With us now in Month 4 of the 2024 Financial Year (FY24) at Programmed Facility Management, in today’s update, I’m pleased to give a run down of what’s been a bustling and exciting period for us and our business.
The FMLT and I recently had the privilege of catching up with PERSOL Head Office and APAC Leadership on their visit to Melbourne, where an update was provided on the APAC SBU Mid-Term Business Plan progress.
It was also a great opportunity to congratulate Mr Francis Koh, who has begun his role as PERSOL's new Head of APAC SBU as of 1 August and say a big thank you to Takayuki (Taka) Yamazaki for his fantastic support to our business.
There were lots of insightful conversations to be had, and plenty of moments to Work and Smile, as demonstrated in this photo.
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Left to right - Hirotaka Mino, PERSOL Group Executive Officer CHRO; Henry Arundel, Programmed Property Services CEO; Stephen Leach, PERSOL APAC Chief Financial Officer; Graeme Hurn, Programmed Facility Management CEO; Francis Koh, PERSOL APAC CEO; Takao Wada, PERSOL Group, Managing Director and CEO
I encourage you to get involved and submit your own photo to our Work and Smile Selfie Challenge - it’s a lot of fun, and there’s even prizes to be won.
This fun initiative is running alongside our Work and Smile Fridays blog, which you can also use to submit stories about Work and Smile moments at your workplace. It’s a great place to find some inspiration and real stories from our community about what makes our work uniquely fulfilling.
Mid-Term Business Plan - We're (almost) halfway there!
As we approach the halfway mark of our Mid-Term Business Plan (MTBP), I’m thrilled to say that we’re performing very well against the targets that we’ve set for ourselves. Our success is being noticed far and wide – it was pleasing to see our business highlighted as a key growth pillar for PERSOL’s APAC region in their recent investor presentation in Tokyo, with some significant features on Programmed Facility Management.
During the first 4 months of FY24, we continued to bolster and progress our plan with the go-live of our new partnerships with key customers Homes NSW and Transpower, contracts that will strengthen our existing capabilities in the housing sector in Australia and New Zealand, and expand our footprint in New Zealand’s energy sector.
We were also recently thrilled to share the renewal and extension of some of our most important contracts, including renewals with Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA), our Maintenance Service Agreement (MSA) with the Western Australian State Government, and our Wadjemup Rottnest Island relationship, as well as an extension with Auckland Council in New Zealand. These success stories speak to the enduring strength of our customer relationships and profound trust in the services we continue to provide.
Our investment in community relationships was demonstrated at events like our first Local Government Building and Asset Management Symposium, providing an opportunity to facilitate dynamic conversations about the industry’s future, and to explore exciting partnership opportunities to drive innovation and excellence in local communities.
We continued to focus on the vital area of sustainability through events like Ozwater, the peak water industry conference run by the Australian Water Association (AWA), to connect passionate water executives in driving a sustainable water future. Additionally, we were pleased to announce our partnership with Western Australia Return Recycle Renew Limited (WARRRL), a not-for-profit organisation striving to increase recycling rates and reduce litter with its Containers for Change program. Under this new agreement, Programmed will provide essential waste management services for the initiative across Wadjemup Rottnest Island.
We’re pleased to be making progress on our technology and digital systems goals, which includes operational testing of 2 potential new platforms, the development of multi-tenant architecture for our integration platform and the introduction of a new Customer Hub. More exciting news to come on this front in the coming months.
And finally, our cultural engagement pillar continues to flourish with a variety of exciting community initiatives occurring across the period. But we’ll need a new heading for that!
Proud initiatives in our communities
One of the biggest headlines of our community engagement activities would have to be our proud engagement with First Nations and Māori communities across Australia and New Zealand, with the period having marked significant celebrations and observances for both groups.
In May, we recognised National Reconciliation Week 2024, taking the opportunity to come together as a community to listen, learn, and take meaningful steps towards reconciliation. Our Programmed community formalised this chance to reflect on our commitments through our pledge initiative, with team members across the organisation submitting their personal commitment to reconciliation.
Our New Zealand teams celebrated Matariki in June, with the Programmed Facility Management team coming together in Auckland to mark the Māori New Year with delicious kai (Māori cuisine) and meaningful reflections.
July saw the kick-off of NAIDOC Week, and I was privileged to be joined by our National Social Inclusion Manager Lynette Graham, a proud Dunghutti woman from Kempsey NSW, to host a morning tea celebration at our Collins Street office.
The event was a fantastic opportunity to reflect some of our most recent partnerships and initiatives with local First Nations communities, including the continuation of our 12-year-strong partnership with The Clontarf Foundation, our introduction of Australia’s first and largest Aboriginal-owned salary packaging company Kooya as our preferred Salary Packaging Provider, and the rollout of our First Nations artwork on a new fleet of electric vehicles.
Gary Gietzmann, our Head of Procurement, joined us to present our 2024 Programmed NAIDOC Awards, with our community-nominated winners spanning individuals, teams, and vendors, demonstrating outstanding work in engaging with First Nations communities. You can catch up with a list of the winners here.
We also took the chance to provide a quick update on our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), having received conditional endorsement from Reconciliation Australia in June. As of July, Programmed has submitted the Innovate RAP for formal endorsement, with feedback from Reconciliation Australia to come. I look forward to sharing more soon!
More broadly, we were pleased to continue providing opportunities to make a real impact for local communities through initiatives like our Community Trade Workshop, joining forces with Uniting Care Kippax to equip Housing ACT tenants and participants with practical skills, empowering them to tackle home maintenance tasks with confidence.
And finally, I can’t go without a shoutout to our teams out on site for their own inspiring work in raising funds for a variety of important causes, such as Melbourne Airport’s Biggest Morning Tea event and Melbourne Water’s ‘chilling’ FightMND event. We’re really proud to be represented by such thoughtful and committed teams, and I encourage all sites to get involved with similar initiatives where possible. And if you do host a community-orientated event, why not submit it as a story to our Work and Smile Fridays blog?
Taking the time to invest in yourself and your teams
As you can see, we have so much to be proud of at Programmed Facility Management – there’s a reason that our people are our most important asset. Off the back of such outstanding efforts, and aligned with the people pillar of our MTBP, I strongly encourage you and your teams to take the time to invest in our professional and personal development through our Learning & Development opportunities.
You can always check out some of the most recent offerings on the homepage of FM NewsHub below the latest stories, as well as our most recent Learning & Development calendar, or alternatively, directly through PageUp’s learning library.
And of course, hard work should not go unrecognised – you can always show your appreciation for your fellow team members’ efforts by nominating them for a Programmed Difference Award, giving a Well Done Gift Card, or even just remembering to say ‘thanks’!
The things that we achieve, both our business success stories and community involvement activities, are a true testament to the passion and commitment of our people. Our Programmed culture is something really special and unique, and having the opportunity to witness the ways in which our teams live our values every day is an honour.
It’s been another bumper quarter, and I’d like to thank you all for your efforts throughout the last few months. With Q2 of FY24 now underway, I look forward to what’s in store and being able to continue celebrating our progress and success.
Take care and stay safe,
Graeme Hurn
Chief Executive Officer
Programmed Facility Management
