A Day in the Life of ... Christopher Youness

Christopher Youness is a Senior Human Resources Partner within the Office of People and Culture.
Chris began his work at the University in 2007 as an HR Officer, working within the Payroll and Remuneration Services area in the former Office of Human Resources.

Chris has worked with the Recruitment team, facilitating recruitment requisitions for clients before joining HR Business Services, which actively works to support Schools and Divisional Units with all HR matters.

Chris has also undertaken a few secondments during his time at UWS, including working as a Project Officer on the initial 100 New Academic Appointments campaign, which was a national and international campaign attracting and employing a wide range of high-profile academic staff. Another secondment he undertook was delivering the Postgraduate Expo with the Office of Partnerships and Public Affairs in 2011.

Before Work

What do you have for breakfast and is there anything you do before you come to work?
At the moment, cereal. Crunchy Nut Corn Flakes is the current favourite.

What do you do usually do when you first arrive at UWS?
I spend 10 to 15 minutes catching up with my colleagues, talking about both work- and non-work-related matters before checking my phones messages and gearing up for the multitude of emails.

At Work

Who do you work with?
I work within the HR Business Services team, helping Schools and Divisional Units with their various HR issues. My client groups include the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, the School of Social Sciences and Psychology, the Office of Marketing and Communication, and all staff within the portfolio of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Students).

What are the two or three most important things you are currently working on?
MyVoice Action Planning, which is aimed at developing strategies to support or improve the areas identified in the MyVoice recommendations.

Ongoing work on Compass implementation, which seeks to engage staff by discussing work objectives for a defined period, conducting performance reviews and accessing career development opportunities.  This is done alongside my colleagues within the HR Business Services team for each of our respective client portfolios.

What regular meetings do you attend, who are they with and what are they about?
I meet with my various clients on a regular basis to provide a foundation for HR and employment-related advice and support, often required within an urgent, confidential and sensitive setting. As HR practitioners, we hold a dual responsibility to provide this type of service to both employees and managers/supervisors.

MyVoice Project team with Aggie Lim, Director, Organisational Development; Phillip Marler, Organisational Development Consultant; Leanne Findlay, Internal Communications Manager; and Carolyn Bennett, Project Coordinator.

What is something that can make a positive difference to your day?
To see the work that we do as a support function achieve a result that represents the needs and interest of all parties involved.

After Work

What might we find you doing outside of work?
I spend as much time as I possibly can in the gym, although winter has slowed my commitment.

I love good food and coffee and will spend my weekends searching for Sydney’s best cafe. If I had to choose, my favourite food is a good stone-cooked, wood-fired, traditional Italian pizza!