Team member

Cindy Lau

‘I am passionate about my work and I am empowered to use my judgement to provide the best experience for clients while delivering ATO outcomes. I am adaptable and flexible.’

I came into the organisation as a graduate four years ago, and have enjoyed working here ever since. Recently, I had the opportunity to work closely with a senior leader. I was inspired and I decided that’s where I want my career to go.

Excited about the new direction I wanted to take my career, I organised a meeting with my manager. He explained the prerequisite skills required for leadership roles, and suggested ways I could build on those skills. While I already felt prepared to become a senior leader, I was willing to take his advice and felt valued knowing he was genuinely interested in my future.

I accessed information about career pathways that might help get me on the right track and the skills mentioned here were consistent with what my manager had explained. Once I had identified which skills applied to me, I was comfortable approaching my manager for further advice. He had taken the time to prepare for this conversation and told me about an opportunity for a transfer into another team, where I would be able to start managing a small number of staff. I understood that this move would not be a promotion, but a move at level to gain the breadth of experience I would need in the future.

My manager helped organise my transfer to the other team. He said that the transfer was a great learning opportunity as well as being good for the organisation. He even made sure that I had some time to meet my new manager and we discussed our mutual expectations. While I was sad to leave such a supportive team, I felt one step closer to my goals and excited about the new challenges ahead.

I started in my new team with immediate access to all of the tools I needed. I felt supported to learn new skills and I was also able to use some of the skills from my previous job. Rather than being overwhelmed, I was now in a position to grow.

As part of a structured mentor program, I kept in touch with my previous manager on a regular basis. This helped me maintain my network and stay connected, as well as giving me a champion throughout my career.

Knowing that the ATO supports my career development makes me feel valued and motivated.

How the ATO behaves

• We value people and encourage, develop and set our staff up for success.
• We actively grow our knowledge and skills through continuous development.
• We have and foster the right relationships.

What the ATO does

• We have a consistently high performing workforce committed to achieving corporate outcomes.
• Cindy has meaningful performance and career discussions and has access to tailored career pathways, secondment and rotation programs across the ATO, APS and externally.
• Cindy’s leadership potential is identified through the performance system, eg her digital profile, performance appraisals.
• Cindy benefits from an effective coaching and mentoring program, which is supported by her managers.

How the ATO supports clients

• Our people have a strong sense of community service.
• Aspiring leaders build career pathways that benefit themselves, our organisation and our clients.
• We bring professionalism, determination and commitment to what we do.
• We identify changes in community needs and expectations and input this into our feedback systems.