15 years and counting at Gallagher for Shane
We have great people at Gallagher - from Melbourne to Montana, Ontario to Otago. In this story though, we celebrate Technical Support Manager for Security, Shane Keesom, who’s been in the business for over 15 years and now works at our Hamilton site, where it all began.
Growing up in Te Awamutu, New Zealand, Shane was born and bred in the heart of the Waikato. After graduating secondary school, he completed a Bachelor of Information Technology at the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec). Not long after that, he started with Gallagher as a Technical Support Engineer in the Security team.
Despite Shane’s affinity for small-town New Zealand, he soon began to get itchy feet. That’s why, when a technical support role opened up in Gallagher’s European office, Shane jumped at the chance to stretch his legs a little further from home. For two and a half years, you’d find him assisting customers in diverse locations across Europe from 8 to 5, Monday to Friday. But on the weekends, he’d be in those locations himself - embracing every opportunity to travel.
Once he’d satisfied the travel bug, Shane returned to New Zealand and moved into a Senior Technical Support role, before being offered the chance to lead the team in 2014. “A big part of my role is making sure our customers and also the team are supported any time of the day,” Shane explains. “I believe we have a great team that works together 24/7 to provide global customer support for our security products.”
Although Shane’s jet-setting days are behind him, he’s no less busy - he and his wife Trudy have three active boys to try and keep up with! When he’s not at work, you’ll find Shane exploring local mountain bikes parks with his family - or taking a bit of time out to cruise in his much-loved old 74 Ford Capri.
Having worked in two different offices on opposite sides of the world, Shane has watched Gallagher’s development from more than one vantage point - he’s had seats on both sides of the stadium.
“Security has had awesome growth over the years - watching other regions take off has been a great success. Gallagher has gained recognition and reputation around the world for its products and we are not slowing down anytime soon!”
When asked what has changed over his 15 years at the company, Shane says there’s been a real shift in focus - zeroing in on our culture, our people, and what makes us tick. “I remember going to a talk from Steve Tucker, our Board Chair, a few years ago and the thing that stood out was his comment around Peter Drucker’s quote ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’,” he explains. “I’m really looking forward to the continuing work that’s being done around our Purpose.”
And as for why he’s stayed so long - when he could be out travelling Europe, mountain biking Waikato’s rugged hills, or cruising the roads of Hamilton with his window in the Capri rolled down?
“It’s hard to narrow it down to one thing! I get to work with awesome people throughout the business whilst doing the things that interest me – helping people, keeping up with technology and innovation, working for a family-owned company that continues to grow year by year…”
“And of course, I like the colour orange!”
If you'd like to work with great people like Shane, why not join us? We'd love to have you part of the team. Explore our current vacancies here.