Bay of Plenty Business News April/May 2017

BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2017 9
Why ex services staff
make great employees
Anzac Day is a time of the year when,
quite rightly, we remember the sacrifices of
service personnel from days gone by and
also when we give thought to those that
are still serving.
By ANDREW BERRY
Andrew Berry is Managing
Director of exServices
Recruitment and Superior
Personnel.
Equally I encourage
employers to think about
the benefits of having
ex services personnel in their
businesses and the benefits that
a services ethos can give to
their businesses.
After 14 years in the New
Zealand Police I transitioned
into civilian employment.
ExServices Recruitment has
been established based on my
experience of the opportunities
and challenges that a transition
to civilian work can provide.
We are now working with ex
New Zealand Defence Force,
New Zealand Police and New
Zealand Fire Service staff to
assist them with employment.
It is estimated that over the
next three years about 5250
people will transition out of the
services. Many of them will be
looking for their next civilian
career. We have worked alongside
the New Zealand Defence
Force for the last 18 months,
ensuring we understand their
processes. As a result we are
in a great position to represent
ex services personnel in their
transition to civilian career.
In the United States, United
Kingdom and to a lesser extent
Australia, there is a very
strong employer commitment
and understanding of the benefits
when employing ex services
personnel. ExServices
Recruitment is attempting to
reflect that experience here in
New Zealand. We are the first
and only dedicated ex Services
recruiter in New Zealand that
specifically recruits for services
personnel. ExServices
Recruitment is about providing
that link to meaningful and
challenging career opportunities
after service.
Ex services personnel have
a set of traits that in our experience,
may not be so common
in the New Zealand workplace.
The traits they bring include
a high level of dependability,
integrity, leadership, decision-making
ability, initiative,
tenacity, adaptability and professional
presence.
Since exServices Recruitment
launched in 2016, we have
had plenty of feedback from
clients specifically looking for
more ex services staff. They
tell us they value the fact that
these staff are very strong
especially in the area of teamwork,
dependability and that
they have a ‘can do’ attitude.
They find ex services staff tend
not to be part of any ‘knocking
machine’ that can sometimes
develop in a workplace.
Instead ex services personnel
are very goal focused and they
persevere to achieve a goal.
That tenacity and dependability
is invaluable to our clients.
Employers may not realise
the tremendous breadth of
skills that exist in the police,
defence force and fire service.
As well as inter-personal
skills, health and safety,
leadership, operations and
logistics skills, there is a
wide variety of trade-related
knowledge - everything from
warehousing to chef skills to
logistics and HR.
There is a significant
opportunity for employers
with ex Services personnel,
one that we believe in wholeheartedly
and utilise in our
own business. A great example
of that is the business
development manager at
our Tauranga branch, Drew
Walker, who formerly served
in the Royal New Zealand Air
Force. Employers in the Bay
keen to tap into the skills ex
services personnel can offer
can contact me directly on
Andrew@exservices.co.nz or
call Drew Walker on 07 262
0222.
Twin cyclones dismal
news for businesses
From page 3
accordance with the amount
of damage each has suffered.
There are 134 businesses operating
from Edgecumbe.
Unfortunately Debbie was
followed by Cook, hampering
efforts to get Edgecumbe and
its residents back on their feet.
The package for farmers
is based on the event being
classed as a medium-scale,
adverse event, meaning farmers
can get help from Task
Force Green teams and the Bay
of Plenty Rural Support Trust,
as well as receiving tax assistance
and civil defence payments.
Eastern Bay of Plenty
Chamber of Commerce chief
executive Ged Casey said he
had been working closely with
business owners in Edgecumbe
in the aftermath of the flooding.
“The chamber liaised with
the Emergency Response Team
and we did what we could in
the early stages including trying
to talk with as many of the
business owners as we could,”
Mr Casey said.
Mr Casey set up a temporary
office in Edgecumbe’s Fonterra
factory so people with concerns
could express them directly to
the chamber. He also helped
facilitate the opportunity for
local shop owners to go into
the cordoned areas and recover
as much stock and paperwork
as possible and assess damage.
“We are also working our
way through looking at business
assistance recovery packages.
“Our aim is to gets shops
and businesses up and running
as soon as possible.”
Mr Casey said it was still
the very early stages of what
would be a long recovery but
the prognosis is positive.
“We have some of the bigger
businesses, like Fonterra
and Eastpack, who were able to
remain open.”
Whakatane Mayor Tony
Bonne described the impact on
local businesses and organisations
as “huge” but was confident
the area would work
together and get through.
“The Government packages
will help but we are a resilient
community and we’ll help each
other get back on our feet.”
The Rangitaiki Community
Board and the The Edgecumbe
Development and Improvement
Team (EDIT) had met to talk
about what could be done to
help each other and the community.
Stock being loaded to higher
ground near Edgecumbe.
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