Human Resources
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Balancing love and business: Handling sensitive issues
- October 3, 2024
How do romantic partners in business raise an issue with their significant other in the workplace, particularly when one partner is more sensitive to criticism? Romantic partners co-owning businesses face unique challenges because any disagreement can raise tension between the couple, which can spread to staff, risking polarisation and disruption to workplace dynamics. Gaelene Adams Love, managing director and business relationship coach at Team Fusion International, says romantic part...
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Who’s the boss? Why couples in business are more likely to split
- June 26, 2024
Couples in business together are more likely to divorce, often over disputes about who's the boss. Gaelene Adams Love, managing director and business relationship coach at Team Fusion, a company that empowers teams through leadership and business growth strategies, says the research aligns with her experience: couples who operate family-owned businesses are more likely to divorce than couples who do not own a business together. "Role disputes would rank in the top three reasons why couples...
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On the cutting edge of AI, contact centre sector needs more people
- June 6, 2024
Not only is the New Zealand contact centre industry offering a lifeline to the country's unemployed amid civil service layoffs and a deepening recession, but it is also one of the few sectors giving employees potential opportunities to team up with artificial intelligence (AI). Elias Kanaris, CEO of Contact Centre Network New Zealand (CCNNZ), says the local contact centre industry presents a viable employment option because not only is the sector under-resourced, but also because it is p...
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Wellington doing it tough: Out-of-work public servants must stay relevant
- May 22, 2024
Government redundancies are hitting the Capital hard, but it is harder still for the many thousands of jobless public servants who will be looking for new employment in a recession and radically different job market. Momentum Consulting Group Principal Consultant Tom Stephens says public servants will need more of an edge than merely polishing their curriculum vitae (CV) and interview techniques to stand out (although that is a given). “I have been in recruiting for more than eight yea...
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Right Shoring: The Next Frontier for Small And Medium Businesses
- March 14, 2024
For many Australian and New Zealand small businesses, the idea of expanding their team overseas might seem daunting, but a volatile and disrupted business environment may make it a question of survival. Irwin Hau, founder and director of digital agency Chromatix Web Design and the Australasian marketing SaaS start-up ConversionCow, believes a new approach called "Right Shoring" is the key to success in today's small business market. "We've all been conditioned to think local for th...
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Empathy not persecution desirable when contact centre staff screw up
- February 8, 2024
A Work and Income (WINZ) case manager telling his client to 'go rob a bank' and 'to shut up' should also be afforded some empathy, says Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ). "In a way, all contact centre staff are case managers because they have to solve problems, and often callers are frustrated and hostile," says CCNNZ CEO Elias Kanaris. “This is a warning to all businesses. We’re living in angry times and if we don’t deal with the pressures that are being placed on staf...
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The 2023 NZ job market will farewell the traditional CV
- December 22, 2023
In the New Zealand job market of 2024, the curriculum vitae (CV) will continue its decent into redundancy because it is essentially an historical document. Instead, with more lay-offs coming, it's imperative that individuals, especially those in their mid-40s to 50s, understand the importance of personal branding. Kathryn Sandford, CEO of Move to More (M2M), emphasises that in an era where a significant part of a company's reputation hinges on personality, invisibility on digital...
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The Future of Health Care: Harnessing Digital for Proactive Wellness
- November 23, 2023
Our New Zealand health system stands at a precipice due to funding constraints, nurse and doctor shortages, and the rising cost of medicines. Finding a fix may not be as complicated as some think, thanks to the rapidly evolving potential of making greater use of digital technologies in healthcare. Vino Ramayah, CEO of New Zealand's largest secure healthcare online portal, Manage My Health, which has more than 1.85 million Kiwi members – and which works in partnership with more than ...
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Public abuse causing mental health issues for contact centre staff
- November 16, 2023
The abuse of contact centre staff by callers has reached unprecedented levels, threatening both the mental health of workers and potentially future access to personalised customer service, industry body Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ) is warning. "If Kiwis want a future that is completely dominated by bots, they're doing a good job of getting there," CCNNZ CEO, Elias Kanaris said. "Imagine being stranded at an airport and having to rely on a bot to solve your problem—it wil...
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AirNZ's outsourcing move keeps local contact centre staff on their knees
- October 26, 2023
Air New Zealand's decision to temporarily outsource some call centre activities to the Philippines because there is a shortage of suitable staff is understandable, but also a self-perpetuating practise because it cheapens the profession—the moment you find a cheaper alternative, the less locals earn, says industry body Customer Contact Network New Zealand (CCNNZ). CCNNZ CEO, Elias Kanaris, said he understands Air New Zealand's decision to move contact centre activities offshore temporarily ...
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Rise of transactional recruiting robs both employers and job seekers
- October 17, 2023
New Zealand's employers are being urged to be less clinical in their hiring practices as, increasingly, candidates report that job interviews seem to be turning into a checklist exercise. Kathryn Sandford, CEO of Move to More (M2M), a recruitment company and career/job-hunting coach, wants employers to prioritise the human connection when evaluating prospective employees for a role. "The checklist approach covers points like flexibility, no bullying policies, diversity and inclus...
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Late in life ADHD diagnosis, just the beginning
- June 28, 2023
Adults diagnosed with ADHD later in life are being urged to see their diagnosis as only the beginning of a journey to address years of false and destructive beliefs about themselves. Simone-Ellen Keller, a personal transformation strategist and CEO of Genius You, was also diagnosed with ADHD later in life and sees it as part of her mission to help those who learn of their ADHD well into adulthood because the diagnosis is not the end of the journey, but the beginning. Keller—whose consult...
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Times for retailers may be tough, but that’s no excuse for cutting staff
- May 30, 2023
There’s no question that Kiwi retailers are struggling with reports that almost half did not achieve their sales targets in the first quarter of 2023, and while some may be pondering cutting staff—if they haven’t already—but that would be a mistake. Mark Presnell, the CEO of Convergence, a specialist in eCommerce integration, is urging employers to avoid going down the same old path of cutting people loose because such cost-cutting tactics are a thing of the past. Retailers have so ma...
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AI helps job seekers turn the tables on application tracking systems
- May 23, 2023
Job seekers have been on the backfoot ever since the advent of 'application tracking systems (ATS), which automatically accept or reject CVs based on keywords—efficient but unfair—however, the arrival of artificial intelligence (Ai) like ChatGPT is a game changer. Kathryn Sandford, CEO of Move to More (M2M), a recruitment company and career/job-hunting coach, says the smart use of Ai will empower job seekers to 'farm' job descriptions for keywords and use those keywords in their CVs and ...
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Kiwis job seekers poorly prepared for toughening job market
- April 11, 2023
Most Kiwi job seekers are poorly prepared to navigate the New Zealand job market because they aren't aware that the local employment landscape has changed, meaning that we have to take a different approach to job search. Kathryn Sandford, CEO of Move to More (M2M), a recruitment company and career/job-hunting coach, said many candidates seem to think that we are in a 'candidates market' and that jobs are easy. "As a result, candidates use the same CV and the same cover letter to apply fo...
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Is ageism real, or just a miscommunication?
- March 2, 2023
Discrimination based on a person's age (ageism) is a problem in New Zealand—there’s no doubt older workers struggle to find employment—but the cause is more likely due to a generational disconnect. Sandford, who is the CEO of New Zealand recruitment and career coaching company Move to More (M2M), said workers over 50 could be more successful if they learn to bridge the generational divide. “There will be more opportunities for over 50s moving forward because the workforce is ...
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Grass roots first aid for mental health in the workplace improves overall worker safety
- March 2, 2023
Employers who tell their employees to 'leave their personal problems at home' may be contributing to a more hazardous workplace by increasing the risk of serious, even fatal, accidents on site. Stats NZ reports a significant increase in the proportion of people with poor mental well-being, up from 22 per cent in 2018 to 28 per cent in 2021. How this impacts broader health and safety—for example, falls and accidents with machinery, power tools and forklifts—is a significant concern for +...
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Kiwi businesses cautioned against making panic hires
- February 21, 2023
Even in a tight labour market, Kiwi SMEs should beware of the temptation to hire just anybody who comes along because a business that hopes to survive and thrive will need the right mix of people to get through. New Zealand-based Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Implementer and facilitator Vijay Nyayapati said there is no question New Zealanders are in tough times—labour shortages, floods and the cost-of-living crisis—all of which could lead to knee-jerk business decisions. ...
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Men need permission to use their emotions as well as women
- February 9, 2023
Male suicide and depression rates could be drastically reduced—and men could get more out of their relationships—if they were permitted to use their emotions the same way as women. Simone-Ellen Keller, a personal transformation strategist and CEO of Genius You–a consultancy that teaches people how the mind works and how to use it to uncover their brilliance by using emotions constructively– said men are twice as likely to commit suicide as women and that needs to change. Global...
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Women with grey hair often discounted in the workplace
- January 31, 2023
Age catches up to us all, but in the workplace, there remains a big difference in how men with grey hair are treated in comparison with women who have grey hair, said M2M (Move To More) director Kathryn Sandford. Sandford, who is the CEO of New Zealand recruitment and career coaching company M2M, said as the modern workplace makes effort to be more inclusive and remove stigma, a lot of perceived barriers have been overcome. However, Sandford said an “unspoken” barrier that deserves mo...
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On screen communications an essential skill lawyers must master
- January 6, 2023
The cut and thrust of face-to-face is in the blood of many lawyers, but the trend to digital communications brought about by the pandemic means the industry has to get better at on-screen communications, not least mid to senior job applicants. Altitude Recruitment chief executive Louise Hall-Strutt, founder of legal recruitment company Altitude, said prevailing in front of a court should be well within the wheelhouse of any competent lawyer—communicating well via video feed however is a w...
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Unemployment for executive women worse post pandemic
- January 3, 2023
Women who have broken through the glass ceiling and achieved executive management success are finding that employment over the age of 50 presents a far more formidable barrier than any glass ceiling. Kathryn Sandford, who is the CEO of New Zealand recruitment and career coaching company M2M, said capable women with vast executive level experience can find it almost impossible to get a role in today's environment. Employing the concept of whakapakari (to develop, strengthen and refine) ...
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Horror stories a job turn-off for high quality law candidates
- November 30, 2022
In this tight labour market, high-quality law candidates can afford to be choosy, with many looking beyond salary to the hearsay of what friends, contacts and reputation may have to say about a potential employer. Louise Hall-Strutt, founder of legal recruitment company Altitude, said today that it is now not unusual for candidates to be guided by what they have heard about a firm, and whether they believe the senior partners of a potential employer would make a good mentors. "With the une...
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NZ’s talent shortage may be due more to employer bias than reality
- October 13, 2022
New Zealand's talent shortage may be less 'a shortage' than a tendency to overlook the hidden potential in people who don't fit within the narrow bias that has dominated employer thinking for decades--change is needed. Employment coach and director of recruitment company M2M (Move To More) Kathryn Sandford said today that some employers' obsession with finding the right 'fit' is a significant reason behind much of New Zealand's so-called talent shortage. "In a so-called talent shortage, th...
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Smash and grab crime particularly traumatic for family businesses
- October 3, 2022
'Smash and grab robberies', ram raids, red tape and rising costs are taking their toll on New Zealand's SMEs but are particularly tough for family businesses because the trauma goes home with them at night. New Zealand Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) Implementer and facilitator Vijay Nyayapati said today that recovering from traumatic events in a family business can be challenging when different generations are involved in the business because the conflict and the pain are more perso...
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Kiwi job candidates leery of so-called negotiated ‘work from home’ agreements
- September 21, 2022
Formalise your work from home policies or lose out in the war for talent a leading New Zealand tech recruitment agency is warning. Managing director and founder of specialist IT and digital recruitment company Imara Limited, Barry Hardy, said job candidates are wary of so-called negotiated agreements or vague promises—they want the ‘work from home’ condition set in stone before they accept a role. Handshake deals got many businesses through the pandemic doldrums, but now that the wor...
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Inflicting shame and pain (on bullies) won’t solve NZ’s bullying problem
- August 31, 2022
Sagas such as that of Labour MP Gaurav Sharma and other stories about bullies and bullying will continue to make headlines in New Zealand until people are taught the mental skills they need to protect themselves—and for as long as we continue to shame, expel, and punish the bullies themselves. Simone-Ellen Keller, personal transformation strategist and founder of Genius You—a framework for self-understanding and development—said that bullying is as old as humanity, and we still don't ...
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Tech companies have less than 7 days to find and hire tech staff
- August 19, 2022
The average time from search to hiring a candidate in the New Zealand tech industry has reduced by 50 per cent this year–leaving no room for mistakes in the race to secure the best talent. Managing director and founder of specialist IT and digital recruitment company Imara Limited, Barry Hardy, said that before the Covid-19 pandemic, companies were running a hiring process that, on average, took 10-15 days to find and employ a suitable candidate. That time has shrunk to only seven days. ...
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Ricoh teams up with local tech company ‘Tether’ to help monitor the quality of the air we breath
- July 19, 2022
Homegrown building performance tech company Tether has caught the eye of Japanese multinational imaging and electronics giant The Ricoh Company Ltd. Tether delivers a CO2 monitoring solution for managing COVID-19 risk within any government or protection framework. COVID-19 can be spread by breathing in air exhaled by another person, hence high CO2 levels in the environment mean a higher percentage of the air we breathe is shared with other people, which leads to a higher exposure risk. ...
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Winter and economic pressures a slippery slope for workers
- May 9, 2022
The coming winter, with its rains and current economic pressures, is a time of heightened danger for Kiwi workers who are still too ready to cut corners to save time but end up losing their lives instead. Jason Braithwaite, the General Manager of New Zealand health and safety training provider Besafe Training Ltd – a company that is an expert in training workers to work safely at heights – is worried that supply shortages will put extreme deadlines and financial pressures on labourers and...
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Too many companies neglecting to elect health and safety reps
- March 3, 2022
Despite statutory obligations that work site health and safety representatives be elected by their colleagues – which helps ensure better health and safety outcomes – the majority of safety reps who attend health and safety training appeared to be appointed by their employers. Jason Braithwaite, the General Manager of New Zealand health and safety training provider Besafe Training Ltd, says elected health and safety representatives are more passionate about safety. As the voice of the ...
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Popularity of branded masks may come back to bite SMEs
- February 8, 2022
A health and safety company is warning employers to avoid issuing staff with branded cloth masks. While they're good marketing and may meet current Government guidelines, they are not enough to keep the team safe from Omicron. Jason Braithwaite, the General Manager of New Zealand health and safety training provider Besafe Training Ltd, said employers are responsible for the health and safety of their staff on-site, and issuing PPE equipment that is not fit for purpose could have serious impli...
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Warning to employers to act on absenteeism now
- January 18, 2022
A combination of the increased sick leave entitlements to ten days, Covid-19 control measures that tell people to stay home if they feel ill and traditionally high absenteeism rates in the Kiwi workplace mean that local companies need to brace for a potential surge in absenteeism in the coming months. Chief executive of national labour-hire company ELE Group, Brent Mulholland, said that in line with trends overseas, New Zealand companies could expect to bear a higher than average burden of pe...
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Apathetic bosses one reason workplace accidents still too high
- January 13, 2022
Apathy from some senior leaders may be a significant reason why deaths and accidents on New Zealand worksites have not reduced appreciably in the last few years, despite strict legislation. Jason Braithwaite, the General Manager of New Zealand health and safety training provider Besafe Training Ltd, says the most common question he gets from workers attending the company's health and safety programme is: 'How do I persuade my boss to implement these safety measures?' "Safety legislation pa...
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Access | Partners in Property continues growth with an acquisition and appointment of a GM
- January 12, 2022
One of New Zealand's leading facilities services companies, Access Partners in Property based in Wiri – has reorganised its senior management team hot on the heels of acquiring The Building Wash Company in recent weeks. Founders and shareholders, Lance Pearson and Richard Cawson, will continue as Access Partners in Property Directors and Board members following the appointment of Craig Pearson to the role of General Manager. This GM role encompasses three synergistic brands Access – Gu...
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How to survive the Kiwi labour crunch as outsource avenues shut
- July 19, 2021
In recent years it has become common for Kiwi companies to outsource work to virtual staff in places like the Philippines and India, but the toll of Covid-19 is shutting down even these options for local businesses. BetterCo Business Advisors and Chartered Accounting firm director Peter Prema says Covid-19 is ravaging traditional outsourcing markets for New Zealand companies, causing stoppages or unrealistic delays in the fulfilment of service businesses like accounting, IT and call cent...
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The #1 mistake that business owners make causes stress and anxiety in their staff
- July 8, 2021
Heard of the power of one? Like compound interest, just a 1 per cent improvement in 1 per cent of your business, made consistently results in spectacular performance improvements. Well, research has shown that if you fix this #1 mistake, expect to get at least a 10 per cent improvement in employee productivity. That’s mind-bogglingly big! I quoted the figure from a book I recommend: Wellbeing at Work: How to Build Resilient and Thriving Teams. Worldwide, about 50 per cent of employee...
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Winter blues threaten SME productivity and health
- July 7, 2021
Newmarket Business Awards Best Small/ Medium Business of the Year and Newmarket Supreme Winner Award for 2021 New Zealand's recent spate of heavy rainfall, snow and wild weather means it is time for Kiwi SMEs to pay closer attention to the health and wellness of their staff who will be contending with the things like seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and low morale during the gloomy months of winter. Director of Auckland accounting and advisory firm, Justin Keen, says we've entered a perio...
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Skills shortage tilts balance of power to younger workers
- June 2, 2021
New Zealand's growing skills shortage due to Covid-19 imposed restrictions on immigration will force companies to suck up the risks associated with upskilling far more junior employees. "As we are already seeing with clients in the hospitality, building and professional services sectors, younger Kiwis are going to find themselves confronting a sharp learning curve with the need to take on more responsibility sooner," says Vinay Iswar, managing director of BetterCo Advisory and Accounting firm...
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Virtual reality (VR) training programme puts 95% of Hawke’s Bay cadets into jobs
- March 25, 2021
More than 95 per cent of unemployed graduates who participated in a cutting edge virtual reality (VR) vocational and life skills training programme in Hawke's Bay have achieved long term employment. Funded by the Te Ara Mahi allocation of the Provincial Growth Fund, the Whiti Supply Chain Cadetship – powered by IMPAC – teaches forklift operations using VR simulators, and broader life skills training such as goal setting, resilience and confidence. The wrap-around approach is achieving ext...
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Why Work-from-Home is a Fad Doomed to Failure
- January 16, 2021
My first day of work in the home office, I dressed for the part – work pants, shirt, shoes. I was starting my own business, and I kicked off that first day promptly at 8 am too. I just didn't count on the lawnmowers ruining the mood: giant atmosphere killers, those lawnmower blokes. Then there's the dog next door that barks all day when the neighbours are at work and the fact that I had to park a heater virtually under my feet to stay warm. Working from home wasn't going to be as romantic as ...
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