Hunter civil construction and infrastructure firm Daracon Group has marked the graduation of 15 employees from the inaugural cohort of its Future Leaders Program. Developed in partnership with professional coaching and leadership consultancy LHH, the professional development initiative was launched as a corporate pilot in May 2025 by Managing Director Jon Mingay to establish an internal talent succession pipeline across regional operations.

The program concluded with a formal graduation ceremony on 21 October 2026, marking a key milestone in the company’s workforce capability strategy. Over the course of the multi-month syllabus, participating personnel completed intensive training modules focused on team communication, workplace trust, constructive conflict resolution, peer coaching, and managerial feedback mechanisms.

The professional development curriculum was structured to bridge conceptual workshops with daily on-site operational practices across civil construction and project management teams. Following the conclusion of the pilot cohort, Daracon Group is conducting a structured program evaluation to finalise curriculum frameworks for subsequent leadership intakes across the business.

Workplace Development Lead at Daracon Group, Ana Saiao stated that the program prioritised experiential workplace development over theoretical training room instruction.

“The Future Leaders Program has been about much more than completing workshops or learning leadership concepts. It has been a development journey that has encouraged participants to better understand themselves, recognise the impact they have on others and become more intentional about how they lead,” Ana said.

“Importantly, the learning hasn’t stayed in the training room. Participants have been encouraged to apply what they have learned in their everyday roles, seek feedback, challenge themselves and continue developing through experience.”

IMAGE | Daracon Group celebrates inaugural graduates of Future Leaders Program