6 / 72
4
CONSTRUCTION WORLD
APRIL
2016
STORY
is finally
TOLD
>
MARKETPLACE
The book captures a roller-coaster
journey from SRK’s early days in
1970s South Africa to its global
presence today – charting a course
started by three young engineers with a zeal
to do things differently and better.
“Reliving SRK’s past through the stories
in this remarkable book has reminded us of
the main reason for SRK’s success – the high
calibre of its people,” said group chairman
Mike Armitage. “Thrown in at the deep end
and expected to swim, numerous individuals
have risen to the challenge and performed at
levels exceeding even their own aspirations.”
The SRK story is told characteristically
not just through its achievements but rather
through the lives and voices of its staff.
Its title reflects both the reality of consult-
ants often having to tackle the unknown, as
well as their vital quality of retaining a sense
of humour.
For what SRK founders Oskar Steffen,
Andy Robertson and Hendrik Kirsten built in
1974 was a magnet that attracted many of the
best brains to their cause – described by the
book’s author, Ian Mulgrew, as an “overa-
chieving, intellectual individualism, a work-
hard-play-hard professional camaraderie
within a loose communal framework.”
This was clearly not going to be like any
other consultancy of its day, which tended
to favour corporate-style bureaucracy with
autocratic leanings. For a start, partners were
to remain involved in delivering engineering
services, and all levels of staff were to be
drawn in to all stages of a project.
The business model itself was revolu-
tionary: employees would own the company,
being allowed to purchase shares and being
required to sell them back to the firm when
they left or retired. This was to foster the
culture of belonging and responsibility; indeed,
staff were to stand on their own feet rather
than look to the company for job security.
What all this accomplished was to keep
alive the fire of discovery and technological
progress that universities ignite in their
students – and transfer it to the ‘real world’
of science and engineering. The link with
universities has remained vital to SRK’s
modus operandi.
SRK Consulting’s four-
decade anniversary book –
SRK: 40 years in the deep end
– was launched to clients
and media during the
Investing in African Mining
Indaba in Cape Town this
week, at a special event held
at Shimmy Beach Club.
>
“We set out to take on young people every
year so that we could continually bring the
latest technologies into the business,” said
Kirsten. Early on, they invited an overseas
professor to spend his sabbatical in the office
– and that became a regular practice.
What mattered, said Steffen, was “getting
the best people in their field … and keeping
the best by giving them the freedom to grow.”
According to SRK chairman Graham
Howell, the group has now grown into 20
countries on six continents, with quality
systems to optimise integration between
practices and continuously raise the bar of
global standards.
“SRK’s culture endures despite its size,”
said Howell, “binding colleagues in pursuit
of excellence.
Global chairman of SRK Consulting, Mike
Armitage at the launch of
SRK 40 years in
the deep end
held Cape Town.
Two of the founding partners Hendrik
Kirsten and Oskar Steffen signing copies.
SRK Consulting SA board members Vassie Maharaj and William Joughin with chairman of
SRK Consulting SA, Graham Howell.