A proud Australian

What an extraordinary honour it was to receive an Order of Australia this year in recognition of my personal contribution to philanthropic events in the business and community. It is deeply humbling to be recognised for something I believe in so passionately. Business cannot thrive without community, and fostering community is every bit as much about giving and participating as it is about belonging.

I am a proud Australian, and was never more proud than on the day I stood at Governor House to receive this award from Governor General Linda Dessau.

But while I am deeply honoured to have been recognised in this way, I do not act alone, and there are many in my family and business who I would call the “unsung heroes” who have directly contributed to the good I have been able to achieve in the community, and who are therefore also deserving of this award.

I wish to thank firstly my wife Jaqui Maree, who gives abundantly of her time, talents and resources to support numerous charitable organisations, and who inspires and empowers many others to do the same. In addition, I’d like to highlight the actions of the leadership cohort and entire team at GJK Facility Services, who have demonstrated time and again through the GJK Giving Back program - via volunteering work, corporate giving, their commitment to sustainability and advocacy for those in need - what it truly means to “give back.”

Clean air conversations

This is an important issue that was recently raised on the GJK Facility Services website:

“Across the globe, poor air quality contributes to around 8.8 million premature deaths per year, nearly half of which are due to indoor or household air pollution.”

The World Health Organisation has declared air pollution a ‘global public health emergency’, and poor indoor air quality costs the Australian economy an estimated $12 billion a year in lost productivity.

What we do know is that achieving healthy levels of indoor air quality is a complex and multifaceted challenge, that requires a lot more than opening a window or turning on a fan. It involves strategies like source elimination, building design, operational strategies, and human behaviour interventions.

It’s also important to consider the “journey of air” in workplaces: knowing who is responsible (or who carries the burden of care) in a workplace goes a long way to ensuring we can achieve and maintain good air quality. For example, what are the responsibilities of the building owner or facility manager? What of the tenants? And what of the individual occupants? All have a role to play in maintaining healthy indoor air-quality.

Not surprisingly, the question of air pollution came to the fore during the Covid pandemic, when the World Economic Forum began to question the role that air pollution was playing in the spread of the disease. In response, GJK authored a White Paper, “6 Essential Ways to Optimise Cleaning for Wellbeing and Productivity,” with guidelines for creating healthy surfaces, air and hands to create a safer workplace.

That paper is available to download here for anyone who is interested.

Carbon footprint

Earlier this month, my company GJK Facility Services invited sustainability experts from the building and property industry to provide guidance and insights on how we can reduce our carbon emissions in the built environment sector.

After all, the property industry is one of the planet’s worst climate offenders, being responsible for 39 percent of all global carbon emissions, and more than 50 percent of global material use.

As such, we believe it is up to us to lead the way in actioning climate change.

But to be honest, our ambitions are higher than simply “reducing” our carbon footprint: our goal is to achieve a Net Zero impact by 2050.

And as climate science continues to evolve rapidly, it is vital that we, too, evolve and pivot in order to achieve our goal of Net Zero by 2050. We asked our three panelists to provide practical guidance and insights aimed at helping us walk the right path to achieve this goal.

• Jamie Wallis (Senior Manager – Market Engagement at Green Building Council of Australia) highlighted the recent drivers of NetZero change, and discussed the importance of building- owners understanding the expectations on them, and addressing their carbon footprint

• Alexandra Lawlor (National Leader Urban Futures & Resilience at Architectus) discussed the critical role of design and the developer’s role concerning NetZero. She spoke about the importance of working with clients and stakeholders in the planning stage to create a design that would encourage sustainable behaviours

• Rebecca Jinks (Head of Sustainability & ESG at Cushman & Wakefield, Asia Pacific) shared methods and ways to pursue decarbonization in real estate, and discussed how property was vulnerable to physical and transitional risks associated with climate change, and the actions we need to consider

Click here to watch the webinar back in your own time.

Indigenous suppliers

I firmly believe that Australian businesses can and should provide greater opportunities for Indigenous suppliers to participate in the economy. By procuring both goods and services from Indigenous suppliers, we can help to create sustainable employment and strengthen Indigenous entrepreneurship, thereby improving overall economic and social outcomes for Indigenous communities.

And, while both public and private sectors have made significant inroads into driving Indigenous procurement programs, there is so much more that we can do.

At a webinar hosted by GJK Facility Services, a small panel of experts provided powerful insights into the journey of the Indigenous economy, and the benefits, challenges and future strides that Australian businesses can take to work productively with the Indigenous business sector.

• Glenn Johnston (Director of Procurement & Business Support for Infrastructure NSW) discussed a way forward for Australian businesses to lead Indigenous engagement through Reconciliation Action Plans, which give procurement the framework to support Ingenious suppliers

• Tim Moggridge (co-owner of NPM Indigenous) provided insights into his company’s growth, and how imperative business partners are to its success. Tim’s personal experience from the Indigenous supplier side revealed how critical social procurement practices were for Indigenous businesses and communities

• Madeline Taylor (Head of Strategic Client Management in JLL’s Sourcing and Procurement Team) discussed JLL’s supplier diversity strategy, and their mature social procurement framework approach, which delivered an ethical, sustainable and inclusive supply chain.

To watch back a recording of this webinar, click here.

Giving Back

I’m proud to announce that GJK Facility Services has launched a new social impact program, called “GJK Giving Back.” We’ve partnered with the Lighthouse Foundation, a charitable organisation that provides homes and therapeutic care programs for children and young people who are impacted by long-term neglect, abuse, and homelessness.

The Foundation relies on donations and corporate partners - like GJK - to help them continue to create caring communities where children can feel safe, forge meaningful relationships, and begin to heal from their traumatic pasts.

A key component of the new GJK Giving Back program is that it also empowers GJK employees to get involved, if they choose to.

“Working with charities, not-for-profits and organisations we already support, like the Lighthouse Foundation, the GJK Giving Back program will build on these relationships to create shared value partnerships,” said CEO Elias Stamas. “Giving back and doing good has always been part of GJK’s DNA… and this program just takes this to the next level, enabling our employees to participate and give back too.”

A safe refuge

The Lighthouse Foundation is the first safe refuge in Australia that is designed to meet the recovery needs of young women and girls who have left or are at risk of entering into an early or forced marriage.

This Foundation provides live-in care and therapeutic support, in a safe place, to help these young women - many of whom are the victims of immense trauma - begin to heal.

At the TEN Women charity lunch in May, my wife Jaqui Maree and I were proud to make a donation of $100,000 to the Lighthouse Foundation’s Young Women’s Freedom Program. The donation will be used to help build a shelter for the women and girls the Foundation helps.

More than 550 property professionals attended this event, and we were thrilled to see the total fundraising contribution from the day exceed $600,000, for such a worthy cause.

Honouring nurses

On Thursday 5 May I was privileged to speak to close to 500 guests at the MCG, for the annual Epworth HealthCare Men’s Health Lunch.

It was my duty and honour to thank the sponsors and all those who attended to support the day, during which we together raised $230,000 - a record amount for this event. The funds will be used to further the education, development and leadership-training of Epworth nurses and midwives.

The importance of fostering leadership and expertise among a hospital’s nursing staff cannot be underestimated: they are the backbone of every hospital, and Epworth is no different.

Indeed, Epworth has a history of great nurses and midwives. The hospital opened in 1920 with five nurses who were praised in Melbourne for the excellent care they provided. Today Epworth benefits from almost 4000 highly-trained nurses and midwives, who care for more than 190,000 patients a year.

During the lunch we also heard from two of Epworth’s leading clinicians, Associate-Professor Yi Yang, who gave an inspirational presentation on spinal health, and Dr Peter Larkins, who presented on cardiac health and reminded us of the importance of being proactive with our health.

It was a great pleasure to be back at the Epworth Men’s Health Lunch, a regular event in the Melbourne calendar that has been sorely missed during the years of the pandemic.

Redefining "clean"

It’s interesting, though probably not surprising, that new studies have revealed people are thinking and feeling quite differently about hygiene and cleanliness in a post-pandemic world.

This is of particular interest GJK Facility Services, since “clean” is the core of what we do, and the team recently collated some of the research that is coming out on this issue into a blog post. I’ve shared some of the highlights from that post below - you can read it in full here.

• 80% of people are more uneasy than they used to be at using unhygienic restrooms

• More than 95% of shoppers consider that unclean restrooms and unpleasant odours, along with dirty floors, shopping cars and spills and stains influence their shopping decisions

• Customers and employees now want to see sanitiser stations, wipes and signage as proof that an area has been properly cleaned (not just wiped down)

• More than 66% of employees in a US study say they want their offices to focus more on cleaning practices before they feel safe returning to work

• Most employees in the same study believe that employers who pay attention to the general cleanliness of the workplace care more about their employees’ health and wellness

Robot revolution

An excellent story in the Financial Review this week, on the “robot revolution” for deep cleaning. These technologies are more useful than ever in our post-pandemic world.

Read: Robot revolution a clean sweep for building managers, by Jonathan Porter (Australian Financial Review)

A visit to Epworth

Recently I was invited by Epworth Medical Foundation, alongside one of my fellow Directors, Cathi Biddick AM, to be present at the arrival and installation of state-of-the-art new medical equipment at Epworth Richmond.

This equipment, which had been entirely funded by donations, included an endoscopic ultrasound, SPY-PHI, and observation machines. It was a privilege and an honour to be able to meet with the medical staff at Epworth, and see first-hand their genuine excitement and gratitude for the generous gifts that had made this equipment possible.

Epworth HealthCare has a vision to provide patients at Epworth with the best possible treatment and care, and ensuring that our surgeons and nurses have the best equipment in hand is critical to this.

Killara wows judges

I am enormously proud to announce that Killara Services, formerly known as GJK Indigenous Solutions, was once again a finalist in the Defence Connect Australian Defence Industry Awards “Indigenous Business of the Year” for 2021.

This is the second year in a row in which Killara earned the praise of the judges: in 2020, the group won first prize.

The Indigenous Business of the Year is a prestigious award and the competition is steep. The award aims to highlight and celebrate Indigenous businesses that effectively capitalise on market opportunities, demonstrating business growth while strengthening Australia’s national security and defence capabilities.

Having been beside Killara from its very beginnings, and as a founding investor and company partner, I could not be more proud of Killara’s outstanding business operations, and each and every employee is thoroughly deserving of this recognition.

Celebrating our people

My heartfelt congratulations to the following category winners in the 2021 GJK Awards Program!

• For collaboration: Deborah Narcis

• For innovation: Laura Cristina Garcia

• For customer experience: Mohamad Khanafer

• For risk reduction: Keith Thomas

The GJK Awards are allocated quarterly, and the overall winners for the year are then selected from the quarterly finalists.

These awards are one of the many ways in which we aim to recognise, celebrate and reward our top-performing employees, who demonstrate the values and commitment to excellence that we most look for in our people.

Diversity and inclusion

I believe it is essential that as business owners, we create and foster workplaces that promote, celebrate and actively support a diverse and inclusive environment.

This is why I am so proud of GJK Facility Service’s collaboration with its sister company, KILLARA Services. KILLARA Services is a leading Aboriginal-owned and operated cleaning company, offering soft service solutions to Commercial and Government clients, across Australia.

Earlier this month, we were thrilled and humbled to receive the Property Council of Australia Award for Diversity, in recognition of this collaboration.

Of course, we still have a long way to go. But we were thrilled to receive this award as recognition of our shared commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion, and our shared passion to transform lives.

Predictive cleaning

GJK Facility Services is one of the first commercial cleaning businesses in Australia to trial a revolutionary IoT-based “predictive cleaning” system for its customers.

We believe predictive cleaning represents the future of the commercial cleaning industry. It will enable cleaners to respond to real data about how the specific facilities are used, and then tailor and curate their cleaning services to best respond to the way they are used.

To that end, we have installed cleaning sensor technology at our head office in Collingwood, in the office spaces, kitchen, and washrooms. This technology provides us with insightful data such as the air quality, the occupancy levels and use of our facilities, and when soap dispensers or toilet paper needs refilling.

It’s our goal to use these insights to demonstrate the difference this “predictive cleaning” technology can make to our clients, by providing better cleaning outcomes. The result will be a more efficient, responsive, transparent and value driven cleaning service.

Thank your cleaner

Today, 20 October, is Thank Your Cleaner Day, an opportunity to recognise the hard work our cleaners do, and remind them that they are valued and appreciated.

Cleaners have been at the frontline of Melbourne’s battle against COVID-19, frequently unnoticed and unsung, but going to extraordinary lengths to keep us safe.

I want to take this opportunity to wish the more than 2000 cleaners with us at GJK Facility Services a wonderful day, and if you know a cleaner, please don’t forget to thank them too!

Healthy air & hands

It seems we’re not out of the woods yet with this pandemic, and it remains essential that we practice good social distancing and hygiene practices. 

The GJK Facility Services blog recently published some excellent advice on air quality and hand washing, that I thought would be worth sharing here. 

Improving air quality: 

• Minimise fragrances 

• Minimise VOCs (volatile organic compounds, found in many paints and cleaning products)

• Remove dust and mould safely (so it won’t be released back into the air) via damp dusting, HEPA filters, deep cleaning and extraction, and HVAC maintenance

Improving hand hygiene: 

• Wash your hands often, with soap and water 

• If you can’t access soap and water, use alcohol-based hand-sanitisers 

• In the workplace, ask for hands-free soap dispensers and paper hand-towels

• Bring personal mini sanitiser bottles and sanitising wipes for your desk 

Ideaction2021

The Facility Management Association of Australia (FMA) national conference, Ideaction2021, was different this year, with the two-day event reduced to one day (with another to be picked up at a later date), and streamed online. 

It’s just another way in which we have all had to adapt and change with the new “covid reality” of life in 2021. And, despite the clear drawbacks of being unable to meet face to face, the online format provided a unique opportunity to exchange new information and ideas for our industry, and ensure we remained connected despite the distance that separated us.  

What’s more, as a diamond sponsor and national corporate member of FMA Australia, GJK was proud to host an exhibition stand in Perth, where the conference was able to continue as a live event. 

The hybrid online and Perth-based sessions were MC’d by GJK’s Director of Strategic Relationships Kristiana Greenwood, and FMA CEO Nicholas Burt. GJK also sponsored a presentation from KPMG Australia’s Richard Boele on the “Modern Slavery Act” in facilities management, as well as a presentation by author Michael Crossland on “the Power of Perspective,” an emotional and inspirational telling of his life.

Pictured are GJK’s Coralie Leach and Grant Jones at the Perth stand during Ideaction2021

More than a word

Today marks the beginning of Reconciliation Week, which will run from 27 May until 3 June. This year the focus is on moving from awareness to action, in the understanding that we each have an important role to play when it comes to true reconciliation. With this in mind, the official theme for the week is “More than a word: reconciliation takes action.”

GJK Facility Services and GJK Indigenous Solutions has a proud history of providing meaningful job opportunities to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and building positive relationships with local communities. We believe we all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and stand by these words, from Reconciliation Australia:

For reconciliation to be effective, it must involve truth-telling, and actively address issues of inequality, systemic racism and instances where the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are ignored, denied or reduced.

While we see greater support for reconciliation from the Australian people than ever before, we must be more determined than ever if we are to achieve the goals of the movement — a just, equitable, reconciled Australia.

As history tells us, this will only happen through continued and concerted action from those who are already part of the reconciliation movement to those who are yet to join.

The Property Congress

I’m delighted to announce that GJK Facility Services recently became an Associate Sponsor - in partnership with the Property Council of Australia - for the Young Indigenous Professionals Program at The Property Congress in Tasmania in October this year.

The Program offers five Indigenous property students or interns with the opportunity to attend The Property Congress as guests. They will be invited to meet and greet with the keynote speakers (who this year include The Hon John Howard OM AC, Former Australian Prime Minister; Jessica Christiansen-Franks, Co-Founder & CEO, Neighbourlytics; Richard Florida, Professor, Author and Urbanist; and Holly Ransom, Founder and CEO of Emergent), as well as industry leaders throughout the conference.

We look forward to meeting with the five young professionals in the program, and the team at GJK will support them throughout The Property Congress.

I have long believed that business can - and arguably should - be a vehicle that can affect lasting positive change not only in the lives of individuals, but in society as a whole. This is why GJK Facility Services has actively and deliberately sought to recruit and develop people from a diverse range of nationalities and cultures. And in particular, it is the driving force behind our ongoing work alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees, and our partnership with GJK Indigenous Services.

In addition to sponsoring the Young Indigenous Professionals Program, GJK Facility Services is also the Congress WiFi sponsor for The Property Congress. The discussion will be around “post-Covid,” and I look forward to bringing you news from this event in the future.

Our robot cleaner

Meet the cleaning robot of the future, and the newest employee at GJK Facility Services! He’s posing for his photograph here alongside our CEO, Elias Stamas. I’m looking forward to seeing how our robot employee helps to improve the working lives of his human colleagues.