Waikato Business News April/May 2019

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10 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2019 Civil contractors back need to change vocational education The civil construction industry says the Government’s proposed Reform of Vocational Education has potential to fix longstanding issues with vocational training and education, despite needing careful management and more recognition of on-job training. Civil Contractors New Zealand chief executive Peter Silcock said while it was clear the vocational education system required major changes to remove duplication and increase efficiency in delivering job skills, the critical issue would be maintaining interest and engagement from employers and trainees while changes were brought in. “Like many other industries, civil construction is experiencing a major skills shortage. We need well-trained people to work on New Zealand’s infrastructure, and it’s important the skills of these talented people are recognised through national qualifications.” He said most civil construction companies run their own training programmes, enabling them to ensure training is timely, relevant and creates valuable skills and knowledge for employees and employers. While degrees and diplomas were important for civil engineers and surveyors, targeted training and qualification in specific job skills was needed, with relevant one or two day off-job courses the biggest gap for the civil construction industry. Silcock said the proposed Industry Skills Bodies would be better equipped to support and address industry needs. CCNZ and the civil construction industry had established a positive and productive relationship with the civil infrastructure Industry Training Organisation Connexis, creating a Civil Trades Apprenticeship scheme and reviewing civil infrastructure qualifications. Despite the need for improvement, the major trade industry skills shortages meant it was vitally important any changes are implemented in a way that does not put off prospective apprentices and employers from beginning or completing qualifications, he said. “There’s a lot of conjecture around the details of this proposal – details that are still being worked out. It’s understandable people involved in the vocational education sector are concerned about their positions, but it’s also important we keep things realistic and avoid scaremongering lest we undermine our vocational education pathways.” Silcock said a review of the property and resources required for the proposed New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology was appropriate, considering the likely growth potential of on-job and online delivery. While it was reasonable to expect employers to dedicate some financial resource to training, they should not be expected to pay to support large-scale bricks and mortar campuses they have little to no involvement with, he said. Business expo set to profile Waikato’s thriving economy The countdown has begun for the inaugural Waikato Business Expo to be held at Claudelands on September 11. The one-day event, hosted by the Waikato Chamber of Commerce and organised by Jigsaw Solutions Group, brings together a community of qualified business expertise to help Waikato businesses thrive. Billed as the expo “where business gets done”, the event showcases leading edge and forward-thinking businesses, speakers and education. It is expected to draw interest from local, regional and national organisations with links to the Waikato. Host Waikato Chamber of Commerce CEO Chris Simpson said early interest in exhibiting had reinforced the need for an event of this quality and scale for the region. “The calibre of exhibitors that have already signed up is fantastic,” he said. “The expo fits well with our vision of providing our members and business community with valuable opportunities to engage their markets.” With a population bigger than Wellington, Waikato’s economy grew by 7 percent in 2018 and the region is now host to a $30 billion dollar economy. Its proximity to Auckland’s $100 billion market makes it a growing hub for commerce. Among exhibitors will be a wide-range of commerce providers including IT experts, virtual PAs, health and safety, finance, recruitment, digital marketing, education, catering, banking and personal and professional service providers. The expo is for all types of businesses whose target market is business-to-business (B2B). Laura Parsons will deliver the keynote address. Additional expo experiences include B2B networking and workshops offering insights and tips on how to improve and generate growth. Event director Sharon Giblett said: “The Business Expo is the ultimate leveraging opportunity, whether you want to grow your market share, look for business solutions, increase your knowledge of the marketplace or see what competitors are up to.” “Today time is so valuable,” she said. “Exhibiting, sponsoring or attending an expo is an extremely effective and efficient way of using your time wisely. You can achieve more in one day than you could in weeks or months of your normal working schedule”. Award-winning wellbeing specialist, author and entrepreneur Lauren Parsons has been engaged as keynote speaker for the event. Hot off the TEDx stage in New York State, Lauren is founder of the Snack on Exercise movement and will present her renowned keynote session “Overcoming the Overwhelming - How to thrive in a fast-paced world”. The Expo opens at 7am to VIP invited guests and then to the wider business community from 9am to 4.30pm. Bookings for exhibitors are now open. Convenient Shuttle /Coach Services now under one roof Luxury Shuttles has joined forces with Roadcat, creating a one stop shop for Airport Shuttles, tours and charters regionwide. With the wide range of vehicles we have after taking over the management of Roadcat in February, we can cover any transportation requirements your business may require. From picking up executives in our Mercedes Benz station wagon anywhere in the North Island to having corporate vehicles up to 19 seats and coaches from 22 seats up to the latest 50 seat 2018 Scania Coach for your larger group travel, we are your choice of transport. Roadcat/luxury Airport Shuttles choice of vehicle manufacturer is Mercedes Benz, well known for their Safety features with sizes ranging from 4 to 19 seat cars and vans Owner George Oliver says having Roadcat to join the Luxury Airport Shuttle family offers more frequent services for the Waikato region using local drivers with local knowledge supported with shuttles from Rotorua and Tauranga. Having a range of late model 4 and 5 star coaches from 22-53 seats also makes travel arrangements for large groups so easy to arrange. For more than 14 years, Luxury Airport Shuttles has offered an extensive door to door service If you need safe and comfortable transportation with first rate service within Auckland and further a field Roadcat Luxury airport Shuttle, Royale Coachlines are just a phone call away or you are welcome to book online. Call 0800 454 678 or 07 647 4444 or book online at www.luxuryairportshuttles.co.nz
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS April/May 2019 11 Can I trust you? Should you care? Our society is becoming more mistrustful. We don’t believe every media headline we click, we take world leaders’ words with a grain of salt and we know we’re being fed a whole lot of garbage on social media. So, what does this current environment of mistrust mean for your business? Companies need to be proactive and intentional about gaining respect. Trust doesn’t “just happen” as a result of doing good business. But first, you have to ask yourself: should you care if people trust your company? Well, let’s take a look at why it might be a good thing: The more people trust you, the less you have to do a hard sell and the more people will seek out your products. Trust makes it easier to attract and retain great staff. When your community trusts you, it becomes easier to work through a disruption such as an expansion or construction project that requires consultation and consent. With increased trust, influential people begin spreading positive word-of-mouth and doing the trust-building work for you. And, perhaps most importantly, a high trust quotient means when you screw up – and you will, we all do – it will be easier and quicker to rebuild trust. I was recently listening to a podcast featuring University of Houston research professor Brené Brown. She was dis- cussing an excerpt from her book, Rising Strong, about how individuals can earn trust. Her recommendations got me thinking of some essentials that corporates must follow if they need to build more trust. Here are a few things I personally think are quite important: Protect and build your circle of trust You become a trusted organisation when you have other trustworthy, respected organisations working with you and around you. Be purposeful in fostering great relationships with good organisations. Don’t associate with companies with shaky reputations – over time, it will rub off on you. Under-promise and overdeliver We learn to trust organisations over time who do what they say. If you promise your staff you’ll celebrate when KPIs are achieved, you’d better do it. If you say you’ll meet an important deadline, do it and tell people you’ve done it. When your staff, customers and corporate friends see your word is gold, trust will follow. Say sorry when you screw up Your mum’s advice works in the corporate world too. If you’ve done something wrong, own up to it quickly. Say you’re sorry, tell people how you intend to fix it, do it and tell people when you’ve fixed it. It’s a pretty simple formula on paper, but tough to implement when crunch time comes. However, watch the trust bank fill up quickly when you’re able to eat a bit of humble pie. Practise integrity At a basic level integrity is about demonstrating externally who you are internally. So, as a company, that means having strong values. And then the second step is demonstrating those values to and through your staff, to your customers, suppliers, partners and community over and over again. Integrity is an action word. How do you know if you’re a trusted organisation? Ask. Ask your staff, ask your customers, ask influential people in your community. Then, once you have a baseline measurement, create an action plan to build more trust if necessary. Or if you’re where you want to be, put some purposeful activities in place that serve to keep you in a healthy trust maintenance mode. PR AND COMMUNICATIONS > BY HEATHER CLAYCOMB Heather Claycomb is director of HMC Communications, a Hamilton-based, award-winning public relations agencys. Ardern: ‘The world looks to us for solutions’ in primary sector Numerous issues are affecting the world’s agriculture and horticulture industries – including here in New Zealand, where primary industries are of paramount importance. At a time where concerns are arising about environmental issues and sustainability, food safety and country of origin, and fair trade and labour shortages, the Te Hono Volume to Value Forum, held at Zealong Tea Estate last month, facilitated a much-needed discussion around the future of New Zealand’s primary sector. Guest of honour Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern returned to her home region to speak to leaders in the agricultural and horticultural sector at the event. Though New Zealand is one of the most efficient food producing countries in the world, she agreed that “intensive volume-driven bulk commodity models have brought along issue of economic and environmental sustainability”. However, she also said that due to New Zealand’s reputation for being able to adapt and adjust to changing demands, the world is looking to us for solutions. As well as a volume-tovalue approach, she also praised Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor’s “volume-to-values” stance, which considers values held by both producers and consumers, such as quality nutrition, environmentally sound practice, traceable and ethical labour supply chains, and produce free of pests, disease, and other contaminants. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Zealong general manager Gigi Crawford. Fittingly, these issues were addressed while looking over New Zealand’s only commercial tea estate, which has been championing this approach since its beginning more than 20 years ago. Zealong general manager Gigi Crawford also spoke of their volume-to-value journey during the event. Crawford touched on current issues in tea producing countries, such as fair trade and low pay for tea pickers, high levels of pesticides and residues, and traceability, before sharing how Zealong has found a solution. By growing tea in a new, clean environment, with 100 percent organic certification and international food safety standards, it has ensured complete traceability from soil to sip for consumers’ peace of mind. Zealong’s organic and full traceability certifications are unique in the tea world, providing third-party credibility that their tea meets the high production values for which New Zealand is known. Crawford added that New Zealand is one of the few developed countries which has no regulation of the term “organic”, so certification is essential. Over the 10 years since Zealong’s official opening, they have opened a Tea House restaurant, various function and event spaces, and started guided tours to give an insight into the production of their tea. These experiences have helped Zealong demonstrate the value of their tea: Crawford said that their annual 40,000 visitors take Zealong’s story and values out to the world. Following the lead of Zealong and other innovative New Zealand agribusinesses, Ardern asserted that industry collaboration and sharing of New Zealand’s unique story and values, such as kaitiakitanga, would help our primary sector appeal to markets willing to “[spend] a little more on products that are natural, wholesome, good for them, good for the world”— showing once again that New Zealand is a world-leading innovator. KPT 19|160 Step into a career in teaching Apply for a TeachNZ Scholarship* today and you may be eligible to have your core study fees covered, plus receive an allowance of $10,000 over your study period. Applications open 6 May to 14 June. *For more information including T & C’s and eligibility for a TeachNZ Scholarship, enquire directly with TeachNZ. Apply Now twoa.ac.nz/teaching 0800 355 553 “Our responsibility is to build and shape our tamariki ” Ngahuia Kopa, Graduate
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Waikato Business News April/May 2019

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