A family business. What does that mean?

It’s one of the most common things I’ve seen during my three decades in business. Company’s pride themselves on ‘being a family’ business. Many are good for their word on this – the values of their business reflect those of their family. Some aren’t. Sometimes the intent is there. Sometimes businesses change as new investors arrive, old ones leave, key stakeholders change. Businesses, like families, are fluid. Occasionally it’s just PR smoke and mirrors. A bit of bullshit.

What’s always struck me is that ‘family business’ isn’t always defined beyond those two words. To me – businesses are unique. As are families. I’m an old driller who has had their share of breaks, good and bad, along the way. What has always made able to enjoy the good, and maintain perspective with the bad, has been my own family. I’ve met many people across my journey who don’t have the greatest experience, or perception, of ‘family’. That always makes me a bit sad – I’ve been mostly lucky with my family.

My wife Kellie has been there with endless support on our journey, through thick and thin. There are times when I’ve been devastated – but never lonely, without support. I remember the day we copped a seven-figure loss on a job that had gone broke. For all the fear, grief and sadness that came with that, I can still see her standing there. “It’s not the end of the world, let’s just sell all our stuff, pay everyone and keep going.”

When I describe the importance (to me) of Roc-Drill acting like a big family, that’s the lens I’m seeing it through. That we are all there for one another in the bad moments to say, “keep going”.

That we are there for each other to celebrate as well. That we can be counted on in a tight spot. That we see one another – and recognise that we are part of a group that connects us. Makes us stronger. Gives us reason to be proud of the family group, others in it, and by extension – ourselves. In a word, support. That we are there to support one another. Supporting each other in our jobs is important – but supporting each other to get the most out of our more important life, the one beyond our work, is exactly what I mean when I call Roc-Drill a ‘family business’.?

Top left – My beloved wife Kellie de Veth

Bottom left – First Deveth Drilling Queensland ute, 2008

Middle – Earnest Henry mine 2002 with Kellie, Jessie de Veth (aged 5) and Josh de Veth (aged 2), 2002

Right - Chillagoe North QLD doing a “RAB” Rotary Air Blast job with Dad. Nigel de Veth, pictured in Year 8

Chief Operations Officer, Tim Clair presented me a special award for 10 years service at Roc-Drill.

Our industry, blast hole drilling, throws up its own challenge with making sure we can support each other. There are over two hundred women and men at Roc-Drill supporting 70 rigs, spread out across nine locations. Outside of our HQ and maintenance workshop – the rest are remote and regional mining sites spread across this vast and beautiful country we call home. There are Roc-Drill employees who have been colleagues for years and have never actually met. Doesn’t really fit with a ‘traditional’ view of a ‘family’ does it?

Like all families, we’ve found that overcoming the tyranny of distance involves communication.??

During the pandemic, we started producing a quarterly company update, Roc-News, that is sent out to all the team across our worksites. It’s not just a double-sided email from me with a picture. It’s a 16-page, month-long effort that celebrates stories and achievements, talks about team members and their own family’s, shares news about what is going on across the business and our parent group, Norcliffe. It’s not revolutionary. I know it’s commonplace in a lot of industry, but I haven’t seen a lot of it done by mining contractors. I’m proud we’re doing it. Our people talk about it, look forward to it, and its another way we can make sure we are communicating and supporting our spread-out family.

In a Roc-News from earlier this year, we ran a colouring competition for kids of our team. Nothing fancy – there was just a colouring in template of a drill rig. First prize was an iPad and Smiggle pencil case. In hindsight, it was a pretty standard, company newsletter competition kind of thing really. I remember really liking the name, Roc-Kids. I never thought when we called the company Roc-Drill that we’d be able to use it in so many different ways.

The response was not what I was expecting. To a person, almost every team member with kids submitted a drawing, often multiple drawings to reflect those with larger clans. So, the judging of a winner became a bit more complicated. I don’t know if you’ve ever judged a kids colouring-in competition, but I’ve got to tell you its nigh on impossible to pick a winner. Imagine yourself sat in the office with a dozen of your colleagues with kids drawing's spread out around you. Try and decide which one of these drawings is more worthy than another. Pick one that matters more. You wouldn’t be able to. We weren’t. So we didn’t. Couldn’t. Simply had to make them all winners.

Ordering 40 iPads was another first for Roc-Drill. It’s been a year for it.

My young bloke is over in England at the moment – walking the trail that is a right of passage for many Australian’s. As his Dad of course I’m bloody worried about him, but I’m also excited for him as he sets out to discover the world and find his place in it.

I don’t know how the rest of the office team felt, but looking at those drawings reminded me that the time between when they squiggle wildly and when they call you at midnight from the other side of the planet passes by in the blink of an eye.

Family is fluid. Its fragile. Supporting one another in a family takes many different forms, and I believe communication is critical. It helps to provide and reinforce that recognition. The sense of belonging. Even when you are spread out across Australia. Or the world.

It takes on more importance when you think about the wellbeing of everyone in the team, especially when you consider our line of work in mining and resources – keeping people safe involves more than just pre-starts, hi-vis, maintaining rigs and following procedures. It means understanding the loneliness that comes with being separated from people. From being isolated in a rig for hours, days, weeks. Being new on a site where you’ve not made mates yet. From not feeling connected to the real world because you are in a small world onsite, surrounded by a vast sense of separation. That’s when support becomes real. Tangible. It?matters when that support is the bridge between someone who is getting by to someone who is getting overwhelmed.

That’s when being a ‘family business’ becomes more than a throwaway line at a job interview. That’s when it becomes about a connection that matters – that makes a difference. When it becomes about being there to support each other. Knowing the names of each others kids. Knowing that mining is just a means to an end, and that the end matters far more than the means.

As Roc-Drill continues to evolve over the coming years, our focus on supporting each other will remain a priority. Yes – it’s about wellbeing. It’s also about family. We’re part of a larger mining services group, Norcliffe. We are lucky enough to now have a lot more family members within our sister businesses – that’s a good thing, as the bigger the family the more support there is to go around. A growing family brings more opportunity for us to build connections, and pursue shared goals. Look out for one another. Keep each other safe.

Roc-Drill prides itself on being a ‘family business’. I wouldn’t define that too much, because sometimes what you want to define matters less than what you mean.

Ultimately, what we mean by that is that we are there to support one another.

Nigel de Veth

Chief Executive Officer

Roc-Drill is one of Australia’s largest blast hole drilling contractors. It was founded by Nigel De Veth. It is part of the Norcliffe Group of Companies, one of Australia’s fastest growing mining services providers.?