It didn’t take long for Selina Duncalf to jump up a career notch after winning a 40under40 Award this year.
In the same month as the awards, Ms Duncalf took on a new role within BankWest, moving from chief operating officer to director of processing and operations, which, while carrying the same level of organisational hierarchy, elevated her leadership responsibilities.
Ms Duncalf previously managed a staff of 70 but is now responsible for 400 people.
“We manage the retail banking and if you look at that it covers things from home loans to personal loans and transactions,” Ms Duncalf said.
“We do loan applications, loan processing, and loan maintenance nationally. I have two objectives and that is to make sure we deliver a high standard of service, but also in an efficient way, so we deliver value for customers.”
Her department is currently in the process of an overhaul of systems and culture, something Ms Duncalf started to drive when she took on the job in February.
“We’re in the middle of an improvement project and the goal is for a smooth transition,” she told WA Business News.
“We’re changing processes, technology and the culture.”
Ms Duncalf said communicating to all of her team had been an important first step, and something that wasn’t done in a hurry.
It’s taken the better part of this year to establish the plan, with the roll-out of the program starting to take place and implemented in full within the next six months.
“What we have done first of all is prepare 400 people for the change. We need to get the buy-in and the commitment. I think that a lot of projects fail because people are not told about them,” Ms Duncalf said.
“Now, we have people really looking forward to it and excited about the changes that will take place in the next six months.”
She said new technology and operation systems would drive efficiencies through the business and help the bank cope with increasing business from its push into east coast markets.
“The new technology system means everyone has access to online information,” Ms Duncalf said.
“From a customer perspective it used to be that they would ring up to inquire about their loan and we would have to put them through to the person handling the loan. Now it doesn’t matter, whoever picks up the phone can handle it.
“One of the ideas of this project was that, as BankWest expands nationally, the project gets the house in order so we can grow and expand the scale quickly and easily.”
And, at 34 years of age, Ms Duncalf says there are many more projects she can turn her hand to.
She is a Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal chairperson and devotes time to Leadership WA, a group of WA business people that provides support and advice for a range of groups, including not-for-profit businesses.
Ms Duncalf is also keen to become involved with companies at a board level.
“I’ve completed my Australian Institute of Company Directors course. In the next few years I’d like to get involved on boards.”
And fitting in the demands of her job, community participation, and the demands of being the mother to a four-year-old requires good old fashioned time management, she said.
Not that her busy schedule stops her from having a life outside work, an important part of which is excercise. In fact anyone out jogging on the streets of Iluka about 5am of a summer’s morning might bump into her.
SNAPSHOT
- After winning a 2004 40under40 Award, Selina Duncalf was appointed director of processing and operations at BankWest
- Department currently undergoing a major overhaul of systems and culture.
- She is a Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal chairperson and devotes time to Leadership WA.
