SYDNEY, 24 September 2021 – Australian digital credit reporting bureau, CreditorWatch, has today announced the appointment of Fiona Crawford, a two-time medal-winning Olympian and HR Director of the Year finalist, as its General Manager for People and Culture.
Fiona joins CreditorWatch following an impressive career spanning professional sports – where she played at the very highest level – as well as work in the automotive, hospitality and financial services industries.
She represented Australia in softball a total of 223 times, including two Olympic games and three World championships. Fiona took home a bronze medal in Sydney in 2000, and silver in Athens four years later, and was on teams that won gold, silver or bronze medals at 28 international tournaments.
Fiona is an inductee of the International Softball Hall of Fame, NSW Hall Of Champions, and remains a regular media commentator, most recently covering the softball commentary for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Channel 7.
Successfully translating her high performance background on the field to the corporate world, Fiona has since become a seasoned people leader with 20 years’ experience in leadership, human resources, training and coaching. She has worked on transformational cultural change programs, mergers and acquisitions, strategic and operational HR initiatives, delivered group-wide HR projects, and managed extensive coaching and training programs.
In her role as General Manager People and Culture, Fiona will be responsible for setting up sound HR processes and initiatives that enable, support and grow the CreditorWatch business and its people, ensuring they continue to feel empowered, able and engaged to perform at their best.
Before joining CreditorWatch, Fiona was the Head of Human Resources at Sympli, a next generation e-settlements solution formed by ASX Limited and InfoTrack Pty Limited. She has also held senior HR roles at InfoTrack, Subaru, and ran her own consultancy for a number of years.
Fiona Crawford, General Manager People and Culture at CreditorWatch, said: “Something I’ve carried from my time in sports is that, whatever the challenge at hand, we’re better equipped to tackle it when we work together as a team. By understanding your role, your strengths, your colleagues’ strengths and the goals of the business, you put yourself in the best possible position to succeed – plus being able to have a laugh while doing so. That’s important.”
“With hybrid working models now the norm, ensuring team members continue to feel connected to each other and the overall business strategy has never been more crucial. I love building HR functions and teams, and seeing how they positively impact not just the culture of a business, but also its efficiency and output.”
“I’m looking forward to working with what I already recognise to be a genuine, caring and extremely capable team.”
Patrick Coghlan, CEO at CreditorWatch, said: “People and Culture have been at the heart of everything CreditorWatch has done since we started 11 years ago, and they firmly remain our top priorities today as we continue to grow. I first met Fiona about 4 years ago and was immediately keen to get her onto Team CreditorWatch. In that time we’ve had the fortune of interacting and getting to know one another so it feels like she is coming home.
Fiona brings a positive energy and enthusiasm that matches CreditorWatch. Simply put, she is an absolute superstar that will take CreditorWatch and our people to the next level of performance, success and individual growth.”
CreditorWatch isn’t the only company to count successful athletes as part of its team. Investment Bank, JPMorgan, runs an elite athlete program with the specific aim of attracting top sports talent to join the company, while Rob Scott, CEO of Wesfarmers, is himself an Australian Olympic medallist. He competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, taking home a silver medal for rowing (coxless pair).
Fiona is a two-time HR Director of the Year finalist (Australian HR Awards), HR Leader Award finalist (Australia Human Resources Institute), and HR Manager Of The Year winner (Australian Hotels Association). She holds a BA in Sports Studies (majoring in Psychology, Marketing and Science).
