Nicole Adams is on a 'steep learning curve' as national people and culture manager at Hockey Australia
For Nicole Adams, national people and culture manager at Hockey Australia, being the sole person overseeing the organisation’s people functions means wearing many hats — often all in the same day.
"In any given day… I could be onboarding, offboarding, running multiple engagement surveys… developing a learning and development framework and program," she told HRD.
“The variety is amazing, but it’s a very steep learning curve coming from an environment where any one of those would have a team of people.
"In a smaller organisation, you’re in a real infancy stage of understanding how AI can support you… I’m seeing AI as a personal assistant to help pull data together quickly, because I don’t have that big internal network."
Adams emphasised the importance of networking – both internally and externally - to help support her in the role.
"Networking outside of my workplace is really important… to bounce ideas off others, because you don’t have that network in your own environment."
Informing HR practice through previous experiences
Adams' experience in large organisations, such as Deakin University and Zoos Victoria, has shaped her management style to get the best from her colleagues.
“I learnt an incredible amount during my career, as with a big organisation you’re able to move down paths that you just can’t do in smaller businesses – like how AI can support business functions," she said.
“I realised I was getting siloed with some of the things I was doing in the people and culture space – now, it’s just me, I have greater strategic input."
Adams reports directly to Hockey Australia’s CEO – which allows for greater buy-in from executive level when it comes to planning and implementing change.
Employee engagement in helping drive growth
On top of informing HR practice, Adams noted the importance of people management strategies in promoting growth – both as a business and as a sport.
"Supporting and engaging your people meant that your people then supported and engaged your customers… leading to positive culture for people and ongoing impact for the business,” she said.
“I’m currently running multiple engagement surveys across different phases of our business… The thing that I’m particularly passionate about is developing a learning and development framework and program."
The work being put in is having direct results, too – with statistics from 2024 showing a 158% growth in revenue from 2023 and participation across schools rising by over half.
This, according to data, means over 63,000 kids have engaged in the sport.
"The sport itself is successful in its growth… that gives us, as a corporate office, the excitement that we’re actually contributing to the bigger success of sport and community,” Adams highlighted.
High-performance on and off the court
The commercial success of Hockey is due to internal mobility, something Adams has been at the heart of creating.
"It’s obviously the success of the athletes, but it’s also… our growth team,” she said.
“At a community level, how are we developing the sport of hockey? How are we getting people involved? That is success as well."
The way work is framed inside Hockey Australia’s Perth office also drives internal success – through using specific terminology to empower staff.
“Often high performance is defined by our national athletes, but it comes from our corporate office, too. By using the same terminology to empower our teams, we’re able to see amazing results.”
"Culture in an organization is the absolute key success factor… That’s what grows the success of the business… the community and people coming together is really important,” Adams added.
A career of natural leadership
Adams’ career has taken her from corporate travel in London to leading people strategies in higher education, tourism, and now elite sport.
Early roles revealed her natural leadership and belief that “getting the best out of people leads to business success” — a philosophy she carried into owning a family retail business, where she saw firsthand the value of shared values and staff development.
Academic pursuits, including an MBA and graduate studies in HR, deepened her expertise. After eight years at Deakin University within a large HR team, Adams sought a new challenge: becoming the sole people and culture leader at Hockey Australia.
Reflecting on her path, she says her journey has reinforced that “no matter the industry or size of the organisation, people are always the most important driver of success.”
