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.