ENDORSEMENTS

“This is an immensely readable account of C-Mac’s transition to employee ownership, and the trials and tribulations along the way. One quality that imbues the book throughout is Rob McMaster’s honesty in discussing the challenges, successes, and some failures as the company tried one form of employee ownership before eventually moving to another. There is a lot to learn here about the challenges of business succession, and what employee ownership has to offer. As a newcomer to employee ownership in Australia, I got enormous value from this book.”

Professor Andrew Pendleton, Head of School of Management, UNSW.

“Hopefully, this book will save a lot of wasted time and money for the next company that transfers ownership to their tradesmen. It helped me get an understanding of the big picture vision for employee ownership. Not only did I learn a lot about the McMaster family and their side of the transfer, I learned a lot about the beginnings of C-Mac and its philosophy of giving their workers a sense of community, which has permeated throughout our workshop to this day.”

Ivan Mihalj,Fitter& Machinist and former member of the C-Mac Staff Buyout Committee.

“In Australia, it is an unfortunate reality that governments, regulators, investors and many in the business community do not understand, and are less supportive of, co-operatives and mutuals than they are of “normal” companies. There has been a trend for co-operatives and mutuals to become “normal” companies and for Australia’s corporate structures to become less diverse and more focussed on profit maximisation. This trend has been accompanied by a loss of purpose, customer focus and engagement, employee welfare and community engagement. “Swapping Desks,” tells the story of one man’s journey in the opposite direction. Rob McMaster’s passion to improve and preserve a small business founded by his parents and honour their legacy, to care for his employees and their families, to ease the burden on his customers and suppliers and to be an agent for positive change by helping those around him to grow their skills and abilities is a stimulating read. The struggle to establish a worker co-operative to ensure a viable succession for C-Mac highlights the need for continuing the reform of our attitudes, laws and regulations to support a variety of business structures. Rob was motivated by his love of Jesus, and there is much to be learnt about servant leadership from his story. I warmly commend this book, not just for leaders thinking about succession, but for all leaders who want to make a difference in their company or community.”

Greg Hammond OAM,Lawyer and author of the Independent Facilitator Review R