Looking back over 20 years at Monadelphous

Jason Lamb joined Monadelphous as a Project Manager over 20 years ago and he’s worn a few different hats since then. Today, he’s our Group Manager of Health, Safety and Environment in the Perth office having spent nearly 15 years in the role. 

When did you start working at Monadelphous?

I’m an Engineer by background and most of my early career was spent in production environments. I worked with the Water Authority, before joining Alcoa on the production of alumina as well as in chemical manufacturing. In April 2001, I joined Monadelphous as a Project Manager. 

An Executive General Manager from Monadelphous that I used to work with at Alcoa discovered I was on the market. I had that specific background with the Water Authority and Alcoa that the business was seeking to win work with. When I started here, I focused on tendering, business development and small project work. Monadelphous was still developing in the Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) area in the early days, but it was becoming a more critical area as the industry’s focus on safety grew. With my background in safety management systems with Alcoa and Ciba Specialty Chemical, I had the knowledge and skills that were needed at the time. That’s how I got into HSE!

What is your favourite memory throughout your time here?

That’s a hard one, I have many great memories here! An early memory for me was when I moved into this role in 2007. I wasn’t that interested in working in corporate as I was more comfortable in operations. But I was asked to cover the Group HSE Manager position for a couple of months while it was being advertised. Eventually, I was asked whether I would consider staying in the position and, initially I said I would prefer to go back into operations.  

It was the Executive team’s faith in me at the time that got me over the line. Rob Velletri has always supported me in this direction. But, it was Dino Foti (who I hadn’t worked closely with up until that point) who said he appreciated the contribution I had made in a short time working with the Executive – and I guess that sticks in my mind from a long way back as a significant moment to me. 

How have you seen Monadelphous change and evolve over your time, particularly within HSE?

Twenty years ago, we didn’t have HSE as we have now. From the early days, I had the opportunity to be involved in strategic planning and to see the development of the Board, company values, and the general sophistication of Monadelphous. I got to understand the importance of these things. Even when I onboard staff today, I talk about our values and how important it is to our culture. 

We’ve always played to our strengths and been hands-on to deliver what we promised and maintained strong relationships with our clients. Delivering what we promised was what our reputation was based on, and it still is now. Back then, we were strong in operations but not so much on the governance side. So, it was great to see that area become more sophisticated and provided much better governance over how we operate. I also had an opportunity to closely see how other functional areas evolved, such as HR, IT, Innovation, and see all those areas mature along the way. 

Are there any standout projects that you are particularly proud to have been a part of?

One is around leadership and culture. Leading the Safe Way for Supervisors started as a safety training course for supervisors based on a national training model. It was a significant initiative as Rob Velletri felt strongly that our Supervisors are the most critical influence on our work – which is key to our success. They are an essential factor in managing risks and executing safe work. 

Also, developing a safety leadership coaching program for Managers has been essential to developing and driving the appropriate safety culture across Monadelphous. That program has had a long period of success here. 

Has a standout person or mentor helped you along the way?

There have been many, but I will call out a few that shaped how we operate the business. Rob Velletri enabled me from the start, and I got to see Rob evolve as a safety leader and the leader of an ASX100-listed company. I am grateful that Rob guided me on many things relating to Health and Safety and the importance of this to the company. I worked closely with Zoran Bebic on many initiatives, giving me a good steer and we had fun along the way. Finally, Dino Foti helped and guided me on what’s essential for success at Monadelphous. 

Many people in all parts of the organisation have influenced how I work along the way and there are many other staff members who have had a long journey, just like me. 

Is there advice or something that has stuck with you from day one?

Yes, some of that advice comes from our values such as to ‘deliver what we promise’. We make sure what we promise is within our capability, and we deliver on that strongly. We have always been leading with honesty, and that’s why we have long-term relationships with our customers. That still runs through the business today. 

What is your experience with new graduates coming on board?

For me, having gone through that experience as an Engineer, it is essential to remind graduates that they are not expected to start as experts. When you join Monadelphous as a graduate, that’s the time to ask questions, learn about the role and develop skills like leadership and project management. People don’t have high expectations of you initially. It’s time to build your experience and build your confidence. This is the most important thing when you start as a graduate here. People respect you if you ask questions and they enjoy helping you learn. 
 

What makes Monadelphous unique?

I bring it all back to the relationships we build, whether that be internally, or with our long-term partners – we seek to keep it authentic and we do that in ‘The Monos’ Way’. We are humble because it is hard to get engineers and project managers to talk about ourselves! 

Our people know our story better than anyone! So, as we celebrate 50 years of operation, we are looking back at our history through the eyes of our people who have played a pivotal role in the growth of our business, like Jason.