Partnering for success

Key Points 

• Engaging with local suppliers is an important part of working towards Programmed’s purpose to build outstanding people, strong customers and great communities.
• Placing a strong emphasis on procurement and engagement with community partners helps enhance local industry participation.
• Programmed has been procuring goods and services from WA businesses in the last two years.

Challenge 

Programmed has a long and proud history of successfully engaging local suppliers, subcontractors and community organisations across WA. Our purpose is to build outstanding people, strong customers and great communities. In keeping with this, we recognise and understand the importance in partnering with regional organisations, companies, and small-to-medium enterprises to develop the communities and industries we are involved with. 

We understand that some smaller organisations and regional participants can feel anxious with the engagement process when dealing with a larger organisation like Programmed. We embrace working with regional networks and approach their way of working with curiosity and without judgement. 

Solution 

Programmed adopt a local industry approach through procurement, engagement with community partners and establishing sustainable employment pathways for all of our contracts. This includes placing greater emphasis on recruiting locally for all staff, setting social development targets, and appointing team members specifically for the enhancement of local industry participation outcomes.  

We are a member of a range of procurement platforms, advocacy groups and networks, which provide us with a reach into markets that engage with a diverse range of local businesses. These platforms are particularly useful as we can engage with the relevant organisation to identify businesses that operate in specific regional areas, or with particular groups as a means to achieve our social and corporate diversity targets. 

Outcomes 

As a result of our Partnering for Success initiative, Programmed has been procuring goods and services from WA businesses in the last two years. These services were provided by close to 2,400 suppliers who work extensively across all of our contracts in 2020 and 2021. Additionally, Programmed directly employs 1,200 staff across WA. 

This type of focussed engagement benefits contracts in many ways, including:  

• Efficiencies in service delivery by meeting timeframes through a local material and labour supply chain.
• Create competitive advantages without compromising on quality of service due to our robust quality management processes.
• Providing back-to-back contract terms for subcontractors that cascades local job requirements along the supply chain.
• Reducing overall carbon footprint due to shortened supply lines.
• Developing long-term partnerships between local suppliers and our customers, which creates a unified community approach while increasing your public profile and enhancing your reputation.  

Additionally, Programmed actively encourages our staff and subcontractors to participate in local service organisations such as Rotary and Lions Clubs, to support the use of local suppliers and subcontractors and develop local communities.