There are many ingredients that make a career successful and fulfilling, but amongst the most important of them is being able to continually learn and grow over time," says Judy Hamanishi, Community Recreation Manager at the City of Coquitlam. Both Hamanishi and Darlene Soque, Infrastructure Manager, credit ongoing learning and mentorship support for their career success.
Now working as managers, Hamanishi and Soque, spend a lot of their efforts encouraging their team to grow, learn and lead just as they have been throughout their careers.
“I like to ask my team for input and feedback, and give my staff the power to make decisions, even if they occasionally go wrong. This gives employees the chance to learn and contribute to their own growth and development. I also encourage employees to talk to me about their professional goals and how I can support them in achieving them,” says Soque.
“In my professional life, I have been incredibly fortunate to have mentors who frequently had more faith in me than even I did, occasionally, so I want to be that for my staff, as well.”
But getting to the position she’s in today involved a lot of personal learning, as well – something that the City of Coquitlam is also committed to supporting their employees with.
“I come from a culture where women are the ‘supporting cast.’ You come across as aggressive and ambitious if you assert yourself, so I dared not speak up at the beginning of my career because I wanted to be likeable,” says Soque. “My manager at the City was the one who finally said to me, ‘I am going to move you here and let you manage this – and here’s why’, and he continued to mentor and provide me with feedback so I could succeed.”
The City of Coquitlam offers two award-winning leadership training programs, Strategic and Core, to support the ongoing development of City employees. In addition, webinars, guest speakers, mentorship programs and skills training made available throughout the year uphold the organization-wide philosophy, “lead with purpose.” This means, all employees communicate with purpose and understand that management is a primary function, and not a “side of desk activity.”
Having started out as a part-time lifeguard for the municipality back when she was a teenager, Hamanishi has worked her way up to the role she has now over the course of her career, supported the entire way by the professional growth and leadership development opportunities the City of Coquitlam has provided her.
“It’s been a really great experience and time for me,” she says. “My career has not only provided me with the opportunity to work with seniors, which I love, but it has also allowed me to work close to home. When I started my first full-time position as a Recreation Program Coordinator, I lived seven blocks away from my workplace! And this whole time, I’ve been surrounded by a great team of staff who’ve encouraged me through the years.”
From taking the in-house training sessions on how to navigate tricky, tense conversations to being encouraged to apply for higher positions within the municipality, Hamanishi worked to keep her skill set growing and the door for future opportunities open.
“Learning should never stop. We should always be encouraged to be curious because that’s how you grow and develop. People think your twenties and thirties are the times when you should learn and grow, but it definitely continues into your forties and beyond. It’s always a great time to learn and grow,” says Hamanishi.
“Continually growing and developing your leadership skills is engaging, it challenges us and helps us become better employees, mentors, leaders, so to weave that throughout the city’s various employment opportunities is such an important thing. It’s a win-win for everyone,” she adds.
The City of Coquitlam has consistently made it onto the B.C.’s Top Employers list for the past six years.The awards recognize B.C. employers that lead their industries in offering exceptional places to work.
Applicants are evaluated on nine criteria: physical workplace; work atmosphere and social; health, financial and family benefits; vacation and time off; employee communications; performance management; training and skills development; and community involvement.
Nominees are compared to other organizations in their field to determine which offers the most progressive and forward-thinking programs. Coquitlam is one of only three Metro Vancouver municipalities to have been awarded this distinction for 2023.
For more information on the City of Coquitlam’s available career opportunities, visit www.coquitlam.ca/careers.
