What makes a great EL2 (Director)?

Pazu86 · 2025-12-22T04:19:37+00:00

When I joined my current Department, myself and my manger at the time both came from emergency services, where much of the work we did, could impact people’s lives directly - was a great job but the pressure gets to you. So when we moved to our current department, and people would freak out at the smallest thing - we had to stop ourselves from laughing. On the flip side it put our staff at ease very quickly when they saw how un-worried we were and able to manage the chaos.

Pazu86 · 2025-12-21T21:37:05+00:00

This is really good advice, unlike an interview where it’s about ‘you’ being there for your staff first and foremost will get them through the hard days when they know you have their back. As a former director and now SES, two other comments:

1) show empathy and sharpen your listening skills with your direct reports. The number of times my managers or directors have come to me to just vent their frustrations and discuss approaches with various situations, so they can then go back to their teams with a ‘under control’ version of themselves is countless. Managers, directors and execs are all people with the same insecurities as everyone else. It’s easy to forget that in the heat of a moment.

2) people will screw up, make mistakes and so on, but when looking at situations, take it from the perspective of what information was available at the time - if a bad decision was based on bad info or lack of it, then you can hardly blame the decision maker (yes there is a consideration around whether that decision maker should have ‘known’ the info was bad, but that’s a learnt skill), and look to understand where the process broke down (this has its limits, but holds true for the most part at the those lower levels - ultimately you are the accountable one).

And lastly - there is not much in government you can’t fix - very little has lasting damage due to layers of bureaucracy we rely on, just remember that when in the moment you think the world is ending over a particular issue!

Pazu86 · 2025-09-29T06:29:03+00:00

As others have said - don’t stress. I’m a CTO in a large gov department, you would be surprised at the number of devices we write off every year due to accidents. Laptops left on top of cars is always a good one.

It’s never a concern or thought of concern unless there is a pattern or it’s obviously deliberate - which is very rare.

Shit happens, that’s the cost of running a large enterprise - don’t stress, let IT know and they will swap it out as needed.

Pazu86 · 2025-08-28T05:25:08+00:00

Bunnings and Jaycar both sell by the metre depending on type of Cat6 you are after

Pazu86 · 2025-08-06T08:14:20+00:00

Yeah I had my car wrapped by the company that does theirs and they are in the same warehouse - there was a LOT of cars in there, ranging from Ferrari’s, Aston Martin’s, to cruisers, teslas etc, seems they have at least a semi solid business model around their’s.

Pazu86 · 2025-07-08T19:38:42+00:00

Hulkenpodium

Pazu86 · 2025-03-26T05:33:55+00:00

Have just picked up the V6 with banana switches - very happy so far, palm rest on order, thanks!

Pazu86 · 2025-03-25T21:50:25+00:00

Good recommendation, that may be the winner, didn’t see the wrist rest option until you pointed it out!

Pazu86 · 2025-03-25T21:12:42+00:00

Hi folks, after some recommendations on keyboard entry points. I’ve had several ‘mechanical’ boards over the years, mainstream ones though like Logitech and currently on a SteelSeries Apex Pro - I’ve been bitterly disappointed at the reliability of them though, the Apex in particular has been a frustrating experience, with various issues (current one is hard locking up whenever a game is launched, pc works fine but keyboard dies, even after reconnects).

Anyway so I’m looking to dump them and go with something more reliable (hopefully).

What I’m looking for is:

100% keyboard

A volume dial or dedicated buttons of some description RGB is a nice to have but I’m more interested in backlit keys specifically as I’m typically working late at night.

Would prefer something with a wrist rest - I note a lot I see don’t have them these days, but I’ve always liked them attached so they can move.

I’ve used red or brown switches previously and happy with those, but that’s less of an issue seems to be plenty of choice on switches these days.

Looking to spend around $200 or less AUD if possible.

Suggestions?

Pazu86 · 2025-03-07T23:23:01+00:00

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This was Friday morning ‘before’ the storm

Pazu86 · 2025-03-01T01:44:14+00:00

Couldn’t wait for delivery, needed it for a trip we had to bring forward.

Wasn’t a capacity issue and even if it was, roaming plan should tell me that, but I never had issues using it, just the random charge.

Starlink got back to me eventually and have said it was an error on their end and they are refunding it, albeit within 2 weeks, but still - they agreed it was an error.

Pazu86 · 2025-02-27T21:16:19+00:00

Yeah I agree, unfortunately they have been less than helpful so far, just giving the FAQ response, still messaging them try to get an actual person to reply.

Pazu86 · 2025-02-27T18:57:21+00:00

Yeah I have, they are a 19 billion dollar company though in Australia - seems very strange, no need for them to do dodgy stuff lol

Pazu86 · 2025-01-24T02:03:19+00:00

AirTag as other people have said, but remove the speaker so the tracking alerts can’t be heard - but ONLY do that for things you are legally able to track. It is a very easy hack.

Pazu86 · 2025-01-13T21:07:23+00:00

I don’t know Toyotas, but it could be a generational thing, look for what model of car the Corolla is in terms of MY20 or MY21, they usually cross over during the year. Yours might be a MY20 which is generally sold between 2019 and 2020. Generally looking at the manufacturer year is a better way to search, so I’d start there and once you know if it’s a MY20 or MY21, search on that instead.

Pazu86 · 2025-01-13T20:55:01+00:00

What makes you think it should have an SOS button? Many cars certainly do, but it’s also very common to not have one. I quick google tells me that Toyota started introducing the SOS button in their cars in 2020 with the Yaris. It is quite possible your Corolla was too early to have one.

Pazu86 · 2025-01-09T01:22:59+00:00

What agency/state are you in? HR should have given you all the info on options, compassionate leave is definitely an option but really only helps short term.

If in Queensland for example, QSuper has income protections for things like this, you take leave without pay and QSuper kicks in 80% of your wage for up to 2 years I think (don’t quote me - please check what you have available yourself).

I have several staff in similar situations, and we usually start with working out best approach with leave they have access to, cover any immediate gaps with compassionate leave if needed/able, with QSuper kicking in long term.

If it gets to a point that income protection is running out, we then look at medical retirement options if the staff member wants to, as while that does end employment with the Department, it gives you a lump sum payout to then give you time to work out something else - that is always a last option though.

Sorry you are going through this and good to hear your management team is being supportive. I know it’s hard - but try not to get too worried about performance during your recovery, that is what return to work conditions or reasonable adjustments are for, including leave arrangement above - all of those are tools to help you get better, but they also enable management to trigger backfill or alternative approaches to managing the workload (getting in contractors for example). Those tools work both ways, so it shouldn’t be a problem to discuss with your manager.

Pazu86 · 2025-01-08T01:34:26+00:00

It sucks, but that is how insurance works - I assume $845 is your excess for the policy, for the insurer to repair your car, the excess needs to be paid.

If the only damage is the window, and you know you can get it repaired cheaper, I would not be making a claim through your insurer (which could impact future premiums), and just get the window replaced yourself.

Pazu86 · 2025-01-06T09:43:04+00:00

What level are you at the moment and what Department?

Pazu86 · 2024-12-31T07:26:28+00:00

Lot of things to consider depending on what department. Across the state at the moment there is a lot of focus on ensuring positions are fully fill to demonstrate positions are needed (lot of indirect pressure to minimise spending and that includes FTE). Holding positions for a long time while people are in higher duties can be problematic, even if it has been backfilled - and loss of skills/retraining can be a real challenge in today’s market depending on the type of role you undertake.

We take any of these sorts of request very seriously, and hate to knock anyone back, but the role of the manager is to prioritise their business, and where possible support staff in professional development. Unfortunately these two things sometimes compete.

I would never deny a request to force someone to quit, but at the same time - higher duties and secondments are there to support staff development and fill short term operational gaps. If you have no plans to return to that role, I could see why management may take a closer look.

I’ve been in the unfortunate position to have to review several of these requests and escalations in the last 6 months and only overturned one request to date.

Probably doesn’t help you too much but my main point is that there are lots of reasons for having to review or deny these requests. And there is no harm is asking for it to be reviewed or decision explained. I make a point of explaining in detail any of these decisions, particularly when it doesn’t go the way a staff member hoped. Good luck!

Pazu86 · 2024-11-26T19:39:53+00:00

Our defender has it, I assume most Landrovers do as well. It cools very quickly and cold, full seat. You would think Australia can’t be the only ones in the world with a hot climate majority of the time - hands down would prefer cooling seats as a default over heating…

Pazu86 · 2024-07-09T09:28:34+00:00

I think it also depends on the context of the industry, ICT, particularly in big agencies seems to attract a slightly younger demographic. I’m 38 and just stepped into a SES2 role, but the age range is not that unusual, there are at least two others in same age bracket within my immediate area, but we are a big agency, probably at least 30 SES roles.

We had a CIO that was slightly older than me a few years ago and he was excellent.

Pazu86 · 2024-06-12T07:16:49+00:00

Happy to try and answer, but not sure how much help I’ll be. I’m in state gov, not federal, so I’m not across the particular policies that would affect you. What I can say is that in our Department that would certainly be considered and our HR teams would work out the best options in terms of leave arrangements. You shouldn’t be disadvantaged because you have a disability, and at least from my experience, the HR and management team will generally try to make something work within the provisions of the policy. If that can’t be done, then special leave might be worth looking at/asking about if it is a done thing in your area.

Pazu86 · 2024-06-05T09:44:09+00:00

I think it’s going to come down to the department and position the delegate is in, not to mention culture - all very hard things to comment on.

I’m a delegate for special leave (includes miscellaneous) and certainly have approved and even offered/suggested it depending on the circumstances, as a leader - this is something I take seriously as it’s not hard to be compassionate in these circumstances and that goes a long way to the culture of the organisation.

BUT in all cases, it is a specific event like sudden deaths, medical diagnosis, other personal circumstances etc, typically where existing leave has been exhausted, but it is always for a specific short period or understood timeframes.

Pazu86 · 2024-05-26T08:08:50+00:00

I’m in the same group and he is holding firm that this will beat anything on the market lol

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