Mathew Kenny is a Senior Parking Officer at Wellington City Council. He undertook the Core Knowledge qualification with the aim of improving his pathway into management. We recently interviewed him to find out his thoughts on how G-Reg has helped.
How long have you been working in a regulatory relevant industry?
I have been working in a regulatory relevant industry for 15 years now, both in New Zealand and in Australia.
When did you first hear about the G-Reg qualifications and what were your thoughts?
I first heard about it through my manager’s manager. She described it as a pilot programme that would be good for people at a similar stage in their career to myself – in middle management and looking to develop further. It was organised through Jane Hill who had been at the Wellington Council for 30 odd years. She said it’s a good thing, they have seen a strong success rate in the guys who had got achievement and that it’s a bit of a pilot type programme that she was hoping to roll out across all of council.
How do you plan to use this G-Reg qualification to build your career pathway?
The next step for me is management, I’m currently a supervisor with Parking Services. I need to take my skills up to the next level of management. I’d also like to do the Level Four G-Reg qualification if Council makes that available.
What were some of your favourite parts of the learning material?
I enjoyed gaining a better awareness of certain laws; the course looks at the powers that we have and discusses them in depth. Regulation is a big space, the course helps break things down to maritime law, parking law, public health law and I was able to gain more awareness of the variables that other regulatory areas consider and then relate that to our own experience.
I also enjoyed learning more about MPI and how other big government organisations operate and how they deal with regulation. Through those examples I gained a broader understanding of regulation.
In terms of style I really liked the interactive stuff. I really like that there were videos and being able to listen to things. Reading is fine, but you can get overwhelmed with so much reading. I found that listening to people talk about their experiences was quite powerful – I enjoyed the video more than just reading. I also enjoyed being able to relate to other peoples’ work experiences.
As an aspiring leader there were some really high profile people in some of the videos and hearing their experiences and what they do on a day-to-day basis was really helpful and inspiring. My direct manager and the MPI speaker were two speakers that really caught my attention.
What aspects of the G-Reg qualification did you find challenging?
Sometimes you thought you had the answer immediately in black and white, but the way some of the questions were worded meant that you had to read and consider the questions very carefully. There often wasn’t an obvious right or wrong answer.
Why do you think doing this G-Reg qualification is important? And what advice would you give to people who are considering taking the course?
I would just recommend it as being something that’s really worthwhile. I think that any employer that takes the time to invest in your development, that’s a real win-win for you and for them.
This qualification is great for people just starting out and for people who want to further develop their career. I know this qualification will certainly help me in the future.
If you’re interested in finding out how the G-Reg Core Knowledge qualification can help build career pathways for yourself or your teams, hit the button below.
