The NextEra Compass
Four directions that guide how we work with you on your BetterWork journey
Moving towards BetterWork is a journey. The NextEra Compass is how we navigate it with you.
It gives us a shared way to talk about:
- Where you are now
- Where you want to get to
- What kind of support will help you move
We work across four directions: Engage, Enable, Equip and Effect.
The Terrain We Traverse Together
Organisations don't shift to BetterWork overnight. Most move through four broad stages:
Awareness
Realising that contemporary safety approaches exist and could apply to your context.
Understanding
Exploring how complexity, culture and the design of work affect people every day.
Learning & Integration
Trying new practices, learning from everyday work and adjusting how work is designed.
Resilient Practice
Embedding holistic frameworks, balanced measures and ongoing organisational learning.
Where you are on this terrain shapes which compass point we lean on first.
Engage – Consulting & Assurance
Understanding your current system, context and challenges.
We typically help you:
- Clarify how safety, risk and work are currently governed and led
- Understand how Work as Imagined compares with Work as Done in practice
- Identify where risk and work ebb and flow in practice
- Review how existing safety and operational practices support (or hinder) BetterWork
Often where we start with boards, CEOs and senior leaders who want visibility and clarity before making big changes.
Enable – Strategic Talent & Leadership
Building leadership, talent and structures that support BetterWork.
We typically help you:
- Align HSW, HR and operational leadership around a shared view of BetterWork
- Develop leaders who can work with complexity, context and human performance
- Support strategic talent enablement and placement through initiatives like NextEra Edge
- Shape roles, responsibilities and ways of working that make risk-capable decisions easier
For organisations who know that mindsets and capabilities are key to making change stick.
Equip – Learning Re-imagined
Building practical skills and tools grounded in real work.
We typically help you:
- Design learning experiences built around real work, not abstract case studies
- Build skills in operational learning, appreciative inquiry and storytelling
- Strengthen essential capabilities like Diverse Thinking, Diverse Learning and Diverse Design
- Co-create tools and practices with workers that are empathic, inclusive and usable
For teams who want learning that genuinely changes how they act in the field.
Effect – Research & Design
Research, design and iterate to embed BetterWork over time.
We typically help you:
- Frame inquiry and research questions around everyday work and work risk
- Design and test new ways of working, tools or practices in live environments
- Create feedback loops so learning from workers shapes future design
- Build balanced measures and monitoring that track performance and learning, not just incidents
For organisations ready to experiment, learn and refine – and to see BetterWork as an ongoing practice, not a one-off project.
Where Do We Start?
We don't force every organisation through the same route. Where we begin depends on:
- Your current context and pressures
- Where you are on the Awareness → Resilient Practice terrain
- What you need most right now: clarity, capability, learning or embedded change
Sometimes we start with a board conversation and governance lens. Sometimes with a practical learning initiative on the frontline. Often, it's a blend.
The best place to begin is usually a conversation.