Industrial Sector Insights - 'Keeping the Lights On'
Here's what leaders of the Australian Industrial sector are saying about how leadership has evolved during COVID-19.
The pandemic we’re all still navigating has caused two major impacts globally – a health crisis and a financial crisis. Australia’s reputation as ‘the lucky country’ has stood firm from a health perspective, with both the spread of C19 and mortality rates far lower in our country than in most. However, the financial crisis that we now face will affect us for at least a generation. According to the Australian government, the way out of this financial crisis is to spend big and invest in infrastructure, transportation and energy.
Energy companies have had to adapt fast this year. Critical infrastructure and energy security has never been more important or more scrutinised. Customer expectations of generators and network providers have been high, with the need expressed to ‘keep the lights on’, no matter what it takes, wherever and whenever needed.
Relationships, collaboration and understanding the needs of the customer have become more important than ever. According to the CEOs and EGMs we interviewed, there is an increasing need for companies to forge strong, authentic relationships with their entire community, from supply chain to end-user – and for top executives to model this behaviour.
We spoke to 50 CEOs and EGMs of Australian power generators, transmission network operators and network service providers about their experiences over the past nine months. We wanted to know what worked and what didn’t – and the changes they recommend for the future.
Change in the energy sector is well underway. Leaders who will be most in demand in the coming years are those who embrace change, listen, learn and bring out the best in others. Spotting these qualities in potential leaders is part of the skill set – as is a recognition that no single person holds all the answers.
The Industrial Sector Insights Paper delves into the following areas:
- Customer needs and expectations: How have these changed as a result of the pandemic?
- Organisational strategy: What strategies gave some companies resilience under stress?
- The role of the leadership team: How did leadership teams ensure adaptive, collaborative and productive behaviour in the midst of disruption?
- Changed work practices: Which new practices will companies keep, and which will they leave behind, post pandemic?
- Culture: Always a big one. How does one maintain a strong culture in a decentralised operating model?
These findings and much more are available in the full report below. We hope you find them as fascinating as we have.
