Success shaped by people

For almost a century, Interflow has encouraged its team members to learn new skills. The HJ Weaver Development Program now enables people to develop new competences for their future careers within the company. 

After his first six months with Interflow as an intern, promising engineer Matt Cremona was offered a place in a program that would introduce him to all parts of the business.

“It was all about experience and opportunity,” Cremona, now Interflow delivery manager, said.

“I was given the opportunity to rotate around different divisions, for six months to a year each, within the organisation. 

“I spent some time with operations, asset creation, repairs and maintenance, product development and tendering.”

He’s adamant: the strong connections he built across the business has helped his career ever since.

“Having those relationships meant that when I was given opportunities in other divisions, I could rely on those relationships to help me in my new roles,” he said.

That was 13 years ago. Interflow’s approach was built on founder Harold ‘Bill’ Weaver’s passion for developing his people to be their best and formalised more recently as the H J Weaver Development Program.

“The program is all about supporting and developing people over the years by creating a business environment that encourages, enables and supports learning,” Interflow people and capability business partner Fiona Warnock said.

“It’s looking not only at the entry level. It’s also about our existing team members.”

According to Warnock, the program is more like an education assistance policy than a pure graduate program, as it is made up of two streams that promote learning and development at every level.

One is for the business’s interns, undergraduates, and graduates. The other focuses on existing team members who want to develop or change their careers.

Chosen education programs are eligible for funding, including fees, textbooks, and union fees. For the graduate, that can represent an investment of over $30,000 in their professional education.

“Many businesses offer rotations into various departments or programs,” Warnock said. 

“But this financial support for education programs, on top of coaching, rotations, mentoring and other development opportunities, are a real value add for our people.”

According to her, it’s vital that businesses planning for growth are also putting internal talent development structures in place to ensure the future growth can be supported.

“When people realise, they are a vital part of that growth story, when they realise they’re valued and are being nurtured and developed, that’s what makes them want to stay with us.”

How the HJ Weaver Development Program works

The most important steps in the evolution of the HJ Weaver Development Program have been the analysis of what types and levels of talent the business will require over the next five to eight years, and the creation of a talent map that informs the business of what it has in place right now.

There is a framework built around how the program works, ensuring there are clear channels in which people can request, report on and record progress within specific educational programs.

The next step comes from mid-year and annual performance reviews, during which a development plan is discussed. Development opportunities that are identified during those reviews are then run by the individual’s line manager and the executive general manager.

Why development is worth the investment

There is great longevity at Interflow in terms of average employment periods. Part of this is explained by the fact that the business demonstrably values its people, putting its money where its mouth is.

“It really does create a personal touch, a sense of investment in the individual,” Warnock said.

The program made a measurable difference in Cremona’s life and career.

“I was given an opportunity to set myself up in terms of career and development,” he said.

A lot of other graduates Cremona had gone to university with had a difficult time finding careers or job opportunities. 

However, thanks to being developed through the HJ Weaver Development Program, he had security.

“As I graduated, I was also being exposed to different avenues, different divisions and different relationships,” he said. 

“It has helped throughout my entire career so far. Every time I have stepped up, like when I became a Project Manager, I had a good understanding of the company background.”

Cremona is now using what he’s learned to support and develop his own team at Interflow.

“I have the confidence now to know what I’m saying is right and to back my own decisions,” he said.

For more information, visit Interflow‘s website.

This article featured in the December edition of Trenchless Australasia.