With the first three months of the calendar year having already flown by, April sees us officially kicking off the 2024 financial year (FY24) here at Programmed – and what an incredible foundation we’ve laid in the 2023 financial year (FY23) to jump off from.
Before we reflect on our achievements over the last 12 months and turn our eyes to the next, I wanted to begin this update with a ‘Work and Smile moment’, highlighting an experience over this period that has given me that sense of fulfillment that underpins the Work and Smile vision.
This week whilst I’ve been in Asia, I have experienced the power of our brand following various interactions with the market. The Programmed Facility Management brand is not only recognised and respected across Australia and New Zealand but is also highly regarded in regional markets such as Singapore and the Philippines. This recognition is in part due to how we conduct ourselves by embracing the Work and Smile vision whilst we build our outstanding people, strong customers, and great communities.
Celebrating our success - Progressing our Mid-Term Business Plan in FY23
With our Mid-Term Business Plan (MTBP) leading the way as our guiding North Star, we’ve notched up an array of wins that have supported the strength of our momentum into a new financial year.
Our growth story is of course predicated on maintaining and strengthening our foundations, including our existing strong customer relationships. To this end, I’m pleased to say that FY23 saw us executing contract extensions of existing customers, including The Salvation Army, Water Corporation, Sydney Airport, and Transperth.
We also continued to expand this customer base through securing major new contracts across Australia and New Zealand, among them our recently announced partnerships with Transpower, Homes NSW, and HousingFirst, as well as welcoming our team members from the recently acquired Urban Maintenance Services (UMS).
In FY24, we will continue to invest in culturally aligned partnerships that allow us to both continue growing our footprint and provide further opportunity and growth for our people. We are constantly exploring opportunities to maintain our very strong momentum, and I look forward to sharing more on these exciting activities throughout the coming year.
A strong focus on safety and sustainability
Nothing is more important than ensuring all our employees return to their loved ones safely at the end of every day, as is true to our vision of Zero Harm. It’s up to all of us to make sure we keep our focus on safety as our utmost priority, and that we take action where this is seen wavering.
As we begin FY24, our safety team will be rolling out a new campaign with a particular focus on high potential risks and a refresher on our Safe Work Essentials to help keep this priority front of mind at all times. The campaign will also function as a reminder to ‘Stop and Report’ where necessary, empowering all team members to stop work if a situation isn’t safe and report to their manager.
In the vital area of Sustainability and ESG, FY23 saw us making progress through achieving Toitū Envirocare Carbon Reduce Certification in New Zealand, as well as starting our journey in the progressive transition to electric vehicles and battery operated plant equipment across the business.
Sustainability is an increasingly critical focus for all businesses, and as we progress the development and execution of our strategy, we’ll be sharing more about the great work going on across Programmed Facility Management helping us to make a meaningful impact.
In the meantime, there are countless ways we can actively reduce our environmental impact every day, and we know that many people in our Programmed community have inspiring ideas of their own. A great way to have your ideas heard, assessed and implemented is through submitting them to iHub – our platform for capturing your ideas, innovations and improvements that will make our business an even better (and sustainable) place to work.
Capturing our culture and engagement
Our Programmed culture is deeply special and unique, and it’s something we will continue to nurture and develop at every available opportunity in a workforce that’s growing rapidly, rising from 1,729 to 1,969 people in the last 12 months. I was pleased to see our overall Engagement Survey score rose in FY23, with a number of key callouts including improved communications.
Our communications, and in turn our engagement and sense of connection, will only continue to improve in FY24 through initiatives such as the recent launch of FM NewsHub – Programmed Facility Management’s new internal communications platform. This exciting new resource will allow us to keep our teams better informed of all the great work and good news stories happening across the business, as well as breaking down communication and accessibility silos. [add screenshot of FM NewsHub homepage as visual cue – hyperlink back to NewsHub].
The platform will also facilitate better awareness around opportunities for personal and professional growth and development, such as our recently launched Internal Mentoring Program and Social Inclusion and Community Engagement @Programmed workshops, both available as part of our expansive 2024 Learning & Development Calendar. We look forward to offering even more opportunities for learning and development throughout FY24.
Our commitment to social initiatives and community engagement persists as a key area of focus, and as a real point of pride here at Programmed. In FY23, our ongoing support for First Nations people both within and outside the organisation was demonstrated through initiatives such as the official launch of our first NAIDOC Awards, celebrating individuals, teams, and vendor partners for their contribution and engagement with our First Nations communities.
We were also thrilled to unveil the inclusion of our Rohin Kickett artwork on fleet and uniforms, an exceptionally well received endeavour that has prompted many additional orders through Procurement.
More formally, our Reconciliation Action Plan has been submitted to Reconciliation Australia, and we look forward to its following launch in FY24.
The 2023 financial year has been a truly outstanding achievement, underpinned by a collective extraordinary effort that has allowed us to realise our successes and progress towards our guiding ambitions. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deep appreciation for all of your contributions throughout this massive year – you all have a lot to be proud of.
Now, as we turn our sights to the 2024 financial year, it’s all about harnessing the powerful momentum that we’ve generated in the last 12 months and driving it forward into the next. We’re pleased to have you on this journey with us. Now, let’s get going!
Take care and stay safe,
Graeme Hurn
Chief Executive Officer
Programmed Facility Management
