Christine Holgate
on what matters
The British-born CEO of Australia Post drew acclaim for leading vitamins giant Blackmores through an extraordinary boom – the share price skyrocketed from $18 to more than $200 during her time as chief executive. She joined Australia Post in 2017 with the encouragement of Blackmores founder Marcus Blackmore, who hired her in 2008 and became a trusted friend.
On empathy
When she was an 18-year-old punk rocker, “with my nose pierced and my head shaved”, Christine Holgate left home. For a time, she says, just getting by was tough. “I often think about that time in London when I had no money. Deep in my psyche I have a very strong view about treating people fairly and with respect. I believe that people have a right to earn fair wages and I feel very strongly about the purpose of work, the dignity of work and what it gives to families. When you’ve not had work or you’ve not been able to afford to pay your electricity bill, it teaches you a lot. When I’m arguing for frontline workers, it’s because I remember what that was like. It’s a good thing to know what it’s like to be there, though you do have to be careful that it doesn’t scar you and instead makes you stronger.”
On being accessible
After just one day in the top job at Australia Post, Holgate decided to put her email address on the company website so customers could contact her directly. “I felt that as a leadership team, we had some work to do in changing the culture of being seen as an ivory tower in this beautiful glass building. When your parcel has gone missing or your passport’s gone astray and you can’t get through to somebody in customer service or you’re being told we’ll respond in 14 days, you’re going, ‘Are you for real?’
“When you’re running Australia Post, you have 24 million people who believe it’s their company. People want to hold you accountable. That’s all right. I’m up for it.” Christine Holgate
At that moment in time you want to be able to speak to somebody and the company couldn’t accommodate that. We weren’t organised around customers; we were organised around product. To change the culture, sometimes you need to lead from the front. I get about 1500 emails every week but we [Holgate and her executive assistant, Vicki] answer every single email. Sometimes I call customers up. I don’t do it all the time but I do it sometimes, particularly when people have lost passports because that’s when a person is most stressed. It’s a great way of keeping in touch with what’s going on.”
On asking the right questions
“I wanted to do a questionnaire [when I first joined Australia Post]. I started off with the board and exec team and thought maybe I should involve the top 70 managers or something. Then I thought, ‘Bugger it.’ We put it on the company website so anyone could respond. We got thousands and thousands of responses but what was amazing was the consistency of what needed to happen. Whether it was the postie, the lady working in the shop or the senior manager, people were saying, ‘We need to be one company.’ There was so much hope; 98 per cent said, ‘We work at Australia Post because of the purpose we have.’ I was really lucky in that first couple of weeks – everybody told me what I needed to do. I was able to listen and test everything I thought I was hearing back in the organisation.”