What we do at Meat Inspectors is important. It’s not just Australians who rely on us for quality assurance, we work to keep food safety standards at the highest level for more than 110 markets across the globe. We lead the industry in productivity, accountability, and innovation, so it’s even more important that we do it with our own unique and industry leading values.
At Meat Inspectors, we set exceptionally high standards for ourselves to ensure we remain the most trusted meat inspection business in Australia.
As the first independent meat inspection service for the Australian meat industry, we formed a vision to set ourselves apart from existing services and we’re very proud to have upheld this vision as we’ve grown. Our values system was introduced by CEO Cameron Dart.
“Our vision is to make sure Australian meat products are safe to eat, but we are also committed to developing and growing our people within our industry,” Cameron said.
Upholding our values will see us remain at the forefront of the industry and see our top performers progress in their careers.
“Career progression for our people is crucial. We’re not interested in making robots. These five core values are giving people real opportunity to grow in the business.”
Meat Inspectors Values
The Meat Inspectors Values System isn’t just some inspiring words placed on poster and forgotten about, we live and breathe them. From head office to the slaughter floor, we uphold these values, and we reward them.
“There are opportunities to move off the chain from a meat inspector to a leading hand, site manager, area manager, regional manager, or even working with us as a trainer,” Cameron said.
Our values – in no preferential order – are trust, respect, courage, commitment, and growth.
Trust:
- Our colleagues know we’ve got their back, and they’ve got ours
- We do the best job we can and our clients know they can rely on our judgement
- We behave in such a way that people know they can believe what we tell them is true
- We display attention to detail in all that we do
Respect:
- We treat people as we expect to be treated, no matter who they are or what role they hold
- We care about the welfare of the animal and call out actions we observe that do not meet acceptable standards
- We follow our processes because that’s how we protect our client’s brand and ensure Australian meat products are safe to eat
- We recognise the different roles we all play and go out of our way to support our colleagues at every level.
Commitment:
- We do what we say we will do
- We don’t make excuses and we understand we are accountable for our actions and the promises we make
- We show up and do whatever it takes to get the job done and do it safely
- Sometimes this means putting in longer hours or extra effort and we do it because we will not let our team or the client down
- We are loyal to our team and in return our team is loyal to us.
Courage:
- We back our judgement and defend the decisions we make. We stand up for what we believe in, regardless of who we’re dealing with
- We admit our mistakes and do what’s needed to fix them
- We have tough conversations if they need to be had, even though it may be difficult
- We hold our colleagues to account and call out poor performance or behaviour inconsistent with our values.
Growth:
- We are committed to continual learning and take pride in being good at what we do
- We are curious and look for ways that Meat Inspectors can provide a better service
- We regularly ask for feedback on ways we can improve
- We do our best to help our colleagues to learn and grow.
Kurt Matiu has benefited from demonstrating the Meat Inspectors values, both professionally and personally. Starting with Meat Inspectors six years ago as an Australian Authorised Office (AAO), Kurt has risen through the ranks to Northern Regional Manager. He’s gone from slaughter floor to leading a team of 60 people across multiple sites.
“All of the values are important to me,” Kurt said.
“One that stands out is growth. The business has provided me with opportunities to grow and in turn, allowed me to help grow the team members.”
For AAO Alex courage is a standout value.
“Meat Inspectors encourages us to have the courage to have a go. We back our own judgement and have the courage to stand by our fellow workers,” Alex said.
CEO Cameron Dart grew up on the land, his family was involved in livestock and production. After a stint as a Stockman, he studied stock and meat inspection. What he learned from his time on the chain forms the foundation of the values system that makes us the leading inspection service in the country. Cameron explains: