Organisational Psychologist Tessa Dehring joined Nous eight years ago as a Consultant and was recently given her latest promotion, to Principal. Tessa, who holds a master’s degree in psychology, grew up in the Pilbara in Western Australia and now calls Melbourne home.
At Nous, she works with clients across sectors including human services and education to support their organisational performance and leadership efforts.
There is great diversity in the work I do – one discussion might be focused on how we improve leadership across a government agency, then next we’re talking about how to improve the culture in a financial services organisation. Mixed between those meetings are team working sessions, coaching discussions with senior clients and one-on-ones with my project teams and performance coaches.
Fun, high-paced, collaborative
I know many organisations say it – but the people! I also love the inclusivity; every member of the team, no matter what level or skills background, has a voice that’s valued. People are supported and empowered to do their best and deliver high-quality work for our clients.
Probably my first Christmas party (Nousers love dress ups).
I have heard in other organisations that the positive aspects can wear off over time but for me Nous culture resembles all the initial elements I loved, even eight years later.
I’m really lucky because Nous has provided me many, many opportunities to stretch myself over the years. This happens mostly by learning new skills and gaining experience via projects, but we also have structured conversations and planning around career more broadly. I have had many great performance coaches that have provided me with great guidance over my Nous career so far.
We work across many levers that drive organisational performance. An initial understanding of a client’s challenges and what might be driving those challenges allow us to work out what individuals, teams and the whole organisation need to improve performance.
That will depend on the client. For example, it could be about helping them to define the culture they need to deliver on their strategy and thinking carefully and practically about what improvements are needed to get there. Or it could be supporting the design and delivery of a leadership assessment and development program to help individuals improve their performance and the entire leadership cohort to work better together.
I was working interstate and facilitating workshops with a client. We got stuck between two doors while leaving a facilitation after most people had left the building. We spent 20 minutes waving madly until someone spotted us and let us escape!
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