theceomagazine.com | 65Whenever the word ‘automation’ is
thrown around, employees start to become
nervous about the security of their jobs.
Brett thinks the best approach to what
would normally be a difficult and
awkward conversation with employees
is to maintain an open dialogue and be
straight with them about the expected
changes. “I was direct and said, ‘Hey, these
things are changing, and that’s going to
affect all of us.’ They then started talking
together about what types of changes
there might be, and how they can best
prepare as a group and then also as
individuals,” says Brett. “They are not
naïve. They know that automation has
happened in other industries, and it leads
to significant changes. You just need to
work with, not against them.”
Brett has found that the younger
generation, both farmers and employees,
are generally more accepting of the
evolution, and adjust accordingly. They
understand the mundane nature of simply
driving up and down a channel and
manually completing tasks, and they are
happy to learn and use new technology.
Brett supports these young people by
helping to develop their skills in the
relevant areas.
With older farmers, however, Brett
notes that talking with them is much
more complex. Some of them are
approaching retirement and will ride out
to the end of the wave. The same is true
in-house with older staff. Sometimes the
conversation is more about moving to a
different area of the company. “Some of
our longer-term guys say, ‘Well, I’m justnot technically savvy,’ and in response
we ask, ‘What other roles might suit
you in the company? Are you interested
in customer engagement and customer
services, or are you interested in the
management side, or in operating
machines, or cleaning channels out?’ ”
Murrumbidgee Irrigation currently
has around six major projects underway,
and is overseeing up to 30 additional
projects across its whole network. “They
cover automation, capacity expansion,
refurbishment, improvements and some
operational control elements,” Brett says.
“We’ve got a vast number of projects all
over our network.”
But what excites Brett the most
about being CEO is his ability to make
a difference to the towns inside the
Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. While
he may be responsible for providing water
to communities, Brett believes the flow-on
effects to the farmers, the customers and
the locals is where the real difference,
and the wealth, of the community lies.
“They’re the ones who grow the
grapes, the citrus, the rice and the cotton.
We directly employ 180 or so people
from the community, but the farms we
supply water to, and the flow-on effects
of what they produce, are going to employ
thousands more as a result of our work,”
he says. “That’s how we fit into the
cashflow of the community: listening to
customers and delivering to them in the
best way we can at the lowest price so
that they can produce even more. That’s
what the game is about. I love that aspect
of my job.”“ I like being in the country more than
the city; it’s where you can make a big
difference to communities.”
Interview | INSPIRE