When crossing the finish line is actually the beginning of the race…

A month ago, the entire Sirron company was on it’s feet at the HMA Awards, surprised and humbled at winning an unprecedented 4 awards. One of these was Manufacturer of the Year, below 50 Employees.

In the following days, it was quickly back to ‘business as usual’, with quiet gratitude messages back to those who reached out personally and on social media to congratulate the team. There’s been so much going on in our little yellow shed at Caves Beach and so much work yet to do, it took a recent Board catch-up meeting to remind us to take some time to reflect.

I’d like to share some of the things that came up for us.

Firstly, winning the HMA Manufacturer of the Year and picking up awards for Excellence in Innovation, Excellence in Marketing and Excellence in Collaboration doesn’t reflect the efforts of one or two people. It’s taken the entire team, pulling together, building a new Sirron, embracing the challenges of change.

Secondly, as a Board of Directors, we have always adopted the quiet approach, in full alignment with the humble and quiet nature of the founder, John Watts.

The Sirron Holdings Group of companies really have come a long way and as we reflected on how grateful we are for the recognition by the HMA, how hard the entire team have worked, that we’d hit a milestone – it started to sink in that others might like to hear that.

The truth is that we could not be more proud of the team than we are today – and there has been plenty to be proud of in the years since the pandemic threw us (and everyone) a curveball. 

Expressing the value of the Sirron team, our awe at its journey and all it has achieved is a difficult task for the best of wordsmiths. This year in particular, it really has taken everything we have.

So, with conviction, our message to the team is that we have seen the long hours and extra care you have taken to support your CEO and each other. We have seen you pulling together as a team as resources became scarce and we saw your entrepreneurial spirit weave magic to create something out of nothing. We saw you giving up precious time with your families and friend to give us your all in that time and we see you now, stepping up to embrace and build on the new, more resilient version of Sirron we have become because of you.

Progress paves the way for future success and the resiliency Sirron enjoys now has been fostered by the process of reflection and relationship building that happened organically through applying for HMA Awards each year.

The Director and Board of the HMA, long-serving Major Sponsors, Downer and all the other category and in-kind sponsors make this event and all its year-long services possible. From our Board to yours, from our managers and staff to yours: thank you.

The Sirron management team has powerfully leveraged the network available through the HMA and worked tirelessly to allow us to succeed in ways that, even 3 years ago, we never could have imagined. Your exceptional talent has opened doors that pave the way for us to fully realise our ‘forever’ legacy vision. Thank you.

We were also reminded that the work of the Sirron Board, at it’s core, revolves around enriching the lives of those in our community and surrounds and recognising the accomplishments of others is a joy we should afford ourselves more often.

As Chair, I want to acknowledge particularly the Sirron Managing Director, Greg Gates.

Every single day, your team benefits and is inspired by your creativity, willingness to share the hard work, your intelligence (and part of this is knowing you’re not always the smartest man in the room) and your incredible leadership. You do it because you know your entire team and the legacy nature of Sirron relies on you and you won't let them or the ‘helping others forever’ tenet of Sirron’s legacy down.

There is much to do to clean up the mess past generations have made, ourselves included. We are clear that the work we do matters. We are proud of who we are. We’re proud and grateful to be surrounded by people and organisations that honour our work with their commitment to service.  

And to my fellow Directors, it is a rare privilege to work in the company of a group whose values are so closely aligned. Where transparency and generosity of spirit are innate traits. I'm grateful to serve where humility lives, for there lives wisdom.