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Training & Development pays off

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Despite having a former AFL champion as Managing Director, Tuff Group did not spend the grand final week watching the football and wondering who was going to win. Instead, we set aside Thursday, 26 September, for an all staff training and development day. 

This day has become a fixture in the Tuff Group calendar to help staff understand their role in the business and develop the skills and expertise to ensure that our high industry standards are met every time we step into the workplace. 

Tuff Group Leads Installer Matt Wood teaching the finer points of synthetic turf installation.

In the morning, we worked with our growing team of installers demonstrating new techniques and the correct use of equipment. This included an overview of synthetic turf industry terms to increase the product knowledge of staff. Not everybody has to do every job at Tuff Group, however we feel it’s critical that everybody understands the industry more broadly. In this way people can grow their career and also step in if one of their colleagues is unavailable for any reason. 

National Operations Manager Travis Knight took the group for a classroom session running through the technical details of quoting for a job, developing tenders and overcoming on-site issues. 

After morning tea, this session transferred to the Tuff Turf warehouse where Travis and Installation Team leader Matt Wood led a session on product knowledge and use of equipment. This included a comprehensive overview of the way that synthetic turf is manufactured, different yarn types and the range of tools to cut and lay synthetic turf. 

The team had the opportunity to learn new skills and demonstrate the ‘tricks of the trade’ to their colleagues. This interactive session meant that knowledge and skills were developed and passed on to lift the standards for everyone in the business. 

Following lunch, a whole of staff session was held to provide an update on the strategic direction of Tuff Group, progress within the Bunnings retail division and insight into how the industry and the company is going to grow in the future. Various team leaders made presentations on different aspects of the business and everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and provide input.

To get everybody together in one place is no mean feat. Staff came back to the head office from all over Victoria, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold Coast and regional areas. With over 55 people, Tuff Group has grown significantly in the past 12 months. The pace of growth is speeding up for Tuff Group which means that training and staff development days are critically important to ensure that everyone is aligned around the future of the business.

Essendon North takes shape…

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When Essendon North Primary School determined that they wanted to deliver a better experience for their students, they turned to Tuff Group for a solution. 

Looking to transform the environment in which their children could undertake physical activity, the school undertook to provide new football and field and netball court, a basketball court, rubber play areas, and athletics facilities including a long jump and running track. 

The finishing touches are added to the Multi Sport facilities at Essendon North Primary School

The school now has a soccer pitch and two netball courts surrounded by a four lane running track. In addition, a number of hopscotch courts have been installed around the edges of the running track and a large courtyard area has been filled with letters of the alphabet. A long jump facility including a sandpit required special planning to ensure that it could be fitted in with other facilities. 

The diverse range of inclusions on this project fitted Tuff Group perfectly. With construction work already competed, the Tuff Group installation team led by Matt Wood set up the facility for a complex installation.

Matt and his team laid the soccer pitch and netball fields cutting in a significant amount of line work, a job requiring precision and great care. Installation of the hopscotch areas were also complex, requiring a significant amount of cutting to deliver an environment where children can enjoy hours of play. 

The area containing the alphabet was challenging to complete. Metal templates were used cut out the shapes of the letters and different coloured grass was installed. While the cutting is highly skilled, ensuring that the glue does not come through on to the grass and interfere with the look and feel of the finished surface was critical. Soft rubber was installed under the play area and a number of large viewing tiers were finished with grass to provide a spectator area for students and parents. 

At the completion of the job, Matt spoke about his experience completing Essendon North Primary School’s facilities.

“This is the kind of work I love”, said Matt. “Over the past 20 years, I have installed hundreds of fields in schools just like this one. The complexity required in the cutting, gluing and installation of this facility is exciting and engaging. This school who now have the facilities that the students can use for years to come no matter what kind of activity they wish to pursue. Its a job both the School and our team are very proud of.”

Tuff Group National Operations Manager Travis Knight said that Essendon North Primary School was typical of the complex type of work that Tuff Group is best suited to. 

“We have a full of range of experts across design, engineering, construction, installation, and maintenance”, said Knight. 

“We have the team to be able to deliver a complex project like this, including experts in grass, rubber and acrylic installation. We did not undertake the construction work for this job, but we have a highly capable team that can do this when and where required across Australia. We’re looking forward to seeing this school enjoy the benefits that Tuff Group is able to deliver”, said Knight. 

Maintenance of this surface and any other new surface is critical for the performance and life span of the installation. While great care is taken to ensure that the turf is securely laid and that the sand and then rubber infill is perfectly spread to ensure the best playing surface, this will need maintenance over time. 

Tuff Group Maintenance Division headed by long term maintenance expert, Garth Andrews and has teams on the road in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane ready to ensure that facilities like Essendon North will look just as good in the future as they do now.