Sheppard Mining Contracting
Culture focus and vocabulary
We take great pride in creating and advocating a positive and inclusive workplace, where every employee feels valued and respected. We purposefully invest time, energy, and effort into aligning our team with our core values and the SMC family. This ensures that everyone understands what it means to be a part of our organization and is committed to upholding our values.
Over the past year, the SMC team has established a clear set of expectations for all SMC team members based on our core values. Working with Kylie McLeary from the Collective Culture, our team has defined and developed a set of definitions and expectations of what it means to be a part of our team. A cultural induction booklet has been created for all new staff members to complete on their first day alongside an individualised induction session facilitated by one of our cultural leaders. This is intended to ensure that all team members are familiar with the organization’s values and goals from the outset.
We can monitor and track the team dynamic regularly through the adapt platform that we are embedding throughout our company as an internal means of communication, we regularly collect and analyse cultural data through completing cultural indexes and surveys. This gives us great insights into our team’s wellbeing. We prioritize the psychological, mental, and emotional health of our staff through regular check-ins, allowing us to monitor and address any concerns from a comprehensive standpoint with the view of being proactive… instead of reactive.
We believe in being a responsible employer and have committed on an owner’s level to invest our resources into cultivating a healthy workplace culture for our employees. Overall, we believe that a healthy work environment is crucial to the success of our company and the well-being of our employees. We have frequent gatherings, both socially and professionally, where we make a thoughtful effort to check in with each other and cultivate an environment where open conversation is the norm, no matter the topic. We prioritize honest and genuine communication, whether the discussions are challenging or straightforward.
We deliberately recruit for our culture and seek individuals who share our commitment to excellence… community… and family. Our company does not hire based on a person’s mere existence – we value our cultural leadership team, who play a crucial role in creating and nurturing our unique atmosphere for success. We only retain employees who fully align with our expectations and demonstrate a dedication to our culture. By prioritizing cultural fit in our hiring and retention practices, we can maintain a strong and cohesive team of individuals who share common values and goals.
This acknowledgement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team members, they actively foster a culture of collaboration, accountability and excellence. We continuously strive to build a workplace that is full of integrity, celebrates diversity, empowers leadership, and encourages passion.
Thank you for recognizing the importance of a healthy work environment. I encourage all business owners, managers, supervisors in this room to champion their people and work intentionally towards creating workplaces that are environments full of support, acceptance, excellence, belonging, solidarity, and overall wellbeing.
Let us strive to create environments where our teams can thrive and succeed together.