Brad Giddens Facilites Maintenance GM
Success for Brad Giddens is not measured in his achievements, but in his progression to become the best version of himself. From self-improvement to being present for his family, the recenlty appointed East Pilbara FM General Manager demonstrates this by bringing his most authentic self to work every single day.
Joining Sodexo as a plumber just three years ago and being appointed to his current position in November of 2021, his meteoric rise has come as no surprise.
Brad was awarded as the ‘Facilities Manager of the Year’ in the Sodexo APAC People Awards, recognising his skills, dedication and drive within our organisation on an international stage.
Brad developed his career within Sodexo by not only being proactive and goal-oriented, but by showing authentic leadership.
“What I had to offer was life experience, and an understanding of different industries which I have been able to draw on,” Brad said.
Brad began his plumbing certification as a mature apprentice, after trying his hand in everything from exploration drilling to working an Australian shearing shed, and later owning a distribution business.
Using his broad experience, Brad’s maturity assured that he built resilience, people skills and recognised the traits of successful leaders.
“I feel the difference is letting your team know that we’re all human,” Brad said.
“I explain to my supervisors that the title ‘boss’ is gone. We are enablers. Our role is to enable our team to be empowered to complete their work.”
“Another component is being visible as a leader. I’ve had my experience on the tools, I have been on the other side answering to a faceless manager. But if you’re up there leading by the front, picking up a broom or joining in PreStarts, that is what your team responds to.”
“It is the small tokens or gestures that promote that positive culture.”
Prior to stepping into his current role, Brad was a Building Area Maintenance Manager. In this position he was tasked to oversee a team who had historically struggled with culture and had experienced a cyclone that devastated its operations.
Under Brad’s humble guidance, the team became more cohesive and achieved 52,740 work orders in 12 months with zero safety incidents. This included a corrective work order backlog of more than four thousand across the region.
“We pretty much started from scratch, and just had to be sure to introduce a leadership team that was less about what they knew and more about what they could bring to the team,” Brad said.
By shifting the focus towards fitting in with the team, we had the opportunity for more people to feel heard and respected. This made the biggest difference.”
Part of this success was his understanding of the FIFO experience within his team.
Brad had worked in FIFO for three years before transitioning back to Perth to oversee a large commercial project for another company. After succesfully completing the project, he made the decision to go back to FIFO, where he joined Sodexo.
“What I found when I left FIFO was yes, you are home more nights, but with leaving early and coming home late, you aren’t as present mentally with your family as you can be with FIFO while on RnR,” Brad said.
“When I was doing FIFO, I was able to be there for my kids during my off weeks in a way that I couldn’t be working as a plumber out of home.”
“My advice for FIFO workers is to communicate with your loved ones. Set a regular time to call, even if you have nothing new to say, just to check in and say hello.”
At the end of the day, Brad believes that to be successful, you must be true to yourself. This means being honest with what you want in work and life and taking proactive steps to achieve it.
“You can feel lost, but just keep growing, evolving. Be the best person you can be, and the rest will fall into place,” Brad said.
Want to join us to be part of the team?