Thursday 1 September

The role of trust and partnership in developing a workforce to build a country’s future

Infrastructure is under increasing strain resulting from population growth, climate change effects, disruptions resulting from the pandemic and other geopolitical factors. Successfully facing up to such challenges requires a network of trusted partnerships. Trust is the currency of partnerships and therefore the foundation for attracting and growing capability. It is slowly earned, but quickly lost. Trust is also an essential characteristic of true leadership. The cyclical nature of infrastructure investment means that many projects do not have the luxury of time to build trust. The challenge facing governments is to create different mechanisms to quickly build trusting partnerships which successfully deliver national infrastructure. 

About Alan 

Bringing over 30 years’ experience in major project and programme leadership in Europe, South America and Asia Pacific, Alan is an industry leader with extensive experience in whole asset lifecycle and his experience covers projects ranging from initial concept design and feasibility studies through to detailed design, procurement, tendering, and contract supervision and commissioning. Alan’s leadership approach is to establish cultural, process and capability maturity across the asset lifecycle to enable clients develop an effective operating model which allows clarity of the performance management framework and deeper integration with stakeholders and the supply chain.

Is Inclusion Our ‘Edge’ For A Healthier Consulting Industry

Our consulting industry is founded on a high level of perfection and a high-performing culture. And we are at a real crossroads in our industry with skills shortages and a global war for talent. We know that inclusive and diverse workplaces improve business performance. Teams that are more diverse are safer, more productive and have a better culture. Yet commercially “robust” environments and long hours remain fairly normal. Collaboration and honest conversations across our industry could bust widespread myths like this is just how it has to be. This paper challenges the old adage “Take a concrete pill and harden up” environment and looks forward to strong culture as a foundation for strong engagement and retention. 

I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead: how to communicate effectively with the general public 

The catch-all category of the “’general public’” blends the diverse range of experience and knowledge in our communities into one amorphous blob. How do we make sense of this? And how can we use our understanding to communicate complex technical information about the big issues that affect our communities? Anchored in best practice and research, this presentation seeks to broaden our understanding of the audience for our communications – i.e. our communities. Building on this understanding through use of real-life examples, we discuss how we can ‘“translate’” technical information so that it makes sense to people who don’t have specialist expertise. 

About Shannon 

An IAP2-certified Engagement Consultant for Tonkin + Taylor, Shannon relates well to people from all walks of life, with warmth, empathy and good humour. A charismatic presenter, she enjoys using her storytelling ability to illustrate her technical presentations. Intrigued by human nature, Shannon loves learning about how we as people think and respond, building this into her engagement practice. Working alongside engineers, she often “translates” the technical for the average layperson. Her projects are diverse: recent focuses include flooding, climate risk, earthquake recovery, waste, transport, and sustainability. In her free time, Shannon mentors a 10-year-old through Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Queen Street Tactical Urbanism 

Auckland's transportation planning has prioritised traffic flow and private vehicles over active modes. As a result, there is a roadway network that provides little safety, comfort, or attraction for individuals who do not drive. A solution being used world-over has been adopted; A ‘people-first’ approach allowing for trialling new ideas and seeking to add colour, greenery, amenity and visual interest to the street. This work as part of a tactical urbanism approach to open spaces, digital engineering, the fast-paced design and construction have helped the Auckland CBD adapt quickly and create a more sustainable future for our city centre. 

About Chris 

Chris leads Envivo’s civil engineering team in New Zealand. Having established and grown this team, Chris continues to actively lead cutting edge, urban realm solutions and outcomes which meet and exceed project outcomes for a diverse range of his clients. He has led Envivo’s entire portfolio of streetscapes projects for the last decade, providing leadership and governance insight to the delivery of all works.

Technical excellence – the foundation of first-class consultancy 

Despite the importance of soft skills – engineering remains a technical discipline. As such, technical excellence is the cornerstone of a first-class consulting engineering offering. So, what does technical excellence look like? How do we ensure we deliver it, how can we use it to create value for our customers, to help our businesses, profession, industry and communities prosper? Creating, maintaining and growing a culture of technical excellence isn’t easy. We’ll discuss some of the challenges and share some of the tactics we’ve used at Holmes, in an ongoing journey towards that aspiration. 

About Hamish 

Hamish has over 25 years of experience as a consulting structural engineer in a variety of roles and locations in New Zealand and overseas. He is a Principal with Holmes in Wellington. Hamish is a recognised leader within the structural engineering community. He is a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand, sits on the Engineering New Zealand Board, and is the Immediate Past President and Life Member of the Structural Engineering Society. He has been involved in numerous working groups and submissions to industry and government on matters relating to the construction sector. His project experience includes several well-known Wellington landmarks such as, Parliament Buildings, Wellington Town Hall, Majestic Centre, 1 Willis Street Tower and the Wellington Railway Station.

The work of the community. #youtoo - how we all have a part to play in creating a resilient and thriving workforce 

Leadership from all of us is imperative to creating an environment where a diverse workforce can thrive. The Diversity Accord is a welcome step forward for the construction industry, letting organisational leaders publicly affirm their commitment to inviting a more representative cross section of society into our world. This is only a start. Creating the setting for this diversity to become a thriving workforce requires paying attention to the context in which it will operate – the organisational culture. Organisational culture is dynamic, adaptive and constantly rebalancing. How we create the setting for this rebalancing to occur is by hardwiring inclusion, belonging and principles around equity This presentation explores the science of belonging - moving beyond diversity to inclusion and psychological safety It also shares some examples that can help us understand how a curiosity mindset and micro-inclusion practices within a team setting, can enable cultural rebalancing and allow a diverse workforce to achieve its full potential. 

About Kavita 

Kavita is the true ‘all-rounder’, bringing a wealth of experience and fresh thinking to Tonkin + Taylor’s business. Not only is she an expert generalist within the human resources profession, she also has a broad skill set and expertise covering governance, leadership, strategic planning, managing a business and advisory. Kavita leads the way on business partnering and has led and embedded many large-scale initiatives. They include organisation redesign resulting in stronger collaboration over business development, sharing of knowledge and resources across different business units, business process mapping, development of a competency framework and leading an industry remuneration survey. She has also led the design and implementation of an annual planning framework, aligning the organisation with individual goals. Her client-focused approach, together with an intimate knowledge of Tonkin +Taylor’s core business, results in “win-win” outcomes for Tonkin +Taylor, its people and its clients.

Recognising the role we all have in Partnership with Māori and the uprising of the tide of understanding and growing knowledge in Te Ao Māori.

About John

Embracing the ‘never-normal’ leadership beyond COVID-19

About Robert

Outcomes over outputs: designing better experiences WITH and not just FOR our clients 

When choosing a consultant, having exceptional technical expertise is a given. But choosing a partner is about more than just expertise. It’s about the experience. While the concept of 'client experience' isn't new, what's currently on offer leaves something to be desired. Hear how our industry can step up to embrace the challenge by designing experiences ‘with’ and not just ‘for’ our clients - working together to deliver better outcomes for Aotearoa’s projects, stakeholders, and communities. 

About Briana

As Client Experience Manager for Tonkin + Taylor Group, and CX Committee Chair for New Zealand’s Marketing Association, Briana is a passionate advocate for CX innovation: putting the ‘people’ back into projects for true industry transformation. Through authentically seeking and embracing input through empathy, she believes in not only placing clients at the heart of what we do, but jumping in there WITH them to design, refine and execute CX strategies that optimise the journey.

Scaling for the future through people 

How did we achieve 20% revenue growth in just three years? They say people are your most valuable assets. Our independent qualitative research from December 2021 says staff feel empowered to deal direct and voice their opinions and expertise. Our clients know we’re always looking to upskill our team and hire young dynamic people. We’ll share some takeaways on the journey we’ve been through to achieve such strong revenue growth over some of the most disruptive years of our industry. 

About Cam 

Cam is RDCL's Managing Director and founder, a Chartered Professional Engineer (NZ) in the field geotechnical engineering and Chartered Member of the Institute of Directors (NZ). He has 30 years’ experience including residential development, dams, building foundations and mines. He maintains direct involvement in project work in his role as Principal Geotechnical Engineer, with a special interest in new project development, risk assessment and difficult engineering, and in-situ testing. An experienced business owner and leader, Cam works closely and directly with clients to address technical, operational and strategic needs.

Meaningful engagement with Māori - a change step in business approaches 

There are ample examples of how a failed community engagement plan and/or at worst a non-existent community engagement plan has toppled major infrastructure projects. In the US for example, a 1,175 mile oil pipeline programme came to a halt because they overlooked the need to bring to the table the indigenous people of Dakota. Whilst this is an example from beyond this land, there are key messages in this story of why community engagement is important. Within the NZ context, there is an increased expectation from government to engage with Māori, particularly when infrastructure projects impact their communities and that which they culturally value. This presentation will provide insights into the types of engagement that occur and what may count as ‘meaningful and genuine engagement’. Questions about what you may need to have in place as a company, how you may proceed and who needs to be involved will be explored.

Design infrastructure for Aotearoa’s net zero carbon and circular economy vision 

Aotearoa faces a significant challenge to meet the infrastructure demands of the future, whilst transitioning towards net-zero carbon and a circular economy by 2050. New Zealand government entities and businesses are looking for guidance on what this means for them, and are challenging designers to help in the response by embedding sustainability and circular design principles as business-as-usual. Lauren Bishop presents Beca's Infrastructure Circular Design Framework that brings these principles into the hands of their designers and engineers, and shares thoughts on why encouraging early collaboration, engagement and partnership with clients and stakeholders is key to unlocking the greatest value. 

About Lauren 

Lauren started out as a graduate geotechnical engineer with Beca in 2017, which has provided her with a strong understanding of design principles and delivery. Her project work has given her insight into the urgency of making a real difference to delivering sustainable project outcomes. She has recognised that the innovative solutions required need to come from those with project influence, supported by early engagement between clients and designers. This has led her to work alongside technical experts within Beca to drive change and provide an integrated circular design approach as business-as-usual in the transport and infrastructure space within Beca.