Christine Holgate, announced last week as the new Managing Director and Group CEO of Australia Post, succeeding Ahmed Fahour, has spoken to the Seven Network’s Sunrise team about the task ahead for the postal service.
Asked about the biggest trial she anticipates Australia Post will face, Holgate noted that utilisation of the company’s workforce as letter sending declines will be difficult going forward.
“Clearly, one of the biggest challenges is you’ve got this army of these fantastic trusted people going out to our homes every day, but the letters they’re delivering are declining,” she said, adding that she is keen to keep the nation’s post workers relevant in the community and in their jobs.
When questioned about her salary expectations when entering the position, after the disclosure of her predecessor Fahour’s excessive pay packet resulted in his departure from the company, Holgate noted that remuneration wasn’t a consideration.
“I know this might sound peculiar to people, but I never asked what the salary was,” she said. “It wasn’t actually a factor in me deciding to do the job, I always said to John [Stanhope, Chairman (non-executive) of Australia Post’s board of directors], ‘you’ll pay me what you think is fair’, and to me, taking the job had nothing to do with pay.”
See the interview below.
Meet Christine Holgate, the new CEO of Australia post! #sun7 pic.twitter.com/eflhmcXlTa
— Sunrise (@sunriseon7) June 27, 2017