Waikato Business News January/February 2020

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6 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS January/February 2020 Talent trends for the ’20s Why can’t I find great employees in Waikato? Why can’t I find a great job in Waikato? Two of the most common questions I’m asked these days. Employers are screaming out for talent and new candidates are coming to the market every day but are frustrated by the lack of opportunity. So, what is actually happening in the Mighty Waikato? If you’re an employer, the challenges you’ve been experiencing for the last decade are still pretty much the same – just not enough of the “right” people out there. But what do you mean by right? Years ago, the right person had to have the right skills, experience and qualifications. Personality was often last on the list, as we just needed people to do the jobs we had available. Then we moved to cultural and personality fit a few years ago, and late last year we saw the rise of adding value to the culture and alignment to values – many employers looking beyond their current needs and recruiting to future proof their business. Moreover though, we are now seeing a degree of MUST- HAVES. Now, must-haves can be great, but they can also seriously limit your talent pool. Discrimination is still rife in many businesses when they tell me “they must be a woman/ man, they must have a 10 plus years’ experience, they must be a qualified XYZ, they must….” and the list goes on. Naturally, it’s our job to challenge your must-haves as we regularly meet candidates who could add significant value to your business, but don’t tick all the must-have boxes. Some employers will flex, but many won’t. Of course, if you’re hiring a brain surgeon there will be lots of must-haves – they must have. Consider broadening your thinking about what great talent looks like for your business and change the viewpoint from MUST HAVE to perhaps IDEAL? You never know, the perfect person just might need some of your wonderful direction and coaching to quickly become your best employee. Now, you employees out there looking for work – firstly ... please stop randomly applying for every job that you see advertised online. Focus. Take time to carefully look at what the employer is searching for and dig deep to make sure you are aligned to their needs, research who the company is. Tailor your application letter to highlight your match to their needs and talk to the recruiter who is filling the role. Ask questions. How do you know if the company is going to be a great place to work if you don’t do a bit of digging? By simply firing off your CV within five minutes of a job being posted, you’re telling us that you really don’t care who the employer is, you just want a job. Chances are you won’t get past the first screen. If you’re seriously looking for a new opportunity – meet with a variety of recruiters to see how they can help you, tap into your personal and professional network and be clear about what you’re looking for in a workplace. Prepare a list of the places you’d like to work and places you don’t. Employers will ask you From the editor Kia ora I have had the good fortune to interview some inspirational business leaders for this issue of Waikato Business News. Last year, I covered Raglan Coconut Yoghurt’s win at the Westpac Waikato Business Awards. Their story is so strong, and co-founder Tesh Randall was such a compelling interview subject, that we’re telling their story in more depth in this issue. Tesh, aged just 29, has a commitment to environmental and social sustainability and fairness that is well beyond what I normally encounter. She and her partner Seb Walter are putting that into prac- questions about why you want to work for them, how you match their needs and if you haven’t done your homework, well, quite frankly, you’re dead in the water. Similarly – you may want to ask employers about their culture and how you can add value to that. It certainly is a great way to show PEOPLE AND CULTURE > BY SENGA ALLEN Managing Director, Everest – All about people TM www.everestpeople.co.nz your potential. Here’s what we know at the beginning of 2020 – there is plenty of work out there and new jobs coming online all the time. There is good talent out there but not every candidate is skilled at selling their worth and value to their future employer. Employers should tice in their highly successful business. In my interview with Tesh, I felt like I was listening to the future. It was a thoroughly heartening experience. Also compelling was Gallagher deputy CEO Kahl Betham. Once again I was talking to someone who valued their staff highly and had a strong sense of what the future might hold and how to get there. Kahl knows the company well after working his way up through various roles since getting his start in Marton. That includes a stint heading up the security division, which is a global success story in its own right. His experience gives him great insight into the company’s culture, and positions him well to lead them through the future of work changes that all businesses face. In a trifecta of strong, clear-eyed business leaders interviewed for the issue, I also talked to Lady Tureiti Moxon. She heads Te Kōhao Health, which is a very different business again, as a social enterprise with a tight focus on improving Māori health outcomes. Lady Moxon pulled no punches as she talked about the challenges facing Māori. It was a useful corrective - for all the well-meaning talk that goes on, her organisation still deals in alarming numbers with people facing homelessness, poverty and ill health. The answer, she argues, is to give Māori control over their own destiny, and the funding to support it. be expanding their vision on what makes the perfect candidate, and employees should be focusing on what they really want in a role, in a culture and how they can truly add value to their future employer. Perhaps if these two paradigms merge, talent challenges in the 2020s will be easier to navigate. You can read their stories and more in this issue of Waikato Business News - the first of a new decade. Ngā mihi Richard Walker Editor We partner with you to deliver end-to-end property services to help you achieve your objectives. Located in Hamilton, Tauranga & Rotorua | info@veros.co.nz | www.veros.co.nz
WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS January/February 2020 7 CUTTING EDGE: Company-X used virtual reality technology to replicate the high-risk procedure for emergency venting of a ruptured gas pipeline. Virtual reality eliminates risk and improves safety responses The future of work is the driver behind new state-of-the-art technology being deployed in the gas sector. The operator of one of New Zealand’s largest gas networks is using state-of-the-art technology to train its team for high-risk procedures. Taranaki-based FirstGas, operator of more than 2,500 km of high-pressure gas transmission pipelines and 4,800kms of gas distribution networks in the North Island, turned to Waikato virtual reality (VR) specialist Company-X to design and develop a custom-built VR training programme. The Company-X VR team developed a solution for FirstGas through ideation following an agile software development process. Key members of the Company-X team included augmented and virtual reality specialist Lance Bauerfeind, project manager Dilan Prasad, and interactive artist Wonkee Kim. The Company-X team worked closely with FirstGas Information Services project manager Reuben Uncles. The minimum viable product took 12 weeks to design and develop, with Uncles receiving weekly updates from Prasad and his team. “It’s amazing what they could get achieved in that short time,” Uncles said. “There was a real sense of keenness to deliver something that did what we expected and ticked all the boxes.” Company-X used cutting-edge VR technology to replicate, in exacting detail, the high-risk procedure for emergency venting of a ruptured pipeline before maintenance could be carried out. “Virtualising the emergency venting process removed all risk to the FirstGas team,” Uncles said. Company-X built a trueto-life VR model of the Te Kowhai DP Main Line Valve (MLV) in the Waikato. The team used state-of-the-art point cloud scanning technology and as-built drawings to collect accurate location and dimension data of all pipework and components. “The FirstGas project team was delighted to work with Company-X and found their approach to the project to be well thought out, which in turn made it easy for us to know what was required from us, and what their project team was responsible for,” Uncles said. “Throughout the project we were impressed with the communication, documentation and continuous progress updates provided by their project team. The project management was well delivered with detailed updates leaving us confident the project was always controlled and would be delivered on schedule.” A demonstration day in Bell Block, Taranaki was popular with the FirstGas team. “The reactions of people who tried the VR headset in the FirstGas VR Training scenario conveyed a sense of amazement, as they explored the environment and interacted with the valves, control panel button and the tools,” Uncles said. “There were no reports of dizziness, motion sickness, nausea or any other ill-feeling as can be attributed to older VR technology. The consensus was that it was a very realistic life-like world with ‘good effects’, that makes for a viable training environment. Company-X developed many reusable artefacts in the process which FirstGas can use in future VR training scenarios. FirstGas field technicians suggested further simulations, such as scenarios for unexpected events on the gas network, training on new slamshut valves, servicing and overhauling regulators. Future projects and scenarios are limited only by the imagination and ideas of the people within FirstGas,” Uncles said. “They provide an engaging, fun and cost-effective way of exposing our people to what would normally be a high-risk task.” “The delivered products possessed the ‘wow’ factor we wanted to show that training for high-risk activities can now be virtualised in a fun and engaging manner, removing almost all risk to our people and assets in a cost-effective manner.” Company-X ranks among Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific Company-X has ranked Number 496 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2019, a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in Asia Pacific. Rankings are based on percentage revenue growth over three years. Company-X grew 98 percent during this period. Company-X co-founders and directors David Hallett and Jeremy Hughes credit hiring the best and the brightest for their team delivering service excellence for the company’s 98 percent revenue growth over the past three years. Hallett said, “Company-X offers a multi-award-winning Silicon Valley savvy team with a Kiwi can-do attitude to multi-national and domestic clients.” Hughes added: “Our commitment to service excellence flows from our number one value which is delivering what we said we would.” Asia Pacific Deloitte Private Leader Mike Horne said: “Being ranked on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 is an impressive achievement, especially because today’s technology companies are thriving in extraordinarily competitive and changeable environments. “Success in the technology sector requires a special mix of innovation, creativity and leadership. “With its 98 percent growth rate over three years, Company-X has shown that they have what it takes to create and sustain success.” Overall, companies that ranked on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific 2019 program had an average growth rate of 717 percent - the highest average growth rate since 2008. Deloitte Technology Fast 500 Asia Pacific selection and qualifications The Technology Fast 500 list is compiled from the Deloitte Asia Pacific Technology Fast 50 programs, nominations submitted directly to the Technology Fast 500, and public company database research. To qualify for the Technology Fast 500, entrants must have had base-year operating revenues of at least US$ 50,000. Entrants must also be public or private companies headquartered in Asia Pacific and must be a “technology company,” defined as a company that develops or owns proprietary technology that contributes to a significant portion of the company’s operating revenues; or manufactures a technology-related product; or devotes a high percentage of effort to the research and development of technology. Using other companies’ technology in a unique way does not qualify. Innovation that works Our custom-built virtual reality software allows FirstGas to replicate high-risk procedures in a safe virtual training environment. Make our award-winning innovative thinking work for you too.
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Waikato Business News January/February 2020

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