Hot Button Issues Notes

1. Context & Market Reality

   AI, skills shortages & ageing workforce

   • AI is reshaping reliability, diagnostics and customer expectations.

   • The industry faces a shrinking technical workforce, and machinemonitor® must attract, train, and retain talent capable of delivering complex work.

   • Remote renewable projects (wind, solar, hydro, BESS) require specialist staff and repeatable services.

   We need long-term outsourcing contracts

   • Stability requires multi-year agreements, not ad-hoc work.

   • We must package services clearly so customers understand what they’re buying.

   2. Customers, Trust & Deep Understanding

   Understand customers far better

   • We need to take responsibility for deeply understanding customers’ operations, constraints, and failure modes.

   • Even if we’re not talking to the highest-level decision makers, we must still ask the right questions and gather intelligence.

   • “If you go onto a site and do an inspection, you learn more than anywhere else.”

   We already have trust — we must expand it

   • Customers trust us technically.

   • We must enhance and deepen that trust by improving communication, consistency, and clarity in our value proposition.

   3. Growth, Market Focus & Circle of Influence

   Where growth will (and won’t) come from

   • Not from traditional field services alone — that work has plateaus.

   • Growth will come from:

     • Online monitoring & analytics

     • Cables/switchgear (once resourced properly)

     • Renewables commissioning & reliability

     • Iris products

     • New industry relationships (GOCs, EPCs, REZ developers)

   CIGRE & Conferences = strategic leverage

   • machinemonitor® being a service provider at CIGRE is unique.

   • These rooms contain:

     • Chief Electrical Engineers of BHP, Woodside

     • Fortescue electrification leaders

     • Reliability engineers

   • We must follow up with discipline — the “circle of influence” must be rebuilt around:

     • GOCs

     • EPCs

     • OEMs

     • National utilities

   • Vikas (Paris) and Giacomo (Netherlands) travel should generate structured BD opportunities.

   We need dedicated BD

   • The team repeatedly said: we need proper Business Development staff, not internal sales.

   • Growth requires someone owning the pipeline and relationships.

   4. Leadership, People & Knowledge

   Support staff to believe in growth

   • We must set the scene that growth is achievable and supported.

   • Staff need clarity on “where growth will come from” and how they contribute.

   Succession & knowledge transfer are overdue

   • Critical technical staff hold too much institutional knowledge.

   • 80% of the expertise sits with 20% of people — this is a risk.

   • Immediate need for:

     • Documented succession plans

     • Knowledge capture frameworks

     • Training videos from experts

     • Clear skills matrices

   5. Training, Skills & Capability

   Training issues

   • We have a wealth of material, but staff cannot find it or do not know it exists.

   • Internal training is strong in the first 3 months, then becomes “loosey-goosey”.

   • Training done only during onboarding is not enough.

   What’s required

   • A training roadmap for all job families.

   • A central library: all training, webinars, procedures and expert videos in one place.

   • Access to the full resource database (with a proper index/search).

   • KPIs for training and skills progression.

   • Engineers must create expert videos on procedures, field techniques, failure modes, etc.

   • HR to build:

     • Skills matrix

     • Development framework

     • Regular competency sign-offs

   Training for sales as well

   • We must teach people how to pitch machinemonitor®.

   • “Gaddie pitch” or equivalent: short, clear, problem → solution → value.

   6. Hot Button Themes (from team survey)

   (Source: Strategy Hot Button Issues Presentation) hot button issues only notes

   1. Sales & Market Focus

      • Need to define target markets, ideal customers, and clear offerings.

      • Regional strain (e.g., QLD boom–bust cycles).

      • Strong demand signals but inconsistent conversion.

   2. Marketing & Brand Presence

      • Need standardised collateral and consistent messaging.

      • Desire for national and international positioning.

   3. Leadership, People & Continuity

      • Succession planning is overdue.

      • Key technical hires required (cables, switchgear).

      • Retention of critical staff is a growing concern.

   4. AI & Digital Strategy

      • Need a whole-of-business AI and knowledge strategy.

   5. Growth Planning & Execution

      • “Make a plan, follow the plan, review the plan.”

      • The business wants disciplined execution, not annual resets.

   7. Critical Decisions Needed Now

   (From PPT summary) hot button issues only notes

   • Hire Business Development professionals immediately.

   • Document succession plans for senior leaders approaching exit.

   • Invest in senior technical hires for cables & switchboards.

   • Define the 2026 market strategy with clear service offerings.

   • Leverage Zoho properly — track progress and pipeline.

   • Invest in equipment for new services.

   8. Overall Strategic Direction for 2026

   A. Build capability before chasing aggressive growth

   • Package our services clearly.

   • Train people so they can deliver confidently.

   • Capture knowledge so it isn’t lost.

   • Use AI internally to scale expertise.

   B. Deepen industry influence

   • Capture and leverage high-level contacts (CIGRE, industry leaders).

   • Push into renewables commissioning and asset management.

   • Rebuild the circle of influence with GOCs, EPCs, and major industrials.

   C. Execute with discipline

   • Monthly strategy reviews.

   • Five key metrics.

   • Clear OKRs (Objectives → Key Results → Initiatives).

   • Consistent communication across all regions.