John Brennan, Managing Director, ORS

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED

After 20 years in engineering, John’s career continues to climb. His firm is breaking new ground in engineering practice, they have big plans to expand and have been officially recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Ireland.

In this episode, we hear how John’s experience and willingness to try new things, has built huge trust in the team and how the freedom they enjoy has delivered huge results for everybody. We cover everything from taking over ghost estates in the 2008 property crash to finding mentors and how thinking out of the box has found success.

TOPICS WE DISCUSSED INCLUDE

01:23 Accidentally falling into engineering
04:22 How he found his mentors and how they helped his career
06:52 Why ORS is ‘multi-disiplinary’
10:16 The challenges of finishing a job someone else started
11:39 The secret to winning Best Workplace in Ireland
13:51 Does he take constructive criticism from staff
15:21 Why he has been a fan of remote working since 2015
20:11 The benefits of CPD for engineers in particular
25:45 Expansion and an exciting future for ORS
GUEST DETAILS

John Brennan is Managing Director and a part-owner at one of Ireland's leading multi-disciplinary building consultancies, ORS. John has been with the company since graduating UCD. In 2019 he led an MBO and today has plans to expand the business across the country and beyond. He is an engineer who has used networking, professional development and new technology to drive success for himself and his team.

Based in Mullingar, ORS is one of an exclusive number of Engineers Ireland CPD Accredited Employers in the country. It is also one of a small number of Irish companies that are ISO certified in standards ISO 9001, 14001 and 45001. ORS are at the forefront of training and technology, where investment in the latest cutting-edge tools allows their staff to perform at their best.

CONTACT DETAILS

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbrennanceng/
https://www.ors.ie/

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer.
https://www.engineersireland.ie/

QUOTES
In 2018 we had a draft person who was very productive, efficient and wanted to work at home. So we did a pilot. He worked four days at home and his productivity went up by 40%. Why? When he was at work, he’d be asked to go into a meeting on X Y or Z project even though he wasn't working on it. That would take two hours out of his day. So there was a lot of distraction. That’s why we started remote work before COVID.

We have 94 staff and they decide where they're most productive and where they want to work. If you can give people that choice, trust gets built. They see that as a reward and it's reciprocated with increased productivity. If you start putting rules around that, such as you must be in one day a week or two days a week, it then becomes an entitlement. And that's when you see productive productivity drop off. Building that trust has been very, very beneficial for us.

Engineers get boxed. A couple of previous podcasts say engineers don't like to put themselves out there. Some are like that, absolutely, but some are not. The key to a successful business is realizing everybody has different wants and needs. Just listen to that and adapt to suit.