Meet Anne Nicholas. Our Group Health and Safety Manager is determined, loyal and transparent.
Anne’s role is responsible for leading, directing, supporting, monitoring and encouraging best practice across all areas of WH&S across our business.
Anne began her career as a physiotherapist to help people. “The health and wellbeing of people has been my passion, ” she says. “It’s what led me to study safety to prevent injuries from happening in the first place.” After her studies, Anne went on to work for various brands and companies including Coles, Caltex, Kmart and Harvey Norman, across various senior leadership roles. In these positions she was able to implement safety programs which led to significant reductions in injuries, all while navigating the safety operations required through the COVID pandemic.
Anne’s career has primarily been inspired by her mother, who began working to support her family at age 11, following the death of her father. She first devoted herself to her family and then to building a life for herself in Australia. “She is the definition of strength and courage to me. She always taught me that determination was key to being successful. I have always inspired to be as strong and determined as my mother in my career,” says Anne.
Anne has also had many inspiring leaders who have guided and coached her throughout her career. “I’ve had two leaders that empowered me the most in my career. A female leader that I am fortunate enough to be working with currently (Karen Bozic – GM) and a male leader in my previous roles,” Anne says. This has been supported by colleagues who have empowered her and the teams she has led.
Anne says the key to effective leadership is coaching and delegating to a team to build their capability and provide them with responsibility and experience. “Leadership is an action, not a position, ” she shares. “Our responsibility is to show our teams the way, allow them to showcase their skills and knowledge and take risks.”
Diversity is key to this. Different views, experience and ideas that come with diversity allow businesses to grow and be competitive in what they specialise in. “I encourage diverse experience so everyone in the team can provide different views on how we can achieve our goals.”
Specific to female leadership, Anne believes we need to provide opportunities for women to build their confidence further and flexible work environments to enable them to participate in leadership roles. “Provide mentors, career pathways, empower females who portray the right characteristics to be a leader, and provide them with career development to reach their goals.”