It’s not lonely at the top

BADGE recently underwent a small restructure, and one of the most exciting things to come from it is a new type of key role within our business: the Sector Lead.

As the name suggests, a Sector Lead exists to provide specialist expertise in a particular market. That’s not a new concept – it’s existed informally here for years, thanks to the broad church of professional backgrounds inside BADGE offices – but with the Sector Lead model, we now have officially-designated specialist roles to complement our business.

We share the Defence Sector Lead role between the two of us, and we’re joined by colleagues representing Education, Health, and Food & Beverage. Each Sector Lead has been chosen for their intimate knowledge and proven track record of success in their respective field.

Now, you might have a mental image of each Sector Lead being siloed in their own specific market, chasing their own leads and clients to deliver on their own KPIs and budgets. Is that how it works? Not at BADGE. To understand how Sector Leads truly benefit the way we do business – particularly in the Defence sector – let’s rewind for a moment…

In case you weren’t aware, BADGE’s roots are in building agricultural sheds (not kit versions, but the large and complex shearing types). The company has travelled down an interesting and diverse path in the 36 years since then. From those agricultural sheds, we followed the food production chain to processing facilities, warehouses and packing rooms. Then we started transferring our principles and knowledge to just about every type of commercial and industrial building. By doing so, we’ve sustained 36 years of organic growth.

The company looks a bit different these days, but the approach hasn’t changed. We are living in an era where the transfer of knowledge is more relevant than ever. To compete at the top of today’s closely-contested market, we’re looking for every opportunity to transpose innovations from one sector to another, optimising best practices and the quality of our work across the board.

That’s where Sector Leads come in. We regularly come together to look at the national objectives of our clients and add value to each other’s project plans and tender submissions. We socialise lessons learned nationally, to encourage and inform practical construction solutions in every sector and delivery method. So if you work with us on a Defence project from now on, you’re getting more than just our Defence sector expertise – you’ll benefit from an institutional system of knowledge-sharing that runs continuously behind the scenes, adding to your project wherever there’s a chance to apply innovations or lessons from another field.

The results shine through in much of our latest work. A great example is the Joint Health Command (JHC) project we are currently delivering for the Department of Defence in Western Australia. While this is a Defence sector project, its purpose is to improve the delivery of health services in line with the JHC Model of Care and current Australian Health Facility guidelines (AusHFG) – so we were able to draw on the experience of our Health Sector Lead and get his advice on potential areas of risk and opportunities to add value to the project.

Our Health Sector Lead contributed to project start-up risk workshops to share his knowledge on working in operational health environments. Having reviewed the brief closely, he gave technical guidance on coordinating the high-end equipment involved in the project and managing critical design detail. His experience helped us understand which items we should be closing out early to minimise risks and keep the project flowing smoothly. On top of that, he remained available as a resource throughout the project to review contract documentation, drawings and subcontractor selections.

A good example of shared knowledge came when we were preparing to install the client-supplied dental surgery chairs. He knew which technical questions we should be asking early on – and ensured nothing was lost in translation as we went through the client to put the questions to the supplier. Once again, his sector-specific understanding meant that we could stay ahead of the game, move forward with certainty and achieve good project outcomes.

The success of the project in WA led to us tendering on the next tranche of J0105 Joint Health Command projects in Queensland, and in December 2019 we were announced as the winner of two of these contracts, at Gallipoli Barracks and Oakey Army Aviation Centre. In part, we see this as a vote of confidence in our ability to transfer our knowledge and expertise from one side of the country to the other.

So the cross-pollination of experience between the Sector Leads, on top of the wider knowledge-sharing that has taken place within our business for decades, is leading to greater project results and more value for our clients. It’s even better to see the positive impact being felt all the way from project design to methodology development, contamination/remediation management, programming, lifecycle and administration.

We work hard to ensure our clients experience a consistent approach to project delivery – one that underlines our credentials as a national organisation, and is informed by what all we learn across the business. With the influence of our Sector Leads, we can give that experience to our clients more readily than ever before.