Experience puts Dolin in the loop

Michele Dolin didn’t take what many would consider to be a conventional pathway to a career in finance.

Currently the chief executive officer at the Government Employees Superannuation Board (GESB), Ms Dolin’s interest in finance began during her first job, where she was exposed to the world of commerce while working as a translator in Europe and the Middle East.

Returning to Australia after completing graduate and masters degrees in arts in the US and working as a translator, she secured a job with Colonial Mutual.

“I quickly realised that, if my career was going to go anywhere, I needed to have more experience in the finance and quantitative side of things,” she told WA Business News.

“So I did an MBA at Melbourne University and found that, on finishing, tremendous opportunities opened up to me, and I still find the skills acquired during the MBA extremely relevant.”

During her tenure at the GESB, Ms Dolin has overseen significant growth at the board. It has doubled in size during the past three years and has $6.3 billion dollars in funds, as well as insurance and banking products.

“Taking on this job was like the consolidation phase of my career, bringing together all the learning and experiences of being an executive and a board member,” Ms Dolin said.

“Being in superannuation right now is particularly exciting; the industry and marketplace are undergoing huge changes, and super has taken on a new substance and importance.

“It’s a phenomenal business that is very dynamic and can make a real difference to people. To be the CEO of the largest fund in Western Australia is a marvelous opportunity.”

Joining GESB in 2003, Ms Dolin held a number of senior executive positions with large financial institutions, including that of  general manager with Challenge Bank, Westpac and BankWest, and chief financial officer positions at both Challenge Bank and BankWest.

“Every skill and capability I have acquired along the way I have been able to feed into the next role and build on,” Ms Dolin said.

“A big advantage of working for ASX 100 companies is that the businesses are so diverse and give you a tremendous exposure to new things.”

Ms Dolin is currently a board member of the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia and the Lions Eye Institute, the pro-chancellor of Curtin University, and a committee member of the Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee.

She is also a former board member of the Water Corporation, King Ed-ward Memorial Hospital, UnisysWest, Plan B, TrustWest and the Meerlinga Young Children’s Foundation.

Ms Dolin said she believed networking and mentoring were intertwined concepts, and that there had been many people during her career who had provided support and advice at different stages.

“To be successful in a corporate environment you need networks and to be able to influence others and know how to get results,” she said. “This inevitably involves finding people to support the direction which you want to take, and those relationships and networks are very important to enable a business to be a success.”

Ms Dolin said a commitment from those currently in senior executive and board roles was essential to address the scarcity of women at the upper ends of business via the development and appointment of capable women.

“Suitable women for these jobs are out there, they just aren’t being put in the roles,” she said.

When she began at GESB, Ms Dolin said there were no women in senior management roles, but now the organisation had a 50/50 balance.

“We haven’t discriminated to obtain that balance, it is just a matter of finding the best person for a role, and it happens that person is sometimes a woman,” she told WA Business News.

Going forward, she said, the biggest challenge was to build an organisation that would be strong and sustainable into the future.

“There is so much growth and potential in the industry, and we need to perform strongly today as well as building for future strength,” she said.

“There is a lot of change, consolidation and maturing, and it is a constant challenge to build and grow an organisation in that climate.”

Another challenge was to develop good managers within an organisation, Ms Dolin said, those who had courage and commitment and could make tough decisions.

“A good leader has to ensure delivery and results of their decisions, and you can only achieve that if you can bring the people in your organisation with you by articulating your vision and nurturing them so they can take an active role in building the organisation,” she said.

•           Background in banking and finance, current CEO of the Government Employees Superannuation Board.

•           GESB has doubled size in the last three years and has $6.3 billion dollars in funds, as well as insurance and banking products.