PTEP: Early days
The need for change
In the earliest days of the Public Tenant Employment Program (PTEP), the estates and its residents were in dire need of change. Prior to GJK Facility Solutions taking on the contract in 2003, the estates were characterised by unemployment, crime, poor delivery of cleaning services, and a vacancy rate of up to 40 percent. Accustomed to receiving a poor standard of maintenance services, public tenants were generally skeptical of GJK and their staff, which added to the challenges of recruiting public tenants to their teams.
We realised that in employing some of the most socially and financially disadvantaged individuals in society, some of whom were second or even third generation unemployed, we would need to employ significant innovation, planning, and leadership.
A rare alliance: community, business & government
It was clear early on that GJK would need to work as part of a collaborative partnership in order to wholly understand the issues of the estates to ensure the project was a success. To address these concerns, we forged important partnerships that would give us the greatest chance of success. These included:
The Office of Housing (Victoria), empowered by the people of Victoria to set policy around public housing,
GJK Facility Services, an experienced commercial cleaning contractor and project manager, and
The Brotherhood of St Laurence, a community organisation that would play an important role in providing additional support services to the long-term unemployed
This rare alliance of community, business and government signalled a new way of doing business for GJK, and set an innovative relationship model for the entire industry. We were extremely honoured that this successful collaboration captured the minds and imaginations of business leaders across the world, and in 2006, GJK became the first Australian company in the world to win the prestigious CoreNet Global H. Bruce Russell Global Innovators Award.