Drake Vine April 2023

Apr 2023 DRAKEVINE

A message from the EC

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

Firstly, welcome to all our new starters. We are excited that you have chosen to build on your career with Drake International and we look forward to sharing in our success together.

We are now in our third quarter for 2023, we are strongly focused on our Back in Black strategies and meeting the goals we set for our fiscal year. As a business, we have undergone significant changes, and we thank everyone for their patience and resolve during these times of change.

As a collective, the EC made a conscious decision following the Strategy to Action session last November that we would embrace the radical reforms required and “step aboard the speedboat”. We can see these positive changes happening right across the business, and we are rewiring, realigning, refocussing, and reenergising as a team! We have a clear plan, and it’s working!

Mark Coetzee International Business Transformation

Frank Spizzo CFO

Nick Polimenakos General Manager, Drake Medox

Daniel Parncutt General Counsel

Paul Unstead National Manager Operations

A message from the EC continued

In the last quarter, we have seen the successful implementation of FT360 across Drake Staffing and Drake Professional, with teams building an operational rhythm around their sales and service activities. We are excited that Drake Medox will be joining the rest of the recruitment business on FT360, with its rollout on schedule for early May. Since Medox’s successful tender for the iCare panel in March, we are also pleased to report that we’ve already won several new clients who are currently being onboarded.

For Drake, now that the strategy and structure are set, vertical specialisations are defined and systems upgrades are well underway, the focus for Q3 and Q4 is all about profitable business growth through new client acquisition and growing wallet share in existing clients. This can be interpreted as increasing the quantity of genuine sales activity whilst constantly improving the quality of our client and candidate interactions. This will be supported by Ken Graham, Drake’s Global Learning and Development Manager, who will be visiting Australia towards the end of May to provide sales soft skill training for the front-line teams.

The remaining Back in Black business project activities are all centred around making it easier to do business, enhancing our internal onboarding processes, improving speed to market, capturing quality data, and making sure our sales and service efforts are invested wisely and maximising return. We will be sharing more information on these future initiatives with the Drake team in the coming months.

Thank you again for all your hard work and support. We look forward to progressing on this journey with you all and together reaping the rewards which you all deserve.

The Executive Committee

HR Update

Welcome Wade Krieger, our new Human Resources Officer!

Wade previously worked as the recruitment lead for Drake Trades & Technical and began his new HR Officer role in March. Wade has previous experience in HR and is looking to make a positive impact at Drake.

1. What are you looking forward to most in your new role?

I am looking forward to improving on our processes for a more seamless experience, both for the team and new staff. In my new role I feel I can influence change through gaining feedback from teams across Australia. I am also excited to provide great service to the team, through my passion for positive change. All these interactions motivate me to get up and attack the day with energy.

2. Who is someone that inspires you?

I am inspired by people who make a positive impact to society. In particular, I am inspired by Elon Musk, one of the world’s greatest entrepreneurs who has achieved the impossible. His businesses have transformed our ideas about technology and our views on the future.

3. Do you have a favourite movie or TV series to recommend?

I really enjoy watching Saving Private Ryan, starring Tom Hanks. The opening war scene was amazing and sobering as it provided a ‘fly on the wall’ view of war. I recently got Netflix, so perhaps a new favourite movie will be on the horizon…

4. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Hawaii or any location with great waves!

5. What is the best advice you have ever heard?

“You are only as good as your last race.” this statement has kept me motivated and hungry to be better, even when you think you are ahead. It is also a healthy reminder that you can quickly fall off the pace if you are not consistent in your work ethic and training.

Did you know?

Did you know that Drake International will cover the cost of your flu shot?

Just keep your receipt and claim the cost of the vaccination (up to $30) via the standard expense reimbursement process! Flu vaccinations are available at most pharmacies, your local GP, Chemist Warehouse and Priceline.

HR Update

Congratulations to our Q1 RAPID Award Winners!

These fabulous staff were our Q1 (Oct 1-Dec 31st) RAPID Award wi nners!

RESPECT:

ACHIEVEMENT:

PASSION:

INTEGRITY:

D&I:

RAPID TEAM AWARD:

Shelby Crameri

Mini Cainer

Isabella Evans

Emily Clarke

Jaspreet Bedi

Payroll Team

Finance Team

Congratulations to our RAPID Value Award Nominees!

Karina Hammer, Roberta Redondo, Kristina Deverell, Paige Nowell, Mark Mondejar, Chandra Henry, Gabrielle Darcy, Megan Van De Kamp, Cheryn Vilaivongse, Corbin Hanna, Emma Roberts, Hanna Koerbin, Karen Chittick, Troy Poposki, Valerie Muscat, Ebony Stevens, Mel Cummings, Shanelle Balchin, Karen Paynter, Danella Williams,Elizabeth Gois and John Law

Congratulations to our RAPID Team Award Nominees!

Shanelle Balchin & Monique Sorensen , DO Brisbane, Brisbane Medox, Adelaide DI, Finance Team, Perth Medox and the Payroll Team

EC AWARD:

Thank you for all your hard work and support, and for living and breathing our RAPID values.

You can nominate a colleague or a Team at any time

EVENT REMINDER!

For more information about our RAPID Award program

RAPID Awards Q2 Presentation

Tuesday 2nd May | 12pm AEST!

Each Branch can join together for a light lunch or morning tea, and the Teams meeting invite will enable us to connect our teams across the country!

New Initiatives – D&I

Drake receives official endorsement from Reconciliation Australia for their Reflect RAP!

It has been an incredible start to our reconciliation journey and Drake are proud to receive official endorsement for their inaugural Reflect RAP!

Why is this important?

Drake’s Reflect RAP is a vital step in building stronger and more meaningful relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It demonstrates our commitment to reconciliation and acknowledges the devastating impact of historical events, which has significantly hindered equal opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. By implementing a Reflect RAP, Drake can be a proactive leader in the recruitment industry and take positive steps towards promoting greater diversity and inclusion in our workplace.

Will we see more diversity initiatives due to our Reflect RAP?

Absolutely! By implementing a Reflect RAP, we have key objectives to meet to ensure we are taking meaningful action in delivering our RAP goals. Some of the initiatives being delivered will aim to increase awareness and education around Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. This will occur through:

• Acknowledgement of Country: presented at the start of key events and online meetings.

• Celebration of key cultural dates including National Reconciliation Week, and NAIDOC Week

• Engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, communities, and businesses, and building collaborative partnerships.

This is an exciting time for our business, and we are looking forward to kickstarting our Reflect RAP!

What’s next?

Our Reflect RAP Launch on Tuesday 30th May 12pm AEST!

Offices will host their own event, with Melbourne CBD hosting the official launch! We will join together via Teams to hear from our special guests, and then branches will break off into their own local celebrations!

Branches will unveil their local RAP artwork or plaque, and a light lunch or morning-tea will be provided for staff. We can’t wait to celebrate this achievement as a whole team!

– D&I

Matt Vido & Nicole Jones attended Kinya Lerrk’s art exhibition in Melbourne. Kinya Lerrk artists (Emma Bamblett & Megan van den Berg) have created a beautiful artwork for Drake’s first Reflect RAP.

New Initiatives

FT360 Update

It’s been a huge quarter for the FT360 team! We have seen the successful rollout of FT360 across Drake, and whilst there have been some learning curves during this transition period, everyone has done a fantastic job of keeping patient and positive with these new changes! We will now be taking these learnings from our Drake FT360 rollout and using them to benefit Drake Medox’s rollout.

Our focus now shifts to Drake Medox with their rollout happening in May! For Medox staff, there will be FT360 training happening over the coming weeks, so please ensure you attend these to learn about our new system. If you haven’t received an invite to this training, please reach out to Claire Alcock.

Coming soon!

1). Rate Calc Pilot Program

We will be implementing a system called Rate Calc, and are trialling this as a pilot program in Bendigo, before rolling it out across Drake Staffing and Government between May - June.

2). Broadbean Templates & Automated Comms

We are implementing extra templates and automated comms in Broadbean to enable more efficient screening and ad response management. We will be introducing this across branch networks over the coming weeks!

3). FT360 Phase 2

Once Medox is live and running smoothly, we will be moving into phase 2 of the project, where we will be using FT360 and Forms to enable our Back in Black initiatives!

Out and About

The Canberra Branch: L-R: Jaspreet Bedi, Hanna Koerbin, & Danielle Smith

The Perth Medox team catching up with Nick whilst he was in town. L-R: Ashley Nyamadzawo, Steph Osgood, Kellie Forster, Hollie Clarke, Nick Polimenakos

The Gold Coast Branch: L-R Nathalie Doelder, Fallon Kelly, Abbey Blenkinsop, and Shivani Sholapurwala

Drake 100% Club – A huge group of attendees at the 100% Club this year in Las Vegas! Drake staff from across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, America, England, and the Philippines attended this year!

Virtual Lunch to celebrate the launch of FT360! L-R: Cheryl Krieger, Nathalie Doelder, Fallon Kelly, Abbey Blenkinsop

Out and About

The Brisbane Medox Team: L-R: Alana Blandford, Courtney Kaye, Kristina Deverell, Brinda Jamnadas, Jessie Drane, & Danella Williams

The Drake Sydney Team celebrating the end of 2022! L-R: Sameer Arora, Kevin Vowles, Rebecca Ciappara, Sara Ciappara, Roberta Redondo, and Anita Polimenakos.

The EC’s first Town Hall meeting brought together the whole Drake Team to share updates on our Back in Black strategy!

The Perth Team celebrating our RAPID Awards presentation: L-R: Steph Osgood, Kellie Forster, Paige Nowell, Monique Sorensen, Shanelle Balchin, Ashley Nyamadzawo, Mel Cumming, Roman Koester, and Hollie Clarke

Medox hosted their first Clinical Workshop in Melbourne, with all Clinical Coordinators attending workshops and training for professional development. L-R: Nick Polimenakos, Kehani Harris, Caitlin Marciniak, Amy Buchanan, Isabella Evans, Paige Nowell, Kristina Deverell, and Alexis Miller.

Congratulations to Cheryn Vilaivongse and her husband, Rohan, who recently got married! Also pictured, their beautiful pup Nala!

Alma Bardak and her husband, Nathan, recently tied the knot! Congratulations!

Jessie Drane and her partner, Nick, recently got engaged!

Rudy Srahah welcomed her beautiful baby boy, Alfie-Carter, in December!

Fono Anau also welcomed her beautiful baby boy, Eucharist, in December!

Client Success Stories

BET 365 Partnership!

We are thrilled to share the wonderful achievements of Melyssa Cumming (Drake International), who has maintained an exceptional and long-standing partnership with her client bet365.

Drake have partnered with this global sports betting agency since the establishment of their Australia operations in 2012, in Darwin, NT.

How it all began:

Melyssa has built an excellent relationship with bet365. They have recently expanded their Australian operations and have moved into an incredible 3 storey structure, solely fitted out to suit their expansion and growth targets. Not only has this been a significant investment into the local NT economy, Melyssa will continue to support all recruitment requirements for this client, which encompasses a target of 500 call centre staff across the next 12 months.

All placements are secured as permanent and Melyssa has worked with bet365 to tailor a specific sourcing/placement process tailored to their business requirements.

Melyssa also attended the recent local opening of bet365’s new office space in Darwin, NT. The event was attended by a number of dignitaries and members of the bet365 corporate leadership team. Melyssa and Drake even received a special mention in their speeches, due to the continued partnership between both organisations.

A huge congratulations to Melyssa Cumming, this is a fantastic result!

Melyssa Cumming attended the opening of the bet365 Darwin office. Pictured with David Smith, Head of Telephone Betting Australia.

Marketing Update

Updated Drake job board

We’ve made several updates to our job board to provide a better candidate experience and increase applications, including:

• You can now search for a job on our job board with keywords and location

• Three key selling points have been added against each job in our search results

• We have reduced the number of data entry points when applying for a job with Drake.

Google paid advertising rebuild

The ability for candidates to apply for a job with Drake using their SEEK profile.

Our marketing campaigns on Google have been rebuilt with new ad copy and elements to align Drake with our new branding and specialised recruitment pages. This update is expected to significantly improve the quality of our ads and help drive more conversions, e.g., staff orders and enquiries.

Given that paid advertising currently generates the most traffic to our website, this improvement is expected to help position our brand and teams as industry specialists.

Short form video content

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram and YouTube have gradually shifted towards short form video content, typically under a minute in duration and optimised for mobile phones. Drake is developing multiple video campaigns across all brands, featuring content like interview advice or CV templates to effectively position Drake in this space. Information needs to be in easily digestible snippets, and we have our first three short reels that will hit the social channels in the coming weeks! You might see some familiar faces in the new videos. Keep an eye out!

Social media performing well

Our social media profiles have experienced significant growth each quarter, with platforms like LinkedIn showing a 24% increase (3,467 new followers!) in the last 3 months. We need your continued support to like, comment and share our content to help grow our brand and profile!

LinkedIn Is Our Top Performing Social Media Channel

24% Increase

3,467 New Followers

Marketing Update

Drake Medox’s New Resource Centre!

We have recently created the Drake Medox Resource Centre to assist job seekers applying for healthcare roles. There are a variety of resources available, including resume and cover letter templates, job search tips, and blog articles!

Website refresh

We have updated the website imagery with photos from our Medox photoshoot, which feature some of our clients and candidates. Using our day-in-the-life imagery will have a positive impression on visitors, as the visual content is relatable and authentic.

Updating imagery can also have benefits for search engine optimisation (SEO), as search engines tend to favour websites that are regularly updated with fresh and relevant content.

Social media refresh and performance

We have refreshed our socials to improve our brand consistency and recognition across platforms. We have noticed an increase in engagement, as refreshed templates have helped gain greater attention and encouraged followers to engage with our content.

We have seen an increase in followers across our platforms, indicating our content resonates with our audience:

Marketing Update

Psychosocial risk: considerations and employer responsibilities

With recent Australia-wide changes to WHS regulations, Drake WellbeingHub ran a free, panel event on Psychosocial risk, tailored towards business leaders. Facilitated by our Head of Clinical Services Kevin Vowles, with panellists Justin Simmonds, Clinical Psychologist and WHS officer from Securitas Australia, Sandra Wilson.

The event received almost 200 registrations and resulted in an increase in the level of interest on a number of our services!

New portal feature

Drake WellbeingHub have rolled out a Wellbeing Check-in feature in the portal.

This feature allows employees to track how they’re feeling on a regular basis, prompting them to check in with themselves, take note of how they’re feeling and take appropriate action, with gentle advice on how to best manage how they’re feeling.

Website updates

We have worked through major content updates across our Drake WellbeingHub website – optimising content for SEO, adding new content, as well as optimising image/asset sizes to improve website/page load speed. As a result of these updates, we have seen:

Employee Wellbeing

How to mentally prepare for an important meeting or presentation

We’ve all felt extreme nerves and anxiety before an important meeting or a presentation that can be overwhelming and downright debilitating. The good news is that there are techniques that you can use to prepare and ground yourself so that you can put your best foot forward!

Preparation

Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor, a scientist who gave one of the top TED talks of all time, practiced her entire talk 200 times. The good news – you don’t need to practice a presentation 200 times, 10 is the magic number! If you’re preparing for an important meeting, you may benefit from rehearsing what you’re going to say, how you’re going to contribute, the questions you’re going to ask, etc.

Positive affirmations

Affirmations are positive statements that can help you to challenge and overcome self-sabotage and negative thoughts. When you repeat them and start to believe in them, you can start to make positive changes in your life. Some examples of positive affirmations are “I’ve got this”, “I feel confident and well prepared”, “I am confident”, “I am capable”.

Grounding techniques

Grounding techniques are used to cope with anxiety, stress,depression, PTSD and other mental health challenges. They bring an individual back to the present moment and help them to focus on their surroundings, calm themselves and refocus. There are many different grounding techniques, both physical and mental.

Employee Wellbeing

Physical grounding techniques:

5-4-3-2-1 method:

Use your senses to list things you notice around you:

5 x things you hear

4 x things you see

3 x things you can touch

2 x things you can smell

1 x thing you can taste

Mental grounding techniques

Think in categories

Listen to your surroundings

Take a few moments to notice the noises around you – what do you hear? Perhaps a dog barking, birds chirping, cars driving or people talking? Let the sounds wash over you and remind yourself of where you are at that moment.

Select one or two categories such as “musical instruments” or “ice-cream flavours” and take 1-2 minutes to mentally list as many things as you can from that category.

Competition Corner

Push-Up challenge

The Push-Up Challenge is starting June 1st 2023 and is a great initiative to get fit, have fun, and push for better mental health!

This is an awesome opportunity for Drake staff to participate in a little healthy competition. Donations will go to one of three charities, Movember, Lifeline, & the Push Up Challenge - all of which support greater mental health advocacy, awareness, and education. By participating in the challenge, you can also learn more about mental health, as the daily push-up target relates to a vital mental health statistic in Australia.

We have created Drake teams for all staff to join. Simply register yourself, choose a team, and get started on those push-ups!

Click here to register

Click here to register

Wordle challenge

Try to guess 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

Example:

Drake Medox:

Drake International: