Meet Alistair Marshall, a Melbourne boy born and bred, who loving his role as Head of Internal Communications at Medibank.
While Alistair loves working, his main passions are supporting the demons and spending time with his amazing wife and three young girls.
LUCKY 7
Alistair has been working in insurance for seven years, after an earlier career in marketing, communications and public relations in the banking sector.
‘I’d really enjoyed banking and had some great experiences, so I guess it was the old cliché — I fell into insurance when I joined CGU.’
Alistair feels lucky to have worked in a number of different roles and with some amazing people. He is proud to have been part of the transformation of IAG into a more contemporary and customer-focused organisation and is now excited about the work he’s doing at Medibank.
HELPING EMPLOYEES COMMUNICATE
As Head of Internal Communications at Medibank, Alistair leads a small team that aims to help employees connect with the company’s purpose and values. They also communicate big initiatives and announcements, manage the intranet and internal social network, and help leaders communicate better.
‘We have the opportunity to help people feel more connected to their work — which I think is an important thing to do.’
LEARNING FROM CUSTOMER SERVICE
If you’re thinking about starting a career in health insurance, Alistair gives some helpful advice. Alistair suggests to spend as much time as you can with customer teams including listening in on customer calls especially if you don’t have day to day interaction with customers.
‘I think it’s really important to continually learn from colleagues who do serve customers. At the end of the day, my job is really about helping our people so they can help serve customers better.’
A STRONG SENSE OF PURPOSE
Medibank has an incredibly strong sense of purpose — ‘for better health’ — and this makes Alistair feel that it’s more of a health company than an insurance company, particularly considering the doctors, nurses and health practioners that are employed by the company.
‘The technological change happening in the industry is really exciting and can improve people’s health and wellbeing,’ Alistair says. ‘For example, Medibank has teamed up with Deloitte recently to create the Wellbeing@Work Index to help organisations measure and improve the wellbeing of their people — not just their physical health but mind, body, purpose and place — and that has the potential to make a big difference in many people’s lives.’
It’s the dynamic nature of the insurance industry and passionate people who want to help customers that keep Alistair happy in his career.