| 29 www.csexcavating.co.nz Bulk Earthworks Lane Maintenance Gravel/rock needs Landscaping Trenching 3DGPSMachine Control Machinery available to suit your personal needs. Drainage Professionalism Guaranteed Call or email today for a free quote: Chester 027 201 6765 or nigel@cs-excavating.co.nz Southland: Fulton Hogan - Southland Rachel Gerrard credits her progress from office junior to Services Divisional Manager to ‘awesome mentors’. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Progressing from office junior to Services Divisional Manager within Fulton Hogan’s Southland team, Rachel Gerrard’s infectious positive can-do attitude leaves little wonder why she has enjoyed the success she has. Rachel’s journey has taken her 21 years, during which time her career path has embraced a progression of roles and responsibility, which she puts down to awesome mentors. “The people I have worked with and their desire to share their knowledge and grow you has been a big factor throughout my career. It has been huge being part of a business that loves to grow people.” Shoulder tapped by a recruitment agency when she was a nineteen year old with a freshly minted certificate in business administration, Rachel joined the small finance team and did everything from answering the phone, to accounts receivable and payable, to payroll for the Southland team of sixty. As office junior, she even had the auspicious role of back-up weighbridge operator at the company’s quarry in Gore. “I would get a mercy call at 7.00am in the morning and had to jump in the ute, drive to Gore and operate the weighbridge all day.” To this day, Rachel likes to get her boots on and head off to a worksite to see just where the numbers appearing in the finance spreadsheet are coming from. “I like that side of the job. You get a great connection to the jobs you are working on.” Within two years of starting as Office Junior, Rachel’s combined attitude and talents were being noticed and she was promoted to Accountant, responsible for the new Office Junior. Acquiring a Diploma in Management and Diploma in Business, Rachel’s next move was to the senior divisional position of Finance Manager, reporting directly to the Southland Business that grows people Regional Manager. “I held that role for fourteen years until February this year when an opportunity arose for me to take a more operational role as the Services Division Manager. “The role involves looking after all of our heavy transportation fleet, including large trucks and trailers, as well as our specialist plant like the hydrovac, sweeper trucks, CCTV systems for inspecting drains, and the workshop and engineering fabrication departments. I’m also pricing what the trucks will be worth over a five year period working on a job, for tender submissions. There’s a marketing/ relationship building component to the job too.” Rachel says that throughout her career, the biggest challenge she has faced is the same faced by many women passionate about their careers — balancing motherhood with career. “During my twenty-one years at Fulton Hogan, I’ve had two children and took a grand total of nine months maternity leave between the two. I love my job, and I guess that’s what it comes down to. I wasn’t the person to stay home and attend coffee groups. Fulton Hogan was also incredibly flexible. “They had no problem with me nipping down and visiting my child during the day if I needed to. And, even before Covid we were able to work remotely from home, so there was a trust element that if I said I was going to do something I would do it. I’ve also got a very supportive husband, who makes life so much easier in the sense that if I can’t attend something with the kids, he can be there.” As well as growing the business under her new role, Rachel’s goal is to grow the people under her, and see them blossom on their way through. “It’s also about making sure we have new blood coming through. I don’t think there’s anyone under thirty who drives my trucks, so bringing that new blood through would be good.” Craig: 027 22 44 880 | Ken: 027 445 5813 | Office: 03 203 7228 admin@k2kontracting.co.nz 32 Forth St, Mataura • DRAINAGE & EXCAVATION • GRAVEL & ROCK SUPPLY • SITE WORKS • BULK & GENERAL EARTHWORKS • AGGREGATE CARTAGE • HIGH PRESSURE DRAIN CLEANING • MUCK SPREADING ontracting Ltd K2 Jim 0274 334 858 Phone 03 215 9921 jim.bates@xtra.co.nz 28 Steel Road, RD4, PO Box 5030, Invercargill Site Preparation Gravel Supplies Asphalt Work Driveways Excavation Greg 0274 160 037
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