Dan Kilpatrick has joined our team as a Senior Consultant.  Dan brings more than 12 years of experience as a Senior Psychological Examiner in the Australian Army.  During his career in Defence, Dan has been involved in a myriad of complex and challenging projects, focused on the delivery of high-quality organisational psychologyand mental health services nationally, and also abroad during several operational deployments.

Dan has led teams and programs focused on workforce optimisation, change management, selection suitability, capability management and a wide range of organisational psychology and mental health programs. Dan has a Masters degree in Project Management from the University of New South Wales.

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Held in Brisbane recently, the 2016 Project Management Achievement Awards (PMAA) recognised a swag of exemplary Project Management successes.

After being nominated in the Organisational Change Management category, Queensland Rail’s Rail Management Centre (RMC) project not only won that category, but also went on to win the overall Queensland Project of the Year Award.

As the Change Management project partner for the RMC project, Stockwell Bretton were recognised for their role in overseeing the challenging transition into the new centre, alongside the introduction of new equipment and updated operating procedures, while building strong local ownership for the change.

The RMC facility is immensely critical to public transport in South East Queensland, with more than 250 Queensland Rail RMC staff supporting around 900 passenger services, 800 kilometres of track and 150,000 customers each weekday.

Managing Director of Stockwell Bretton said it is great to be recognised in partnership with Queensland Rail amongst elite company and significant projects.

“There are some exceptional projects being recognised here tonight and to win both our category and the overall award is very rewarding.

“The RMC project is a demonstration of how a collaborative and well considered approach to large changes can provide great results.

“We are grateful to Queensland Rail for embracing our open and proactive approach which provides the impacted staff with an opportunity to shape and support not just the change sequence, but also the long term operations.

“We were very lucky to be supported by strong leaders who helped us prepare and execute each stage of the transition using a ‘best for business approach’ that included capability, operational and cultural improvements”, Mr Bretton said.

Phil Harlow, AIPM Chief Category Judge for Change Management said the judging panel described the submission and the project achievements as best practice in both organisational change and project management. See a summary of the Judging panel’s comments below.

“This superb submission demonstrated excellence in both business/organisational change management and project management.

“The transition of business operations was achieved on the due date and the key underpins for this success are well articulated – transition planning and management, business improvement, communications and induction and orientation.

“The risks of failure were also very adequately addressed through the project approach adopted.”

Media Contact:
Ben Smith
Ph: 0499 002 588
E: benjamins@stockwellbretton.com
www.stockwellbretton.com

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On July 6, our own Principal Consultant, Ben Smith will be leading a discussion with the Queensland Branch of the International Association of Business Communicators on this very topic.

Titled “July 6: Straight Talking Success – how to keep it real during big changes”, Ben will use an interactive discussion to outline how communications can be used as a spearhead for transformation projects, with a special focus on:

• What to expect and how to prepare for it
• Getting your strategic drivers right
• How to manage expectations and live up to them
• Choosing simplicity and authenticity
• The difference between authentic and risk-driven communications
• How to turn your leader into a straight talker

The discussion will happen on Wednesday, 6 July 2016 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM at the Paddington Hotel.

Find out more about the event and how to buy tickets here.

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Firstly, James Valentine has joined our team as our National Human Resources Lead and Principal Consultant. James brings more than 12 years’ experience in HR generalist roles followed up by almost 5 years as a leader in Deloitte and KPMG.

James has made a huge contribution to major workforce transformation programs within Federal Government that include Workforce Optimisation, Organisational Design, Talent and Performance Management, Process Redesign, Change Management, HR systems definition and establishment of Shared Services.

As the National HR Lead, James will focus on further developing our Strategic HR offering and building our business scope and capability in Canberra.

Stockwell Bretton has also gained a very talented Senior Consultant in Darlene Quirk.

Darlene comes to us with more than six years’ experience in leadership roles within Defence, and the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. Darlene’s strengths lie in mobilizing teams identify strategic business and capability improvements and deliver these through targeted and tangible action plans.

Darlene will bolster our business improvement, creative engagement and team capability development services. Based in our Canberra Office, Darlene will support our Principals and Partners in delivering Transformation programs, while leading her own targeted projects.

Finally, we are very happy to welcome Angela Penfold back to our team to work out of our Newstead office in Brisbane.

Angela returns after a highly productive maternity leave period that included three children and a number of new qualifications. No stranger to being an over-achiever, Angela will return to her role as a Principal Consultant, leading Change Management and Communications projects and supporting our wider transformation programs.

The post Stockwell Bretton welcomes new talent and returning colleagues appeared first on Stockwell Bretton.

While we are open to discussing expertise in any of our service areas, we are specifically looking for Principal level consultants in Communications and Change Management and Strategic Human Resources.

As an integrated leader in our team, you will lead significant projects for a range of clients.

The focus of these projects will be aimed at delivering business improvements and organisational reform through organisational review, capability development and change management. You will work in a well-supported and dynamic environment.

Apply using the links above or send your resume and a covering letter to jobs@stockwellbretton.com

The post Seeking new team members appeared first on Stockwell Bretton.

Earlier this year we started sharing our growth plans and while there is a lot more to come, we are starting to see the benefits of a bigger team, expanded skills and an expanded presence.

Growing our people and presence

Re-establishing ourselves in Brisbane this year was very satisfying and already the work we have delivered with new clients bodes well for a new era in the sunshine state. Establishing ourselves on a number of key panels with Queensland Government, Brisbane City Council and Ergon Energy has also been a positive step as we demonstrate our capability across an expanded range of disciplines.

We are also really happy with the new space we have created in Newstead at 33 Longland Street. This raw, creative office space is right in line with our style as a company and we look forward to inviting you along to an official opening in early 2016.

Wellington is a city that we have long admired and this year we were delighted to establish a new office and partner with local leaders to build a meaningful local offering. We see many opportunities to transition our skills and learnings between the two capitals and beyond. The energy and opportunity in Wellington is visible and we are excited to be part of that momentum in 2016.

We have continued our focus on expanding our business by recruiting leaders and this year we have brought on Joanne Hughes (Brisbane) and Sophie Low (Wellington), in addition to our creative guru, Anna Richardson in Canberra. There will be more leaders joining our business in 2016 to build our capability in all three locations.

A brand refresh

This year we initiated an ongoing cycle of refreshing our story through a new website, new collateral, new content and an improved tone of voice. This new positioning better reflects our style and we will build on this straight-talking approach in 2016.

Service growth

In 2015 we continued expanding our services and among the most prominent area of growth is our increased capability to deliver communications, marketing, graphic design and engagement services in-house. Added to this is our internal capability and infrastructure to produce supporting items such as websites, website storage, short films and collateral. By creating our own capability and tools in this field we can (and have) produced rapid client solutions without the down-time experienced through engaging other suppliers.

Recognition

While we have not done ourselves justice in pursuing many awards, it was great to be recognised as finalists in the small business category of the Telstra Business Awards, category winners in the Australian Defence Magazine Defence and Industry Team Awards, and our work in supporting Defence health reforms was recognised through the Australian Military Medicine Association conference in Hobart.

All in all, it was a great year and one that sets a solid platform for an exciting future. As ever, we are grateful for the opportunities our clients give us and we will strive to improve what we can offer to make a difference for you in 2016 and beyond.

The post The year in review appeared first on Stockwell Bretton.

It’s no surprise that we say we will bring you bigger and better services, but it’s worth noting that in one area we aim to bring you less.

In 2016 we will deliver:

• More services – particularly in organisational performance, communications, creative services and digital capability.
• More leaders – new national discipline leaders and specialists.
• More partnerships – with like-minded organisations that can help deliver improved solutions.
• Less jargon – you don’t need more of this. 2016 is a good year to start using simple language. We can show you how.

The post What to expect from Stockwell Bretton in 2016 appeared first on Stockwell Bretton.

As always, we are incredibly grateful for the work we get to do with you and the difference we can make in your world. We have and always will exist to help you meet your challenges and realise your improvement aspirations.

Given we know how hard you work; we hope you get to use this time to step back, take it easy and immerse yourself in the festive season with family and friends.

Speaking of breaks, we are closing our office from Friday 18 December until Monday 11 January. This will be a good break for our people, ensuring they are fresh and ready for a big 2016. If you need to get in touch with us during this time and you don’t have our individual contact details, use info@stockwellbretton.com

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Stockwell Bretton will be one of four companies considered for the Australian Capital Territory Small Business Award, which will be presented on 17 July in Canberra.

This nomination tops off a number of significant company achievements in the last 12 months, including the acquisition of five new staff, the opening of a new Brisbane Office, a Defence industry Award, the launch of a new website and the introduction of new services in digital transformation, creative design, website production and strategic communications.

Managing Partner of Stockwell Bretton, Michael Bretton says it is humbling to be recognised alongside such impressive companies.

Business in Canberra is stronger than ever and we are excited to be contributing to what is becoming a centre for excellence in its own right.

“We would like to congratulate Tailored Accounts, Red Robot and Cogito group for progressing as finalists in the ACT Small Business Category. Equally, we congratulate the finalists across the other categories in the ACT. Canberra is home to a number of excellent companies that are doing their bit to improve the industry and continually deliver better services to our clients. This is a pursuit that is very close to our hearts at Stockwell Bretton.”

“We would also like to recognise Telstra, as a longstanding supporter of business in Australia. These awards mean so much to many people in business at all levels and they provide a benchmark for development, learnings and most importantly, improvement.”

This achievement is indeed humbling for Stockwell Bretton and it is also a strong vindication of our commitment to constantly improving our services and pursuing challenging work. We are only successful when we support clients through significant organisational changes and in that field we have recently seen a number of wins alongside excellent clients.

“This recent success also reflects the strength of our people and the focus we have dedicated to building a diverse and highly capable team. We are fortunate to have an amazing group of highly talented people in our team that seek challenge, innovation and variety. Our dynamic team, coupled with clients that trust us to help them solve their most critical problems, makes for an extremely enjoyable and rewarding working life.”

We are transformation specialists with deep expertise and a glowing track record in strategy, organisational performance and digital transformation.

“With this in mind, we are delighted to be in the company of many companies who have transformed themselves to deliver industry-leading services.

“We look forward to the Awards Ceremony and we will relish the chance to learn from our local peers and collectively improve the business landscape in the territory and beyond”, Mr Bretton said.

Media Contact:
Benjamin Smith
benjamins@stockwellbretton.com

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Joanne is has over 20 years’ experience across both the public and private sectors and has worked in Australia and overseas. Her passion is designing creative and innovative solutions to deliver an exceptional client experience.

Joanne is a highly respected strategic negotiator with specialist knowledge and interest in organisational transformation, performance improvement, strategic communications and change management.

Over the last few years, Joanne’s focus has been on leading key strategic negotiations and organisational transformation initiatives, and the design and delivery of key elements of organisation-wide change management programs.

Joanne is an experienced international trade lawyer, and following a move into private law practice, specialised in business development for professional service and service-based companies.  She has also developed expertise in law, marketing communications, stakeholder relations and major event management.  

Joanne will take up a role as a Principal Consultant within our organisational development group and she will lead the delivery of our new digital transformation services.

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