OVERVIEW
The Board operates within its Charter, Protocols and GHD’s Constitution.
The Board is supported by a number of Board Committees, in particular a Strategy Committee, a Finance Committee, a Nominations Committee and an Audit Committee each chaired by a Director, and each with external advisers. The Board’s focus remains on strategic issues, governance and policy development, with strategy implementation and management responsibilities led by the CEO, General Managers, Operating Centre Managers, Business Stream and Service Line Leaders, and Corporate Managers.
RISK MANAGEMENT
In the 2008 financial year, we continued to strengthen the company’s procedures and practices to enable improved risk management.
Some of the key initiatives include the appointment of a Corporate Insurance Manager to manage the placement of appropriate insurances for GHD across our operations and assist in the management of claims.
From a procedural perspective, we undertook a systematic revision of various risk procedures to make them more robust and we developed new safety in design procedures. We also developed and refined our technical due diligence procedures, and enhanced our reviews to emphasize the technical understanding of areas for improvement. Finally, we enhanced the documentation and review syste for projects where leading technical input is required.
In seeking to develop a better understanding of all aspects of consulting, we expanded the range of programs available from the GHD Business School to upskill our people.
QUALITY
GHD continues to build on its success and reputation with a demonstrable commitment to quality. Embedded in the heart of our strategy and management approach is a legitimate desire to uphold the quality of the services we deliver.
Since 1993, GHD has operated under a Practice Quality Management System (QMS) that is certified to AS/NZ/ISO 9001:2000. In 2008 significant enhancements were made to the QMS and the technology platform that underpin core quality management processes to continually improve the way we deliver quality and high quality services.
Our certification encompasses GHD’s operations in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Middle East, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and, recently, North America. We anticipate GHD’s operations in Vietnam will be certified in early 2009.
Successful completion of regular LRQA surveillance audits continues to provide feedback, which assists the company in continual improvement to our QMS.
KNOWLEDGE
GHD provides resources, programs and tools for sharing knowledge across the organisation and enhancing the competencies of our people. This year we have continued to strengthen the ways in which we manage and disseminate information and knowledge.
Technical forums were held for a number of service lines including communications, drafting, quality, procurement, and stakeholder communications, to name a few. Held bi-annually for most of our service lines, these forums bring together people from across the business to exchange specialist knowledge, share ideas and identify opportunities for development.
New service lines were also established in the 2008 financial year including Renewable Energy, Desalination, Construction Management, Climate Change, Procurement, Project Controls, Irrigation, and Tall Building Structures to enhance GHD’s services in these sectors.
GHD’s 2008 Annual Review, An Enduring Force, focuses on the collaborative approach needed to deliver innovative solutions that create opportunities for our clients and help enhance global communities.
For 80 years GHD has fostered partnerships with clients that reflect our creativity, flexibility and desire to meet and exceed expectations. It is this experience and our commitment to teamwork, knowledge and project delivery that continue to drive our success.
The theme of this report, and the basis on which we underpin our business, is an enduring force – a collaborative strength that powers relationships, creates mutual understanding, drives innovation and fosters extraordinary outcomes to benefit our clients and the communities in which we work.
Across the globe, we are witnessing historic levels of demand on the earth’s natural resources, for infrastructure development and for expansion of the built environment. Counterpoised with this burgeoning growth are the sharpening challenges of climate change, the dwindling supplies of natural resources, increasing population, changing demographics and a record number of people living in poverty.
As we look to a future increasingly driven by the need for sustainable development, we must remain steadfast in our commitment to providing innovative solutions. GHD will continue to apply its experience and deep skillset to help achieve such a future by delivering solutions characterised by appropriate and well-considered design, demand management and conservation of resources. In the pages that follow, we showcase some of our landmark projects and demonstrate our contributions to communities around the world. We also highlight the solid investments we have made in our business and our people, including the organic expansion of our capabilities.
At GHD we believe the enduring force of partnering with our clients to solve challenges with innovative solutions is the key to providing lasting value for global communities.
