With 30 years’ experience in Australia and internationally, Helen Fairclough returned to her hometown Melbourne in 2014 to join the award-winning Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) as Director of People and Culture.
Recently acting Chief Operating Officer, Helen has currently been appointed in an interim role as the Director of Business Relaunch at MCEC, a role that Helen shares a bit about in the podcast.
Prior to MCEC, Helen spent nine years with Chevron Corporation in London and San Francisco. She has also held roles with HRMS Consulting in Monaco, and the Transport Accident Commission and Crown Casino in Melbourne.
Helen has worked in environments ranging from start-up to Fortune 500, and in industries as diverse as retail, advertising, government/public sector, hospitality, tourism & events, insurance, law, consulting, manufacturing and energy.
Helen has Board level experience as a Non-Executive Director and Executive Council Member of the Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry and member of the Australian American Chamber Commerce Board (San Francisco, USA). Her interests include live music, travelling, fashion and sport.
When I first met Helen she was sharing how the MCEC had won Employer of the Year Award 3 times. An award that is not easy to achieve, especially for a hospitality business the size of MCEC. In this podcast, you will start to understand how they did this AND they have now been named Employer of Choice again at the time of recording this podcast – that is 4 YEARS IN A ROW!
I really love this podcast and I could’ve chatted to Helen forever! There are so many leadership and team engagement tips and insights that Helen shares that will benefit anyone who listens in.
Helen generously shares:
- How MCEC is using this opportunity to innovate and disrupt the sector
- Three things that contributed to the MCEC being awarded Employer of the Year 3 times (now 4 YEARS IN A ROW at the time of recording this podcast)
- The biggest leadership shifts this pandemic has caused
- Three things leaders need to focus on moving forward
Also since recording this podcast (Sept 2020) the State Government has extended the funding for the MCEC into the New Year (Helen mentions this in our chat, which is great news for them and the City of Melbourne.
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