Human on the Inside with Custom Fleet’s Shaun Cameron
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 Shaun, and thanks for stepping into the #SuccessIsHuman Spotlight!
You’re Director, Talent & Culture at Custom Fleet - the market leading fleet management company across Australia and New Zealand.
In 1 sentence (ok, we’ll give you 3), what does this role entail?
Shaun Cameron: I have a really exciting role at Custom Fleet as part of our People, Performance & Culture (PPC) Team. Our broad PPC team includes all functions of HR, Marketing and Business Strategy.
In my role I lead several people related domains (supported by an amazing team!) including Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Leadership Development, Talent Management, Internal Communications, Employee Experience + EVP, Employee Engagement, and industry leading work in Diversity Equity, Inclusion & Belonging.
I love having visibility across many progressive aspects of our employee experience; connecting dots is important for me to have the best handle on where we can improve for our incredible Custom Fleet Crew, and to sell our story in the talent market to attract top talent.
M: You’ve been with Custom Fleet for almost three years now, but of course your career in HR, Learning & Development is much deeper.
It all kicked off ‘over the ditch’ in Wellington, NZ where you spent four years as HR Consultant for Kiwibank. Following this, you spent three years with the Dept. of Labour as Capability Consultant - Learning, Culture & Engagement, Leadership. You then took an Organisational (Org) Development contract with Orica, based in your new (& now) home of Melbourne, followed by a stint (Org Development Lead) with the Department of Treasury and Finance with the Victorian State Government.
In late 2012 you kicked off a 4 year tenure as Practice Leader - Talent & Culture for Asahi Beverages, followed by three years as Global Org Development & Learning Manager with IT consulting specialist, Empired.
Pre Custom Fleet debut in early 2021, your final two roles included Manager, Capability & Org Development for VCAT and Culture & Capability Manager for ME Bank. WOWZERs - we need a breather!
SC: It is rather wild having someone replay your career journey back to you!
In terms of my personal purpose, I would say it’s all about IMPACT. Something that has always driven me in the places I have chosen to work, and a question I always ask my potential new leader is “what is the opportunity to make an impact here?”. I find answers to this question quite telling. It becomes really obvious when an organisation and their senior leaders are just ‘ticking boxes’ versus wanting to make a real impact to improve the sense of belonging, purpose and engagement their people feel at work. If I do not sense an opportunity to make a positive impact is genuine, then I’m out!
In-line with wanting to make an impact, I have always been drawn to the future focused side of HR, which aligns with how my brain is wired in terms of thinking ‘what’s next’ and imagining what ‘could be’. There are a lot of exciting programs, projects and experiments we do in the organisational development space and to be successful in this area I am continually learning, reading, asking questions, and pushing my own teams to grow. This natural sense of wanting to grow and develop makes me rather ambitious, but it is underpinned by a strong cause – I want to create amazing workplaces for people to belong.
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?
SC: Throughout high school I was convinced I was going to be a journalist and eventually a news anchor on TV! While that dream didn’t eventuate, I was lucky to start my corporate life in Finance at Kiwibank. The Kiwibank business grew rapidly and I found myself in the HR team and was afforded the opportunity to study HR while working. It felt right to find my calling!
In Australia, I jumped on the bandwagon as soon as the Australian HR Institute launched its HR Certification program – it is so important to have a qualification benchmark that proves the people with certification can do what they say. My change management certification was one program that dramatically changed the way I approach work and I think about that learning to this day.
All of my study has been super closely linked to what I do, but what I wish I had learned more of through formal education was things like stakeholder management, staying cool under pressure, resilience or dealing with ambiguity. Unfortunately, the school of hard knocks teaches you these things versus anyone really preparing you for the real world of work.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice to your 21-year-old self it would be ...
SC: Whether it’s career or life advice I don’t know, but I would tell my 21-year-old self to not give a damn about what people think of me. We can spend so much time trying to please people, acting differently, and not being authentic that you tie yourself up in knots trying to fit in. This is especially true for young people in the LGBTQI+ community, which was me way back when.
As RuPaul is famously quoted for saying: “If they ain’t paying your bills, pay them bi*ches no mind! These days, I know I’m doing my job right if I am ruffling some feathers (in the right way)!
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 right now?
SC: I believe human skills are the essential ingredients for workplace success. I’m fortunate to have sat in many, many talent assessment discussions over the years and what the most constructive senior leaders find important is hardly ever the technical knowledge people have (it’s a given), rather it’s how work gets done and how that person positively impacts on the organisation’s culture, either in their role as an individual contributor, or with a broader impact as a people leader.
The role of human skills is so critical at Custom Fleet right now as we look to transform the business to deliver against our Driving Force (our why) and Destination (our 2030 vision). Skills like innovation, agility and customer centricity will be critical for all levels in our business to develop.
M: Self Awareness sets the critical foundation for all Maxme learning experiences. With that said … what’s your strongest trait / personal super power?
SC: I think a strong trait I possess at work is calmness. While my mind might be running a million miles an hour with ideas or thoughts, I like to remain level-headed for those I interact with. I think this gives people confidence I have everything under control, which I know I do, so I try not to let too much phase me. In HR, you see a lot, so my tolerance for surprise is quite high!
I also really enjoy my role as a coach and developer for those in my team – I have to practice what I preach! To be successful in growing a team, listening, and questioning skills are critical.
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?
SC: For me, I’d still like to develop a stronger ability to be more articulate in situations where there is conflict or tension and I feel angry, upset or under fire. This is not about winning or losing a fight but being able to stand my ground successfully and not let the passion or emotion take over.
M: If you could share one piece of career advice with recent Uni graduates or candidates keen to work at a company like Custom Fleet, what would it be?
SC: For someone new coming into our business I’d say take every opportunity you can to do something different to expand your skills. The beauty of Custom Fleet is that we are relatively small, lean, and flat with very accessible leadership, so if you are hungry to grow, there are many opportunities to develop a broad breadth of skills very quickly. Also, don’t be afraid to say if something isn’t working and you have a great idea to fix something. A continuous improvement mindset is highly valued in our workplace.
M: You’ve been granted approval to add one University graduate to your team, but have 100 applicants, all with outstanding academic results. How do you find your perfect candidate - what are you looking for?
SC: Excuse the technical recruiter approach here, but I would 100% put candidates through some type of assessment centre process and create exercises where we could test and witness in real time how quickly someone builds rapport, negotiates, deals with differing opinions, communicates, and executes a plan under a time crunch. I’ll be looking for some natural human skill ability that we can hone on the job as part of a team. Things like making others feel at ease, asking others’ opinions, being clear and concise, and having fun are all important team qualities.
M: In the words of John Dewey, “education is not preparation for life, education is life itself.”
What’s next on your #learning agenda?
SC: 2024 is going to be full of exciting learning for me. Our work in Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging is progressing very well at Custom Fleet, but this year I need to work beyond HR to impact other areas of the ESG agenda, so a lot of learning in relation to supplier diversity and environmental impacts of our work.
With our business transformation pathway clear, I will also be learning the ‘how to’ of innovation within a business context and how to truly build a customer centric organisation.
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