In this episode of Safety Shorts, we sit down with John Shaddick, Director at Sundstrom Recruitment, to explore how requirements and expectations for safety roles have evolved over the years. John also shares what he believes is the most undervalued skill in HSE (that makes a massive difference) and why he chose to specialise in HSE recruiting.
Safety Shorts is all about honest, candid conversations straight from the heart of the safety industry. If youโd like to be part of these quick, insightful chats, weโd love to hear from youโdrop us a message!
Transcript
How have the requirements or expectations for safety roles evolved in recent years?
We are seeing safety becoming more academic and a push for that. When I first started recruiting in this space, I never had ‘this person must have a degree’. We’re certainly starting to see that and the days of perhaps being able to craft a leadership position off the back of a Cert IV are certainly becoming a lot rarer.
Whatโs a skill thatโs often undervalued in HSE but makes a huge difference?
Seriously, I know people chuck resilience around all the timeโlike it’s a buzzword now. But resilience. I don’t think that people realise the amount of struggles that you get on a day-to-day basis from an influencing piece. You know, picking the battles. Influencing takes a long time and it takes a lot of setbacks to get there. Safety is a lag indicator. You don’t just get changes overnight. So being able to build those relationships, and being resilient to that pushback… When I look at senior leaders that have been the most successful, that’s usually a trait I see in them.
What inspired you to specialist in HSE recruiting?
It seems that safetyโoutside of maybe a handful of recruiters in the Australian marketโjust gets handballed to everyone else. Like, I do engineering and manufacturing, but I’ll recruit a safety role. So there was a significant lack of specialisation, and I think a lack of care from a recruitment point. Safety was always seen as this, yeah, anyone can do that. And there was no one actually specialising in it. And for me, that makes the difference. It means better outcomes for clients, better outcomes for candidates and better outcomes for the profession which we’re here to support.
