JMW awarded for work with Yarra Valley Water

JMW has received its third international AMCF Spotlight Award from the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) — and its second for supporting an Australian water utility.

In 2014, JMW received an AMCF award for its work with Victoria’s Goulburn-Murray Water as it emerged from what has been described as the worst water crisis in its history. The 2016 win recognises JMW’s efforts with Yarra Valley Water.

“The water corporations we partnered with in these award-winning efforts took on tremendous challenges in very different contexts: Yarra Valley Water in a distinctly urban region and Goulburn-Murray Water in a sprawling rural territory,” said Conrad Amos, JMW business leader and lead consultant for both engagements. “Yet something they have in common is determined executive teams with an inspiring commitment to position their people and customers to succeed in unprecedented ways.”

Yarra Valley Water has received worldwide recognition in recent years for its work providing water services to 2 million people and over 50,000 businesses in Victoria. Its innovations include implementing a customer hardship program, introducing new water recycling methods to drought-proof 100,000 properties and launching Australia’s first standalone, profitable waste-to-energy facility. Its achievements include a 30% drop in water quality complaints, a 36% increase in hardship customers assisted, an 18% decrease in operating expenditures, a serious injury frequency rate reduced by more than 80% and enhanced staff engagement.

“As Yarra Valley demonstrated, one of the best times for an organisation to realise its greatest potential is when performance is already strong, but you know there’s still much more to accomplish,” said Amos. “At a time when other senior leaders may have been satisfied with the status quo, this organisation’s leaders realised it was a time to excel beyond what anyone thought was possible.”

Now, amid waves of news about drought recovery in the Australian economy, Australian water utilities appear to be collaborating on innovations such as making advanced metering and conservation methodologies more affordable and accessible. Underlying this work is an important shift: utilities realising the value in evolving from an organisation-centric outlook to a perspective that acknowledges the advantages of taking on complex issues in collaboration.

“Despite the numerous groundbreaking technologies developed to combat drought, there’s a demand for something beyond tactical — even strategic — solutions: a critical need for solutions to be delivered in collaboration,” Amos said.