An unlikely pairing of elite sport philosophies & underground mining leads to Excellence awards finals to

Athlete Assessments

4x Olympian and 3x Olympic medallist, Bo Hanson, founded Athlete Assessments close to 15 years ago and is overwhelmed that his company has been nominated by The Australian Institute of Training and Development as one of eight finalists in The Best Leadership and Development Program Category for the all-of-company leadership development program implemented for mining company, Fitzroy Australia Resources, with the winner to be announced via a virtual gala on November 13.

The collision of sorts was born out of an introduction through a professional sports team Athlete Assessments works with, as Bo Hanson says, “our working relationship was ignited by the recognition of the parallels between the tough physical, mental, and team-reliant environment of underground mining, and the factors that drive success and performance in elite sports teams.”

Physically demanding, sweaty, working hard as a team, and chasing gains. Are we describing a rugby team or an underground mining team? What if we took the concepts of teamwork and leadership development that is known to be a winning formula in elite sport and applied it to underground mining teams. Is it just another management fad or would we genuinely see gains in safety and productivity? It’s been tested and the results are in. Yes, it does work in driving performance on the field and in the mine, and there is an Award on the line.

While Athlete Assessments are best known for profiling and team dynamics consulting using the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC and Sports ManagerDISC, they do more than just assessments. They work with some of the world’s best sport psychologists, performance consultants and universities; along with some of the top Olympic, Paralympic, National, Professional, State and US College teams.

Athlete Assessments are experts in the ‘people side’ of sport and have incorporated an overwhelmingly successful ‘Match Winning Leadership Program’ designed and delivered by them for their client Fitzroy Australia Resources.

Sport is played by people, coached by people and managed by people, so it’s imperative to get the people side of sport right. This has resulted in Athlete Assessments continued success.

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The leadership development program grew from a seemingly unlikely partnership between Athlete Assessments, best known for its work with elite athletes around the globe and more recently, locally, as a key part of the 2019 Australian Rugby Union post-World Cup Review, and work with the Queensland Reds who made the finals for the first time in seven years this year; and Fitzroy Australia Resources, an underground mine, which has world class metallurgical coal assets and infrastructure in the renowned Bowen Basin of Central Queensland.

In 2019, through an introduction from a professional sports team Athlete Assessments work with, Fitzroy Australia Resources engaged them to design and deliver an all-of-company leadership development program. The ignition point of their working relationship was recognizing the parallels between the tough physical, mental and team-reliant environment of underground mining, and the factors that drive performance in high performing sports teams.

Lead by Bo Hanson, who is one of the initial founders of Athlete Assessments close to 15 years ago, and himself a 4x Olympian and 3x Olympic medallist, the Match Winning Leadership program’s approach was on the commonality between mining and elite sport, weaving the language, performance models, symbols, and systems of high performance sport throughout the program. All of the philosophies, tools and strategies that the sports consultancy use with their sports clients to help them win were implemented with the teams at Fitzroy Australia Resources.

Fitzroy Australia Resources’ CEO, Grant Polwarth shares, “The mining environment requires genuine leadership and team membership to impact the safe execution of the plan – camaraderie, excellent communication, discipline, playing your role and sharing a vision are tenants of success in the industry; similar to high performing professional sporting organizations.”

“The Match Winning Leadership Program at Fitzroy Australia Resources was and continues to be an overwhelming success. The program is distinguished not only by the way it uses the analogy of elite sport to develop leadership and performance; but also through the approach of growing leaders from within their own teams, and success/winning measured on the same organizational KPIs – improving safety, production and living company values (‘Match Winning Qualities’). As measurable examples, this holistic program delivered results across the board including a 36% improvement in the injury frequency rate and a 22% increase in production,” says Hanson.

And of the success of the program, Grant continues, “There is no doubt that our leaders are now the custodians of the culture within our organization. There has been a distinct change in the leadership behaviours; this is no longer a program, this is how we do business. The symbolism around the mine site, in the reporting structures and language used at shift starts all speak to the beginnings of a deep cultural shift and it is being embraced across the business – not because team members are instructed to, but because there is genuine resonance and belief in the program.” Further, he says, “this is no longer a program, this is how we do business.”

The implementation of the Match Winning Leadership Program saw Bo Hanson, as the lead consultant, deliver initial and ongoing training for more than 600 of Fitzroy’s people, including management, frontline workers and the senior executive team. He spoke of the character and the culture he found onsite saying, “Fitzroy people are resilient. The conditions within an underground environment in Central Queensland are tough and unrelenting. So too our people need to be to meet this demand. The culture at Fitzroy is supportive and they rise to challenges together. This is similar to the qualities we like to see in sports teams we work with. Collaborative problem solving, looking after your mates and doing what is best for the team. Fitzroy understand the need for this, and the nature of their work demands it.”

Hanson continues, “Underground mining is wholly dependent on how effectively a team works together and how teams help other teams to create a season goal. Like in sport, there is a focus on the day to day training and weekly matches with a view to how all these small wins create the championship win. With this in mind, the program we delivered is aimed at adding skills in a spaced learning approach just like adding skills as an athlete is done over the space of a season. We do not cram a season worth of skill development into a three day offsite. Just like athletes, we want leaders to return to their work, apply their ideas, evaluate the effectiveness and then adjust to make it even better. Sports teams and coaches do exactly the same. The aim is to be a little better each day and to continually be learning and improving in line with a growth mindset philosophy.”

The Match Winning Qualities (company values) which are fundamental to the program, quickly became a cornerstone of the Fitzroy culture and were understood by, and relevant to, all team members. Those qualities became an integral element in Fitzroy’s blueprint for success. Of this, Hanson says, “Fitzroy had consulted with their people around the qualities which it deemed critical for sustained success in an underground team-oriented environment. These qualities were then incorporated into the Match Winning Leadership Program and each team decided what living these qualities would look and sound like. This helped to give each team a sense of individual identity and pride in what their own standards and behaviours are on their team.”

Hanson says, “What Fitzroy has done really well, is their Executive and Senior Leaders have continued to support their organisation’s cultural development. These leaders know that change takes time. There is a limit to what money can buy. Fitzroy understand that people can grow and ultimately like a great sports team, they know the quality of their people is something that can’t be simply bought.”

About the AITD Excellence Awards

The highly coveted Australian Institute of Training and Development (AITD) Awards serve to drive up the standards of learning and development within Australia by showcasing innovative, effective and unique programs. Previous award winners include Australian household brands like Coles, Blackmores Institute, and the Volkswagen Group, plus government departments and top Australian Universities.

As AITD shared in their press release “2020 has seen yet another incredible cohort of entrants for the AITD Excellence Awards. Coveted by companies across Australia and beyond, these awards recognize achievement in learning and development. Competition is high and the judging process is rigorous to ensure only the best submissions walk away with an award.”

The AITD Excellence Award for Best Leadership Development Program is focused on the implementation of a leadership development program that enhances individual or team performance, contributes to positive organizational performance and can demonstrate it has direct, measurable impact on individual and organizational performance. Athlete Assessments joins other finalists in this year’s awards including; The Royal Australian Navy, CBA, Multiplex, Boral, Woolworths, Allianz and TAFE.

The AITD is the national body representing learning and development professionals in Australia its members include some of the biggest and most well-known household names in Australia. The peak body forms a premium peer network and empowers its members to stimulate growth and adaptability amongst organisations. The AITD has extensive resources, hosts formally structured courses, webinars, platforms for discussion, holds publications and online resources. It inspires and catalyses the industry standard for learning and development in Australia.

About Athlete Assessments

Sport is played by people, coached by people and managed by people, so it’s imperative to get the people side of sport right. Athlete Assessments are experts in the ‘people side’ of sport.

While we’re best known for profiling and team dynamics consulting using the AthleteDISC, CoachDISC and Sports ManagerDISC, Athlete Assessments do more than just assessments. They work with some of the world’s best sport psychologists, performance consultants and universities; along with some of the top Olympic, Paralympic, National, Professional, State and US College teams.

“For close to fifteen years, Athlete Assessments has been inexhaustible in its consultancy work with clients developing their capacity to win. What this looks like on a day-to-day basis is; leadership development, genuine teambuilding investment, self-awareness and mental toughness training, communication skilling and focus on team dynamics.” says Liz Masen, CEO of Athlete Assessments.

Hanson describes the impact people have on results saying, “Quite simply, people drive performance. The way they work together towards a common goal, communicate, build relationships and look after one another, lays the foundation for success. We meet our clients where they are and move them along the continuum of learning through our consultancy.”

/Public Release.