High commendation for Service Excellence - Rhys King

After just 18 months with ACU, Rhys’s upbeat attitude and customer-first approach to solving technical problems have resonated with staff across Banyo and other campuses, leading to two nominations for this year’s awards.

Rhys spends his days assisting with everything from hanging projectors in classrooms, to installing televisions in meeting rooms, to solving computer issues. As well as helping students and staff directly, he does a lot of work behind the scenes to support his team and expand his knowledge.

“This is my first job in IT, shy of the study I did in high school and TAFE,” says Rhys, who started at ACU shortly after relocating to Brisbane from his small regional hometown in Western Australia.

“It’s a really good starting point, it’s a really good team to work with, and it’s a really good environment here at Banyo.”

He particularly likes working with and talking to people in all different departments, as well as learning from his team and understanding how ACU works from an IT standpoint.

“I enjoy helping people. And for me, a big thing is learning more and more, so I’ve taken on responsibilities that are above what I need to do – but are what I want to do.”

One of the most rewarding aspects of his work is understanding and solving problems, and then translating these to people in a way that makes sense, Rhys says.

“I did a lot of customer service before I moved into IT, and that was really helpful: being able to talk to people, to understand what the issue is, and to help them in a way that makes sense to them.

“Everyone sees IT as this scary, ‘don’t-talk-to-them-because-they-might-give-you-the-techno-mumbo-jumbo’ area. I prefer explaining things to people in a way that they understand, and in a way that they can make it easier for themselves.”

It’s this teaching aspect of his role that Rhys sees as aligning most strongly with ACU’s mission.

“For me, the biggest thing is being able to understand something and pass it on to someone else who then might pass it on to somebody else,” he says. “It takes away the scary factor from IT.

“If it’s one of those things you’ve never looked at, it makes no sense – and it can be daunting. But you just need to look at it in a different way.

“When you look at it like a problem, it may look difficult because of the error codes and such that computers throw out, but once you sort of break it down, most of the time it’s a simple fix.”

Rhys say it is “flooring” to receive this high commendation after such a short time at ACU, and he is grateful to receive it for doing a job he’s passionate about.

He thanks Liz Moon and Matthew Remington-Gurney for nominating him, as well as everybody who posted complimentary comments on the Service Excellence at ACU group on Workplace.