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Having fun while safely shifting dirt - Business Award

4 February 2015

“Having fun while safely shifting dirt for profit” leads to Supreme Business Award

“Sometimes the greatest lessons in life, and business, come from adversity,” says Business Kapiti Horowhenua Chairman, Mark Ternent. “Goodman Contractors Ltd is a business that has faced extreme adversity and taken the lessons learned to create a highly successful business model, resulting in them winning the prestigious 2014 Electra Business of the Year Award.”

The lessons learned and the company’s response to them has now been documented in a case study written by Chris Ineson of DrivingForces.

The case study, which can be downloaded at no cost from the Awards website (www.bkh.org.nz/about-the-awards/winners-and-finalists/case-studies), tells the story of a company that has taken the time to learn from past mistakes and develop a culture based on getting the fundamentals right.

Goodman Contractors Ltd is a Waikanae-based, family owned and operated civil engineering contracting business operating largely in the lower North Island. Its scope of work includes earthworks, railway installations, tunnelling, quarrying and blasting, flood protection, subdivisions, drainage and retaining work, forestry clearance, and NZTA projects (including the current Expressway development on the Kapiti Coast).

Started in 1963 by Rick Goodman and his brother, the business has had many successes in its fifty year history. It has also had its share of failures, none more so than the period from 2010-12 when the New Zealand economy stalled and large infrastructure projects were put on hold, especially throughout the greater Wellington region.

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It was this hard earned experience that led the company to implement a series of plans that would take it from the brink of failure to acknowledgement as the region’s top performing business at the 2014 Electra Kapiti Horowhenua Business Awards.

“In scooping the Large Business Excellence Award, the Health and Safety Achievement Award and the supreme Electra Business of the Year Award, Goodman Contractors Ltd is an example of a business that has used the hard lessons learned to transform itself into a world class contracting company,” says Mr Ternent.

Chris Ineson notes in his case study that the Award Assessors identified Goodman Contracting Ltd as being a quality business. “The Assessors were impressed that, while it has been through some tough times, it is now back on its feet and returning good revenues in a business that cares for its people. They noted that there are strong systems in place and that the company has the ability to control all elements of their business very well”.

The Assessors identified seven key areas where the company has made huge strides in the last 2-3 years:
1. Training and Certification: Goodman takes responsibility for its training needs to ensure the company’s high standards are maintained. They have also achieved a series of world-class quality certifications.
2. Developing and Applying Advanced Thinking: Goodman has set itself apart from its competitors by becoming a leading New Zealand business in the management of information coming from and going to their machines, particularly with respect to GPS technology.
3. Attitude: the company has instilled a culture of “having fun while safely shifting dirt for profit”.
4. Partnerships and Relationships: Goodman recognises the importance of creating a “virtual” team of external operators who are effectively its partners in business.
5. Values: the company values are deployed throughout the company and applied on a daily basis.
6. Positive Thinking: the company always looks to turn a negative into a positive, as evidenced by their health and safety system.
7. Durability and Commitment: Goodman believes contracting is a long haul game that requires a tough approach to survive and compete successfully in a highly contested market.

This latest case study and five previous ones (Aura Redeye, Tuatara Brewery Ltd, Aura Software Security Ltd, Turk’s Poultry Farm Ltd and Mitre 10 MEGA Kapiti) can be downloaded at no cost from the Awards website - www.bkh.org.nz/about-the-awards/winners-and-finalists/case-studies

ENDS

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