MERIT SOLUTIONS AUSTRALIA - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Anne-Marie is the Managing Director of Merit Solutions, a role she has performed since its formation in 1996. Over this time, she has developed and shaped a diverse human resources and management consulting business with an exceptional reputation for integrity, excellence in service delivery and responsive client service. She consults extensively in the areas of strategic HR, organisational structures review, executive recruitment and selection. Anne-Marie previously held senior positions in Human Resource Management in a number of Commonwealth Government Departments. She was also a senior advisor on equity and diversity strategies with the Commonwealth Public Service Board.
Anne-Marie has extensive experience in the provision of recruitment and selection advice to clients and to the Merit Solutions consulting team. She has frequently worked as an independent panel member, providing HR expertise and advice on executive level or particularly complex or sensitive selection processes for a range of agencies across local and State Government including statutory authorities. She has advised on strategies to enable the effective management of the selection aspects of corporate restructuring. As Managing Director of Merit Solutions, Anne-Marie has coordinated teams of consultants to assist in large scale selection exercises. With accreditation in the use of PAPI, a globally recognised Personality and Preferences Inventory, Anne-Marie advises clients on the application of this valuable tool in recruitment as well as coaching and team development.
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- in 2022 As an Executive Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Grant joined Merit Solutions in 2022 as an Executive Consultant. Previously he held a range of executive level human resource positions in the Commonwealth Government, as well as in the private and not for profit sectors including with the Department of Senate, National Library of Australia, Australian National Training Authority, Masonic Care Queensland, Regis and Vacenti (aged care) along with more operational roles in both the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments. He has worked as part of the Senior Leadership Group in a number of organisations and has considerable governance experience reporting to the Board level. Grant has also provided a range of HR consultancy services to West Moreton Youth Detention Centre, Queensland Rail, Sunshine Coast Regional Council, Loreto College and Gladstone Regional Council.
Grant has successfully negotiated enterprise agreements and has extensive experience working with industrial and staff representative bodies. He is a strong, but calm negotiator who delivers quality results. He has managed significant staff redundancies programs, staff disciplinary matters and undertaken cost/benefit analysis for the outsourcing of service delivery. He has considerable knowledge and experience with work health and safety including injury management and staff rehabilitation. Grant has successfully implemented a number of HR systems including payroll and staff rostering.
Job Titles:
- Marketing and Systems Coordinator
Job Titles:
- Management Consultant
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Joan has worked as a Management Consultant since January 1995, mainly in the field of selection and recruitment. Prior to this she was an Internal Consultant with the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the Organisation and Personal Development Section. For several years, Joan was Manager of the Staff Development and Training function for The Australian Bureau of Statistics in Queensland. Joan has also worked as a tutor and lecturer at Griffith University, with the Faculty of Commerce and Administration, in the School of Organisation Behaviour and Human Resource Management. She held a full time lecturing position for 12 months before returning to part-time lecturing and consulting for Merit Solutions.
Joan has lectured in Organisational Change and Development at both undergraduate and post graduate levels at Griffith University. Prior to this she worked as an internal consultant and Manager of the Staff Development and Training Section of the Australian Bureau of Statistics where she led initiatives in change management, participative job redesign and middle and senior management development. Joan has facilitated work and job design exercises focussed on the development of more efficient and satisfying jobs.
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Jodie joined Merit Solutions in 2014 after over 17 years' experience managing human resource projects for both the Queensland Government and private sector clients. Whilst in government, Jodie was responsible for various human resource initiatives including recruitment and selection, induction, training and development and e-learning programs of work. With the Department of Education, Training and the Arts, Jodie managed a nationally funded VET sector capability building project and led a team responsible for a program of state-based e-learning projects. She worked as a Queensland Government employee for 13 years across various departments, building a strong track record in the development of HR strategies, change management and policy development. Jodie's excellent interpersonal skills, her flexible style and attention to detail have attracted positive comments from various State/Territory stakeholders, sectors and staff from all levels across government.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Manager
- Selections Consultant
Judy has thirty years experience in a variety of public service roles with her last ten years in the government sector in senior executive positions. She has managed a range of corporate support areas, including finance, human resources and information technology, as well as service delivery and policy functions. Since leaving the public sector to work as a consultant she has undertaken policy development and organisational and business improvement assignments for a range of national and state based organisations. She has sound written skills having authored a number of reports for government and public audiences. Judy joined Merit Solutions in 2014.
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Kate joined Merit Solutions in 2023 and brings over 25 years' experience in public sector and consultancy roles including executive search, recruitment and selection, talent management and leadership development, job evaluation and analysis and culture and capability programs. Kate's industry sector experience include government, regulation, aviation, construction, engineering, travel, tourism and hospitality both in Australia and the Middle East.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Senior Executive
- Selections Consultant
Kath has over 30 years' experience working at the Executive level in Government and over 20 years of this working on transformational change engagements in both Australia and Internationally. She has worked in government departments and agencies at federal and state levels in the areas of taxation, health, environment, regulation, compliance and transport. Kath has held senior executive roles including Deputy Commissioner, Office of State Revenue in Queensland Treasury; General Manager of the Australian Valuation Office and Assistant Deputy Commissioner (Superannuation) in the Australian Taxation Office. Kath has led projects across all stages of the project lifecycle, from start up to finalisation and is regarded as a subject matter expert in organisational design, change management, governance processes and stakeholder engagement.
Kath was the Program Manager for a multiyear, multimillion dollar transformational program for several federal government agencies and Industry. Kath developed governance processes for the whole-of-government initiative. For this project she was also the lead on APS Gateway processes and legislative design. Many of these governance processes are now used as best practice in the Australian Public Sector. Kath managed and built large-scale stakeholder engagement with industry to ensure design and alignment of ICT activities, benefit realisation and policy development to enable government's outcomes to be realised.
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- HR Advisor
- Selections Consultant
Lade was the Executive Manager, Resource and Contractor Management (leader of a centralised recruitment function) in Australia's largest local government organisation (Brisbane City Council). Lade was also selected to work with Athi Water Services Board on a World Bank project where she partnered with business units to attract, select and on-board the talent required to execute their business objectives. She has coached individuals to improve workplace performance and led projects to implement various HR initiatives.
Lade is a trusted HR advisor and people person who is known professionally for her ability to build relationships, influence stakeholders and drive outcomes. Prior to joining Merit Solutions, Lade was the Managing Director of an HR consulting firm specialising in recruitment and selection, HR policy advice and leadership development coaching.
With over 20 years' experience in leadership and executive roles, Lade has successfully worked with professionals and emerging leaders from various backgrounds. She has experience managing issues relating to employee engagement & performance. With her understanding of client needs and business requirements, Lade has successfully implemented interventions to address employee performance issues.
Lade is particularly passionate about professional development coaching and is highly motivated by the improvement she witnesses in her coaching clients. She delivers online, or face-to face coaching programs focussed on improving workplace performance and maximising employee potential.
Lade has worked as the operational lead in various projects including the implementation of revised remuneration and benefit policies/practices and enhancing workforce capability. She was responsible for resource management as well as project documentation, execution, and evaluation.
Influencing all stakeholders to adopt cultural changes regarding recruitment and selection practices
Implementation of a "contractor conversion to employee" scheme which resulted in millions of dollars in savings
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Consultant With
- HR Research
- Merit Consultant
Lyn has been a Consultant with Merit Solutions since 1997. She was previously employed as an Associate Lecturer in the School of Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management, Griffith University (5 years). This role involved program and course development, and included course convening, lecturing and tutoring and the setting and grading of student assessment. Lyn also has a good knowledge of the vocational education and training (VET) sector and has managed the development of new courses for accreditation in Queensland. Her early background is in office administration and small business management.
Lyn's research, analysis and reporting skills are highly developed. She has expertise in qualitative methodologies, research design and data gathering using structured interviews, convergent interviewing and focus groups, and she has a record of achievement in analysing qualitative data to draw out findings and identify priorities for problem solving and change. Lyn developed critical literature reviews for both her Honours and Doctoral theses, and has extensive experience writing academic discussion papers and developing business cases both as a small business owner and to assist agencies in preparing briefs to support operational decisions.
Member of the consulting team working with a specialised not-for-profit organisation and principal author in the research and development of an issues and options paper assessing current people management issues and potential challenges; identifying and prioritising options for future improvement and development; and facilitating agreement on an improvement strategy for the group.
Preparation of customised reports documenting the review and evaluation of procurement processes and funding proposals.
Lyn has significant skills and experience in the design and application of action research processes to achieve collaborative learning and continuous improvement in the workplace. She was Editor of the ALAR Journal for ten years. ALAR is an international non-refereed publication that aims to promote the study and practice of action learning and action research and the development of professional networking around these methodologies on a global basis.
Job Titles:
- Leader
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Lyndal is an experienced leader and Human Resource (HR) professional with a 30 year plus history within local government and the Australian Public Service. Lyndal has most recently worked in a senior executive role as the Human Resources Manager at Whitsunday Regional Council where she reported directly to the CEO and worked as a key member of the senior leadership team. Prior to this, Lyndal worked for many years across various senior HR leadership roles for Brisbane City Council, delivering a full range of HR services and programs.
Lyndal has undertaken numerous organisation design projects including major structural change, systems design and implementation including major projects in delivering an ERP, establishing a shared services function, and self-service HR processes for managers and employees.
Job Titles:
- Senior Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Learning and Development
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Learning and Development
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant
Job Titles:
- Consultant
- Executive
- Selections Consultant / Recruitment
Paula joined Merit Solutions in 2015 and brings with her a wealth of search, recruitment and selection expertise, spanning 25 years. For the last six years, Paula has been providing those services for a range of Merit clients, including positions at the executive level ranging from Director to Deputy Director-General.
Paula is particularly passionate in the areas of career coaching and counselling, where she can impart her vast 25-years recruitment and selection expertise to support those that may have been impacted by organisational restructure or redundancy. Supporting a range of government clients, she has worked with individuals, often on a one-to-one basis, to support them in the preparation of highly marketable resumes, succinct job applications, social media profiling, and behavioural interview role-plays. Some of the clients Paula has supported in recent years include Disability Services Queensland, Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland, Transport and Main Roads and QLeave.
Paula has worked as a consultant completing Recruitment Audits and advising on the review, development and implementation of recruitment best practice procedures. A recent audit, completed for a local government client, Paroo Shire Council, identified a number of areas to support best practice recruitment and selection process. Previously, working in consultancy, she has been involved in numerous salary survey reviews for companies including Ford Motors and McKinsey & Co. As HR Manager within a Dubai based start-up company, she was responsible to develop a wide range of HR systems, policies and practices from recruitment and selection to onboarding and the development of a robust performance management system. This role required her to partner closely with line management to support and enhance best HR practice and process adoption across the company.
Having worked overseas earlier in her career, Paula has developed a strong understanding of cultural differences and sensitivities. She draws upon her international experiences to converse genuinely and effectively with a wide range of people from differing cultures and backgrounds.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director & Executive Consultant
Ron is currently a Director and an Executive Consultant with Merit Solutions. He also collaborates with Julie Cork and Associates in the delivery of action learning based leadership programs. Since 1990, he has consulted as a coach and mentor in leadership, culture and organisational change. Ron was a full-time lecturer in human resource management and organisational behaviour at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Griffith University for more than a decade. Previously, Ron specialised in human resource management and change management during a 20 year career in the Australian Public Service. Over this time, he held many managerial and executive positions in five Government Departments up to senior executive service level. Ron was awarded the title of Emeritus Professor after working in an adjunct capacity for the Australian Institute of Business in Adelaide over more than 30 years, including roles as a Professor, Chair of Research Committee and member of the Academic Board.
Ron is a Past President of the Action Learning and Action Research Association and has a global profile in this field. He has facilitated workshops on action learning and action research across Australia and in New Zealand, PNG, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Colombia.
Ron is the author of www.growmindfulness.com, a current blog with 500 posts covering mindfulness practices, leadership, mental health and management.
Job Titles:
- Principal Consultant
- Selections Consultant