The Young Professional Award recognises an individual who, in a short period of time, has had a positive and noticeable impact on workforce-related processes or practices within their organisation. Candidates must have no more than 10 years’ experience working in the fields of human resources, industrial relations or operations.
The AREEA Industry Awards judging panel were so impressed with the calibre of nominees that the decision was made to award two Young Professionals Awards.
Annie Martyn, Turnaround Execution Coordinator, Viva Energy
As an Asset Engineer at the Geelong Refinery, Annie created a process to develop scope for a major refinery turnaround in 2015. Annie led this extremely complex project which included widespread consultation and setting delivery targets for a large part of the workforce. Her transparent and well-documented solution was quickly supported by management and her approach was praised by an independent assessing organisation as “best practice”.
The judging panel was extremely impressed that with hundreds of staff involved in the turnaround, there were zero recordable safety incidents, while all cost and schedule targets were met. Annie achieved this while continuing to meet her day-to-day Asset Engineer responsibilities. This is an impressive achievement for someone who at the time had less than 2 years’ experience at the Geelong refinery and less than 6 years in the industry.
Jarrad Oakley-Nicholls, Employment Program Manager, Wirrpanda Foundation
As a V-TEC in Western Australia, the Wirrpanda Foundation Employment Program has the challenge to fill 230 jobs in the resource sector with unemployed indigenous men and women. As the foundation’s Employment Program Manager, Jarrad tackles challenges including the significant employment barriers of Indigenous participants with low levels of education and no continuous employment history.
Jarrad was instrumental in developing a program that assesses individuals on their behavioural competencies to demonstrate to employers that participants have both a strong behavioural match and motivational fit to the job and work environment. Although he has been in a managerial role for less than a year, Jarrad’s leadership has kept participants engaged and motivated. Most importantly, he has so far helped 183 Indigenous people gain employment and continues to mentor them through the experience.
