Drake Vine December 2022

A message from the EC

With the festive season upon us and another year nearly behind us, we look forward to what promises to be our biggest year yet in 2023. As an Executive Committee, we are proud of the way everyone has embraced recent change and we can all agree our future is very bright.

All service lines have now developed extensive plans for 2023, and the execution of these plans has started. This week, all Drake team members were presented with our Back in Black strategy outlining several key projects to drive our Drake business towards greater profitability. It has been refreshing, exciting, and enjoyable to see our leadership teams come together and collaborate to identify and plan the key business imperatives for 2023.

This year saw great expansion of our traditional brands, with some new and emerging brands making their mark in 2022 such as Drake Retail and Drake Trades & Technical. Forecasts look solid as we continue to gain market share and build on the success of specialisation in what is a constantly changing and competitive landscape. More work is being done in the early part of the new year to further identify market opportunities for Drake and the wider teams.

Our technology stack is progressing well. This will undeniably result in improving our team’s output, the customer experience and ultimately help our branch network become more profitable. Our most significant project, Fasttrack360, is rolling out in February and preliminary training dates are currently being organised. An amazing amount of work has already gone into the project to get it where it is today, and we’d like to thank everyone who has been involved so far.

Your Executive Committee welcomes you to the August edition of the DrakeVine newsletter, connecting us all to share the very latest Drake news!

Frank Spizzo CFO

Nick Polimenakos General Manager Drake Medox

Daniel Parncutt General Counsel

Paul Unstead National Manager Outsourcing

Mark Coetzee International Business Transformation, High Impact Performance Improvement & Company Turnaround Specialist

A message from the EC

On the Drake Medox front, we submitted an application for “ACIS Exemplar Status”. ACIA is Australia’s only national peak body focused on quality management and governance in disability. After an extensive review of our application and documents, Drake Medox was awarded “Exemplar Status for Complex Physical Support”. This is the highest certification an organisation can gain, and will provide us with an unparalleled point of difference. This is a remarkable achievement by the Medox team, and our new ACIS Exemplar Status will be added to all our digital touchpoints and collateral going forward.

We have also made amazing steps to enhance diversity and inclusion at Drake over the past 12 months and this is an achievement you can all be proud of. Our D&I Committee has been working hard to get Drake’s Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan conditionally endorsed by Reconciliation Australia, which was confirmed last week. This is a huge achievement for the business with many exciting initiatives to follow next year to meet our reconciliation goals.

Finally, as we close the chapter to calendar 2022, we wanted to thank you all for your loyalty, commitment, and service. We trust that you will all have a relaxing and enjoyable festive season with your families and friends – stay safe and recharge your batteries for an exciting 2023 ahead!

wishes Executive Committee

Festive

Strategy Update

Back in Black Leadership Session

– Our Journey Forward

The Drake Australia leadership team came together in November for a “Strategy to Action” session, facilitated by Mark Coetzee. The goal was to craft the route for every branch to return to Planet Profit; code named “Back in Black”.

The session had representation from each business division together with the EC, with everyone having the opportunity to present on results, opportunities, and improvements etc. With a realistic assessment of each business division, the team broke out into smaller groups to discuss our way forward.

Our Findings

The result of our session was an identifiable set of strategic imperatives (or pillars) that need to be addressed to achieve our goal of Back in Black. They are:

1. Greater Efficiency and Effectiveness 2. Culture Of Learning and Development and Retention 3. Greater Communication and Collaboration 4. Sales and Service Excellence 5. Branding Clarity 6. Planet Profit

From the 6 strategic imperatives, the leadership team agreed on several key projects for 2023.

This week, the leadership team presented The Journey 2023, outlining the planned projects. Our first projects to kick off the year include:

1. Introduction of a standard onboarding process 2. Clarity around verticals/specialisations and brands 3. Development of a sales pipeline and sales targets 4. Implementation of Fasttrack 5. Development of a Back to Basic training programme

6. Review of candidate application and registration process

7. Pricing improvement plan

Note: work has already commenced to support these impeartives. If you haven’t yet seen The Journey 2023 presentation, please discuss it with your manager. This is important !

L-R: Roberta Redondo, Alisa Patterson, Sarah Ross, Mel Cumming, and Clayton Anderson?

Strategy meeting with the Senior Leadership Team in Melbourne

Strategy Update

What Are the next steps?

With many project teams being formed, we encourage you all to be involved and be heard – after all, this is your journey too that we’re embarking on. We want you all to be part of the movement.

Updates on the various projects will be released regularly via Town Hall sessions or via internal communications. We understand how important it is for clear communication so we can all see and feel the change in motion!

This is such an exciting time to be part of the Dream Team, the pioneers who develop the legacy, and for those still to join us on our journey!

Finally, you might have noticed there is a very sleek looking hi-tech speed boat on our communications. Speed boats are fast, agile, powerful…this is how we will be in 2023! So, jump on board, buckle up, we’re going to go fast and our GPS has been programmed.

Let’s Go!

Group shot at the Strategy Meeting: L-R: Roberta Redondo, Matt Vido, Paul Unstead, Clayton Anderson, Lucinda Gamboni, Sarah Ross, Tracey Johnstone, Alisa Patterson, Mel Cumming, Georgia Matterson, Daniel Parncutt, Frank Spizzo, Ann Archer, Nicole Jones, Megan Van de Kamp, Tanya Anderson, Janet Kirton Paul Marshall

HR Update

Welcome to the team!

Clayton Anderson Work Health & Safety Manager WHS

Alex Chen Financial Accountant Finance

Wade Krieger

Trades and Technical CRM DI Laverton

Aimee Brougham Consultant Medox Adelaide

Ivy Wen Resourcer DRS Melbourne

Tara Bradley Clinical Intake Coordinator WellbeingHub Sydney

Jessie Lambeth Recruitment Coordinator DI Albury

Happy Drake-aversary

Darko Stankoski

2nd Dec 3 years DI

Jem Asani 6th Dec 1 year DI

Garrett Overend 15th Dec 1 year Tenders

Tiana Faasavulu 20th Dec 1 year After Hours

Elly Gill-Renouf 23rd Dec 1 Year Medox

Happy Birthday

Belinda Hua

1st Dec WellbeingHub

Mirella Del Re 9th Dec DO

Frank Spizzo 9th Dec EC

Yifan Gai 10th Dec Regional Controller

Maria Santiago 11th Dec Temp Payroll

Anita Polimenakos 16th Dec Shared Services

Kellie Hayley 19th Dec DRS

Alana Blandford 28th Dec Medox

Maria Ospina 28th Dec DO

Ann Archer 29th Dec DI

Dymphna Best 29th Dec WellbeingHub

Tegan Paltridge 29th Dec DI

Karina Hammer 30th Dec DI

Charlie Smith 30th Dec Drake Business Logistics

Paul Marshall

Phillipa Dally, Paul Unstead, Karen Chittick, Ann Archer, Shanelle Balchin, Emma Roberts, Megan Van de Kamp, Juhi Gambhir, Sarah Ross, Melyssa Cumming

Cheryn Vilaivongse

Danielle Smith, Nadeesha Don Thuduwage, Gabrielle Darcy, Kristina Dilucchio, Marine Rambert, Nathalie den Doelder, Cheryl Krieger, Aditya Atray, Michelle Hillman, Maryanne Zrilic, Sarah Ross, Shanelle Balchin, Michael Benedet, Mark Mondejar, Jodie Bartram, Maria Santiago, Annerley Juhlin-Beeck, Debbie Broadley, Hollie Clarke, John Law, Lewis Ngatai, Matt Vido, Michelle Kawai

Georgia Matterson

Karina Hammer, Kellie Hayley, Kellie Warner, Philippa Dally, Shelby Crameri, Stephanie Jory, Troy Poposki, Gay Barton, Michelle Hillman, Sarah Ross, Emily Clark, Valerie Muscat, Annerley Juhlin-Beeck, Danella Williams, Claire Alcock, Kate Schattner, Mattie Cameron, Tegan

Paltridge, Jessie Drane, Ebony Stevens, Marianne Mayadunne, Jade Dodd, Karen Chittick

Paul Unstead

Alisa Patterson, Brinda Jamnadas, Marine Rambert, Roisin Bettaney, Hanna Koerbin, Juhi Gambhr, Alana Blandford, Elizabeth Gois, Aditya Atray, Janet Kirton, Nicole Jones, Roberta Redondo, Matt Vido, Debbie Broadley, Lucinda Gamboni, Monique Sorensen, Tanya Anderson

Jessie Drane Danella Williams, Matt Vido

Marketing

Medox Melbourne, DO Perth, Drake After Hours, Medox After Hours Medox Perth, DI Adelaide, DI Gold Coast, Medox Marketing Team DI Albury, DO Brisbane, DI Bendigo, DI Wetherill Park

Adelaide DI

New Initiatives: D&I Update

Reflect RAP update:

Over the past month, the RAP Working Group have been busy finalising Drake’s Reflect RAP and have submitted it to Reconciliation Australia for review! We have been working closely with Reconciliation Australia on their feedback and have just received their conditional endorsement. This is a huge step for Drake, as conditional endorsement means we can move forward with finalising our document. The next steps are adding in our commissioned Indigenous artwork from Kinya Lerrk to Drake’s Reflect RAP document and re-submitting to Reconciliation Australia for formal endorsement.

Next year, we will undertake a formal release of our Reflect RAP including the release of the bespoke artwork. We’re looking forward to celebrating this momentous and significant occasion with all staff as we move towards greater diversity and inclusion for all!

Cultural Awareness Training:

Drake recently partnered with The Koorie Heritage Trust to provide cultural awareness training for the EC, senior leadership and management teams, and D&I Committee. The facilitator, Rob Hyatt, provided some highly valuable training to the team and assisted us in gaining greater understanding around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, and how Drake can work collaboratively with Indigenous peoples, businesses, and communities to foster greater reconciliation.

IDPwD Event:

This month, Drake Medox hosted a nation-wide lunch & learn to mark International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD). Our guest speaker was Gavin Rolton, the Client Relationship Manager from Wellington, NZ, who had a major accident in his early 20s which resulted in Gavin sustaining a spinal cord injury. Gavin did a fantastic job sharing his story and providing insight on the importance of inclusion. It was a wonderful event, with the wider Drake business being able to celebrate IDPwD and learn more about disability!

Broadbean Update

ENTO Rollout

Out and About

Adelaide Medox at the IDPwD Event! Great turnout with Medox clients and staff!

Rudy Srahah from DI Laverton and candidates from the Myer team getting ready for Xmas and Black Friday Sales!

Darko, Nick, and Lewis from DI Laverton, representing Drake at the LINFOX RDC Christmas party with our 130 candidates!

Brinda

Sydney Medox, DO, & WellbeingHub at IDPwD Event!

Jamnadas, Kristina Deverell, Daniel, Danella Williams, and Alex all attended the “Campaign for Samuel” Trivia Night.

Out and About

Brinda Jamnadas and Kristina Deverell heading out to provide new Medox candidates with their welcome packs!

Members of the DI and DO team having dinner in Melbourne. L-R: Tracey Johnston, Lucinda Gamboni, Roberta Redondo, Ann Archer, Alisa Patterson, Megan Van de Kamp, Mel Cumming

The Gold Coast DI Team for Friday afternoon drinks: Abbey Blenkinsop, Megan Van de Kamp, Nathalie den Doelder, Shivani Sholapurwala

Mel Cumming and Patricia Ribeiro celebrating Christmas in Townsville.

Intermodal Christmas Breakfast – Townsville. Mel Cumming and Drake candidates.

Out and About

Disability Awards Night on the Gold Coast.

L-R: Nick Polimenakos, Paula Searle, Jessie Drane, Alana Blandford, Brinda Jamnadas, Danella Williams, Kristina Deverell, Alex Correnti, and Courtney Kaye

Congratulations

Congratulations to Kevin Vowles on his recent marriage to Rachel! Kevin & Rachel’s two kids, Mila & Harvey were also there to celebrate the special day!

Congratulations to Lucinda Gamboni for her 7-year anniversary with Drake International!

Medox Photoshoot

Brisbane Medox clients, Latoiya, Tracey, and Lisa were all smiles as they participated in a professional photoshoot to capture “a day in the life” of being a Medox client. The team were so grateful to the clients and carers who joined in the on fun and excitement of the professional photoshoot! The photos will be used across all of our marketing material going forward.

Our photographer did a fantastic job capturing a day in the life of a Medox client. Here are some of our final shots from the day!

Candidate Success Stories

CRAIG | Forklift Operator:

In the candidate short market, the Albury DI team met with Asahi to discuss the labour shortage and the potential of operating a “Parental Shift” from 9-2pm at the site. Stephanie Jory found a fantastic candidate, Craig, who hadn’t worked in the past 3 years due to becoming a widow and caring for his 3 young girls’ full time. Craig was passionate about finding employment and had some great skill sets along with a forklift license, however struggled to find work due to his availability. Craig interviewed with Asahi for the “parental shift” and was successful in gaining employment! After 3 years of looking for work, Craig has found a job that allows him to drop his girls off to school and work 9-2pm! A huge congratulations to Craig and the DI Albury team for this fantastic placement!

JAMES | Cleaner – TAFE Queensland

James has worked for Drake Townsville over the last 5 years as a cleaner at TAFE, Queensland. James enjoys the consistency and flexibility of his hours at TAFE and loves that he can walk everywhere at work to keep his fitness up. The Drake Townsville team appreciate James’s efforts over the past 5 years and recognise him as an integral member of the Townsville team!

LAURREN | Recruitment & Onboarding Officer

Open Arms/Department of Veterans Affairs Darwin Branch

Laurren started with Drake in June 2019, when Drake Darwin placed her in a great local workplace as a Recruitment & Onboarding Officer. Laurren has recently finished up her placement and is moving into a permanent role, and had some really positive feedback around her experiences working with Drake Darwin & Mel Cumming: “Melyssa has been a great representative of Drake Darwin, if there are ever any issues, I know I can send a text and it would be sorted the next day!”.

In the Spotlight

Introducing Clayton Anderson, our new WHS Manager.

We’re excited to welcome Clayton to the Drake International team, where he will be working with all business units for WHS support.

Can you tell us about your experience and background in WHS?

I spent the last 3 years at Australia Post as the National Critical Risk Manager, which was predominantly focused on the company’s COVID-19 response. Prior to that, I have had 15 years of experience in the labour hire industry, most recently as Group Safety Manager.

Why are you excited to join the Drake team?

In my first few weeks, I’ve already met or spoken to a lot of great, genuine people within the business, which is what has excited me the most!

It’s an exciting time for the labour hire industry - clients want people that don’t exist, and they are struggling to recruit internally. This is our time to shine! We want to embed Drake International into their business and become a trusted and needed part of their company. We’ll look back and realise this is/was a golden era for the recruitment industry.

What are your 4 key objectives moving forward for WHS?

1. Lower Workcover costs and drive a culture of accountability and people first. How will this be achieved? By simplifying our safety processes through digital platform integration and by focusing on what’s important.

2. Consistent training on our safety system and process. We need to understand “why” safety is an important part of what we do and how it affects every part of our business.

3. Ensure our people understand the responsibility we have to everyone that interacts with our business from a safety perspective.

4. Have fun! Safety has a serious side, but remember what’s at its core - family, friends, and life! That’s why we want everyone to go home at the end of every day, and it’s why we do “safety stuff”.

Are there any important updates you would like all Drake staff to know?

Psychosocial legislation update in NSW is now live, and QLD & VIC are coming! I’ll be providing further information in the coming weeks.

- Clayton Anderson

Marketing Update

With our 2022 financial year now complete, we share some high-level results for the year that was, along with some of the key projects that will support our efforts in Back to Black for 2023.

Quick Fast Stats on Our Digital Marketing Efforts

New website visits 308k Up 40%

New Website Staff/General Enquiries 1204 Up 177%

Google Ad Campaigns 3.9m impressions (how many times our ads were shown) Up 91%

Facebook 7,453 new followers Up 10%

LinkedIn 3,462 new followers Up 29%

Tik Tok 1.2m impressions (how many times our ads have been shown)

Google My Business Appeared in 691k searches 334% increase

New website visits 66k Up 106%

New Website Homecare Enquiries 1024 Up 102%

Google Ad Campaigns 5.5m impressions (how many times our ads were shown) Up 1,151%

Facebook

Up 41% for new followers

LinkedIn

Up 29% for new followers

Instagram

Up 53% for new followers

Google My Business Appeared in 198k searches 607% increase

Facebook Page Reach 105k users up 52%

Page and profile reach 521k up 46%

Cost per lead down from $200 to $6

Followers 2.7k up 3.5%

Link clicks up 270% Website Web conversions (people filling in a form to be contacted) up 7.44%

Cost per conversion has gone from $800 to $50

Marketing Update

Drake WellbeingHub brand launch

Drake WellbeingHub launched after 12-months of development in October. We have a brand-new website, revamped portal and brand-new mobile app. We’re committed to helping our customers and clients thrive through access to a wide range of holistic, health and wellbeing services, as well as resources and tools that are available online, through our portal. For our launch, we ran a series of informative events introducing our new brand to Drake, our clinician network and our customers. We hope that you were able to attend one of the events and learn more about Drake’s newest wellbeing brand! We encourage you to visit the new site.

Visit our new site

Employee Wellbeing

As we approach the holidays, it’s important to keep your health and wellbeing in mind over the festive season. Here are 10 wellbeing tips for you to consider:

1. Switch off – be sure to take some time off, even if it’s only a few days. There are immense health benefits of taking holidays on mind, body, and soul.

2. Exercise outdoors – it isn’t always easy to maintain your usual exercise regime. Try to fit in some outdoor workouts – a good way to mix things up and reach your Vitamin D quota for the day!

3. Laugh - Laughing enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.

4. Keep learning and stay stimulated – the holidays are a good time to learn a new skill or pick up a new hobby.

5. Stay hydrated – try to drink a minimum of 2 litres each day. If you’re indulging in a few cocktails, add in a few extra glasses!

6. Eat a balanced diet – it’s not always easy to eat well throughout the festive season. Try to make the right food choices most of the time.

7. Give back to the community – the festive season isn’t a happy time for everybody. Try to give back to the community – whether donating to a food bank, volunteering at a local charity, or helping someone in need.

8. Don’t hold grudges – try to close out the year without resentment and without holding grudges. This way, you’ll start the new year on a positive note.

9. Set small SMART goals – set yourself up for success by setting SMART goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound.

10. Practice positivity and gratitude – we all have so much to be positive and grateful for, no matter how big or small. Try to practice gratitude each day by writing a few things down that you have to be grateful for.

Competition Corner

Christmas Competition

Try out “ Find the Presents” competition. How many can you find?

Play now!

Wordle Challenge

Try crack our Drake Wordle! The aim is to crack the 5-letter word in 6 guesses. After each guess, the colour of the tiles will change to show how close your guess was to the word.

Play now!

Correct answers go into the draw to Win a double movie pass!

Submit your answer here

Best wishes for the festive season. We look forward to 2023!