KSS eKourier January Edition 2025

TRAINING/PROPERTY

SKILLBUILDER 2024

OUTSIDE THE STORAGE BOX

Tom Fereday, a bespoke furniture designer has leased our newly created commercial space in the Camperdown NSW expansion fronting Chester Street and will move in this year. Construction of a telecommunications tower has commenced at Coorparoo QLD after some three years of planning. Marrickville NSW will get additional antennas courtesy of Telstra around March/April 2025. The Bankstown NSW tower has also been proposed to start in March 2025. We recently changed advertising billboard companies from Ohh Media to Australian Outdoor Media (AOM). AOM have taken over the outbound signs at Rydalmere, Mona Vale and Petersham in NSW, and are currently working through the approvals process for the digital signboards at Hoddle Street Abbotsford and Port Melbourne in Victoria and Warriewood and Thornleigh in NSW. Work continues on the Roxburgh Park, Craigieburn and Cranbourne sites in Victoria. I look forward to construction activity moving ahead at these sites in 2025. Joining the six industrial warehouse spaces we purchased in Moss Vale NSW in September last year are two larger warehouses and a large parcel of land on the adjoining property, currently home to a Plumbing supply tenant, Agriculture supply tenant and Precast Concrete supplier. Planning will continue this year around how best to make use of the land and individual spaces. Darren McKeon Commercial Leasing Manager

L to R: Skillbuilder in New Zealand: Lyn Fry (TSM), Simon Spring (Wellington), Maree Sullivan (Napier), Maria Loo (Mt Eden), Andrew Kirkham (NZ Ops Mgr), Sharne Carmichael (Tauranga), Mary Whittaker (Wairau Valley), Beena Rani (Three Kings), John Maisey (TSM), Shona Kitchen (Palmerston North), Melissa Hiri (Kilbirnie), Cath Marshall (Hastings).

I n November last year we launched our annual Skillbuilder training program, designed to brief our team on the latest updates on new initiatives and best practice guidelines. While the specific content changes each year, the core goal remains the same: to empower our people and set them up for continued success! This year, the core theme of the program was “Decision Making & Psychological Safety”, two critical areas for fostering a supportive and empowered workplace. We also focused our time on further developing de-escalation skills and techniques. Psychological safety is about creating an environment where Team Members feel confident expressing ideas, concerns, and questions without fear of negative consequence (something that also closely aligns with our own FREEDOM values). In the decision-making session, the primary learning objective was to equip teams with a clear framework to guide their thinking and decision-

making, especially when navigating the complexities of building and facilities management. Finally, our de-escalation session emphasised the effectiveness of techniques such as labelling, valida - tion, open-ended questions, and empathy. Invaluable tools for diffusing potentially volatile situations with storers and peers. Skillbuilder is always a busy yet incred - ibly rewarding time of year. Person - ally, I find it a joy to connect with so many of the KSS team in such a short period. It's inspiring to see so many talented, happy and highly engaged Team Members coming together. A special thanks to Darryl, Suzie, Antone, Maddie, and everyone else who played a part in making Skillbuilder 2024 a success, your efforts are truly appreciated!

Wayne Brown Learning & Development Manager

19 Kennards Kourier Jan 2025