Developing cultural literacy skills through hands on practices

Meet Chris Quin, ExxonMobil Australia’s Planning and Controls Advisor and a passionate Demons supporter.

“I never thought my love for Melbourne Football Club would ever intertwine with work, but I was recently afforded the opportunity to toss the coin before a match, in front of a crowd of over 72,000 people as part of the company bank’s sponsorship of the Demons,” said Chris.

“It was wonderful, and I’m truly thankful for the chance to have such a remarkable experience. AFL is a rich part of Australian culture, and something I enjoyed getting involved in when I moved here from New Zealand more than 20 years ago.”

This recent experience was just one of many amazing opportunities Chris has experienced throughout his 30 years at ExxonMobil.

“I have been fortunate to work across fourteen roles, in three different countries and in three different functions. This has allowed me to learn about the company and the different roles within it in depth, whilst experiencing an array of diverse cultures.

“I’m truly fascinated with other cultures, and one of my many career highlights was living in Kuala Lumpur for four years as a regional Compensation and Benefits Advisor. In this role, I learnt about the cultural differences across countries and ExxonMobil affiliates, and how local cultures and practices affect the way in which we integrate our principles.

“Each role and experience I’ve had throughout my ExxonMobil career has allowed me to learn first-hand about the countries and communities the company operates in, the activities and processes we have and how they can change depending on the local environment.

“This knowledge became particularly beneficial when I moved into the role of Asia Pacific HR Services Manager, and then again working as part of a global team responsible for the planning and implementation of a new HR delivery model into Asia Pacific, Europe, and Canada. In these roles, I led diverse teams and worked closely with colleagues across the globe, and being able to acknowledge cultural differences and how they impact our working life was imperative to the success of the both the role and the work we were executing.

“ExxonMobil is full of great people across all facets of the business and across all countries. I’m delighted that I have collaborated and worked with hundreds of them. I’m passionate about developing people and have enjoyed the part of my supervisory and managerial roles where I could see the impact of helping my teams to grow and develop., I’m continuing that today through mentoring relationships with people inside and outside ExxonMobil.

“My career has seen me pivot across different fields and areas, and although for the majority of my time I have been focused on Human Resources and Downstream part of the business, in late 2020 I moved into the Upstream for the first time, and it feels like I’ve joined a whole new company! New people, processes, approaches – and so many acronyms to learn.

“It’s such an exciting time to join this side of the business, with so many new projects underway. In this role, I work as the interface with our Gippsland Basin Joint Venture partners which recently became Woodside, following their merger with BHP.”

“Earlier this year I led a review where we closely collaborated with them to identify where we could optimize the reporting requirements that we have as operator of the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture, in advance of the change from BHP to Woodside."

"The joy of working at ExxonMobil is that there’s always something exciting and new to work on, and great people to work with along the journey," Chris concluded.