IQ Caernarfon Award winner announced
In every country where a national IQ office exists (Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, South Africa and Hong Kong), local members benefit though a network of professionals sharing their industry knowledge and expertise. The topics covered are far ranging from geotechnical and processing through to improvements in health and safety.
These papers and presentations are vital to support members in meeting the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. There is an international honour - the Caernarfon Award- that the Institute of Quarrying awards annually to the best of these presentations. Since 1989, the Caernarfon Award is presented to someone who the international IQ Presidents have adjudged to have contributed the most to the advancement of the science and practise of the quarrying industry.
IQ's international Presidents are delighted to announce that the winner of the 2019 Caernarfon Award is Sean Taylor, CEO & MD at Komatsu Australia. Sean's presentation "Let's talk about diversity and inclusion" focused on Komatsu's campaign to improve diversity across the organisation. The presentation was delivered at he IQ Australia National Conference in October 2019.
In a year where the mineral products industry has demonstrated its flexibility and adaptability due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that the organisations are resilient has become the single key issue driving businesses in all parts of the global economy.
Leading research shows that the organisations that have a proactive approach to diversity and inclusion can achieve greater resilience and performance.
Sean Taylor is confident that Komatsu will be in a strong position as it emerges from the pandemic because of the steps it has already taken. "The 'Say Again?' campaign is at the heart of the programme being driven by the senior management team. It gives everyone the ability to challenge language and ideas that can undermine building diverse teams. Being a more open and inclusive company means they can utilise the different skills and experience of their team and ultimately develop better solutions for their customers.
"That our experiences have been recognised by IQ Australia and the rest of the IQ community as delivering value to the industry is an unexpected honour and we are thrilled to receive this award" said Sean Taylor.
Shane Braddy, President of IQA and National Quarries General Manager-Resources & Development at Boral, said that "As an industry we have promoted the benefits of a diverse workforce for years. IQA members learned from Sean's presentation what organisations can achieve when there is coordinated commitment from within to bring about real change."
Diversity wins: how inclusion matters: McKinsey and Company; May 2020