Goodbye Diploma, Hello New Communications Job

At the start of the semester I came to class not knowing what to expect. I wanted to finish this Diploma. I had plans of getting into Curtin University and continuing my studies and then getting a job. However I had some things holding me back, I hadn’t studied for ages and I was probably going to be behind the other class mates. I’d never used Wiki, never had a blog and wasn’t sure if I could overcome my procrastinating ability! However the main thing I did have was determination to do the course and determination to start my career in PR. However, where to start my career? When we started looking for work experience, I wasn’t having much luck, but through Social Media, I was able to secure a placement at Leighton Contractors, which has now turned into a job. I learnt how to run a social club and put on an event and have learnt a number of things about the PR World.

What else I’ve learnt:

• The power of Social Media in business today
• How to deal with Crisis’s
• How to make a website (for someone that is not that computer savvy and not very good at design, that was a big task!)
• That I can manage my time a lot better (Not so much procrastination this semester as compared to Certificate IV)
• To always be confident and have less self doubt about the work I’m doing. That I am doing things the right way
• How to network for great opportunities

From the start of semester I now find myself with a job as a Communication Assistant for a large mining contractor, have been accepted into the university I wanted to get into and am running the marketing team for an upcoming magazine. Pretty good for 20 weeks work! So I’ve learnt -

That You Make Things Happen for Yourself. With Goals, Drive and Determination, You Can Achieve Anything and Everything You Want.

Communications Training

Work, well it doesn’t really seem like work, so let’s call it Communications Training, was great. I got to Leighton’s already on a high after getting my acceptance letter from Curtin the night before and left even happier. How? You may ask. Well after stewing about it all day I approached Erin at about 4:50pm to discuss my future with Leighton Contractors. I nervously knocked on her door and approached her desk. I explained that my course was finishing up soon and just wondered what her thoughts were on my performance and if there was a position here for me. I also said that I had been accepted into Curtin University, which she congratulated me on and told me she went there and loved every minute of it. She told me that she thought I was smart, enthusiastic and wrote well (it was very nice to hear) and would really like to keep me on board. We discussed how long uni would take, which would be anywhere from 2 years to 4, 5, 6 years part time, I said I wanted to do it over 4 years. This would mean 2 units per semester, instead of the 4.

Erin said she was very keen to keep me, however it wasn’t up to her, it was up to him, nodding towards the Managing Director’s office next door.  She’s having a meeting with him on the 10 June, so she’s going to put my case forward then and asked me in the meantime to work out when I wanted to work here and they’ll try and fit around me. They were going to fit around me? That was so nice to hear, that a company would offer that. So I’m thinking that with doing 2 units per semester, I can probably work 4days, so hopefully that won’t be too much of an overload on work.

Before all this, I just kept working on the NAIDOC Week plans. We’ll be now taking a trip to Kings Park on the Tuesday for an Indigenous Heritage Trail Walk. I watched the DVD, In A League of Their Own, which was really well made and interesting, just didn’t have the ‘Hollywood ending’ I was hoping for. I then passed on all my NAIDOC work to our Indigenous Affairs Advisor in the Nedlands office to make sure everything was in-line with company policies and procedures.

This week, at Stray-Magazine, I've been handed the reins of the Marketing Manager title for the next couple of months, (the most important months may I add!) as Gen and Romy do their exams and then go overseas. We need to make a contact list of 1000, to send the media release out to get advertising. We then need to organise a fundraising event and then the launch party. Plus we need to organise some promo material to get our names out. All this, while still applying for grants and all this needs to be done before the 1^st issue, which comes out in September. It’s a challenge, but hopefully Bec, who’s helping take the reins with me, can get it done.

I've got Beef with the Beef Industry

The cow is in serious distress as it thrashes around in its own blood, its neck half slashed and waits to die, minutes go by. The animal is still conscious as it begins to be dismembered. There is meant to be one clean cut across the throat of the cow, but instead the neck is hacked at on average 11 times to be killed. They do not use a stun gun, as it means it is not a proper Halal killing. I'm pretty sure that this type of abuse is also not proper Halal killing.

On Sunday, while researching a crisis to write about, I came across an upcoming report due to be broadcast on ABC1's Four Corners. It was about the treatment of Live Trade Australian cattle in Indonesia's abattoirs. An introduction to the report yesterday on Triple J's Hack, where reporter Sarah Ferguson revealed that the report did contain graphic evidence of this abuse, could not have prepared me for what I witnessed last night. I sat there shocked as I watched the abuse, something that some of the top big-wigs of the cattle industry were aware of since 2002. They knew it needed to stop, but had been very slow it improving the conditions in Indonesia.

For the full report by 4 Corners click on the link below, but be aware that the footage may be disturbing to MOST viewers.

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/

However now that this footage has been revealed, the cattle industry needs to be quick to react and deal with the situation as soon as possible. Meat and Livestock Australia have already sent out a media release last night after the story went to air.

 "The livestock export industry will be investigating the further facilities identified during Four Corners and will take immediate corrective action, as it did last week when shown footage of four facilities. On seeing this footage the industry immediately moved to suspend the supply of cattle to three facilities where cruel practices were identified."

This is a good start, but what needs to happen is the introduction of stun guns to Indonesian abattoirs. With Indonesia making up 60% of the market, the live export to Indonesia, cannot come to a halt, as it would cost a great deal of money and lead to job losses.

Although there have been training in these facilities by Australians, they are not put into practice. Representatives from Australia need to be sent to Indonesia to supervise the abattoirs to ensure correct practices at all time. The Indonesian workers need to be educated, as they were oblivious to the fact that what they were doing was wrong and inhumane. (The cameras had full access to the abattoirs and the workers did not shy away from what they were doing.)

Advice from the animal welfare groups also needs to be taken on board to help get the situation under control. The government also needs to be on board to support them and the cattle industry to get these changes agreed to with the Indonesian government to ensure the current unethical treatment of Animals comes to a stop.

Good communication with the media on the progress of what's being done needs to be maintained at all times to ensure Australian's minds are put to ease that the horrific killings and treatment of the animals will come to a stop.

Communications is Right up my Alley

This week I got into the office and finished off my NAIDOC report, ready to present it to Erin and Kylie. I read them out the emails designed for each of the days, they were really happy with the information provided for each of the days. The only suggestion was that the NAIDOC Winner from last year was old news, so I will change this to the nominees for 2011 when they get announced and then I'll send out the list of winners on the following Monday.

I had the DVD showing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, but we have changed that to be on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday so each episode can be viewed in consecutive days. I already had in the report that we could do multiple viewings between 12 and 2pm. One at 12.15pm and then another at 1pm. As each episode is only 26 minutes, there may even be room for another viewing at 1:30pm.

Kylie and Erin really liked the activity of dot painting rocks and teaching staff about Aboriginal dot paintings and also using it as a team building exercise within each of the functional departments. We finished up the meeting with a plan to get this all organised.

From here,

·         I contacted NAIDOC about getting some merchandising for the office i.e. Wristbands, stickers, magnets etc

·         I created an email to send to the managers of each functional department to inform them of the dot painting activity and that each department will have a particular time to do the activity to celebrate NAIDOC Week and also use it as a team building exercise.

·         I also needed to research Aboriginal tribes/info etc that is relevant geographically to the sites, which I will do next time I'm in.

·         Erin is going to find out some more of what Leighton is doing as a company for NAIDOC Week, as I couldn't find this information, but she said I wouldn't have been able to anyway. This information will then be added to each of the daily emails.

·         Kohby from the Nedlands office (Resources Division) is creating a prestart presentation, which I can then pass onto site and find out what they are doing.

So far the schedule looks like this. 

Day	Task
Monday 4 July 2011	Email -  Introduction to NAIDOC Week
Tuesday 5 July 2011	Email - Aboriginal Dot Paintings Activity – Each department will create individual Aboriginal dot painted rocks to keep on their desk Downstairs Board Room 10 - Communications 11am – Human Resources 1pm – Safety Upstairs Boardroom 2pm – Administration 3pm – Engineering 4pm BD/Finance/maintenance
Wednesday 6 July 2011	Email  - Dreamtime Stories Activity – Part 1 of In A League of their Own documentary in Level 1 Boardroom                                    12.15pm               Viewing 1 1pm                       Viewing 2
Thursday 7 July 2011	Email – NAIDOC Poster Competition’ Activity – Part 2 of In A League of their Own documentary in Level 1 Boardroom                                    12.15pm               Viewing 1 1pm                       Viewing 2
Friday 8 July 2011	Email – NAIDOC Awards and 2011 Nominees Activity – Part 3 of In A League of their Own documentary in Level 1 Boardroom                                    12.15pm               Viewing 1 1pm                       Viewing 2

During the week Kylie wrote a report on how to improve community relationships within the Whyalla community. It also included the information I had already researched. The site visit and media tour has also been organised for early June. Erin apologised as unfortunately there isn't any room for me on the trip this time. Kylie encouraged that I need to get to a site soon, so that was another promising suggestion from them both. To finish off the day we had to wrap about 30 presents for all the children/teenagers coming to the family day the next day.

The M&I Rosemount Bowling Family Day went down a treat for everyone that came. The whole of Rosemount Bowl was hired out and as soon as I started walking up the stairs, I could hear music, games playing and children laughing and having fun. I chatted to a few people before grabbing a drink and joining a lane. My bowling skills were a little bit rusty, but I improved and even managed to get a couple of strikes and lots of spares by the end of the two games. A gourmet sausage sizzle lunch, followed by the handing out of presents to the delight of the children and parents helped to really make a great family day for everyone.

In A League of My Own

This week, I won over the office by bringing in a delicious Lemon Meringue Pie for morning tea, as a late birthday treat for everyone, it went down a treat. Now they have to let me stay!!

I felt like I hadn’t seen Erin for ages, so it was nice to chat with her, she’s been busy working on a number of things, including organising the nominees for the Leighton Awards of Excellence in September. It seems like a while away, but nominations have to be in by July.

Erin asked me to carry on with the NAIDOC Week plans. She apologised for not having a chance to look at the work I had done the other week, I told her what I had done, but I just said I could expand on the ideas and really get a day by day guide that will be going on.

I researched a great 3 part documentary that we will be showing in the office board room on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I thought this would be better than showing different movies everyday. This will make it easier for more people in the office to watch the whole documentary on their lunch break, as each part only goes for about 26 minutes.

The movie I have chosen is In A League of Their Own. I ordered the movie and hopefully it will arrive before Friday so I have a chance to watch it and can report on it on Friday.

“This series follows Australia’s first all-black football team through their first season in the big league. After more than 30 years of running their own competition in a remote island community off the coast of Darwin, the Tiwi Bombers set out to prove that their fast intuitive style of football can beat the long established teams of the NTFL.”

Erin thought it was a great movie that’s positive for Indigenous culture, but the documentary also touches on the real issues facing the island. Suicide rates are one of the highest in Australia, so I hope the movie isn’t too dark, but at the same time doesn’t ignore the issues. Looking forward to watching it.

I also chose a dot painting exercise to do on the Tuesday or Thursday or both to get the office involved once again. Everyone will be given a rock, that they will paint using Aboriginal dot painting techniques that can then go on their desk as a paperweight to remind them of Aboriginal culture.

Erin really liked my ideas and I have been asked to present this to Erin and Kylie this Friday, which I’m looking forward to, to practice my presentation skills and to show that I am capable of doing the tasks set out for me.

Kylie just started as the Communications Advisor and she’s worked for the government and resources division and also in film and television. She is a great edition to the team and it’s great that I now have 2 people to learn from.

Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS)

I walked into the office, feeling very happy indeed for another wonderful day in working paradise. Little did I know that was all to change, when I arrived at my desk my computer was no longer there. Ninah looked at me,” didn’t Erin tell you?” she said. Tell me what? I thought. My heart sunk, does Erin no longer want me working here, my mind began to race, but my thoughts were soon broken by Ninah’s soothing voice. “We’ve booked you into a Business Writing Course today, I hope that’s ok.”, as she said that Jo the Office Administration Manager immediately walked over to me “and we moved you down onto this desk” she said as she shifted these big boxes away to reveal my computer. Oh, what a relief, I hadn’t been let go and they were ready to train me up with some new schools. The only thing they were disappointed in was that I hadn’t told them it was my birthday, when Adele came over and wished me happy birthday, but I’ve promised them lemon meringue pie this Friday.

Ninah and I walked over to the training centre next door and met with Phil, the instructor from the Australian Institute of Management. The unit we were doing was BSBWRT401A – Write Complex Documents. The basic outline of the course was plan documents, draft texts, prepare final text and produce the document. The course was very interesting, and as a company a style manual needs to be created to ensure that everyone is writing the same (there is a style guide, but it only explains how to use the name correctly ie Leighton, Leighton Contractors, Leighton HWE.) The manager’s in the course suggested that Erin write it up or actually her assistant (ie me) write it up. Erin was quick to interject by saying “we want her to stay!” This comment made me smile on the inside. 

The first great tip we learnt to write documents, was to follow these stages:

Plan

Organise

Write

Edit

Revise

We learnt a lot about the different formats, the importance of editing, to keep your target audience in mind, but also to write everything as you would write to upper management. We also learnt about how to write in a positive light instead of a negative; however I was sceptical of this to ensure information would not be sent out as ‘SPIN.’ What I enjoyed most about the course was the fact that he emphasised that we need to write simpler, that we don’t need to use big impressive words that no one understands and that we can take out unnecessary words.

For example

“The actual prices of these cars range all the way from $25,000 to $30,000.”

Instead

“The prices of these cars range from $25,000 to $30,000.”

Another great point was that clichés should be taken out, as it comes across as fake, especially if dealing with a customer/client. I was really lucky to go along to this training session with some of the top management personnel. I learnt a lot, but will still need to practice them in my writing in assignments and at Leighton Contractors.

Remember simple, plain, crisp, clear English.

All By Myself

I got to the office on Friday morning and put a bottle of red on the desk for the raffle for Oxfam. I then opened up my email and began to catch up on the week. There was an email from Erin, apologising for not telling me about the annual Leave she had booked in for Friday – meaning today!! This meant I would be all by myself in the office with no one to turn to for support!!!Luckily, she had left me work to do for The National Aboriginal Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC Week.)

To teach the staff about NAIDOC week, I wrote up 5 different emails that the staff will receive during NAIDOC Week containing different information on NAIDOC.

Day 1 – Introduction to NAIDOC. This year’s theme is Change: the next step is ours

Day 2 – History of NAIDOC

Day 3 – The 1967 referendum. This resulted in a change in the constitution and the forming of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in 1972.  

 Day 4 – The National NAIDOC Poster Campaign gives upcoming Aboriginal Artist the chance to be featured on the poster. They win $5000 plus their work is given exposure, not only in the poster, but in different Art Exhibitions held across Australia.

Day 5 – The NAIDOC Awards held at the NAIDOC Ball on the Friday of NAIDOC Week.

This took a while, because I was actually learning about NAIDOC Week at the same time. 

“NAIDOC is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.”

I researched a lot about how other towns/schools/organisations help to celebrate NAIDOC Week and jotted down some points about how the office could help celebrate the week. I think getting everyone to paint different sections of the banner in Aboriginal dot-painting style would be a great way to get the office involved and something that can be showcased in the office.

On top of the activity, there will also be movie screenings through the week. I booked out the Level 1 Boardroom for the week between 12pm and 2pm every day. To do this Ninah (EA) showed me the shared calendar the office books the room through. Very good idea and very easy to see when it’s free.  

I tried to contact the City of Belmont to see what they were doing and what we could maybe piggy-back on!! However when I rang the whole department was at a conference for the day, so will have to try them this Friday if Erin hasn’t already. 

I actually managed fine by myself, everyone in the office is great and very approachable if I had any questions, which I only had 2. Ninah even asked me for help in writing out an email to invite some management to the corporate box at the football in Brisbane (where our other office is.) I finished off the day, by working on an Unearthed article, before Pat’s weekly update while - you guessed it – I had a glass of bubbly with the girls in the office!

Things Just Keep Getting Better

 So I rocked up to the office nice and early and was ready and waiting after missing the week before due to Good Friday.  While I waited for Erin to arrive and get organised I checked my emails and caught up on what had happened in the last 2 weeks. I then went onto the Intranet and read up on their latest internal publications.

The first task Erin wanted me to get underway was internally promoting a fundraiser for the Oxfam Trailwalkers Challenge, which we have a team in this year. Check out the amazing site for more information about this 48hour straight hardcore trek.

 

http://trailwalker.oxfam.org.au/brisbane/

I sent out an email to the office to get everyone to donate a prize (bottle of wine, chocolates etc) that we can then make into a few hampers and raffle off. Looking forward to seeing what everyone has brought in on Friday. I was very impressed with Oxfam’s website and resources. They had included all the information and resources needed to participate in the event and the different ways in which to fundraise. I printed out the ready-to-print posters they had available on the site and stuck them up around the office.

While getting a coffee, I introduced myself to Mark McKenzie, who is the Operations Manager for South Middleback Ranges. (SMR) I told him that I had recently done a brief regarding SMR and organising a tour of the site for the local newspaper’s editorial team. He was very interested in getting not only positive media coverage in the community, but also getting Leighton involved in the community.   

Later that afternoon, he sent this:

All

 Received some feedback for OneSteel that our brand had taken a slight tarnishing in the general community over the last couple of months, they are very supportive of our direction however suggested we come up with some strategies to get some positive profile in the community in the short term.

 Looking for some overall ideas on how to do this and some headings for consideration include

1.     Sponsorship

2.     Articles in local newspaper

3.     Site visits by key community groups

4.     Project focused initiatives

 Wouldn’t mind getting a dump of ideas that are achievable in the short term, I’m aware items are currently underway however I’m chasing some overall coordinated response. Please chase some feedback from key members of your team.

 Please if you could get back to me by COB Friday 06 May I will initiate the next step.

 Thanks - Mark

Erin then Replied

Hi Mark, Rhiannon Sloan our new Communications Assistant has put together a brief on a possible site tour with the local media. With the intention of showing them what we do and how we do it... basically teaching them more about our operations and our safety systems and processes. Hopefully, resulting in a ‘fairer go’ in the local press. We’re hoping to get this off the ground in the coming weeks (with yours and Albert’s ok).

 If it will assist, all Community Investment opportunities can be forwarded to me for review, and Rhiannon and I can centrally co-ordinate from here – and we need some really good ideas, such as local schools needing help, local sporting teams needing sponsorship, etc. – and, also, not just using our cash, but our capabilities (i.e. volunteering opportunities for our people, etc.).

 We need to know what the local issues/ needs are. (We can’t guarantee, of course, that all ideas will get the green light – but the ‘on the ground’ perspective is inva\luable here in terms of our locally-based people’s input.)

 Perhaps the Communications Team in Ascot can centrally co-ordinate a Community Investment short-term plan for SMR/ Whyalla based on everyone’s combined input – and assist with events/ newspaper articles/ advertisements, etc., as a centralised resource?

 Happy to hear everyone’s thoughts, and discuss forward movement.

 Cheers,

Erin

For the rest of the afternoon I researched the Whyalla community and made a list of the different activities Leighton and the community would benefit most from. The main ones:

Sponsorship of local schools/university/TAFE

Sponsorship of local sporting events or teams

Involvement with Indigenous communities

Donate a new playground to the local park or school

Sponsor a community event/host a trivia night

Whyalla & Districts Road Safety and Bicycle Education Centre

Last task was a meeting with Lucy (Erin's external PR Advisor) to discuss the nominations for Leighton's Awards Night in September. The day was finished off with a couple of glasses of bubbly. I love working there and am really hoping for a job there when the work experience is over.

Open Day Closed for Now

With the open day planning over and the report presented, it's a great opportunity to reflect back our concept. I thought Shae did a great job as Project Manager for this campaign. The powerpoint presentation and the report reflects this. The Centralise Festival campaign was a hit with Kenley when we presented it to him. He was very interested in our ideas and I really liked that he had time for a discussion afterwards and was willing to listen to our ideas and wanted to know what we had developed further. The fact that they are going to use Centralise as the theme, is really positive.

After doing the initial presentation to the Marketing guys, I was really glad that Shae changed me and got Ariana to say the large and very important part. My Public Speaking in the formal sense really needs to be worked on, and I am committed to improving it and not saying 'Um' so many times. 28 is probably a touch to many!!!

Looking back on our concept, what I think I would change is just have the one street, instead of the T-Section. We should have people manning the area where people are coming in from the Cultural Centre to ensure they are directed to the street festival safely. By keeping it in a smaller area it makes the festival seem busier and keeps everyone together. Access to Building 1 still needs to be included to show off the gym and the mine, but entrance to the building would only be from Aberdeen Street.

The new building should be used to its maximum capacity, with every classroom and area showed off. However they will still need to be enticed by the stands along the road to get potential students interested. Using the building was mentioned, but I think we should have gone into more detail about the courses we would have inside. There is an actual beauticians that is up and running by the students with an entrance from the corner of William, as well as the Visitor and Student Information services centre to promote and inform potential students about the day.

Going out into schools with a professional video made to show high school students as well as the chatterbox will really get potential students interested in and talking about the Central Institute of Technology and what it can offer them after high school. I'm still unsure as how to target the mature age students. Coverage in the media and the rebranding of Central into a beneficial tertiary education facility will help to entice people. People go back to study when they are ready. Maybe discounts to mature age potential students could be offered and advertised in the papers to get them to enrol.

With the potential of rain we need to ensure the buildings are set up perfectly to keep people inside and happy. The coloured shirts in orange or preferably the portfolio colours, would be a great tool in leading people to the correct classroom to learn more. On the street a few large marquees, should be erected on the street to keep people dry and also create another visual element for the day, as tents are used at festivals.

I learnt a lot about putting on an event on such a large scale, things we needed to consider were road closures, sponsorship, advertising, media coverage and facilities. While I won't be a student at Central in August, I still very much plan to attend the Open Day to see how it turns out and what ideas of ours are used.

Chart Topping

When I got to the office on Friday, I was there early and so I just continued researching toys and trophies we could give to the children for the family day. When Erin came in, she asked me to write a piece to introduce myself to the company. She then added to it, taking out the part that I was actually doing work experience for them and sent it out to everyone in the mailing list, including sites. 

One part that she added, is that I will now be the editor for their internal employee magazine Unearthed - the dirt. This will be great practice for my writing skills. She also showed me that I had been put on the organisational chart as Communications Assistant. I was really excited to feel like part of the team and not just the "Work Experience Kid." After my initial excitement I calmed down and got back to work on the toys and prizes.

Later on, there was a meeting mid morning about the new Employee Rewards and Recognition Programme which Erin will be presenting with the help of the HR Department to Pat Ellis, the  General Manager (GM) this week. It will be a monthly certificate and a $250 given to employees who goes above and beyond in the call of duty. This will become an integral part of the Leighton way and will encourage employees to work improve their performance at work. We sat there thinking of a name we could call the programme. I mentioned that one of the components of winning an award was that you should initiative in one of the core values of Leighton and that we could use Value somehow. From this "Value You" which  was then changed to "Valuing You" was born.

Also on the agenda, was an overview of the Employee Recruitment programme, which is where employees are rewarded $3000 for recruiting new staff themselves when a position becomes available. "Sharing the Love" had been decided at a previous meeting, but all of us in the new meeting recognised that that slogan did not suit a mine site environment. The new slogan we came up with is "Mining for Talent."

After the meeting it was back to toy shopping. I presented Erin with a report and examples of the toys I thought were appropriate for different age groups. I can't do much more, until the ages and sexes of the children are collected from the RSVP's. For the adults, I picked out a few examples of winner's trophies and a wooden spoon trophy for the loser. This will be sure to make a great day for the staff and their families.

At 4pm there was a business update to the whole office by the GM with drinks and nibblies. It was a chance for Pat to chat to the whole office about what's happening in the company. Such as upcoming business ventures, changes, and new staff. (Even I was introduced to everyone as the Communication's Assistant. Big Smiles!!) It was great to see a GM chatting with all his staff and having an open forum about everything that's happening within the business and across all the sites.

I came away from the week feeling confident about my role at Leighton Contracting and I really can't wait to get back there. I think it really says something when I don't even mind that I'm not getting paid!! However I am planning to be on the books when I finish up the Diploma!

Inducted into the Hall of Fame

Wednesday I got to Leighton Contractor's Training Centre which is next door to the Ascot Office at 7am for a nice early start of 7:15am. I was here to do the induction, which in my mind meant several hours of boring rambling. However today was different, and I should have known already because it's Leighton's and they do everything so professionally. The Induction started with an informing video about Leighton Contractors and all the different divisions. A couple of standout features of the induction included an informative presentation about sleep and the effects shift work can have on your sleep and therefore how it can affect your family life too. The other element of the induction included an informative segment about Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). The class was split into groups and had to teach the other class members about a particular PPE item and the importance of looking after each piece and using it correctly. One of these was as simple as putting in ear plugs correctly.

I learned a lot of new things about safety in mining and the issues that I would be directly involved in. Although it was a brief overview of Leighton's, its values and the importance it has on safety, there are a number of different inductions to delve further into the different hazards employees are faced with. These include an elevated platform and a risk analysis induction and even a six hour induction on sleeping, which one of the guys had done and spoke very highly on the training that was given in that one. All these inductions, plus the new training facility is another way Leighton show their commitment to placing safety above all else for its employees. Look at this last sentence, I'm already writing like I work for Leighton and are in their mindset of echoing their values when I write anything. Very amusing!!)

After the induction, I went in to see Erin. We discussed the family day further and Erin decided to move the event to Rosemount Bowl for Ten Pin Bowling. We were concerned that if it rained on the day Whiteman Park would be a disaster. After I voiced my initial concerns about the place looking dated and that would be a reflection on the company, we got stuck into planning the day. The place in licensed and catered, so no need to research that further. I then got onto researching toys and prizes for the day.

I realised how much I enjoy working for such a big company like Leighton and see what's possible for internal PR.

Not just Another Day in the Office

Friday at Leighton Contracting went well. I got in and it was off to a flying start. I got to work and was told that there had been an article in a local newspaper where one of our mine sites was located reporting on two minor incidents that occurred on site. Erin suggested that we should invite the editorial team of Whyalla News to come to the site for a day visit to be shown the safety protocols that are in place to protect all employees. This will reiterate Leighton Contracting’s number one value of “Health and Safety above all else.” Erin emailed me the format she wanted to do the report in, it would then be shown to Pat Ellis, the GM to get the go ahead. She showed me a report similar that to that of the 12 Point Plan, except this one had just 7. They were:

1.       Context

2.       Purpose

3.       Objectives

4.       Strategy

5.       Tactics

6.       Mediums

7.       Review

I was enthusiastic to start. I knew what to do, reminiscent of what my classmates had already stated – everything we had learnt in class just kicks in. Erin checked to make sure she had explained it ok. I said that we learn how to format campaign reporting into a 12 Point Plan. She mentioned that depending on the size of the campaign, some topics were bigger than others. She wanted it to be about 1.5pages which I was sure I could fill very quickly.

I showed Erin what I had written when I was about half way through to make sure she was happy with the direction I was going and that I was doing it correctly. Apart from mostly grammatical changes, which she said I would only learn from practicing writing and a few extra points, she was very happy with the report. I kept working on it, until I was called for a meeting.

The meeting was with Erin and a lady from HR. Erin showed us a presentation educating staff on email etiquette, which was very interesting and I learn a lot and some changes I should make when writing emails. I also suggested she put in a point about ‘making sure attachments are attached and that the right document is attached. ‘

It was then back to the report, until we left to go to Whiteman Park to check out the venue for a family day the company will be putting on. Erin was hoping we could include our day with Thomas the Tank Engine Day, but the manager there said that it is very hectic and there are between 15,000 and 20,000 people on the day. This event will still be in May and as we drove to Subiaco we discussed what needed to be done for the day. I told her about the catering options I had researched for the boat cruise and told her I would get some quotes for her at the same time.

It was then for a meeting/luncheon with several ladies from the other Leighton offices who all worked in communications. It was really great to meet them and discuss what they were doing within their company’s and it’s a great relationship to rely on to get help and give help when needed.

After lunch it was back to the office and back to the report. I finished it off and sent t through to Erin, in total I wrote three pages, Not bad for my first effort. It was great that I had a mining background to help me along. I also sent through to Erin the notes that I had taken during the student day with Beacon.

Over all this was an excellent day. Got to do lots and I learnt a lot and surprised myself about how much I really know. 

Stay tuned for my next adventures at Leighton Contracting.

History Repeating

It almost seems that Iraq is happening all over again. Muammar Muhammad al-Gaddafi has refused to step down from power, while the Libyan people have fought for their freedom and rallied against him for almost a month, with no progress. Due to his stubbornness to do what’s best for his people and the country, the local protest has turned into another (at this stage unofficial) war.

The UN called for a no-fly zone, which is a harmless phrase, but ultimately means airstrikes on known air defence sites, which is currently happening. It would then be necessary to Keep those aircraft on station for an extended period of time for a number of unknown strikes. It is uncertain where the radars and missiles are located. Defence experts saying all the technology means airstrikes will not target civilians. However when search radars, particularly targeting radars, are turned on, the response must be immediate. This means there will be no time to determine whether the sites are located in residential areas or close to public facilities such as schools or hospitals Therefore the response needs to be executed before the radar is radiating (and therefore vulnerable) and before it to can engage. Although civilians are not the target, there will be causalities as the risk is too high. These experts are also saying that Gaddafi is not a target, but with all this so called intelligence, his house has still been hit.

On the other side of the fence, Steven Harper, Canada’s Prime Minister, made a good point by saying

 “We’re dealing with an individual and with a regime that will not be satisfied with the mere re-imposition of authority. The nature of this leader, and the nature of his regime, is they will massacre every single individual they even remotely suspect of disloyalty. This is an intolerable situation.”

Gaddafi needs to be stopped and the people of Libya given their freedom, but there are no real goals or objectives to the plans that have already gone ahead. This will be a long and tiresome process. Let’s hope that governments have learnt from all the past wars such as Iraq in order for history to stop repeating itself.

Community Spirit

"In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it." (Marianne Williamson)

Friday the 25^th of March was a really great day to start at Leighton Contractors. The company sponsors the Not-For-Profit organisation Beacon, which helps disadvantaged young people in WA.  

Beacon’s mission is:

“To influence the attitudes and culture of Australians, so that each young person develops an independent will to achieve personal success through gainful activities, for themselves and their community. Through self help and enterprise we aim to achieve our vision at the community level.”

Their vision is to:

“An Australia in which our young people have the desire, the motivation and the opportunity to reach their full individual potential.”

One of Beacon’s programmes is to take teachers and their students who are disinterested in or falling behind at school to a hands-on tour to learn about a particular business and the industry. Leighton Contractors set up a tour/training day at their training facility in Ascot for the Balga SHS students who were being helped by Beacon. The day taught the students about Leighton Contractors and the mining industry. It was also a great opportunity for me to learn more about Leighton Contractors and see how the company was giving back to the community. Being involved with the community is one of the key values that Leighton Contractors encompass as part of their business.

The students were of low socio-economic backgrounds, mostly Indigenous Australians or are refugees who have started a new life in Australia. Many of their parents do not work and therefore these young people do not have any strong adult role models in their lives.

The day was successful and started with a video being shown to the students which was “A Day in the life of a Leighton Contractor employee.” The video showed some of the typical tasks carried out over 24hours across the different sites that Leighton Contractors have around Australia. This was followed by Jim Cornwell (Mining Manager) to talk to the students about the business, then other employees that told the students the path they took to end up working for Leighton Contractors. They all had many different journeys to the various roles they now held at Leighton Contractors from engineers and mechanics to administration staff. These speeches gave information about different job prospects and hope to the students that they can do whatever they want to do.

The day was broken up with a number of activities for the students to be involved with . One was to work as a team to get pretend toxic waste from one side of the table to the other without touching the table. Another was asking the employees different questions, such as what subjects they studied at school and what their interests were. They were then asked what they want from their future employer. This exercise was for Leighton Contractors to find out what people are looking for in an employer, so they can accommodate these requests to appeal to potential employees. A lot of the students said money, but some also wanted to feel safe at work. The students were handed showbags and certificates for attending the day, before being shown a tour of the offices. They were also provided with morning tea and lunch.

The day was an opportunity to meet other Leighton Contracting staff and also Abby Redman, who is from Beacon. She gave me her business card and I am hoping to help out with other projects that the organisation is involved with at a later date. Throughout the day, I observed, helped the students with some of the activities and also wrote down some notes about the day, which I then later discussed with Erin. I think she was impressed with some of my suggestions and has asked me to type them all up and have them ready for Friday. Erin will then take Abby’s suggestions and together we will work out how to improve the day.

The day was very successful and got students out of the classroom and gave them a chance to see future opportunities for them. However some small changes will help improve the programme for next time. The main issue which I think definitely needs to be improved on for next time, is the way, mostly the management, spoke to the students. The speeches were very boring, as they did not aim them at 15 year-olds, and the students soon became very disinterested very quickly. Simple things such as using the word “You” as they are from the iGeneration and want to know how all this will affect them. I think the message that Leighton Contracting is a potential career path for them was lost a bit because of this. One manager referred to them as “Children” which is very degrading for the young adults. I think with some help on learning the target market and what they are interested in, it will help to improve on getting the key messages across to the students.

As well as these notes, I thought I would write up a small 12-Point PR Campaign that I will discuss with Erin,  which I hope will be handed to staff to inform them of the target market, the key messages and the objectives for both the Leighton Contractor’s staff and the objectives for the students for the day. I think that by informing staff, the next training day will be even more successful.

Friend Request Denied

Bullying has been happening is schools for as long as there have been schools. Students at primary school and high school can both fall victim to bullying. While it’s been accepted in society that a little bullying can make you a stronger person. Bullying is increasing in schools and with cyber-bullying adding another dimension to this issue. The effects of bullying are becoming much more damaging mentally.

Back then bullying was done mostly by boys and it was teasing and some physical abuse. Now it is the girls that are doing most of the bullying and they are becoming far more sophisticated. Psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg explains why:

“Because girls’ brains are more developed as teens, they are capable of more subtle and sophisticated bullying techniques. They can be crueler, in terms of exclusion, taunting and spreading rumours.”

 Student Services at my old high school are seeing more girls sending text messages to attack their victims and I’m sure this will be going on in all high school and even primary schools around Australia and the world. Teachers are finding it harder and harder to see bullying and stop it, as it’s no longer in the classroom or out in the playground.

Cyber bulling is becoming the modern way of bullying. There’s no confrontation, its silent bullying and its getting harder to control and track. The bully does not need to physically see the victim, but they can control them, without feeling guilty, as they don’t see the direct effects of their actions. Creating this fear and controlling the victim, it can make them feel bigger and more powerful in their circle of friends and help create the social status that seems to dictate school life.

Social Networking sites like Facebook have also aided bullies. Instead of telling their victim something cruel, they can post it on Facebook, for everyone to see. Videos can be uploaded of the victim being bullied or something embarrassing happening to them to show everyone what happened. Even a small act like deleting friends can have a massive affect. Another example could be Groups being made up on Facebook called “The I Hate Amanda Group.” Everyone in the school year/school can be invited to join the group. There’s pressure on other students to conform to the group, they too don’t want to become an outsider if they don’t join. Then it can be shown to Amanda, the victim, and they can see all the members of that group, all their school peers have joined.  Nobody can see the real effect that this has on the person so they too then don’t feel as guilty and acts such as this can continue to go on. There is no physically abuse, but the mental abuse this attack can have on somebody can be devastating and have consequences leading into adulthood.

There is always a social status in the world and there is one in schools, especially when they reach high school, people change, as do their views, everyone wants to fit in more and will put others down to do so.Students need to understand that everyone has many different issues going on in their head, in their homes, at school and understand that everyone is different and unique and everyone needs to be accepted equally.

I think children and teenagers learn bullying from the world around them. There is so much violence, racism, religious quarrels, they see attacks at people that are overweight, disabled, mentally ill and see adults whom they may look up to attacking these people. Therefore they then take those values and project them onto classmates.

Until society stops bullying in one way or another, it’s going to get worst and will continue to get passed down into schools.