How was 2022 for Killara Services? What were the highlights? What were the challenges?

2022 was a real foundation year for the growth journey of Killara Services. We undertook a full rebrand to create our own Indigenous identity, our industry came out of one the largest global epidemics, which resulted in substantial labour and resourcing strains, and lastly, we were recognised across the industry via a number of award wins.

This included being awarded Telstra’s Best of Business ‘National Indigenous Excellence’ Award, NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Indigenous Business of the Year award at the Infrastructure and Construction awards, and I was luckily enough to be awarded the ‘Indigenous Businesswoman of the Year’ award by Supply Nation which is our governing body for the Indigenous business sector.

What have been some of the learnings has the company taken from the challenges faced over the past 12 months?

With the year-on-year rapid growth we’ve experienced, it’s been particularly hard to ensure we managed our new contract transitions whilst not burning out our people in trying to sustain the growth.

We have also started to compete with the larger commercial cleaning companies through various invite only tender processes, with my executives and management team working tirelessly to ensure we are a cleaning force to be reckoned with and are demonstrating our capability to compete with them.

What do you see as the main challenges the market is facing in 2023?

Each business has their own stressors and challenges, but for me and Killara, we are working to overcome barriers to employment for Indigenous Australians, particularly within the incarceration space and how we can help Indigenous mob get back into normalised life and employment.

Cleaning companies are fighting each other over cleaning workforce, I’m not. I am upskilling and training my mob into cleaning roles all over the country to put ‘bread and butter’ on the table of their homes.

What are the company’s main priorities for 2023?

Sustain our growth trajectory, keep our amazing people in secure employment, and ensure we stay true to being the largest employer of Indigenous mob all over the country.

Are there any key sustainability commitments/targets Killara has made for 2023?  How will you measure your progress?

We are currently working very hard to meet our client sustainability targets and also working towards a net zero target ourselves as a company.

This involves ensuring we continue to utilise ‘green’ chemicals across all our service delivery, educating our cleaners on water and electricity minimisation and waste segregation when working in our client sites and choosing the best equipment and products that not only deliver a high-quality, fit for purpose solution but also have a measure of environmental benefit included.

We are also working on a more practical waste solution for our customers that will see technology becoming more involved rather cleaners tracking waste contamination with a pen and paper in hand.

What’s the biggest challenge facing leaders today?

Quiet quitting – people giving up inside your business and saying nothing to see if their concerns can be resolved and fixed. As a leader, I have ensured I am being more accessible to all our team members throughout the entire business. I have increased my WIP calls to weekly for the team members I don’t see every day to ensure I am on point with my people, my finger is on the pulse and I am working to support them as they support my business.

Is there a message that you would like to share with the industry?

Cleaning customers if you’re after a deadly cleaning company reach out to Killara Services.

Killara is a Dhurug word for ‘always there’ which relates to my team always being there for our people, communities and customers.

This first appeared in the January/February 2023 issue of INCLEAN magazine. 

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