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Impact on individuals
Individuals who participate in a Jawun secondment
describe it as a unique and transformative
experience—many go so far as to call it ‘life-
changing’.
4
Secondees benefit both personally and
professionally from the opportunity, gaining deeper
insights into Indigenous culture, a broadening of
cultural perspectives, development in emotional
intelligence and accelerated career growth.
I got so much more back from the
secondment experience than I think
I was able to contribute: an awareness
of myself, and how I am as a part of
this country and this earth.
NATHAN KRIEGER,
EX-WESTPAC,
SECONDED TO CAPE YORK 2002
The individual ‘why’
Learn about Indigenous culture
Professional development
New challenge
Personal satisfaction
Make a contribution
The motivators for participating in a Jawun
secondment are as diverse as the people involved;
however, there are a number of common drivers.
The opportunity for a
professional challenge
was a key factor for many. Ben Tan from KPMG
said: ‘Most of my work is around education and
human services so the secondment was a great
professional development opportunity.’ Nina Kordic
from IAG had a similar drive: ‘From a professional
point of view, I wanted to do something that would
stretch me in a way I hadn’t been stretched in a
corporate environment.’
Another strong motivator was the desire to
learn
and understand more about Indigenous culture
.
Chris Simpson, formerly of KPMG, said: ‘I wanted
to get an idea of Indigenous affairs in Australia
beyond what I’d studied and read in newspapers.
I’d studied law and spent a lot of time on native
title and recognition, but there was no exposure
to what’s currently going on and what that
means for people.’ Jodie Symes from Allens was
similarly driven by a ‘thirst for knowledge. I felt
very ignorant of Indigenous affairs as a whole,
so I wanted to get involved in the program to
understand the issues for myself.’
For the secondees, the ability to give back to
the community through their work was seen
as intrinsically linked to
increased personal
satisfaction
. Jaimes Adlington from Westpac
said: ‘I wanted something to give me that extra
bit of satisfaction. There was the feeling: “I want
to contribute something else.”’ Other secondees
mentioned the desire for a new challenge or a way
to marry personal interests with their professional
life. Dr Tracey Benson from the Department of
Industry and Science commented: ‘I thought it was
a great way of combining the things I’m interested
in outside of work with the things I’m doing at work.’
Renee Schicks from Commonwealth Bank Australia
reflected: ‘I was looking for an opportunity to be
able to use all the skills I’d learnt over my career
to see if I could add some value and provide a
social benefit—and Jawun provided the perfect
opportunity to do that.’ Tanya Kaye from KPMG
agreed: ‘I really wanted to make a difference and
to be able to see the difference on the ground.’
Experiential learning drives attitudinal
and behavioural change
The primary purpose of a Jawun secondment is to
help build capability and capacity in Indigenous
organisations through the transfer of skills from
secondee to employees of those organisations.
However, genuine two-way skills and knowledge
transfer also occurs, which drives attitudinal and
behavioural change in secondees.
In his 1938 book
Experience and Education
, John
Dewey wrote: ‘There is an intimate and necessary
relation between the process of actual experience
and education.’
5
The immersive nature of a Jawun
secondment brings about attitudinal change by
exposing individuals to a specific and unique ‘out
of comfort zone’ learning experience over a set
period of time, and in an environment of which they
typically have little prior knowledge, predetermined
views or stereotypical perceptions.
6
Fostering a new
mind-set is important in changing behaviour and
enabling an individual to perform more effectively.
7
Perceptions are challenged and changed
Increased awareness
Greater understanding
Australian identity
Jawun secondees typically reported that the
immediate impact of a secondment was that their
preconceptions were challenged.
8
For the majority
of them, a Jawun secondment represented their
first opportunity to meaningfully engage with
Indigenous people.
12 JAWUN
2015 LEARNINGS AND INSIGHTS