Metro Trains Melbourne is committed to driving innovation for its customers and community. To support this, the suburban rail network operator partnered with Paddl to deliver a three-phase innovation project.
By engaging Paddl's talent services, Metro connected with a diverse pool of emerging talent and developed a mobile application to increase community safety. This was trialled by +200 Metro employees and +100 community members, with the potential to impact millions of rail users.
Metro partnered with Paddl to source agile, big picture thinkers. Over 380 applications were received via paddl.com from Paddl's global community.
Applicants were shortlisted based on their Paddl Experience Profile, which recognises that all experience is valuable.
The Paddl Experience Profile is designed to capture an applicant's unique range of lifelong learning activities, providing deeper analysis into their skills and capabilities.
On September 6th, 2017 the project kicked off with the Metro Scratch Space Challenge. Metro employees collaborated with 60 of Australia's brightest talent from nine tertiary educators and VET providers.
In under five hours, 10 diverse solutions were surfaced using design-thinking techniques. The top three ideas were progressed to the next phase of the commercialisation process.
Watch the recap video below... 👇
"The importance of an event like the Scratch Space Challenge is connecting our employees with the community and coming up with some fantastic solutions to some of our biggest challenges. Innovation is really important to Metro on two fronts. The first one is that it drives diversity of thought by thinking outside the box to existing problems. Also, we want to show that we are an innovative company." Greg Curico, Head of Digital, Metro Trains Melbourne
The second phase, the Metro Skunk Works Challenge, sought to validate the chosen solutions. 43 paid students and graduates formed three multidisciplinary teams. Over 30 days, teams collectively worked 1620 hours to build working wire-frames and develop a business case.
This phase culminated in a pitch to the Metro Innovation Council, which included CEO Andrew Lezala, on Novemeber 28th, 2017 at Metro Headquarters in the Docklands, Victoria. This was a unique opportunity that offered crucial industry exposure for talent, promoting greater awareness of Metro as an innovation leader and preferred employer.
"It’s incredibly exciting to be mentored by industry experts and receive exposure to senior executives during the Challenges. It’s also great to work with a diverse group of talented individuals; you don’t often get engineers, IT, law, business and design students all working on the one project! Taking up these sorts of opportunities will help you build a collection of experiences you can draw upon in your job applications and interviews." Francoise Hill, Master of Management (HR), University of Melbourne
The final phase involved the roll out of the winning idea, by taking it to trial. This high profile project, which ran from April - July 2018, engaged +200 Metro employees and +100 members of the Paddl community.
To support the rollout, two paid interns were invited to work at Metro HQ with Metro's Head of Innovation & Business Start Up.
Paddl's community of infinite learners gained crucial industry exposure and greater awareness of Metro Trains Melbourne as an innovation leader, building a more engaging brand to attract future generations.
One of the student interns involved in Phase 3, Taylah Reimers, has since secured ongoing employment with Metro as an IT Service Management Graduate.
Metro's ongoing commitment to innovation is exemplified through this project. By driving diversity of thought and new ways of thinking, Metro has been able to come up with solutions to some of its biggest challenges including disruptions to the rail network and community safety. This latest development is set to impact millions of rail users.
Metro Trains Melbourne has made a lasting impact on its customers and community as a proud Paddl Partner.
If you are a business or organisation that would like to surface innovative solutions or grow your talent pipeline by engaging the next generation of leaders, please contact us at the below details: partnerships@paddl.com
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