December 2022 - Bay of Plenty Business News

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18 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS December 2022 BUSINESS CONSULTANTS Wiremu Matthews and Steve Hersey with their specialist team Kānuka kōrero: people & purpose He aha te kai a te rangatira? He kōrero, he kōrero, he kōrero. What is the food of the leader? It is conversation, it is communication. Kānuka Wellbeing & Leadership has operated in the Bay for eight years and supported business leaders and teams through the disruption of Covid-19 and its ripple effects over the last two years. Wiremu and Steve co-direct Kānuka and bring their knowledge and expertise in toiora wellbeing, maximising team performance, and performing under pressure to a number of sectors across the North Island. Building Upon Bi-Cultural Practice Kānuka is the only consultancy service, within the Bay, to provide a full range of individual and organisational development programmes that are all underpinned by, and actively integrate, Te Ao Māori principles. As social norms embrace the learning of Te Reo and Tikanga Māori, demand for services has grown. “We have worked alongside the health sector for a number of years where kaupapa māori awareness and practice has been a common theme for some time; however, it is only more recently that this same demand has grown from the private and commercial sector. It’s an exciting opportunity for us to share te ao Māori principles and see them effectively applied in business practice.” In Wiremu’s experience, the sharing of te ao Māori is a logical and effective method of building relationships and improving communication within the professional environs. “Māori custom is strongly committed to building whanaungatanga (nurturing and upholding relationships) and this method – applied to professional relationships – brings clearer understandings and stronger commitments between parties.” Prioritising the Value of Relationship Steve and Wiremu’s common personal philosophies have shaped their approach to working with their clients. Steve comments, “Other than as keynote speakers or conference presenters, we won’t provide ‘one-off’ workshops or presentations. Our desire is to build deep connections and long-term commitment to help our clients grow and prosper. This requires authentic drivers, investment in people and process; and engagement with a clear vision.” Working alongside clients, Kānuka has recognised that an unintentional focus upon symptoms often leads to short-term results and investment in the ‘problem’ that isn’t the ‘real problem’. “This isn’t just an issue for organisations, it’s also a common issue for individuals that we coach. Our clients reach a point of recognition that their behaviour or output is incongruent with their desired persona. “We take them through a robust process that dives beneath the surface and explores unconscious paradigms. To engage in this process demands high levels of manaakitanga, (generosity, kindness, uplifting and strengthening another), tangata whenuatanga (place-based, socio-cultural awareness and knowledge) and wānanga (communication and problem solving).” Health as Integral to Performance As development consultants to high performing organisations and highly driven individuals, we look upon Covid-19 as an excellent teacher of the importance of wellbeing. Wiremu shares, “As a health professional wellbeing has been a consistent point of personal practice and from the very beginning we have always shared wellbeing strategies within our programmes and services. “Post Covid-19 we have witnessed a deeper resolve and pledge by clients to adopt these strategies more fully.” This approach to health is underpinned by Te Whare Tapa Wha (Durie, 1984), which represents a Māori worldview of health that considers individuals as multi-faceted and requiring balance between wairua (spirit/energy), hinengaro (mental/emotional), tinana (physical) and whānau (family/social connections). It’s an approach that has resonated with many clients and is now reaching beyond New Zealand’s borders. Looking Forward with Purpose Kānuka’s goals for 2023 include bringing new team members aboard the journey and expanding digital programme platforms. Steve explains “We have the benefit of positioning ourselves as boutique consultants. We are a small team fully committed to our practice philosophy and excellent outcomes for those we work with. As we work through the process of onboarding new team members, we Living life with purpose is highly empowering for business leaders and team members alike; knowing purpose defines boundaries and priorities – motivation and relationships are also rejuvenated. When we reach this space with our clients, a whole new outlook emerges.” do so with careful deliberation, and we apply this same deliberation when meeting with prospective clients. “It’s highly important to us that we present ourselves authentically and with integrity. We do not commit to a service provider relationship until we have worked through our initial process of whanaungatanga and understanding. By investing in these steps, both we and the potential client have the opportunity to identify our mutual ‘fit’.” Commenting on digital expansion plans, Wiremu notes “We’ve worked with a number of organisations and have created bespoke internal digital platforms to sit alongside our workshops and individual coaching. “As we look toward 2023, our educational specialists are excited to develop a highly responsive platform that will take our Facilitating deep team connection audience.” Getting to root causes Creating cultural health Increasing productivity unique New Zealand model to an international Facilitating kiaora@wellbeingandleadership.co.nz deep team connection Getting www.wellbeingandleadership.co.nz to root causes Creating Facilitating cultural deep health team connection Increasing Getting to productivity root causes Creating cultural health kiaora@wellbeingandleadership.co.nz Increasing productivity www.wellbeingandleadership.co.nz kiaora@wellbeingandleadership.co.nz www.wellbeingandleadership.co.nz 20 22
December 2022 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS 19 CREDIT CONTROL The Covid ridden butterfly effect in credit management What a couple of years it has been for business! We can now meet clients, friends and family face-to-face rather than via the far more impersonal video conferencing methods we have become accustomed to during the Covid restrictions. So one would think it should be business as usual, however the restrictions appear to have had some effects that will only be truly evident in the coming months and years. Travel around the town centres of New Zealand you could be forgiven for thinking that the pandemic is far from over – staff shortages are everywhere, and many businesses are changing opening times and the products they provide, and a few unfortunate ones have closed for good due to these very problems. The feeling of relief that we as business owners have been eagerly awaiting seems to be ‘late to the party’. So what does this look like in terms of data? According to the CENTRIX October 2022 NZ Credit market update report: • Consumer credit demand has climbed to pre-pandemic levels, with new unsecured lending up 18% year-on-year. This reflects the expectation that Kiwis are increasingly turning to credit to support their spending. • Mortgage arrears have crept up to a sixmonth high while consumer arrears appear to be levelling out month-on-month. Mortgage applications are down 11% on last year while new lending is down 37%. • Nearly 2.1m consumers have credit cards, however holders of multiple cards are down 33% since 2019 as many chose to close their accounts. • Despite showing signs of improved activity the construction sector has seen an upswing in defaults. Hospitality also experienced rising defaults and is now the sector facing the most challenges as labour issues and cost pressures persist. So what does that look like from a real world credit management perspective ? Well, at Debt Free we are starting to get calls from long established, normally debtor free businesses experiencing unprecedented levels of indebtedness. Businesses appear to be running pre-Covid credit management systems while trading in a post-Covid world. I liken this to wearing a tee shirt in the dead of winter simply because it used to be warm. Employed people are being NICK KERR, Debt Free paid more than ever based on the hourly figure alone but once cost of living is calculated it’s clear to see that the picture is far from rosy. I have good friends earning over $100k pa finding it difficult to keep up with the $50k a year mortgage payments, childcare and other basic necessities of life. For many self employed people the lending that they accessed to keep their businesses afloat during lockdowns now threatens to make post-lockdown life very difficult for the foreseeable future. So what, as business owners, can we do? In my opinion we need to accept that the world we stepped back into is not the same one we left before. Many formerly cashflow-rich businesses have reached the bottom of their reserves and with institutional lenders tightening lending procedures some see creditor derived financing (not paying people on time) as the only option which, as you can expect, has a massive flow-on effect that travels all the way up the supply chain with the ripple effect being increased each time. This gets worse if you cannot charge interest or late fees as you are effectively a free bank that just happens to do other things too. It is absolutely imperative that a businesses credit management system is fully assessed by an expert in the field if it was set up before the market changed or if your business has experienced changes in established client’s payments occur – there are tools available that can literally save your business, but you can’t use something that you don’t know exists. In my career I have seen countless business save hundreds of thousands of dollars of potential loss after a free 30 minute meeting simply because they then knew what was sitting there waiting to be used properly. I have seen this work and if it costs me half an hour of unpaid time to save a business owner a whole bunch of pain, then that is something I am more than prepared to do (as will any other professional advisor worth your time). Just a thought.
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December 2022 - Bay of Plenty Business News

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