with my leaders. They were very supportive and before I knew it, I was offered the Regional Facilities Manager role in South Australia. Scentre Group’s focus on training internal talent and providing career opportunities across the business means I now have people in my team who come from non-facilities backgrounds.Our Facilities team plays a central role in delivering positive customer experiences for the tens of thousands of people walking through our doors every day, so people with a customer mindset and focus on operational excellence, but no technical background are very successful with us. <a href="https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing/">If you’re interested in joining our team, explore the current roles we have available.</a>

Continual career progression and moving interstate.

Deb Akins

<h1>Fostering gender equity through inspiring connections </h1>We recently launched the People Collective to foster gender equity and support our people to continually develop and fulfill their potential.Madeline Cross, Leasing Executive and Alexis Lindsay, Director Corporate AffairsThe People Collective is an active community that supports our team members build their internal professional networks and personal confidence through inspiring connections. Katie Paull, Leader of our Gender Equity working group, said: “The People Collective developed from our goal of promoting an equitable and inclusive culture where people of all genders feel safe, valued, supported and encouraged to be their best.“We know having a broad professional network supports career development. We also know that people can feel awkward approaching someone they don’t know to network, because it’s a time investment they’re unsure the other person is able or willing to make.“The People Collective encourages and facilitates our people to network with confidence.”
Every month, People Collective members are matched and introduced via email. From there, people connect directly, confident they are both keen to invest time exploring and building a relationship. “The matching process is random,” Katie continues. “So with 3,000 people working across 70 professions, at all levels of management in Australia and New Zealand, team members are likely to be connected with someone who has a completely different skill and knowledge set. It’s a genuine opportunity to broaden their professional network.“We want to be the place for talent to thrive and the People Collective is one way we are breaking down barriers to our people’s development.” <blockquote>Madeline Cross, Leasing Executive, said: “My first ‘People Collective’ catch up was with Alexis Lindsay, our Director Corporate Affairs.“We discussed topics ranging from publication recommendations for broad economic news to personal experiences of balancing work and parenting. I took the opportunity to seek Alexis’ thoughts about Chief Executive Women scholarships and she not only provided me with some great food for thought but also agreed to review my application if I pursue this avenue. “While I know Alexis is approachable, requesting this informal time with her would have felt unauthentic and lacking in purpose. The People Collective is creating invaluable opportunities across our business for individuals and will result in a wonderful uplift in connectivity across the organisation.”</blockquote>

Fostering gender equity and supporting our people fulfill their potential.

Fostering gender equity through inspiring connections

We have an ambition to grow – and our Technology team is integral to how we plan to achieve that. To accelerate our technology innovation and product development, we recently promoted Swati Singh into a new General Manager role: GM Enterprise and Employee Experience Technology.Swati has over 20 years’ experience working in technology leadership roles but is a fairly new Scentre Group team member as she approaches her one-year anniversary with us.We asked Swati what attracted her to Scentre Group in the first place and what she hopes to achieve as a new General Manager.<h6>Swati Singh, General Manager Enterprise and Employee Experience Technology</h6>It was the culture that initially drew me to Scentre Group. A line in the job-ad struck a chord with me…“there are no egos here”. That sealed the deal for me to apply.In the short time I’ve been with Scentre Group, I have been impressed with how warm and welcoming everyone has been. It made transitioning into a new role during lockdown seamless and I’m so glad I made the move. I was also excited about some of the technology solutions Scentre Group is looking to build and wanted to be a part of that journey. Again, I have not been disappointed.We’re talking about employee experience versus employee productivity – it’s the first time in a long time I’ve been with a company who truly has this focus. In my new role as General Manager, I’m looking forward to opening possibilities to review the tech and deliver solutions with my team to make our people’s lives and experiences easier.In my time at Scentre there are several interesting projects the team has been working on, a good balance between modernising legacy technology and introducing new technology solutions. We are increasing our footprint in the cloud with the upgrade and migration of our finance system.The team is also enhancing physical Westfield destination experiences by uplifting ‘connectivity’ in-centre through new customer wifi and 5G capabilities. For our customers, this means a better experience, for our business partners it means greater enablement and for Scentre Group it creates technology infrastructure that can be leveraged commercially.I’m also incredibly passionate about empowering women in technology and driving gender equity within the industry. Many women aren’t aware of the various career paths available to them in technology and the impact they can have.I actually started my career as a qualified accountant, then switched to the tech side looking for more variety in my day-to-day role. I’m now part of Scentre Group’s senior management team so am pleased to be able to say, it’s all possible. I always encourage people to be open to opportunities and see where they lead, and I’ll certainly continue to champion female talent across our business, as well as in our Tech team.If you’re interested in joining Scentre Group, explore the current job opportunities we have available: <a href="http://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing">https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing</a>

Our new General Manager Enterprise and Employee Experience Technology

Swati Singh

We are excited to share that Emily Hunt, National Risk &amp; Security Operations Manager, was announced Most Outstanding Woman in Protective Security at Australian Women in Security Network’s Women in Security Awards.Emily’s award recognises a strong female leader with a range of skills, delivering successful and highly valued services, and demonstrating a high level of commitment to excellence in all their business activities.When Emily shared her career journey, it became clear why she won this award.I was interested in joining the police force and decided to work for private security company to see if I liked the industry. I became a trained dog handler specialising in explosives and drug detection and never looked back.For two years in that role I contracted to Westfield which led to the opportunity to work directly for our organisation and our Executives in the Corporate Security team.I spent the next 10 years managing private executive security in Australia and around the world at events such as the opening of Westfield London. It was a 24/7 job that let me explore some incredible places.When John Yates joined the business as Director of Security, he brought the retail and corporate security teams together. That gave me exposure to the retail side of the business, opening up career avenues I hadn’t considered.While continuing to manage the executive security team, I became the Head of Risk &amp; Security for the Westfield Sydney Precinct. It was a great opportunity to expand my security expertise and when the opportunity to move into my current role as National Risk &amp; Security Operations Manager came up, it was one I knew I had to take. But it was also the scariest career move I’ve ever made.It was daunting because of the increased scale and scope of my responsibility. Our 42 Westfield Living Centres see millions of customer visits every year and to know I play an integral role in keeping all of those people safe was a lot.I also had a young family, so it was a challenge to balance my priorities at home with a new team and a role that is 24/7 in nature. I was lucky to be supported by great leaders and mentors who helped me find that balance, which was key to my success. Importantly, I’ve had the privilege of working with some incredible leaders, particularly Lillian Fadel, Karen Skinner and Alison Pearson. They are a source of guidance and fantastic mentors who have supported my development.Now I absolutely love my role because I love how people focused it is.Safety and security is everyone’s responsibility; I can’t do it alone. A big part of my team’s role is to set the strategy, policies and procedures, but they come to life through our operational teams in our centres – that’s where the magic happens. So, building relationships and investing in our people’s development, their capability and making sure they have the rights tools and resources to do a great job is the part that I enjoy the most.A highlight to date has been partnering with our Community Experience team to create and launch bespoke Mental Health First Aid Training for our front line team members during the pandemic.It was created to equip team members with the confidence and skills to engage and support people in our Westfield Living Centres who may be in crisis. Given how the pandemic impacted people, this capability was more important than ever, and while it was designed to support our customers and business partners, it’s been equally as valuable helping our people who may have been affected.There’s always more we can do to support the Westfield communities we serve and I look forward to continuing to work with the Scentre Group team into the future.

Emily Hunt was named Most Outstanding Woman in Protective Security at Australian Women in Security Network’s Women in Security Awards

Emily Hunt

<h1>Casual Christmas roles beginning of long-term careers</h1>Each year we recruit casual Christmas Customer Services team members to scale up our ability to deliver extraordinary customer service during our busiest time of the year.  For some, what begins as a casual Christmas job is an opportunity to gain valuable experience and is the beginning of a long career with us. Six years ago Joshua Hardy accepted a casual Christmas role, he is now our Services Manager at Westfield Warringah Mall.  Josh shares his story...  I have been with Scentre Group for six years, beginning in a casual Christmas role. Jumping into one of our Westfield Living Centres and being trained in anticipation for the busiest time of year was an exciting opportunity.  The time I spent onboarding and working during the Christmas period was an exhilarating experience, constantly being challenged and having lots of fun with the team and customers. I quickly realised that I wanted to work year-round and stay at Westfield Warringah Mall. After the Christmas period I had the opportunity to continue to work with the team across multiple roles including carpark and valet, having an absolute blast delivering the customer experience within multiple departments.  I then enjoyed a three-year stint in Brand Experience championing many projects and customer activations. Whether it be booking petting zoos during school holidays, hosting sensory-friendly activations for everyone in the community or leading Santa’s parade through the centre, I always loved planning and bringing to life vibrant and fun community activations. During this time, I discovered my true passion was delivering outstanding customer experiences. With that knowledge I applied for Scentre Group’s Centre Experience Executive program. The program is designed to fast track your development by completing a range of centre-based rotations, shadowing and filling vacant roles and supporting the broader Centre Experience team. I’ve been part of the program for the last 12 months and I’ve enjoyed the team dynamics and diversity that everyday brings. Networking and establishing my personal brand has been invaluable, as has the exposure to life as a leader and seeing the higher level of thinking which plays out in our business.   It has allowed me to fully explore who I am and want to be as an individual and a leader. My experiences through the program have greatly enhanced my self-awareness, wider business knowledge and skillset to be a strong individual within our Westfield Living Centres and Scentre Group as a whole. Following my successful completion of the program, I have recently commenced the role of Services Manager at Westfield Warringah Mall. One of my first priorities is hiring additional team members to support us during the Christmas period. Having been recruited through this process and now starting a new management role, I’m excited that this may be the beginning of someone else’s exciting career journey with Scentre Group just as it was for me. Scentre Group wants to be the place for talent to thrive, and I hope my story shows that is true, no matter where you start.<blockquote>If you’re interested in joining Scentre Group, explore the current job opportunities we have available: <a href="https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing">https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing</a></blockquote>

From Christmas casual to Services Manager

Josh Hardy

<h1>How coming out on LinkedIn changed everything</h1>In 2017 Scentre Group launched our LGBTI+ working group as part of Diversity, Equity &amp; Inclusion program. At the time Chris Zerial, Westfield Sydney Centre Manager, had worked with us for three years but had never come out as identifying as a gay man in work.When asked to lead our LGBTI+ working group, Chris took a leap of faith, publicly coming out to his professional network on our intranet, MyScentre, and LinkedIn.Looking back Chris shares some new perspectives about the experience speaking as a guest on Clayton Utz’s podcast.As Chris highlights in the podcast, it’s important we continue to share these stories because there is always more work to be done for us all to understand why it’s important to be overtly supportive sometimes, to build our knowledge and understanding of each other’s differences so we can be respectful and embrace them in order that we can create a truly inclusive workplace for everyone.Chris continues to lead our LGBTI+ working group advocating for inclusion. The working group’s continued efforts to date saw Scentre Group recognised as a Silver employer at the AWEI Awards in 2022.You can listen to the full podcast (15 minutes) or enjoy some excerpts below.Can you tell us what work like at work before you came out?Chris: “I think it was a really different experience before coming out. Not just where I work now but also in all of the other roles I had prior to working at Scentre Group. It always felt like you couldn’t truly connect and you’re always trying to hide something wherever you go, because you never know who will have a certain view of what it’s like to identify as a gay man.”Why did you choose to come out in 2017?Chris: “At that time Alan Joyce was being really overt about supporting the LGBTI+ community and I thought, if I want to be any sort of leader in the future then I need to be my authentic self. And if my authentic self doesn’t work at Scentre Group then I need to find a new place to work.”Why did you choose to come out on LinkedIn?Chris: “My Manager, who knew through mutual friends that I identified as a gay man, had asked me to join the launch of the LGBTI network at Scentre Group. First, I said no, but then looking at Alan Joyce I thought it was about time. So I went back to him and said I’d help out. His response was that he’d resigned so did you want to lead it? Which of course I went on to do.“We wanted to share a story internally about my lived experience of coming out and then the team asked: can we put it on LinkedIn Chris? And I just thought OK, let’s go for it. The story just exploded. I’ve never looked back and I’ve never regretted it.”How did your experience at work change afterward the story was posted?Chris: “I did not experience a single piece of negative feedback. I didn’t have anyone treat me differently. And I realised that actually it was completely OK.“As we were on a journey as an organisation at that time, initially a lot of people would not have understood why you need to support the LGBTI+ community. But that’s where story sharing is so important. I think my coming out story helped people understand because it showed how raw and emotional and vulnerable someone has to be to do that.“What coming out meant for me, was that I let the shackles go and I relaxed into myself a lot more. Coincidentally my career took off at that point as well. I can’t quite say 100% it’s because of coming out, but I think it really allowed me to feel more comfortable and confident in who I was as a leader and as a person, and not having to keep them both separate. It worked really well for me.”Is there any advice you give to someone coming out?Chris: “Do it in your way and your own time, and there’s no pressure.“If you feel ready and you want to come out, I would suggest thinking about if there’s an ally network and have you got supporters? You can start small.“Also, look at the environment you’re in and make sure you’re choosing organisations that truly value an inclusive culture.”<hr/>If you’re interested in joining Scentre Group and achieving your career aspirations, explore the current job opportunities we have available: <a href="http://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing">https://careers.scentregroup.com/en/listing</a>We embed a culture of diversity and inclusion to empower our people to feel comfortable and safe to bring their whole selves to work. We know achieving that is essential if Scentre Group is to be the place for talent to thrive.
Our Diversity and Inclusion Council includes seven employee-led working groups: Gender Equity, LGBTI+, Domestic and Family Violence, Mental Health and Wellbeing, All Abilities, Reconciliation Action Plan and Multicultural Capability. Each working group aims to raise awareness and understanding through education on their unique topic.This year we were honoured to be named as a Silver Employer in the AWEI 2022 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards. Our goal is to keep building inclusive capability, so it is just the way we work at Scentre Group.

How coming out on LinkedIn changed everything

<h1>Karina Phillips: “He said I was a wallflower and I just thought: well I’m going to change that!”</h1>Karina Phillips is the Senior Risk &amp; Security Manager at Westfield Kotara. Having been with our business for 20 years in a largely male dominated team, Karina talks to us about the positive changes she’s seen and how she’s focused on building her personal brand to help steer her career journey.I first started working at Westfield Kotara as a contract Security Officer in 2001 before I had the opportunity to join the company as the Security Supervisor in 2008. In 2010, I was promoted to Security Manager and subsequently became the Risk &amp; Security Manager in 2012.I’ve always been passionate about climbing the career ladder in Risk and Security, and I’ve taken every opportunity to develop myself, my knowledge and skills to progress in this career pathway. Over the 20 years, I’ve been lucky enough to have the support of my Centre Managers to do just that here at Westfield Kotara and I’ve completed a number of external courses and been involved in national projects and secondments at other Living Centres that have allowed me to build my career.Several years ago, one of the previous National Risk and Security Managers gave me some really constructive feedback about my personal brand. He told me I was known as a consistent performer, I knew my role well, though I was known to him as a wallflower.I just thought: well I’m going to change that!That was the turning point for me. I made it my focus by putting my hand up to take part in conference presentations, projects, and lending a hand at other centres in order to build my personal brand and it really helped my career journey.This year in February, I was promoted to Senior Risk and Security Manager which was a real highlight of my career with Scentre Group.Looking back over my time with the business, it’s very different now to how it was when I started.While there’s still a majority of men in the Risk &amp; Security team, it used to have a boys’ club feeling and many years ago I felt it was difficult to get where you wanted to go because of that. But with the changes over the years such as diversity and inclusion, now it doesn’t matter what your gender, sexuality, or family situation is, the current National Risk and Security team are very supportive.Similarly, I have felt very supported and accepted by the many colleagues I have worked with over the years. As a proud member of the LGBTI+ community I have always felt comfortable to bring my whole self to work.That’s now amplified through the diversity and inclusion program and LGBTI+ working group. When the business first created the LGBTI+ working group, I’d never heard of anything like it before, but I really enjoyed being a part of the working group in those early days and it’s been wonderful to see the work they’ve achieved with the recognition of AWEI’s Gold Employer status recently.Now I’m focusing on my new role looking after the Northern NSW Living Centres.As part of that I provide support and mentoring across the centres to drive consistency, embed new procedures or process improvements. It’s great to be part of a business that encourages change and challenges us to always look at how we can improve and do things better. It keeps it exciting.When someone asks me what I like most about working for Scentre Group, I would say it’s the opportunities that I’ve been given over the years. And it’s not only me, I’ve seen a lot of people make lattice career moves, and I know people who are in very different roles now from where they started in our business and it’s great to see their success.So now I’m looking forward to the opportunities, big and small, that I’m sure will continue to be a part of my new senior role and challenging myself to continue to develop my skills and support my wider team. <hr/>We embed a culture of diversity and inclusion to empower our people to feel comfortable and safe to bring their whole selves to work. We know achieving that is essential if Scentre Group is to be the place for talent to thrive.Our Diversity and Inclusion Council includes seven employee-led working groups: Gender Equity, LGBTI+, Domestic and Family Violence, Mental Health and Wellbeing, All Abilities, Reconciliation Action Plan and Multicultural Capability. Each working group aims to raise awareness and understanding through education on their unique topic.This year we were honoured to be named as a Gold Employer in the AWEI 2021 Australian LGBTQ Inclusion Awards – building on our silver tier recognition last year.Our goal is to keep building inclusive capability, so it is just the way we work at Scentre Group.

Karina Phillips is the Senior Risk & Security Manager at Westfield Kotara

Karina Phillips: “He said I was a wallflower and I just thought: well I’m going to change that!”

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