An eventful 2022 has meant we’ve seen our fair share of challenges, but we have more than weathered the storm thanks to the individual abilities of our people, collective strengths of our teams and our shared values. A successful 2023 should again highlight the many benefits of our business model.

As it has been for a great number of our employees, 2022 has been quite the year for me, both professionally and personally. For me, not long after being appointed Chief Executive Officer of VINCI Energies UK & RoI in April, my wife gave birth to our second daughter. I have enjoyed embracing both these changes, buoyed on by the support and teamwork my eldest daughter has shown towards my youngest and that of our Board team who have really afforded me the platform to transition into my new role, facilitating and helping me to better understand our business and joining me in getting out to meet more of our teams.

Our business model of operating in smaller, agile and empowered teams affords our team members a real say in how our business units are run, enabling us to adapt and change as market conditions do, whilst also taking support from the varied and shared experiences of our colleagues across the wider business. Yes, we face the same hurdles many other businesses do – however, by allowing those most informed to make more of the decisions swiftly, I feel we have navigated many of the headwinds far better than we would otherwise and will continue to do so.

There is a skill, I think, in senior leadership roles of learning to be present when you need to be. This is made far easier in our organisation with our entrepreneurial business unit managers, the promotion of autonomy, shared values, and our ways of working. I am confident that by continuing to embed our values across our businesses, no matter what challenges come in 2023 and beyond, we will continue to face them head-on.

Reflecting on 2022 and having spent the majority of my career sat behind a desk, I have enjoyed nothing more than being out and about meeting our teams, our customers and understanding what our teams encounter as they have continued to deliver projects over another challenging year. Equally pleasing is discovering just how many of our colleagues have been with our business for ten, fifteen or even twenty-plus years.

New year’s resolutions

We have a hugely talented community of incredible people at VINCI Energies, and as we enter 2023, I want to focus more on facilitating people interaction and ensuring our values are embraced in everything we do. VINCI Energies has a great record of retaining and developing colleagues, but we need to do more. We must continue to facilitate the development of our People, keep bringing our teams together to learn from one another but also celebrate together the many successes we have achieved.

I believe that by creating platforms to hear from our colleagues, being visible, accessible and taking the time to talk with, not to, each other that we will promote more enlightening conversations, shared learning and sustain this sense of community that sets us apart.

We will continue to invest in our people so that they can reach their full potential by providing them with local and specific training through our institutes and Academy, as well as specifically designed training programmes for our emerging talents, high potentials, and future leaders.

An area for improvement next year, is for us to ensure we take the time to reflect on the amazing achievements of our teams. We, too often, simply move on to the next project without pausing to reflect on our successes. However, the same must be true of our mistakes and we must not be afraid to call out those failings so that we can learn from them.

Safety remains my key priority. We operate in varied markets and we must ensure we continue to maintain our safety standards as we work with new customers, onboard new colleagues and investigate new technology.

One thing is clear, we have to put our people at the heart of our operations – this is easy to say and harder to do, so our commitment or resolution for 2023 centres on protecting, investing in, listening to and recognising the value of our colleagues.

Finally, VINCI Energies seeks to be a sustainable business, delivering for our customers and improving the environment and community in which we operate. I am confident that we will achieve all of this as an output by continuing to invest in and supporting our people. Putting the right people in the right place with the right tools. This is what motivates me and is why I am excited again for another year of developing our position in the UK and Irish market.