Building resilience and capability: Shaping the future of Morgan Sindall Construction

We have a new large project kicking off shortly, on which we are looking at doing things slightly differently. We have explored different routes and asked ourselves several times why we want to do something a certain way and whether there is a different, better way of doing it. There are certain things we have put in place that will help with team dynamics and encourage the confidence to challenge things along the way. The team has also got back-up plans in advance so they’re not having to think on their feet so much. Hopefully that will all prove fruitful. As a business, it is part and parcel of our fibre to try to bring innovation in, but do we really understand what innovation means and what it is all about? The Shaping our Future programme provided a really good refresh and helped us understand that there is a place for people to be second followers in innovation, which is probably more Morgan Sindall. We don’t want to be the ones trialling a brand new material that looks ok on paper but becomes a problem in five years’ time. We want to be the business in five years and a day, when the technology has been proven and the techniques are honed. Working for a business that invests in its people is massively important to me personally, and I wouldn’t work for an organisation that didn’t. I’ve been with Morgan Sindall for 17 years and being part of Shaping our Future is just another element of evidence for me that the business is looking at the horizon, understanding that there are challenges out there, and not being complacent. I see taking part in the programme as me being put in a fortunate position but – ultimately – we as employees are the assets to the business; without the people in that room, there wouldn’t be a Morgan Sindall. Not everyone on the programme had volunteered to be there – some had been put forward by others – but no one was unhappy to be in that room and in that position of learning. It was a tough programme to be part of, but only because people cared about what they were trying to do and took it seriously. The future for Morgan Sindall is about making sure we keep investing in that journey for betterment and developing new skills and the understanding of different ways of doing things, rather than being arrogant and thinking we know the best way to do it.

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