22 • Is there an adequate “middle” in the industry to counter the inevitable loss of more experienced personnel? • Will newcomers to the industry receive the appropriate mentorship enabling them to become productive units within the shortest possible time? • What ought we to be doing to ensure that organizational culture and sustainability is preserved during a time of change and “renewal”? I think that some of the answers to these questions are to be found from amongst the experiences of the mill fire. If, for instance, we could adopt the courageous approach of seeing beyond the staff member label and rather tap into creativity and drive inherent in the person behind the label, we should progress in leaps and bounds. I say this would be a courageous step given that we would have to allow an element of freedom to staff to “own” the task on hand and produce a result that may, on occasions, be other than that which was expected. • Mentorship of student foresters would take the form of providing actual operational task situations and the authority to execute actions rather than merely observing others execute and ticking a box. • Incoming foresters should be exposed to a culture of looking beyond qualification and rather towards attitude and aptitude. If from onset students and new foresters are encouraged to tap into and share their valuable creativity and logic (rather than mere rote desktop learnings) we can turn the tide of newcomers joining just for the “job” but rather as a “calling” into an understanding and rewarding industry offering mutual benefits for life. • Organisational strategic and tactical decision processes would solicit the structured inputs of all staff ranks (yes, including labour) rather than merely tapping the intellectual capital of the so-called specialised top echelons. This delving down through the staff layers is bound to reveal nuggets of applicable wisdom that are totally unexpected (and sadly generally ignored currently). • Existing operational silos would be encouraged to break down the silo walls and engage with wider disciplines and values. Such lateral exposure, collaborative thinking, and the resultant severing of habitual and standardised procedure would stimulate fresh avenues of approach and alternative (possibly more innovative) means to achieve objectives. • Most important of all, regular honest and heartfelt staff recognition would become the order of the day. This would not necessarily be via a formal certificate, watch or ceremony. An informal pat on the back recognising effort, or a thank you during a meeting, or a quick e-mail to a deserving recipient, is all that it takes to turn people from being employees into invested partners in effort. • A fair, sound, and transparent succession plan would allow imminent retirees’ opportunity to mentor those following on and fill the middle with confident and productive people able to sustain organisational culture and values and grow productivity levels as staff turnover inevitably rolls over. What the fire has revealed to me is that people do their best work when given the freedom to contribute significantly towards their own destiny. Strict rules tend to curb creativity and a culture of non-recognition of effort merely results in drones churning out the “same old” day in and day out. My challenge to the decision makers within the vast components of our industry is to be courageous enough to embrace a renewed approach. • We do not necessarily need a crisis to effect this. • We can learn from those who have experienced crises and assess which of the lessons learnt can be adopted and applied. From the ashes of our mill fire I have seen revealed the immense inner capabilities of staff at all levels. Now that the smoke has disappeared and the debris removed, we are simply not able to look at staff in the same way as before. It seems as if the rebuilding of the mill has opened our eyes to a renewed vision. Each person involved has contributed in so many unexpected ways that we look forward to the future with a high level of anticipation. If a crisis has allowed us to achieve and learn so much, we cannot wait to see just what the incoming period of renewal will reveal. Don’t be observers. Take courage with us, allow latitude and ownership, recognise achievement and reap the rewards that will definitely follow. Renewal has arrived!
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