The Hargraves Institute was founded in July 2006 to provide a unique and exclusive community of major enterprises to share knowledge, wisdom and experience in a non-competitive environment for the purpose of growth and development.

The idea for the Hargraves Institute was born out of a conversation that occurred back in 2005 between the now Executive Director of Hargraves and a senior management team member of one of Hargraves Founding Members.

They were discussing how members of large, leading organisations can continue to learn and posed the question : “…how do we learn, how do we excel, when we’re already very, very good…?”.

How do these large, leading organisations continue to grow and improve and where does the new knowledge come from?  How do you know if a new consultant or technique or tool is appropriate, or if it works?  How can these organisations short-cut the path of trial and error and fast track along the journey of continued success?

The answer arrived at was “…to have conversations with diverse companies that are very good, and meet people that are different to ourselves who we can talk to about their experiences..”

And thus the seed was planted that was to become the Hargraves Institute.

From the planting of the seed to germination of the organisation that is now the Hargraves Institute, took over a year.  During this time, the Hargraves Institute’s Executive Director consulted, planned, and developed the Hargraves Institute prospectus – a 4 page document outlining a collaborative organisation with leading innovative organisations as members who were sharing knowledge across boundaries.

After the prospectus came the challenge of convincing 10 of these leading organisations to join for 5 years upfront.  So resonating was the idea, that 12 leading organisations agreed, and thus, with 12 Founding Members the Hargraves Institute was born on 1 July 2006.

The final step in the launch process was to ensure the ongoing integrity and vision of the Hargraves Institute through the establishment of a Founding Member Council to guide the activities of the Institute, and a Member Charter, setting out the purpose, stewardship and conduct of all members.

Hargraves membership provides a platform for people to collaborate, learn and engage with peers who are leaders in their field. Organisations join Hargraves to develop their people and be recognised as leaders who grow with current and future employees, suppliers, customers and society.

Integral to the value of collaboration within the Institute is the diverse range of industries of our members. By collaborating with like-minded peers outside of their own industry sector, members can gain a new and different perspective.

As a member driven services enterprise, Hargraves Institute uses facilitation and collaboration to develop collective wisdom that addresses issues generated by members.

All programs and events are developed with extensive member input. The majority of our events are free to members and held at member premises, with many exclusive to members.