{"id":22502,"date":"2024-03-26T08:17:32","date_gmt":"2024-03-25T22:17:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railexpress.com.au\/?p=115718"},"modified":"2024-03-26T08:17:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T22:17:32","slug":"rail-helping-to-transform-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=22502","title":{"rendered":"Rail helping to transform lives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Bringing more young people into the industry and showing them a future with strong career opportunities will be critical to ensuring a robust rail industry. Image\/John Holland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The rail industry has a far-reaching impact on communities and society. Here\u2019s why.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

You could say I was born into rail. As a third-generation rail man, following in the footsteps of my father and grandfather, I was drawn to the rail industry from a young age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Growing up in the UK back in the 1970s, I saw the impact that rail had on communities, connecting people and getting them to where they needed to go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So working in rail seemed like a great opportunity to provide a service to people who often had no other form of transport and give them independence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since I started out in the rail industry more than 40 years ago, it\u2019s been great to see the evolution to further embrace ways to transform communities beyond providing great networks.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, we\u2019re seeing greater opportunities to create community impact across at all stages of rail\u2013 and it\u2019s not just on the mega projects.<\/p>\n

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Steve Butcher, Executive General Manager \u2013 Rail and Transport, John Holland.<\/strong> Image\/John Holland<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the supply chain has increased its capacity to service the rail industry, we\u2019re seeing social impact play a bigger role during the delivery of projects and operations. It continues to evolve in ways that leverage new and existing partnerships to create the employment opportunities that can help deliver greater long-term benefits to the communities we serve.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, that\u2019s one of the reasons I joined John Holland.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When we say we\u2019re up for the challenge of transforming lives, it really is something that we look at every step of the way in our projects and operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For us, it\u2019s not just the impact the transport networks have once they\u2019re up and running, but also the long-lasting impact we can have through strong and widespread commitment to social procurement, partnerships with social enterprises, and creating career pathways for people from diverse backgrounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At John Holland, social impact encompasses our work across social procurement, social inclusion and First Nations engagement, and importantly how we track and measure our\u00a0impact.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our approach to social procurement, is about helping build community and cultural understanding in our people that unlocks opportunities to procure from certified Aboriginal businesses, for example through cultural immersion programs and social procurement roadshows.\u00a0 <\/span>As one of the early adopters, our commitment to Social Impact has seen us make great strides through our strong partnerships with social enterprises right across the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2019, we\u2019ve spent $45.4 million with social enterprises and $440m with Indigenous businesses, and in 2023, 29 per cent of our employees in regional areas were locals. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve progressed through my career, I\u2019ve become more focused on how we ensure a robust rail industry in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Bringing more young people into the industry and showing them a future with strong career opportunities will be critical to\u00a0this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thinking outside the box will ensure that we\u2019re creating these opportunities for people who are from all backgrounds and walks of life,\u00a0 <\/span>and showing that at John Holland we really are \u2018up for the challenge of transforming lives\u2019.<\/p>\n

Creating career opportunities for young people\u00a0<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Did you know that on average, it takes 2.6 years for a young person to find full time work after leaving education?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Our team has done some great work to look at how we can bring in young people who are unemployed or underemployed and provide them with quality job opportunities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year we\u2019ll be participating in a pilot program in Melbourne, working with an organisation that supports young people into\u00a0employment. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m passionate about this because I know what a career in the rail industry can provide.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Starting out my career in the rail industry as a 16-year-old sweeping station platforms, I\u2019ve worked in a range of roles in rail and transport networks across the world in diverse cultures and backgrounds, including the Middle East, India and the USA. I\u2019ve even worked on, and drove, the late Queen of England\u2019s train.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The opportunities are endless, and showing young people where a career in rail could take them, supporting them into the industry, and then helping them to grow and develop will ensure a robust rail industry of tomorrow, all while transforming the lives of young people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the things that\u2019s important to us on our journey to create greater community impact is developing strong ongoing relationships with partners that can help us provide the wraparound support and resources to maximise the opportunity for success for people that face employment barriers. Through these relationships we can draw on their knowledge and experience about the most effective ways to create ongoing and sustainable impacts for the communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that work is much more than a wage \u2013 it gives people independence, an improved sense of self-worth and confidence, which is connected to overall health and\u00a0wellbeing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why another area that we\u2019re focused on, is creating pathways for young people in the justice system. Providing meaningful work, with a career opportunity will help prevent reoffending.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Providing respectful, meaningful employment and the opportunity to build a career for people that have experienced the justice system is an important part of supporting their reintegration into the community. This isn\u2019t about high-volume recruitment, it\u2019s about taking a broad view on talent and valuing the social impact that can be generated by providing a life-changing opportunity, which will have flow on effects across the community. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is a more challenging area, it really speaks to our purpose of taking on the complex challenges for the ultimate outcome of transforming lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

More than just jobs<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Not satisfied with just delivering better rail networks and connections, from the very start we\u2019re focused on how our projects can have a greater impact on the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where we can, we work with our clients to provide resources and opportunities for diverse groups in the community.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We know that for someone to be successful in the workplace, it takes more than providing a job.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s the wraparound services that are also critical to support people who come from disadvantaged backgrounds.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important that our teams and leaders are committed to creating safe and supportive environments, which is reinforced by our health and safety, and diversity and inclusion processes.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Combined with our strong partnerships with organisations that support our social inclusion initiatives, which are so important to us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One area we\u2019re focused on is supporting women and children who face domestic\u00a0violence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen good outcomes through partnerships that provide employment pathways and financial stability. By focusing on a reintroduction to the workforce with an increase in skills and confidence, we\u2019re genuinely transforming lives.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are some of the examples of the spaces where we\u2019re truly making a difference to the communities we\u2019re working in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This commitment to social impact is also helping us to address the skills shortage in the rail industry, as we showcase the opportunities to new groups of people who never considered our industry before.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I know what the rail industry can offer \u2013 I\u2019ve made a lifelong career out of it. I\u2019m really proud of the work we\u2019re doing<\/p>\n

across our rail and transport business to create pathways and futures for more people in our community.<\/p>\n

The post Rail helping to transform lives<\/a> appeared first on Rail Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The rail industry has a far-reaching impact on communities and society. Here\u2019s why. You could say I was born into \u2026 <\/p>\n

The post Rail helping to transform lives<\/a> appeared first on Rail Express<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":1,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22503,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22502\/revisions\/22503"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}