Human on the Inside with Scape Australia’s Ciaran Handy
Human on the Inside. We’re big believers in the power of human skills. But don’t just take our word for it - the evidence for excellence powered by human (‘soft’) skills is everywhere! In this engaging, ever-enlightening series, we speak with industry leaders, innovators and game-changers to learn a little about their personal career journeys, and how human-led strategies, philosophies and cultures are proving a force for good in their working worlds …
Maxme: Welcome Ciaran, and thanks for stepping into the #SuccessIsHuman Spotlight.
Renowned as an innovative and high-performance C-Suite level leader who has lead complex and diverse hotel, property and development portfolios across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Europe, you’re currently Chief Operating Officer for Scape Australia - a fully integrated owner, developer, and manager of quality residential living accommodation.
In 1 sentence (ok, we’ll give you 3), what do these roles entail?
Ciaran Handy: Thank you for inviting me.
All these roles have involved the creation and execution of strategy and governance to deliver to the overall commercial growth and maturity of the portfolios. Regardless of the industry, the fundamentals are essentially the same when it comes to utilising economies of scale to implement efficiencies and improve flow through. Scape Australia is particularly satisfying as apart from being a landlord, it also encompasses the wellbeing, pastoral care, and safety of over 17,500 resident students in a very fast-growing property portfolio.
M: You’ve been with Scape for just over 3 years now, but your impressive career of course extends well beyond this. In 2014 you held a Non Executive Director role with the Queensland Tourism Industry Council before heading to Hamilton Island (HI) for a wonderful ~20 year tenure as Executive General Manager.
After this incredible HI chapter, you headed to TFE Hotels as Group Director of Operations - Australia & New Zealand. In late 2016 you headed to Singapore for your next role, this time as Managing Director of Stamford Land Management. In parallel, you established Handy Tourism Consulting, and began advising boards, hotel investors and operators, developers, and governments on a spectrum of tourism, property, infrastructure, placemaking and development matters - something you continue to do today.
How does all this work speak to your personal purpose and what drives you as an individual?
CH: Delivering organisational success, continuous improvement and extraordinary stakeholder experience drives me. I love it! Whether end-user, investors, team members or suppliers, what they experience is the brand. Delivering an extraordinary experience drives organic growth and all stakeholder retention and therefore bottom line. Without continuous improvement, you cannot continually drive an extraordinary brand and maintain market leadership, investor returns, and continuous growth as we do at Scape.
M: Tell us a little about your personal education pathway/s - what led you to where you are now? How closely do your formal qualifications match your current career?
CH: I left school aged 16 having completed my Year 12 in Ireland and won a hospitality training scholarship in France. I eventually returned to complete a National Diploma in Tourism which then brought me all over the world and eventually to Australia.
It wasnt until I had joined the float of Hamilton Island in 1996 that I realised I required a much more diverse skill set than just tourism-specific qualifications - my responsibilities now spanned community placemaking, engineering, asset management, risk, safety, aviation, marine, property, emergency management, etc. Though I didn’t embrace formal education in these areas immediately, I gained very valuable ‘hands-on’ experience from some of the best in their fields.
Over the past few years, I have concentrated on obtaining a diverse range of qualifications especially in governance, asset management, risk, safety, etc.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice to your 21 year old self it would be ...
CH: Embrace governance and risk management as soon as possible and use it in your decision making, personal and organisational direction. It will probably save you years of learning from mediocre decision making before the penny finally drops and you start nailing it. Understanding risk means understanding certainty in your decision making and without it, you are just assuming and guessing which attracts failure.
M: Maximising the potential of individuals, communities and businesses through the power of human skills is the reason Maxme exists. Can you tell us a little about the role and / or value of human skills in your workplace or industry right now?
CH: I have always obtained a great deal of personal satisfaction from mentoring and developing people. At Scape we are the largest privately owned and operator of PBSA in Australia. A great deal of our success is based around the development of communities and developing our team of experts in what is a very young industry in this country. As mentioned previously, the experience is the brand, and our experience is built around the power of human skills delivering to the needs of the 17,500 humans that call our Scape communities their home.
I am lucky enough to still have the privilege of mentoring some brilliant people, many of whom I worked alongside in my early years on Hamilton Island. Attitude is such a key component of success, and to share my experience with former frontline team members who possess such a quality is incredibly rewarding, especially when they reach executive level.
M: Self Awareness sets the critical foundation for all Maxme learning experiences. With that said … what’s your strongest trait / personal superpower?
CH: I strive to lead by example, from the front, and am very passionate about it. I have a high-performance focus and am very logical and pragmatic in ability and capability. I always prioritise what’s the best for the business and its stakeholders, not succumbing to external pressures or conflicting desires. For many years I have embraced risk management to guide my decision-making, which greatly assists me in both alleviating uncertainty, and remaining objective.
M: And on the flip side, what’s one human / ‘soft’ skill you’ve had to really work on improving over the course of your career?
CH: Perhaps patience with negative individuals who operate from a place of ego?
Tolerating and guiding people that generate automatically negative responses and attitude rather than working to vision and strategic delivery really gets under my skin. Success needs to come before personal ego, with every part of the business following the vision and values. If people aren’t passionate about their role and committed to the team, then they need to find another role.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice with recent Uni graduates or candidates keen to work in the field of tourism, what would it be?
CH: Find an ace industry mentor to listen and learn from. They have already made, and learned from, the mistakes you are going to make, and discovered effective shortcuts you will find helpful too. Be honest and passionate about what you do. Without sounding too cliché, surround yourself with the best people possible. Don’t try to be an expert at everything, but rather strive to become an effective leader of experts.
M: You’ve been granted approval to add one University graduate to your business, but have 100 applicants, all with outstanding academic results. How do you find your perfect candidate - what are you looking for?
CH: I want to see a positive attitude oozing out of every conversation with them, somebody that can fit in with my team, fill weak skill gaps, and can celebrate our wins and bounce back from our losses. Academic results are nothing without attitude, capability, and the ability to fit into the team. I always involve various levels of my team in the recruitment of new members and add their feedback into the risk-based decision. Meeting with shortlisted candidates frequently with these different stakeholders in different environments and landscapes assists to align the candidate with the gap.
M: In the words of John Dewey, “education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.”
What’s next on your #learning agenda?
CH: I am currently going through the accreditation and certification process with the Risk Management Institute of Australasia and am just about to embark on the learning path towards a Certified Fellow in Asset Management.
Continuous learning is not only important from a personal perspective but also from a team and business development aspect.
Ready to develop the human skills within your organisation, team or self? Explore our menu of Maxme Products & Programs or simply download the Hodie app to get started today.
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