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2005 Canberra Branch Conference
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Why solving for N in addition to X and Y matters in the 21st Century IT staffing equation
Ms Cheryl Hannah, Chief Information Officer, Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs
Biography:
Cheryl is not a CIO in the traditional mould. She has worked in the Federal Government since her initial secondment to work for the then Minister for Defence, the Hon. Kim Beazley, in 1984. A graduate of the Australian National University (ANU) prior to joining the public service, Cheryl spent seven years at the ANU working in the Research School of Pacific Studies and teaching Australian Politics to undergraduates in the Faculty of Political Science. She was appointed to the Public Service Board in 1986 and at the abolition of the PSB in 1987, she transferred to DIMIA.
Today, in her role as DIMIA's CIO, Cheryl enjoys the challenges of working in a global environment where issues such as the need for heightened security awareness mean that Australia's border integrity has never been more critical. With a strong interest in supporting and leading change management with a technology focus, Cheryl sees the opportunities of living in an "on-line" 24 X 7 world as exciting for both staff and clients of Government agencies.
Her vision is to deliver the best value IT&T solutions to assist DIMIA in fulfilling its mission: Australia, enriched through the entry and settlement of people; valuing its heritage, citizenship and cultural diversity; and recognising the special place of Indigenous people as its original inhabitants.
DIMIA, as part of the original Federal Government Cluster 3 outsourcing deal signed in 1998, has been on a steep learning curve ever since about how to work with a major private sector partner. Cheryl Hannah has been part of the leadership team for the entire journey and likens the experience more to that of a roller coaster ride than a smooth sailing, but despite the bumps, exhilarating highs and despairing depths, she believes it is has been a journey worth making.
Cheryl leads the Business Solutions Group for DIMIA, comprising some 550 staff, about 50% of whom are contractors. DIMIA's IT infrastructure was outsourced to the global IT company, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) in 1998 as part of the Commonwealth's outsourcing policy.
The Business Solutions Group (BSG) is responsible for delivering the IT&T strategic directions of the Department. Under Cheryl's leadership, the Group manages the contractual relationship with CSC and Optus, while continuing to supply in-house the maintenance and development of DIMIA's business critical applications. BSG also supplies physical, protective and IT Security services to DIMIA and manages the provision of office services to the department under an outsourcing arrangement with Office Services Australia.
Staying the distance with an international multinational company which is in the process of turning itself into a global company has been just one of the challenges. In her session, Cheryl will be talking about DIMIA's experience of relying on a Private Sector partner to deliver mission critical IT in a frontline Government Agency. She will take participants through some of the pivotal moments in her personal and professional quest to make a public-private IT partnership work, and then to make it work even better.
Topic synopsis
Cheryl will talk about workforce planning in the context of attracting and retaining IT staff in a Public Service IT Group.
In particular, challenges for management working with a staffing mix of Gen X, Gen Y and soon to be N.Gen (as well as Boomers), in addition to having a wide variety of ethnic and cultural backgrounds in her workforce of 632 staff and contractors. She has maintained a 92.8% retention of her Graduates each year from 1999 to now and Cheryl will focus on BSG's Graduate Program as a case study to illustrate what she means when talking about "generational fit" within the BSG Group.
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Last updated: 8 November 2005