Rebecca Thomas (PwC New Zealand)
According to Thomas, while giving this choice meant more work during the deployment, she saw it as risk mitigation. If there will be an issue with one system, they would be ready to switch to the other system.
This, she said, is the art of diversity; "you have to give people choice.”
Thomas reports to Mark Russell, technology and transformation lead partner at PwC, sharing the joint goal of transforming the way they work at PwC.
“I see myself as a bee in this organisation, where we are accelerating technology enablement and the products we deliver to clients," she added.
“My role is to pollinate all the different communities and really help them. It is in the client edge where the real innovation and value will happen.
“I have been in IT for a long time and I can think back of the time when we tried to centralise IT. Those times are gone. I am an internal CIO. We are breaking down those barriers."
Modernisation
In the early part of her career, she worked on the modernisation of Customs, coming out of it with a good appreciation of the elements of a business transformation project.
“It was a really good start for me,” she disclosed. "Today, I never think of IT without change and process because that is how I started. I was fascinated by the use of small things as great change levers."
She remembered how one of the executives she worked with pointed out that the Customs staff are the first that people see when they come to New Zealand.
Thus, even the way they designed the uniforms were considered.
"It was all underpinned by technology,” she said, but she was also impressed by the concurrent focus on trying to create a better user experience for the customers, in this case, the travellers.
She recalled a personal experience in the Navy, where she stayed for two years. At that time, women have not been in the Navy long enough to have shoes designed for them.
"We would go tramping, and the shoes did not come small enough for my feet," she recalled. "I had bad blisters. That is why you always have to talk about user experience in a change environment.”
Thomas brings this lesson to PwC’s shift to Google apps and other technologies, where they tried to bring excitement to the staff about the change, and making the technology so simple to use - she joined PwC as business portfolio manager, coming from Tonkin & Taylor.
When she was with Tonkin & Taylor, Thomas worked with senior management on projects ranging “across all elements of people, process and technology”.
Before this, she was executive manager - solution delivery at Suncorp-Vero in New Zealand, reporting to the CIO. Her team was also responsible for the development and deployment of a lean programme in the banking, insurance and financial services firm.
Her other roles include being a consultant for Shell Global Solutions and WINZ. She honed her consultancy skills with Accenture, which she joined after leaving the Royal New Zealand Navy.
Lifelong lessons from coding club
She smiled when told she is one of the few women CIOs in New Zealand.
“I never really thought of it,” she said, but then added, there was definitely a pattern she observed throughout her career. “When I went to the computer coding club, I was the only girl there. This was in the 80s. It did not worry me.”
When she went into the Navy, she said, “I never thought that you will be treated differently.”
As to what worked for her, she says she stuck to her leadership style of being “kind, creative and inclusive”.
“At PwC, that style was what they were looking for,” she added. "Perhaps, in earlier times, the benefits of kindness, creativity and inclusion in leadership were not as realised, but that has changed. It makes it a great time to be leading people in a way that I can really enjoy.
“Being inclusive comes naturally to many computer professionals. We were often not the 'cool' kids, so we know what exclusion feels like. This often makes us good at inclusion.
“Creativity has always been a big part of IT, contrary to what some people may assume. I always recommend it as a very creative career. Business analysts look at creating better processes and user experiences, and developers create using code as their clay to reimagine what is possible."
"My advice to young people today on a career in ICT is that it is a great career path,” she says, “one that allows you to constantly learn,to travel,to work in teams, to be creative. And, once you get started, to have great job security and mobility to try new things.”
Thus, when a student in media design school recently asked her whether he will be able to get a job, she replied: “Absolutely.”
“You can do the design for virtual reality applications.”
“Your skill set is transferable,” she said. "No one can tell you what is coming.”
This article originally appeared on CIO New Zealand.
