Smells like team spirit

THERE was more than one winner, at the recent Federation Business School Commerce Ballarat Business Excellence Awards, who profusely thanked their team saying they couldn’t have done it without them.

Commerce Ballarat’s CEO Jodie Gillett and her team were responsible for organising and running the Awards process and ceremony.

“I was embarrassed that my name and Commerce Ballarat was mentioned so many times,” Ms Gillett said. “I only look good because of my fabulous employees.

“Michelle Mortlock, Zoe Becker and Leah Purtell are the young women who make Commerce Ballarat tick.”

According to Ms Gillett, Ms Mortlock and Ms Becker, have for the past five years more than aptly supported her and the 500 plus members of the organisation.

While Ms Purtell who is studying for a Bachelor of Business at Federation Business School, has worked part time in the office for the last 18 months.

“There is so much negative talk about the younger generation with a lack of work ethic, yet my team are incredible at what they do but more importantly they live and breathe our ethos,” Ms Gillett said. “They all have the flexibility to carry out five different things in the day with confidence.”

There is a noticeable empathy for business, due to family business connections, underpinning the work ethic of Ms Purtell and Ms Mortlock

Ms Purtell’s parents own and run a hardware store in Daylesford while Ms Mortlock’s husband’s family grow hydroponic tomatoes in a big way in Maryborough.

Both women understand the challenges of business, whether its compliance, marketing or employee relations just from sitting at the kitchen table.

On the other hand, Ms Becker said she loves working in her home town and knowing the people she deals with.

“Except when it’s nine o’clock at night and I’m in my jammies and ugg boots running into the supermarket for chocolate,” she said.

Ms Gillett said she is proud of her small committed team and has built an inclusive culture within the organisation that encourages the staff to take initiative.

“Because our organisation is so nimble it is a suitable environment for these young women to develop and progress,” Ms Gillett said.

“Michelle and Zoe were responsible for updating the organisations logo last year. They approached me with the suggestion to take ownership of a project to review and renew all the branding.”

All three are dedicated to their jobs and happily admit to looking forward to a long-term future within the ever-expanding business.

Ms Becker said they are all constantly looking at how to do things better.

They all admit their level of confidence has grown in the time they have been in the office.

“We have a good rapport with each other and the members and they know they can come direct to us,” Ms Becker said. “I like being helpful.”

Revelling in the fact that Ms Gillett is not averse to change, Ms Mortlock said she is grateful for Ms Gillett’s faith in letting her explore her own ideas.

She is an exponent of social media for marketing purposes and uses it constantly for the organisation.

“Jodie is happy for me to use Facebook and Instagram as way of engaging with young business people,” she said.

Ms Purtell describes the opportunities she has been given in a short amount of time as unexpected.

“Working here and studying allows me to utilise what I am learning and put it into practice,” she said. “The theory I have learnt this year helps me look at things more critically and from a business perspective.

“I plan on staying her for a lot longer and hopefully, maybe one day, step into Jodie’s shoes further down the track.”