Businessplus june 2016 low res

ISSUE 137 - JUNE 2016

BUSINESSPLUS NEWS AND COMMENTARY FOR EMA MEMBERS

EMA’s official opening attracted VIPs supporting business growth READ MORE: PAGE 12, 19

MORE STORIES PAGE 9: Tourism, our sweet spot for economic growth PAGE 10: Mediation succeeds because it’s informal, confidential PAGE 23: Regular survey shows what’s shaping manufacturing growth PAGE 31: Book for Winter Briefings …and much more!

We could tell you why it’s good to offer your employees Southern Cross health insurance, but kids like Brya put it best.

Read about how Brya’s dad’s employer, Foster Construction, helped them by offering Southern Cross health insurance at healthybusiness.co.nz Call us on 0800 GET COVER or talk to your Adviser.

Let’s get a healthier team

BUSINESSPLUS is published by The Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern) Inc (EMA) EMA is the major shareholder of national lobby group, BusinessNZ. EMA head office: 145 Khyber Pass Rd, Grafton, Auckland, New Zealand Private Bag 92066, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, NZ Ph: +64-9-367 0900 Email: ema@ema.co.nz In Hamilton: EMA/ExportNZ Waikato 103 Tristram Street, Hamilton.

PO Box 490 Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240.

Ph: +64-7-839 2713 In Tauranga: ExportNZ Bay of Plenty Smart Business Centre, 65 Chapel Street, Bay Central, Tauranga, 3110.

PO Box 13202, Tauranga Central, Tauranga 3141.

Ph: +64-7-571 0600 AdviceLine: 0800 300 362 (in NZ) or 1800 300 362 (from AUS) or advice@ema.co.nz Phone 8am-8pm weekdays for information about employment and more, plus referrals to EMA Legal lawyers and your local EMA consultant in employment relations and/or occupational health and safety.

Visit www.ema.co.nz for owner and staff training programmes, conferences and other events, employer guides and templates, manufacturer services, media statements and submissions, export development and more EMA contacts Chief executive: Kim Campbell Membership manager: Roger Carson External Relations manager: Val Hayes Advocacy and Industry Relations manager: Mark Champion Learning manager: David Foley Enterprises and Strategy manager: Mauro Barsi Head of Legal: Charlotte Hatlauf Industrial Relations and Safety manager: Paul Jarvie Finance and Technology manager: Paul Yeo Corporate and Building Services manager: Sheree Alcock ExportNZ manager: Catherine Lye

“To champion New Zealand business and help our members succeed”

EMA is yours

Enterprises of all types and sizes belong to EMA for a variety of benefits: • The latest information and advice on everything to do with employing staff or managing contractors, and legal representation if employers require - at member rates; • A choice of 100-plus courses and tailored training options, plus specialist seminars and events on topics such as Lean practice and developing markets offshore through EMA’s Export New Zealand division – all providing opportunities to network; • Ensuring your voice is heard by local and central government, since our aim is to improve the environment in which your business operates.

NEWS AND COMMENTARY FOR EMA MEMBERS

On the cover...

PM John Key and EMA chief executive Kim Campbell unveil the official opening plaque at the new EMA building at 145 Khyber Pass Rd, Grafton, Auckland.

See who was there! Photos on p12 and 19.

EMA’s official opening attracted VIPs supporting business growth READ MORE: PAGE 12, 19

MORE STORIES PAGE 9: Tourism, our sweet spot for economic growth PAGE 10: Mediation succeeds because it’s informal, confidential PAGE 23: Regular survey shows what’s shaping manufacturing growth PAGE 31: Book for Winter Briefings

Credit: Garry Brandon Photography

…and much more!

CONTENTS Commentary 5

EMA’s CEO Kim Campbell on: Active investment - how do we make it happen?

6 Success! No increase in transport levy 8 Driving IT transformation and savings: Zespri case study 9 BusinessNZ CEO Kirk Hope on: Tourism sweet spot for economic growth 10 Explained - Mediation: Informal and confidential problem-solving tool has high success rate 11 Reducing cost while improving quality: Better by Lean 12 The EMA is blessed: new business hub officially opened - photos

Employment 13 14 15 16 18 19

Editor: Mary MacKinven, +64-9-367 0939, mob +21 636 089, email mary.mackinven@ema.co.nz Writer: Gilbert Peterson Designer: Ripeka Mikaere | Printer: MHP | Distributor: Rocket Mail Advertising sales: Colin Gestro, Affinity Ads, mob + 27 256 8014, colin@affinityads.com ISSN No. 1176-4953

ISSUE 137 - JUNE 2016

BUSINESSPLUS

20 21

Remuneration: Determining provisions for departing chief executives Strategic settlement of claims Steal ideas and have fun at Thrive 2016 Employment Chat – Q and A: What’s with claims on 90-day trials?!

And how do I agree to flexible hours?

New online courses teach OH&S fundamentals Seen @ the official opening of EMA premises in Auckland Pet care company - a master class in caring for people too Make the World Campaign – making engineering cool

In business 23

Behind the scenes of the manufacturing survey (PMI) 24 Tax: Proposed changes to tax make life harder 25 Marketing: Resolving the marketing team’s clashes with other departments 26 Selling up: Provide the information buyers need

International trade 27 28

Export award finalists outstanding examples of NZ business Lessons learned from the Panama Papers’ hidden funds

Member profile 29

NZ education services in demand overseas: AIS

31

Book now for the EMA Winter Briefings – schedule starts in July

+ Inside: TrainingPlus insert detailing June training courses, and more BusinessPlus June 2016

3

As a valued EMA member, we are proud to invite you to take advantage of our exclusive Expert for a Day Programme.

“Expert for a Day” aims to break down the traditional barriers between business and academia by achieving a better understanding of the potential benefits of cooperation.

WHAT YOU GET: • Brainstorming and sharing of ideas, large or small • An update on latest technology and processes • Instant feedback • An expert(s) visiting your site • Advice on how you might develop your products, processes and business operations • A key contact(s) within the University

HOW IT WORKS: The Programme provides your company with the opportunity to have one or more “carefully matched” university engineers, scientists and/or business experts in your company for a day. You get to know the resources/facilities available at the University that could help you solve your business and product challenges. They get to understand some of the commercial aspects of your business and gain an appreciation of your company’s research, product development activities and objectives.

This is NOT a “Student for a Day” but a qualified & experienced academic or researcher.

WHO HAS BENEFITED: Permark Industries Ltd now have experts available for on-demand consultancy advice and are utilising testing services and resources.

Enzed Exotics are experiencing significant production growth and are engaging the University to innovate the handling process of their fruit.

“Through the Engineer for a Day programme we were able to develop a more rigorous approach to resolving some process issues. It was invaluable to be introduced to staff who have expertise in our processes and can provide a different view on ways to analyse and resolve issues.”

David Jack, Director

“When the engineer for a day programme was offered to us we jumped at the opportunity. Our product is unique and demands a high level of human handling. Whilst we are still a work in progress we believe it is going to be a game changer for us…..and we can’t wait!”

Vanessa Hutchings, Director

It is FREE, with no obligation to continue through to an agreed commercial project.

Could your business benefit from an expert for a day?

Please RSVP to Michael Burgess

Michael.Burgess@ema.co.nz

CEO COMMENTARY

By Kim Campbell

Active investment

- how do we make it happen?

With Budget 2016 just announced, our economy is in better shape than most people can remember.

To finance our productivity growth we need money and unless we borrow this, we need to earn it by making profits.

Yet we have some nagging fears that all is not right. Headline figures look encouraging (by world standards) but personal household debt at 160 per cent of GDP has quadrupled in five years.

I do not mean government surpluses.

Rather, surpluses from our businesses. Real surpluses in cash after we have allowed for borrowing costs and depreciation (yes, things do wear out and we do have to replace them).

This signals a spending spree the likes of which we have never seen before, and a party which will leave us all with a terrible hangover sooner or later.

Profit is the blood which flows in our business arteries, sustaining us and ensuring we are there in the future.

Everyone thinks they are better off because their houses appear to be more valuable.

Only businesses can make profits and it is profits that provide the surpluses to feed our savings.

This is fool’s gold, as you will discover when you sell and try to buy a replacement or worse still, try to navigate our planning laws and build something new.

Our propensity to save has been very poor as there has always been the assumption that our housing stock is our retirement piggy bank or backstop for bad times.

What makes us a wealthier nation? Are we really getting richer selling our assets to the highest bidder or borrowing to support a lifestyle?

At an individual level this is partly true, but on a national level it means our savings are tied up in unproductive assets (our homes), which don’t make cash profits and whose value appreciates only because of scarcity, making us, as a nation, worse off.

Clearly we need a reality check. Simply importing people makes it look like we are growing, but to be wealthier we need to be more productive.

Because the necessary act of finding shelter gets relentlessly more expensive.

“This signals a spending spree the likes of which we have never seen before, and a party which will leave us all with a terrible hangover sooner or later.”

What we therefore need is an economic strategy which drives business profits and directs those surpluses back into businesses – not share buy-backs, not land banks and not taxes.

Could we hope for an integrated industrial strategy, or maybe a national transport and infrastructure plan? Or, how about some devices that make it more attractive to start a business?

Or maybe a real commitment to deal a death blow to WOMAD (weapons of mass administrative delay) – which are the Resource Management Act, the Local Government Act and the Land Transport Management Act. I for one am not holding my breath. We can but dream.

• Kim Campbell is the CEO of EMA. Email kim.campbell@ema.co.nz

BusinessPlus June 2016

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COMMENTARY

By Alan McDonald

Success! No increase in Wins in the area of policy and advocacy can take time but a short, sharp EMA campaign to prevent Auckland Council from changing the rules on the Interim Transport Levy (ITL) came to a successful conclusion last month.

The Council overwhelmingly rejected changes that would impose more costs on the Auckland business community.

The three-year levy to raise $180 million for transport projects was reluctantly accepted by business just over a year ago.

Less than 12 months later a group of councillors tried to change the rules and reallocate the levy so that more costs fell on the business community. Under one proposal our members faced a rise from $183 per year to $407, while under a proposal to allocate the levy based on capital value, many businesses faced increases of thousands and in some cases tens of thousands of dollars over the next two years.

Residential ratepayers would see their levy contribution drop from $114 to $93.

When the EMA entered the argument a little over three months ago the group of councillors proposing the change claimed to have the numbers, while our own soundings indicated a close-to-even split in support, with just one or two councillors needing to change their votes or shift allegiances to get the proposals over the line or make them fail.

While the proposed dollar amount of the changes may seem small to some, businesses in Auckland already carry a heavier rating burden through the business differential, while the transport projects being funded by the levy are mainly public transport, walking and cycling - with little if any additional benefit to business.

Business also pays its transport cost share through road user charges (RUCs), petrol taxes and rates, and changing the rules on the levy just 12 months into a three-year

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term is no way to maintain the confidence of business or its future support.

EMA used verbal and written submissions to set out its case against the changes to Councillors. In a mainly behind-the-scenes campaign those submissions were followed up with individual approaches to Councillors at various functions, events and meetings, targeted letters and finally media coverage opposing the proposed changes.

We also worked and liaised with other Auckland-based business organisations such as Heart of the City, Property Council NZ and the Chamber of Commerce to keep pressure on councillors to stay with the status quo.

The result? A resounding 20-3 vote against changing the levy.

“Who is going to pay, because it’s very clear – as Minister Simon Bridges has said– that Government has no interest in this debate?”

Port location decision nears The Auckland Port Future Study Group, which includes the EMA, is working towards its early July recommendation so the rhetoric from the mayoral candidates and others continues to wind up.

The report itself is still in final draft and continues to be a work in progress.

Once finalised, the report and its recommendation will be considered by the Future Study Group, which will come to its own recommendation that is then put forward to Auckland Council’s Development Committee before the final step of going to Council.

The wider reference group, from which the Port Study Group was selected, will also be

briefed on the final recommendation.

There is growing speculation about the content of the final draft and it’s obvious that information in the earlier drafts or final draft is in the hands of various interest groups and candidates – disappointing but probably inevitable.

From the EMA’s viewpoint, the key questions that must be addressed are: • Is there a compelling case – both from a business viewpoint and a city desirability viewpoint - to shift the port? Or can it remain where it is with infrastructure improvements – especially technology, road and rail - to cope with the predicted freight task and mitigation of various environmental, cityscape, iwi and community concerns?

• What is the population versus freight trigger point for a move, if it is needed?

• Are those projections reliable over a 50- to 100-year timeframe, given the possible impacts of technology and changes in freight demand?

• Given that a decision to move the port would entail a minimum 10-15year timeframe and most likely more, what is needed to ensure that the port retains its Australasian-leading efficiency during that transition period, and to ensure that businesses that rely on the port continue to operate without negative impacts from a decision to shift?

• What is the impact on New Zealand’s regional, national and international competitiveness of a decision to move Auckland’s port?

• Is the massive cost associated with building a new port and supporting landside and transport infrastructure

“EMA used verbal and written submissions to set out its case against the changes to Councillors.

In a mainly behind-the-scenes campaign those submissions were followed up with individual approaches to Councillors at various functions, events and meetings, targeted letters and finally media coverage …”

transport levy really a priority for Auckland, when the region is desperately lagging behind in providing other critical infrastructure needed to support rapid growth in the city and region?

• Who is going to pay, because it’s very clear – as Minister Simon Bridges has said– that Government has no interest in this debate?

• Is considerable land reclamation – in some options, nearly three times the current Port’s footprint of 77 hectares – plus dredging and disruption to iwi and the community and environment, really something we want in some

to a visit to the Eastern Bay in the near future, to hear about some of the successes in the Whakatane and Opotiki areas.

other part of Auckland’s coastlines?

While all the options still alive in the report are feasible from an engineering and construction viewpoint, are any of those options actually consentable?

The answers are complex and won’t be solved with slogans.

Region-wide visits I often write in this column about Auckland issues, but our annual session with local government officials in the Bay of Plenty highlighted just how much is going on in the wider EMA membership region. Members of the EMA staff policy team are looking forward

We’ve also had great turnouts in Tauranga and Hamilton for policy forums that focussed on the recently-implemented changes to employment legislation.

Similar turnouts were experienced for policy forums discussing the new health and safety legislation, and we look forward to providing more of these opportunities to our members region-wide.

We are always interested to hear from members about topics of interest.

• By Alan McDonald, EMA policy director. Email alan.mcdonald.co.nz

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BusinessPlus June 2016

7

COMMENTARY

By David Spratt

Driving transformation and savings in challenging times: Zespri case study The year 2013 was tough for Zespri.

The PSA virus was decimating its growers’ high value, gold kiwifruit crops across New Zealand. As well, a major initiative was underway to help growers replace existing cultivars with a more disease- tolerant variety, Sun Gold.

The hope was that this cultivar’s vigorous fruiting qualities would also lead to strong production, that it would be outstandingly successful with consumers, and help sustain the growth of the industry.

The Zespri board and executive had witnessed the devastation of the Christchurch earthquakes and the Japanese tsunami, and recognised a risk to their offices in Mt Maunganui and backup IT services in Tauranga. Zespri operates a global supply chain, and losing its IT services could leave crops unpicked, left in storage or stuck on wharves anywhere in the world.

To compound the challenge, Zespri’s IT infrastructure was approaching end-oflife, and required a substantial capital investment to upgrade and enhance existing services.

In short, the kiwifruit marketing, growerowned company faced the following risks: • Financial risk A substantial capital investment is a challenge to any business. The competition for funds is fierce. In this case of an IT upgrade there would be a multi-year burden on the balance sheet as the items depreciated, whilst uncertainty swirled around the business’ long term viability.

• Scale risk If the industry grew as hoped, then there was a need to quickly scale up to markets new and existing. If the growth in production and sales didn’t eventuate then the IT investment would be oversized compared to the need going forward, with the burden sitting on the balance sheet. Either way replicating the

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current IT environment was not the answer.

• Natural disaster risk Christchurch’s earthquakes and Japan’s tsunami had changed the risk equation for Zespri’s business forever. Natural disasters were now a very real threat to continued IT service in a 24/7/365 global enterprise. Were data centres, even if distributed across the North Island, really a robust answer?

• Global reach risk Offices across the globe required access to IT services, many of which were operated out of Mt Maunganui. These services were delivered via complex, secure VPNs (Virtual Private Networks).

Technically this approach worked, but it placed all the business’ eggs in one basket. With a real business need for application access via mobile phones, tablets and roaming devices, VPNs seemed a very complex way to access services.

“I get easy access to Facebook and LinkedIn when I am travelling. Why not my business information?” came the question from above.

• Support risk How does a New Zealand company deliver acceptable levels of support to cities across the world? What if the network connection goes down in Tokyo during the peak season? Who do you send? What service guarantees are there?

Who gets priority in a major crisis?

The solution options • Keep things as they are: unacceptable.

After the earthquakes and the tsunami, having two data centres within the same region was now seen as just too plain risky.

• Moving to new, geographically separate hosting facilities: marginal.

Moving equipment and services into a hosted environment didn’t solve the problem of scaling up and down, or offer a financially sensible option. Commercially, Zespri would have to upgrade the IT equipment to have it hosted, or sign up for a fixed term to have a supplier own and operate it on their behalf.

• Shove it all up into the cloud: scary.

But that is exactly what they did.

Growth enabled Now three years later Zespri is in growth mode. The gold crop is producing record volumes and is in demand across the planet.

The IT systems scale up and down as seasonal and market demands require, consuming services as needed and switching them off when not required.

Costs are no longer tied to capital investment. The IT financial model is consumption-based with close monitoring and management of expenses using a combination of financial analysis, real time online analytics provided by Total Utilities and constant reappraisal of the business’ requirements based on the insights delivered.

Access is via a stable and secure data network, delivered by a world class provider.

The supply chain resides in multiple Microsoft Azure data centres globally, ensuring business continuity.

This managed, outsourced Azure environment delivers critical supply chain services globally. Coupled with Office 365, Skype for Business and SharePoint, Zespri is competing for market share on the world stage. It is able to scale with speed, delivering a robust and repeatable IT environment as new offices open and new services emerge and evolve, and all this at a lower cost per tray of kiwifruit than was previously thought possible.

No innovation comes without a new set of risks and challenges though. As with international roaming mobile data services, bill shock can be an issue.

Next issue (July 2016) I will address managing and monitoring consumption-based IT services locally and in the public cloud.

• David Spratt is director of ICT at Total Utilities. Email david@tumg.co.nz

BusinessNZ COMMENTARY

By Kirk Hope

Photo from Shotover Canyon Swing

Tourism sweet spot for economic growth There’s a big shift going on in many countries’ economies, towards services.

When countries become more developed, their services sector tends to become more important than their manufacturing sector.

Services such as education, accommodation, transport, tourism, financial systems, entertainment, communications and so on increasingly become a source of economic growth.

Meanwhile, produced goods – ‘things’ – become less prominent.

A classic example of this is China, where services now account for 50 per cent of its economy, while manufacturing accounts for only 40 per cent of the economy – a reversal that has happened only within the past decade.

That reversal has affected our own economy. We now sell fewer things to China (dairy products in particular) and sell more services (tourism in particular).

It’s the main reason why tourism – not dairy - is now our largest export earner.

Tourism now earns New Zealand around $11 billion a year, while dairy is earning perhaps $10bn.

This change is causing a bit of angst in some quarters. I’ve heard fears about New Zealand’s future as a goods-producing nation, and fears that reliance on tourism makes us a third world nation.

These fears are unfounded.

New Zealand’s ability to earn its way in the world by selling our food and other products is not under threat. The international market for our outstanding foods and related products continues to grow - the result of great performance

by New Zealand companies, assisted by positive trade deals.

And a fast-growing tourism industry does not mean New Zealand is becoming a third world nation. It simply means the world is catching on to the amazing experiences offered by New Zealand as a tourism destination.

It’s not surprising that visitors want to experience our beautiful natural environment, or that adventure tourists, cruise visitors, package groups, sports and cultural tourists and more want to come here.

Selling high quality experiences to international visitors is a sophisticated service industry.

More tourism infrastructure needed We should celebrate this growing sector and develop it further.

Infrastructure such as roads, ports and airports should be developed with tourism in mind. Smaller scale infrastructure such as cycle ways, parking areas and public toilets is important too.

This development is not just for the main centres; the tourism industry can be a great stimulus for regional development.

Investment is needed to develop amenities for tourists, including hotels, convention centres and entertainment facilities. We should be open to investment from many sources - including from overseas - to build facilities that will earn more tourism dollars for New Zealand.

And we should be alert to innovative approaches that can help us grow the tourism industry, eg, the proposal for transTasman visas to allow international visitors to travel freely between Australia and New Zealand, to maximise visitor stays in this country.

Tourism is a great platform for New Zealand business. One of the great strengths of New Zealand business is its flexibility and ability to change to meet market demand.

We’ve seen sheep farmers diversify into horticulture, wine and dairy as market changes required.

We’ve seen a generation of software entrepreneurs rise up and create a new home-grown industry where none existed before.

And we’ve seen the tourism industry grow exponentially within just a few years.

These changes are testament to the New Zealand entrepreneurial spirit and ability to ride international trends.

As we continue to develop the ‘products’ side of our economy - creating higher-value food and other exports - we should also seize the opportunities afforded by the ‘services’ side of the economy.

Tourism is a sweet spot for New Zealand’s economic growth.

• Kirk Hope is chief executive of BusinessNZ. Visit www.businessnz.org.nz

BusinessPlus June 2016

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COMMENTARY

By Persia Templeton

MEDIATION EXPLAINED: Understand mediation as a tool to resolve conflict in employment

Informal and confidential problemsolving tool has high success rate A key objective of the Employment Relations Act 2000 is to build productive employment relationships through promoting mutual trust and confidence in all aspects of the employment environment and employment relationships, and to promote the use of mediation as the primary problem-solving mechanism.

But what exactly is mediation?

Many employers may have heard about the mediation service provided by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), but a significant number either have not used the service or don’t have much understanding of it.

In a nutshell, mediation is a dispute resolution forum in which the Mediator is not a judge but a neutral facilitator of the process. He/she encourages and assists the parties to identify and isolate the areas in dispute, to look at both sides of the problem and identify all the options and alternatives, in order to reach a settlement between them.

The MBIE aims the mediation service at employment matters – although anyone can also mediate over contract issues. It’s a free service (yes, some things still are!) and has exceptionally high success rates in resolving disputes.

Unlike proceedings in the Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court, the mediation process is informal. At its heart, it provides an impartial forum where the parties can both speak freely about the issues as they see them, with some guided assistance from the mediator and their counsel if they are presented. Mediation may also be undertaken by telephone, fax, email or face-to-face meetings. The process allows the parties to think laterally when considering options for resolving the problem. They are not confined to the remedies stated in the Act.

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Unless specifically requested by both parties (which is very rare), the mediator has no automatic authority to make any decisions for the parties - his/her primary role is simply to assist the parties to try and resolve their issues on their own. The mediator also does not provide any advice to either party. At most, they may (privately) indicate the strengths and weaknesses to one or both parties, where the mediator believes this may assist that party’s understanding of their position - this is even more common where a party is not represented in mediation (ie, by their lawyer).

“It’s a free service (yes, some things still are!) and has exceptionally high success rates in resolving disputes.”

Why so successful?

Mediation is not only a relatively informal forum, it is also entirely confidential. This allows the parties to speak freely and frankly without the concern their words may be used against them (ie, in formal proceedings).

Everything is off the record, including all documents provided for the purposes of mediation. And all such material is also destroyed by the mediator after the mediation. It is this informal and confidential nature that makes mediation such a successful tool.

in what circumstances would you attend mediation?

It is important to note that the Act requires every employment agreement, entered into after 2 October 2000, to include a plain language explanation of the services available for resolving employment relationship problems.

Any person involved in an employment relationship may request the services of

the Mediation Services at any stage of the employment relationship. In general, the sooner you attend mediation, the higher chances are that you can preserve an ongoing relationship, or prevent a dispute from escalating.

Although participation in mediation is voluntary, if you refuse to attend, the matter may progress to the Authority as a formal dispute. The Authority is likely to then direct the parties to attempt mediation (if they have not already).

Representation at mediation is not mandatory but is generally advisable. As a bare minimum, seek professional advice beforehand. We are here to provide a full service to members.

What happens if you can or can’t resolve the issue at mediation?

Any settlements reached during mediation may be brought under section 149 the Act so they become full, final and enforceable.

Usually, the mediator can provide a template settlement on the spot, and they will guide the parties though those terms before such is executed. Under section 149, the mediator will also provide a “mediator’s certification”, which brings the settlement into the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court and Authority, should there be an issue with settlement itself (eg, a party breaches a term such as confidentiality).

Lastly, if the parties cannot reach agreement, the mediation is closed and it is up to the parties whether the matter goes any further – this could (and often does) result in either filing a claim in the Authority, or continuing an existing claim (where parties were directed by the Authority to mediation).

• Persia Templeton is a senior solicitor at EMA Legal.

Email Persia.Templeton@ema.co.nz

COMMENTARY

Reducing cost while improving quality: Better by Lean New Zealand’s innovation and manufacturing sector needs to be agile, and “Lean thinking” is helping businesses stay light on their feet.

The course, Better by Lean, that is led

by Callaghan Innovation aims to get companies to really look at their processes: what’s essential to run, and what’s slowing them down. The two-day workshop and coaching programme applies a Lean lens to: development processes, workflows, supply chains, production lines, distribution channels and customer touch points.

Callaghan Innovation programme manager Elizabeth McInnes says, “If your teams spend their days asking for permission before executing; take hours to complete admin reports or fill in their timesheets or expense claims; answer irrelevant emails; count stock or attend irrelevant meetings, you have a problem and are in need of a Lean fix.”

Once participants have attended the workshop, they meet with a Better by Lean coach to get Lean implementation underway and can join a Lean cluster.

Clusters are based in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, Taranaki, Wanganui, Nelson and Dunedin. They provide a support forum where companies can share insights and ideas with other businesses.

Business owners, innovators, leaders and senior managers have found the programme insightful. Shane Dufaur, chief executive of Dominion Salt, says the entire way the company runs its plants and production has changed as a result of undergoing the Better by Lean programme.

He says, “As one of the world’s largest

“…we are using the Lean techniques to hone quality and reduce cost, which allows us to both rapidly grow and remain competitive in international markets.” producers and exporters of premium pharmaceutical sodium chloride, we are using the Lean techniques to hone quality and reduce cost, which allows us to both rapidly grow and remain competitive in international markets.

“Lean methodologies are a key part of our strategy going forward to remain relevant and profitable.”

McInnes sums up the essence of Lean thinking: “If you train each person in your business to identify when they are wasting time and effort in their own jobs and how to better cooperate to improve processes, then it results in a business that will deliver more value at less cost while developing its employees’ confidence, competence and ability to work with others.”

Dufaur agrees. He says “staff alignment and engagement is key to productivity”.

Through Lean, Dominion Salt has selected “the right people for the right roles to maintain and enhance productivity gains.”

The Better by Lean workshops will be hosted in Hawke’s Bay, Auckland and Nelson over the next few months. The Nelson workshop on July 7 will be the pilot of a workshop reduced from two days to one.

Signs that your business needs a Lean fix are: •

Frustrations with processes;

•

Confusion on what needs doing and who is doing it;

•

Difficulty finding documents easily;

•

Reworking papers and documents over and over again;

•

Not clear of the status on a piece of work in a project;

•

Delays between sign-off and actions;

•

No one reads the papers and reports that are being produced;

•

The workload moves from ‘feast to famine’;

•

Saving of documents when it is not needed;

•

Errors in work.

For more information, visit CallaghanInnovation.govt.nz/ innovation-skills/better-lean

BusinessPlus June 2016

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EMA NEWS

The EMA is blessed: new business hub officially opened Representatives from local iwi Ngati Whatua opened the new EMA building last month at dawn, by walking around all parts of the site with staff in tow and chanting a blessing.

Later in the morning, Prime Minister John Key commended EMA for its long-term support of business, and unveiled the official opening plaque with EMA’s chief executive Kim Campbell.

Our function room was full of VIPs who had an opportunity to see the new premises and connect with each other.

Also see p19.

Kaumatua Taiaha Hawke of Ngati Whatua Orakei led staff and visitors on a tour of the premises to bless the working space.

From left: Kim Campbell [EMA CEO], John Key [PM], Laurie Margrain [EMA board chair] and Kirk Hope [BusinessNZ CEO]

The plaque is uncovered and it’s time for a toast to the new business hub. Front row (l-r): Linda Cooper [Auckland Councillor], Richard Pearson [EMA board member] and Stephen Town [Auckland Council CEO].

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EMPLOYMENT

By David Shannon

Golden handcuffs: the incentives with catches This article continues our series on employment contracts and golden provisions for chief executive officers (CEOs).

The concept of golden handcuffs, which means binding an individual to the organisation by dangling future dollars, came into being around the mid-1960s.

There is a variety of golden handcuffs. In general, these plans include one or more of three basic ingredients: •

•

•

a deferred cash bonus in which “extra” money earned now is paid out over time, say, five years, and/or a deferred share equivalent, in which the incentive is equity in the enterprise, and/or variations on the retirement plan, in which favoured employees can look forward to richer retirement benefits than those on the conventional plan.

Larger-sized, established companies can offer a wider range of incentives in exchange for the executive’s commitment to stay, eg, bonuses worth, say, 50 per cent of base salary spread over five years, plus options on shares with restrictions on conversions in any one year.

Older executives typically find retirement benefits more tempting than their younger counterparts. And while the firm limits the provisions of the regular superannuation programme, it can design a supplementary programme for a specific employee.

Another form of golden handcuffs is the company loan. For example, a low-interest loan to be paid back over five years could enable a young executive who is short of cash to purchase a more expensive house. The handcuffs come in the form of the executive having difficulty in raising the cash necessary to pay back the loan if contemplating departure.

How effective are handcuffs?

The company’s motives are obvious: the golden handcuffs bind the promising employee to the firm, and protect the company in some specific way, eg, against the appropriation of secrets or customers by a departed executive.

when they learn a colleague has been so favoured.

Negotiation priorities The company’s priorities in negotiating a golden handcuff agreement are: •

However, any set of golden handcuffs can be undone. There is no way a firm can guarantee itself the future services of a high flier, no matter how much it defers his compensation.

Smart employers know it is difficult to hold someone against his will, no matter how freely he accepted the handcuffs initially. In a practical sense, the executive who sticks with the company only because he is locked in financially can be a serious liability. Subconsciously, or even consciously, he may resent the company so much he wants it to go down the drain – and take actions to do so.

The low-interest loan is a potentially dangerous golden handcuff if the employee wants to leave. It is a lot tougher to close out a loan agreement than to work out a harmonious conclusion of the contract in terms of bonuses or shares.

And if the person is forced to pass up an advantageous offer of employment because he still owes $200,000 to his employer, imagine his frame of mind as he continues in his work.

Precedent is of considerable importance to the employer in negotiating any contract.

While the fiction may be maintained that any extraordinary provisions are “secret,” the realistic employer must assume others in the company will learn about special deals being given, and prepare for requests from other executives who consider themselves equally deserving. People who have worked for years without written contracts may be moved to demand them

•

first, try to lock in the employee or prospective employee with “soft” dollars - payments that are contingent on performance; and second, reduce the employee’s options by binding him to the firm while keeping the company’s options open by avoiding the commitment of power.

The objective is commitment on the employee’s part to a job that has certain degrees of authority and responsibility.

Once the employee has made the commitment, the career path can be discussed in terms of preparing him/her for the long-range goal.

The employer’s objective in making a golden handcuff agreement is to lock in the employee while keeping management’s options intact. The employee who does not particularly want to have an exceptional amount of power should, in bargaining, keep that information to himself, using it as a bargaining chip in order to win more money.

Golden handcuffs give the employer reasonable assurance of an important resource into the future. It’s up to the employee to make the employer pay for that assurance.

Next: Recent developments in golden parachutes will be discussed in BusinessPlus (August 2016 issue).

• David Shannon is EMA’s remuneration consultant. Email advice@ema.co.nz

BusinessPlus June 2016

13

EMPLOYMENT

By Alexandria Till

“This has the effect of drawing a line in the sand as to what you consider to be a reasonable offer based on the facts.”

Strategic settlement of claims When there is an employment problem between you, the employer, and an employee, the manner in which you enter into discussions and/or offer a settlement to the employee, needs to be considered strategically with your legal counsel.

The fall-back position of communicating without prejudice (WOP), where all correspondence entered into by the employer and employee is confidential and cannot be used in any litigious proceeding, may not always be beneficial.

Strategic considerations include: 1.

2.

Do you want communication and/ or any offer to settle a dispute, to be confidential between you and the employee?

Are you happy for the terms to be public, and possibly set the tone for future negotiations and expectations from other employees?

3.

Would a “reasonable person” consider your offer to be a genuine attempt to settle?

4.

Are you happy for the correspondence to be relied upon in an Employment Relations Authority or Employment Court?

If you answered “yes” to all the questions above, you could consider alternate options to WOP.

Open offer You could give an “open offer”, which means that all communication entered into with the employee will be on the record, and may be relied upon in any litigation. However, you should only make an open offer if your offer is a genuine attempt to settle, and you:

14

a.

refute the claim and explain why; and

a.

without any admission of guilt or liability, offer monetary compensation

BusinessPlus June 2016

for specified reasons, eg, to save legal expenses and/or for business efficacy reasons.

Without prejudice If you’ve answered “no” to the strategic questions above, WOP communication can create a cone of silence among parties leading up to and including the settlement.

When using WOP, parties must understand that it will not be possible to rely on any subject matter covered in submissions, including those on costs, unless the other party agrees that privilege may be waived.

Furthermore, a binding contract comes into effect in the event that either party accepts the offer made in this context.

Employers must consider whether they want some or all communication relating to the settlement disclosed, prior to using WOP.

Calderbank caution If you have an opposing party who you deem to be unreasonable, and who is taking actions that are incurring additional and/or excessive costs, you may want to issue them a “Calderbank Letter”. This has the effect of drawing a line in the sand as to what you consider to be a reasonable offer based on the facts.

This letter is “without prejudice except as to costs”, and is specifically referred to in the Employment Court Regulations at regulation 68 (however, the Authority retains discretion as to how to apply these Letters).

Like WOP communication, a Calderbank Letter may not be relied upon by parties in an investigation meeting or a court hearing.

It can, however, be reviewed by the Authority or Court once submissions on costs are made.

The employer or their representative making the offer can ask the Authority or Court not to award the successful party costs, if they were to be awarded less in remedies than they would have received had they accepted the Calderbank offer.

The recent case of The Commissioner of Salford School v Campbell has highlighted the need for well-considered and drafted Calderbank offers (see EMA’s Employer Bulletin, 6 May 2016 for a case review). In this case, the Commissioner issued a Calderbank Letter that included an offer of payment of $75,000.

This was rejected by Campbell, who sought the monetary sum and reinstatement to her job. Alternatively she said she would resolve her claims in return for a payment of $110,000 to cover costs, six months’ salary and $30,000 compensation – but no reinstatement. She also sought an agreed public statement to the effect that her suspension and dismissal were unjustified.

The Commissioner rejected this, and counter-offered a payment of $100,000 and a public statement recording that the parties had reconciled their differences.

Campbell rejected this on the basis that it failed to provide either reinstatement or a public acknowledgement that her dismissal had been unjustified. The employer subsequently argued their Calderbank offers should reduce the costs awarded to the employee.

The Court held that the Commissioner’s Calderbank offers should not result in any deduction, despite the last Calderbank offer slightly exceeding the value of remedies obtained, as the offer did not achieve the restoration of reputation that Campbell sought. The Court reviewed the history of the Calderbank Letters and did not consider they were of sufficient benefit to Campbell. Costs were awarded to Campbell.

We recommend you seek legal counsel when analysing whether to use an open offer or issue a Calderbank Letter.

• Alexandria Till is a senior solicitor at EMA Legal (Waikato). Email Alexandria. till@ema.co.nz

EMPLOYMENT

Steal ideas and have fun at Thrive 2016 One of the reasons small businesses fail is… fear at the top.

If you procrastinate or regularly feel stuck or have no direction, you are likely to be experiencing fear on some level. And pretty much everyone does, sooner or later.

You may read this and believe fear is not a factor for you. Or maybe you’ve ignored the fear feeling for so long you’ve forgotten it is fear you’re feeling.

No worries, we are providing an opportunity for business leaders to look fear in the face; to be inspired to be bold with their business goals and the direction their workplaces are taking.

EMA is pleased to be offering THRIVE again in 2016.

THRIVE is “the big day out” for New Zealand business. It is not just a conference; it’s New Zealand’s most popular business show.

THRIVE is about celebrating New Zealand business success and innovation. It

is an entertaining, action-packed experience, which showcases Kiwi business achievements here and around the globe.

We’ve brought together an amazing group of international business superstars, up-and-coming leaders, New Zealand heroes and world-class future thinkers – all ready to share their triumphs, lessons and ideas to shape your business for success.

•

Naomi Simson - Australian founding director of Red Balloon, author and speaker

Many more presenters and entertainers will be revealed when the full programme launches in the middle of this month.

No other event in New Zealand brings such diverse business cultures together under one roof.

Plus, there’s a trade exhibition, the food is good, there are drinks afterwards and lots of time to catch up with others you meet…or check in with the office.

Take the opportunity to steal business ideas from the best. Get your team together and come along for an entertaining and, above all, thoughtprovoking day out.

The line-up includes: • Jimi Hunt - New Zealand inventor and founder of The Creative Difference, finalist in the New Zealander of the Year Awards 2014, mental health advocate, speaker and author, personal brand consultant and adventure seeker

This year THRIVE is being held at the Vodafone Events Centre in 770 Great South Rd, Manukau, Auckland (near Rainbow’s End, and the Great South Rd/ Redoubt Rd motorway exits). All day on October 6.

•

Tim Longhurst - Australia’s leading futurist

Keep an eye on www.thrivenz.co.nz You can even book your exhibition stand or your theatre seats now, for early bird pricing!

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BusinessPlus June 2016

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Employment CHAT

What’s with claims on 90-day trials?! And how Q. The 90-day trial: I thought there was no way an employee could lodge a personal grievance claim in relation to this? – Stu

Dear Stu In fact it is possible to claim – although not in relation to the dismissal per se.

However, other personal grievance claims are available, such as “an unjustified action causing disadvantage”. Read on!

This was not only a breach of the contract but also gave her no room to improve before the 90 days were over, she said.

In a recent case, the Employment Relations Authority ordered a company to pay a penalty of $7,000 to its former employee on a 90-day trial, for breaching a clause in the employment agreement. The Authority also noted that this was a breach of the statutory duty of good faith.

While there have been many cases involving the validity of 90-day trial periods, there have been few cases where a trial period employee has claimed a personal grievance other than “unjustified dismissal”. Consequently, there was little firm guidance on what could constitute a personal grievance of unjustified disadvantage.

However, the Authority did not think that the company’s actions were deliberate or intentional, therefore was unable to impose a penalty for the breach of good faith under the Employment Relations Act 2000.

The employee, dismissed after 78 days in the trial period, claimed that her employer had disadvantaged her by not letting her know the trial wasn’t going well, as it had agreed to do in the Employment Agreement with this clause: “The employer is not required to give you reasons for your dismissal but, in good faith, will advise you as early as practicable if the trial period is not going well.”

ADVICE AND SUPPORT WHEN YOU NEED IT. Free call NZ 0800 300 362 AU 1800 300 362 Visit www.ema.co.nz

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“Although an employer is not required to give a reason for dismissal in writing under the trial period provisions, good faith obligations mean that an employee should be told the reasons verbally.”

BusinessPlus June 2016

The company in this case denied any failure to provide advice on the trial period to the employee. There was a suggestion that verbal feedback was provided to her in ‘stand up’ meetings of the development team and some one-on-one meetings. The employer also said he had told the employee that her employment was “on the line”, during a review conversation - held on the street outside the company’s offices, because no meeting rooms were available at the time.

The Authority concluded on the evidence that the employee did not have negative

aspects of her work highlighted, so that she would have known or should have known that her trial period was “not going well”. The Authority found this was a disadvantage, “as it denied her the opportunity to properly understand and to attempt to remedy any perceived shortcomings in her work …”. It also said the omission was “more than minor” and resulted in her being treated unfairly.

Furthermore, the Authority held that the company “could not reasonably have failed to provide Ms Singh with early advice as to her performance”. Therefore the disadvantage was unjustified.

This case reinforces the need for employers to meet the obligations of their employment agreements. It also serves as a reminder that good faith obligations still apply during trial periods.

This is why we recommend you provide feedback on an employee’s performance during the trial period and let them know as soon possible if any issues arise. Although an employer is not required to give a reason for dismissal in writing under the trial period provisions, good faith obligations mean that an employee should be told the reasons verbally.

You can access further guidance on trial periods and a sample clause, on ema.co.nz or by calling AdviceLine.

We’ve got a team of advisors, lawyers and consultants who’ll do more than take the case - they’ll help you build a workplace for the future.

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Don’t just get information – get advice you can rely on from industry specialists.

A library of knowledge, tested in the courts and all in one place.

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Our member only resources allow you to download templates for all the difficult jobs that face employers - like Employment Agreements and OH&S.

Employment CHAT

do I agree to flexible hours?

Q. I have a mature worker who wants to take a few hours off each week to look after a grandchild. I’m concerned she won’t get the job done. What’s a nice way to reply to her?

– Francis

Dear Francis Trust is a very precious thing. Draw on your ability to exhibit some.... Under flexible work clauses in employment law, you need to try and make this work.

It will be easy to know if she is still getting her work done, and is there when she needs to be for meetings and other personal contact times that are necessary.

You could even commend her on her kindness towards her family…

Here’s the formalities: employees have the right to request a variation to their working hours and employers must take the request into consideration.

Often employees need to change their hours of work, days of work or place of work (such as working from home). If an employee wants to do this they must specify the request in writing and state that the request is made under Part6AA of the Employment Relations Act. The employer has to deal with the request as soon as possible and within one month of

“Trust is a very precious thing.

Draw on your ability to exhibit some.... Under flexible work clauses in employment law, you need to try and make this work.” receiving it. The employer has to confirm in writing whether the request was approved and if not, why the employer could not accommodate it. If the employer is able to prove that it would have a detrimental impact on the workplace, would be an additional cost or any other genuine business reason, the employer does not have to approve it. An employee may seek a review of the decision.

If you feel the employee will not be performing in the role, you could trial out the arrangement through mutual agreement for the first month and monitor their performance. If the arrangement appears to work, it could become permanent.

If it doesn’t work, you will need to discuss this with her and give her notice that the trial will end, so her family can make arrangements to replace her.

• By the EMA communications team in consultation with EMA Advice, and loosely based on real calls to EMA’s AdviceLine. All names are fictional.

The information in this article is a guide only and not to be used as business advice without further consultation.

EMA members can start with our free AdviceLine team at phone 09-367 0909 or 0800 300 362 (within NZ), and 1800 300 362 (from Australia), 8am-8pm weekdays.

Alternatively, email advice@ema.co.nz or read or print information such as the A-Z of Employing – a manager’s guide on more than 100 specific employment topics, at www.ema.co.nz

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BusinessPlus June 2016

17

EMPLOYMENT

New online courses teach OH&S fundamentals Employees and employers can get up-tospeed with health and safety regulation at their desks, with two new online courses from EMA. Both courses are gamified, which means course participants are rewarded with ‘ePoints’ as they explore and interact with the eLearning content, and as they progress through and complete the course.

Participants with the requisite ‘ePoints’ go into a draw to win a cool little surprise prize at the end of the calendar year.

The courses are: • Workplace Health and Safety

18

BusinessPlus June 2016

Fundamentals for Workers

reporting and recording responsibilities.

This course is designed for workers and gives them an overview of workplace health and safety, their duties and rights under the new legislation, and helps them to understand risk and how to manage risk.

In addition, EMA teaches about health and safety via interactive online workshops on five specific aspects, as well as delivers live webinars on four other topics, classroom workshops on 17 more topics, two national certificates and a diploma.

• A New Era of Workplace Health and Safety – The Fundamentals This course is designed for everyone including managers and business owners, and provides a comprehensive overview of the new Health and Safety at Work Act and what it means for them. It focuses on new terminology, the various roles and responsibilities, managing risk and

For more information and to register to attend any EMA training course, conference or networking event, visit www.ema.co.nz/ events For a copy of the Health and Safety 2016 Directory, please email learn@ema.co.nz or read about the programmes listed in it, at www.ema.co.nz

A M E f o g in n e p o l ia ic ff o e th Seen @ premises in Auckland last month

Elise Walker and Sam Stewart [ANZ]

Colleen Stairmand [EMA board] and Jason Lewis [IT Power]

Susan Warren [COMET Auckland] and Petra Hakansson [Guardian Angel Security]

Craig Garner [EMA] and Stephen Town [Auckland Council]

Lance Sheppard [Power Technology ASEAN], Catherine Lye [ExportNZ Auckland] and Graeme Kearns [Kearns Services]

Arthur Anae [Auckland Councillor], Michael Greenslade [Pacific Island Trade Invest]

Sharon Stewart [Auckland Councillor], Jodie Shelley [2 Degrees] and Wendy Kerr [The University of Auckland]

Alison Arthur-Young [Russell McVeagh] and Dick Quax [Auckland Councilor]

Bill Ralston [Deadline] and Christine Fletcher [Auckland Councillor]

Margaret Brown and Charles Black [EMA board]

Bruce Goldsworthy [retired, EMA] and George Wood [Auckland Councillor]

Janet Wilson [Deadline] and Simon Lambourne [Auckland Airport]

Clayton Cosgrove [Labour list MP] and Dame Rosanne Meo [REINZ]

Val Hayes [EMA] and Craig Foss [Minister for Small Business]

Kirk Hope [BusinessNZ], Christina Leung [NZIER] and Mark Champion [EMA]

Matt Bellingham [Bellingham Wallace] and Nevil Gibson [NBR]

Ruth Baker [Vitaco], Andrew Garey [NZ Steel], Margaret Gracie [EMA board] and Lisa Berry [NZ Steel]

Andrew Weipers [Location Group], Victoria Wilkes [Outline Design], Sheree Alcock [EMA], Mark Weipers [Location Group] and Kerry Avery [Avery Architects] BusinessPlus June 2016

19

EMPLOYMENT

The Masterpet team undertaking their annual fundraiser for the SPCA.

Pet care company - a master class in caring for people too A finalist in the 2015 IBM Kenexa Best Workplaces Awards, Masterpet, shares their story of employee engagement.

EMA member and branded animal care leader, Masterpet, is all about making life better for pets. However, when Fiona Couchman joined the company as Training and Development Manager in 2006, she discovered that making life better for employees was going to be a long journey.

The burgeoning workforce was experiencing disengagement at levels that were affecting performance. Fiona’s first task was to identify the key drivers of engagement, and introduced the IBM Kenexa Best Workplaces Survey to establish a benchmark.

The initial results weren’t what leadership had hoped for. Both the New Zealand and Australian operations had “performance” scores well below benchmark and the level that leadership deemed as acceptable.

The leadership team embarked on a roadshow, meeting with all departments and regions to review scores, drill deeper into the issues and clarify strategies to address them.

Fiona explains, “The IBM Kenexa results gave us the ‘what’; the workshops gave us the ‘why’.”

This enabled Masterpet to develop a change plan focused on three key themes: improving inter-company communication, new employee induction processes and improving manager effectiveness. These themes are described in detail below.

Communication breaks down silo thinking Getting all Masterpet employees on the

20

BusinessPlus June 2016

same page was a crucial first step.

Fiona says, “The survey feedback showed that we had an ‘ivory tower’ situation, where office staff were segregated from warehouse staff. We set about breaking down those barriers by not only bringing everyone together socially but also redesigning workspaces.

“Moving to a largely open plan environment helped to keep the warehouse team physically or visually engaged with the whole team where possible.”

The training and development team also honed in on specific communication gaps identified in the survey.

“Sometimes it was silly little things holding us back, like staff not knowing how to call in sick, or not having a contingency plan for who does what in the event someone was away,” recalls Fiona. “Those were relatively easy things to fix, yet made a great impact and gave us critical early wins.”

Improving induction Newer employees were found to have little or no knowledge of the company’s history or its goals.

The company instituted a detailed, fourweek induction plan for new employees that included a welcome kit, time spent at the SPCA and an immersive introduction to the company.

New employee engagement jumped and now sits at 93 per cent.

Improving manager effectiveness The survey results also identified one relatively large team with unacceptably high disengagement. A leadership problem was resulting in a lack of trust and a fear of speaking up.

“We never would have known there was an issue without running the survey,” says Fiona. “It was critical to give that team a safe way to convey their concerns and we owed it to them to take action.”

Masterpet addressed these issues through performance management, manager effectiveness training and 360 reviews.

They also introduced a leadership award programme for any manager with particularly high department scores, so others could learn from the stand-out performers.

The new programmes have contributed to significant increases in engagement levels across the business, including a score of 83 per cent for the Australian manufacturing division – a remarkable result when compared to the manufacturing benchmark of 71 per cent.

“Now we’re empowering departments to develop their own action plans. With 400 people across two countries, it’s not feasible to leave it all to the HR team. We facilitate the listening process and help teams create the right strategies and then enable them to take ownership and create change,” Fiona says.

The annual IBM Kenexa Best Workplaces Survey is open now; companies surveying by August 31 will be eligible for the 2016 Awards. To find out more, go to www.bestworkplaces.co.nz

“For the campaign to succeed, employers need to get involved. It’s an opportunity for manufacturers and engineers to showcase all the exciting things they are making, and to attract and support engineering students. “

EMPLOYMENT

By Catherine Beard

Make the World Campaign – making engineering cool about their career paths into engineering. For example, Tristan McCallum’s favourite movie as a kid was Alien. He says, “I got to sit up with dad and watch that when I was about eight. And that was life-changing, you know? It was like, ‘Wow, I want to make stuff like that!’”

New Zealand is short of more than 500 engineers every year. If you’re a manufacturer, you may have felt this in your recruitment processes, especially when it comes to finding qualified graduates with a Diploma in Engineering (NZDE) or Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BEngTech).

Part of the problem is that engineering is such a broad concept, not many people really understand what it’s all about.

Often all the cool stuff being done by manufacturers is overlooked, and many young people don’t realise what interesting careers could be opened up to them through having a qualification in engineering.

However, the Government programme “Engineering E2E” (Education to Employment) – a collaboration between engineering employers and tertiary institutions - has just kicked off a public awareness campaign called Make the World. This is focusing on informing the public of alternative pathways into engineering careers. The aim is to change perceptions about engineering, showing what is actually involved and the career opportunities available.

The campaign is also targeting groups which are currently under-represented in engineering, such as Maori, Pasifika and women.

Look out for the distinctive marketing, which features different images with the strapline “Make the World…” followed by a single world to illustrate the variety of areas in which engineering can make a difference. For example, the shoes image has the words “Make the World BEAUTIFUL” and says “Design and Engineering. They go hand in hand.” Then the promotional material talks about how engineers are

For the campaign to succeed, employers need to get involved. It’s an opportunity for manufacturers and engineers to showcase all the exciting things they are making, and to attract and support engineering students.

taking on the fashion industry, which is not an obvious connection to many people.

Engineering is everywhere Other connections made in these advertisements link engineering with health (Make the world Healthier), sports (Make the World Dynamic), environments (Make the World Practical), technology (Make the World Smarter), movies (Make the World Imagine), innovation (Make the World Efficient), nature (Make the World Sustainable) and heritage (Make the World Poipoi Te Whenua).

These marketing messages are appearing in social media, on billboards, in video clips and in a magazine with real stories of engineering graduates – maketheworld.nz/ requestmagazine.

The website maketheworld.nz also features stories from a variety of real people talking

One Wellington-based group of engineers (comprising Opus, Beca, MWH and AECOM companies) has already responded, and is holding a “Week of Engineering” in August that will link to the Make the World campaign. The initiative – aimed at promoting engineering to secondary school students and the general public in Wellington’s CBD – will include activities for school students, and a public open day. This is a great example of Kiwi collaboration.

One Hamilton manufacturer, Longveld, teamed up with Work and Income New Zealand to create a “women in welding” course, which trained solo mums in welding, resulting in some excellent employees for Longveld and helping those women get back into the workforce.

To find out more you can email engineeringe2e@tec.govt.nz • Catherine Beard is executive director of the ManufacturingNZ and ExportNZ divisions of BusinessNZ. Email cbeard@businessnz.org.nz

BusinessPlus June 2016

21

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IN BUSINESS

By Stephen Summers

Manufacturing’s shape-shifters When media commentators discuss the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) often the overall index number gets top billing. And that makes perfect sense.

The overall index number provides a snapshot of the manufacturing sector’s month-by-month performance and shows immediately how New Zealand compares with the rest of the world.

But behind that number are five sub-index values making up the main PMI result.

These tell us why the sector is performing well, or experiencing a flat period or is in decline.

The index number shows overall growth in the sector when it is above 50, but a decline when it is below 50.

The five sub-indices are: • production, • new orders, • employment, • finished stock, and • deliveries They follow international guidelines

and while they lift the lid on the sector’s performance, not all are created equal.

“Production” and “new orders” are the key variables checked and analysed when the PMI is compiled. New orders indicate upcoming workloads; production indicates the extent to which manufacturers are working at capacity. In determining overall PMI value, receive the greatest weighting.

Next is “employment”, which can be thought of as the middle child in its effect on the main result. Manufacturing, more so than other sectors, is better able to switch between labour and capital, making employment a less important factor here than in the service sector where the Performance of Services Sector Index (PSI) - the PMI’s sister survey - gives the employment index a greater weighting. But employment levels have significance for the public at large. A change up or down clearly signals manufacturing’s immediate health.

“Deliveries” and “finished stocks” round

Figure 1: New orders and production levels in the PMI

out the remaining sub-indices. Both have relatively low weightings so large swings in activity are required to have any material effect on the main result.

Since 2002 when New Zealand’s PMI survey began, these two sub-indices have been the month’s frontrunner or its lowest sub-index on only a handful of occasions.

How do the main sub-indices track over time?

Figure 1 below shows seasonallyadjusted values for “new orders” and “production” since 2002 and clearly indicates that the indices generally follow each other.

Figure 2 below shows how “employment” has tracked over the life of the PMI. Compared with figure 1, employment activity is more steady-asshe-goes.

• Stephen Summers is BusinessNZ’s economist, with overall responsibility for surveys and data analysis. Email ssummers@businessnz.org.nz

Figure 2: Employment levels in the PMI.

BusinessPlus June 2016

23

IN BUSINESS

By Joanna Doolan and Claire Dilks

Proposed changes to tax make life harder All the distractions around the Panama Papers and foreign trusts, along with promises of tax cuts just prior to Budget 2016, make it is easy to forget there are tax issues on the agenda that will have a more immediate impact on New Zealand taxpayers.

charity or a Maori Authority.

The mega tax bill called the Taxation (Annual Rates for 2016-17, Closely Held Companies and Remedial Matters) Bill includes proposals for wide-ranging tax changes.

Rules relating to interest payments to overseas borrowers would be seriously widened - if you want a deduction for interest, you need to pay non-resident withholding tax if the payment is to a related party. In general terms if you are accruing a New Zealand tax deduction for the interest and delaying the payment by more than two months after your year-end you would be liable for non-resident withholding tax regardless of when the payment is made.

The cost/benefit of having a look-through company where you can have limited liability and can distribute the tax profits or losses to the shareholders would be further reduced, meaning you should re-evaluate whether this type of entity is cost-effective for you. The proposed changes disqualify the benefits if your ownership is via a trust and more than six beneficiaries receive a distribution in the previous income year, or if you have foreign owners or income, or if you are a

“While Governments constantly go on about tax simplification, this is yet another example of more tax complexity to achieve what most would think to be very simple ideas; the good news being tax advisors are guaranteed ongoing work.”

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The previously introduced deduction limitation rules that restricted your ability to offset losses to your economic contribution would be changed, so this sorts out one headache.

The approved issuer levy (2 per cent deduction instead of non- resident withholding tax) would also be tightened to include arrangements where you are circumventing the rules by interposing a non-related party.

Sledge-hammer bill Amongst the proposed changes with effects along the lines of a sledge hammer banging in a nail, there is some good news: these relate to debt writeoffs between related parties. Currently the creditor was taxed on the write-off while the debtor did not receive a tax deduction. Subject to meeting some additional requirements such as there being no change to the economic value of the group and the debt not being owed by the individual shareholder, the debt would be treated as fully repaid and would not be taxable or tax deductible. These changes are

“For those who thought the anti-avoidance rules did not apply to situations where the double tax agreement were used, this is now beyond doubt and the domestic antiavoidance rules will apply.

This again may seem benign but it could be major…”

proposed to be backdated to the 20062007 income year.

For those who thought the anti-avoidance rules did not apply to situations where the double tax agreement were used, this is now beyond doubt and the domestic antiavoidance rules will apply. This again may seem benign but it could be major given the wide application of the anti-avoidance rules.

GST changes are proposed to apply to capital raising costs, simplified apportionment costs where you are partly exempt from GST, and the zero rating of services in connection with land in New Zealand.

You would also be able to transfer imputation credits when you were making loss offsets, which would save a complex problem for a few!

While Governments constantly go on about tax simplification, this is yet another example of more tax complexity to achieve what most would think to be very simple ideas; the good news being that tax advisors are guaranteed ongoing work.

• Joanna Doolan is a Partner and Claire Dilks is an Associate Director with EY. Email Joanna.doolan@nz.ey.com and Claire.dilks@nz.ey.com

IN BUSINESS

By Rosina Webb

Resolving the marketing team’s clashes with other departments Does it sometimes feel like your marketing team is in a battlezone?

Are they battling for funding from the finance team in order to achieve their objectives? Banging heads with the IT team in their search for systems that will provide informative, relevant, timely information to base their marketing decisions on?

Perhaps Marketing is clashing with underperforming sales people who aren’t on board with their marketing vision.

A combination of one or more of those issues are common. We’ve put together some insights based on our experience that will help restore calm from the chaos.

Understand the bigger picture From the get-go it is important that all departments and individuals understand, and are on board with, the company vision, mission and goals. They need to buy into this, and a good way to achieve this may be through a strategy planning day.

Once everyone is on board, they can plan their own departmental objectives, strategies and plans to support this vision, and most importantly to support each other in order to achieve the “bigger picture” that the business is aiming for.

Establish boundaries and scoping roles It is important for each organisational department to stick to their knitting. Each department and team knows what they do best and needs to focus on doing it well – without trying to interfere in the processes of other departments.

An effective way to identify this may be through a cross-department facilitatedday where roles, responsibilities, communication approaches and interlinks are explored.

A general understanding is needed, eg, that IT provides the systems and/ or data to quickly and effectively obtain the information needed to make critical decisions across the business. An understanding is needed that Finance provides the funding to allow the plan to happen and evaluates the financial results; Marketing raises the profile of your product or service and “sows the seed” in the potential customer’s mind; and Sales nurtures the seed and takes it to successful fruition, driving purchases and ultimately profit.

areas of leadership, management and communication.

At this stage, it’s also a very cost-effective and wise move to pull in mentoring resource as needed. Often a fresh set of eyes with an outside perspective can more clearly see where the issues are bottlenecking.

Develop a collaborative project involving all departments Teams and departments get stronger when they learn to work together and understand each other. Once the boundaries and scope of each department have been defined, cement together the business-wide areas by establishing a crossfunctional team project, eg, “developing a new product or service” that could involve sales, marketing and finance collectively.

Assign a leader(s) and get them to develop the plan, taking into account individual and team responsibilities, budgets, stakeholder management, processes for communication and issues management, and protocols along the way to execution.

Draw on the extensive experience of a mentoring or coaching resource to evaluate and assist your business in such areas as: • Leadership coaching • Individual performance coaching and support • Team workshops • Mentoring programmes • Training programmes

Personality issues and mentoring

This may be in the form of a one-off snapshot consultation of how things are, and where to improve. Or it may be in the form of ongoing workshops and programmes to keep the business on a path of improvement long-term.

As with any social interactions in life, not everyone will always see eye to eye.

Taking on a combined project like the one described above can help to reveal where certain individuals or teams might need help.

A combination of the internal efforts mentioned above, and an outside mentoring resource for a fresh perspective, is our recommended approach to ensure your chaos returns to calm.

In our experience, this might be a need for training in technical matters or interpersonal skills - especially in the

• Rosina Webb is founder and managing director of Energise and Associates. Visit www.energise.net.nz

By tracking progress much will be revealed…

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“A purchaser is more likely to terminate an offer Agreement during the due diligence process if the information they have received is unable to be verified or if the vendor is uncooperative in releasing information.”

IN BUSINESS

By Mike Fokkens

Provide the information buyers need when selling your business Developing and executing a marketing campaign is important for selling a business.

In most cases - but not always - it is advantageous to advertise to create as much interest as possible, in the early stages of selling the business.

This approach can create competition between the interested parties, which can result in a better sales price, and is the only way to ensure you have reached the maximum number of potential buyers.

A potential purchaser will look closely at the Information Memorandum and will consult with their financial and legal advisors to evaluate whether the business suits their purpose. If so, they will seek further, more detailed information.

The seller supplies selected information, ensuring that any commercially sensitive material is withheld until he/she receives an offer and this is progressed under the terms of the due diligence process.

The purchaser will eventually want to view the business and meet the owner.

This will be arranged at a suitable time so as not to interfere with the operation of the business. Provided the buyer has been supplied with all the basic information they require, your business broker will work with the buyer and their professional advisors in preparing a Sale and Purchase Agreement detailing the price, terms and conditions of the offer.

The Agreement will nearly always include a due diligence clause, giving the purchaser a specified period of time to investigate and confirm that the information supplied to them is accurate. They will also wish to review any other information that may have been previously withheld due to commercial sensitivity.

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Your broker will liaise between you and the purchaser to facilitate agreement between both parties. The broker forms a vital part of the negotiation process and will work to negotiate the best deal for the vendor, for whom the broker works. Normally, the purchaser will pay a deposit of 10 per cent on signing the Agreement, and this is lodged in a trust account until the Agreement becomes unconditional.

The length of the ensuing due diligence process a buyer requests will often depend on the complexity of the business.

Items a purchaser may want to know about:

Due diligence information • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Products and supply lists Customer lists Supplier lists Plant and equipment lists Plant or equipment leases Computer programmes Building Leases Supply agreements Distribution agreements Franchise or agency agreements Copyright or licence agreements Local authority consents/zoning approvals Any pending legal actions Employment agreements Staff schedules/roster Insurance policies and claims history

Financial information • Profit and loss accounts for two to three years • Monthly sales figures • Year-to-date sales figures • GST returns

• • • • • • •

Aged debtors and creditors Staffing and payroll Stock values and quantities Work in progress estimates Any new product development Budgets and forecasts The provision of accurate information by the vendor right from the beginning will ensure that the due diligence process goes smoothly. When information cannot be verified or proves to be inaccurate, a purchaser can become nervous and will invariably request more information, or be put off.

A purchaser is more likely to terminate an offer Agreement during the due diligence process if the information they have received is unable to be verified or if the vendor is uncooperative in releasing information. This is less likely to occur if the Information Memorandum is explicit and accurate.

In the next issue (BusinessPlus, July 2016), I’ll cover settling an offer to buy your business and handing over to the new owner.

• Mike Fokkens is a business broker at Link Business Broking (Licenced REAA08), email michaelf@ linkbusiness.co.nz

International trade

Export award finalists outstanding examples of NZ business

Westpac Exporter of the Year (export revenue over $25 million) Gallagher Group Hobbiton Movie Set Tours

Leigh Fisheries Vista Group QBE Insurance Exporter of the Year (export revenue $10 million - $25 million) Auckland Institute of Studies BBC Technologies Bobux International James Dunlop Textiles Waikato Milking Systems BDO Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $10million API Consumer Brands Dulux Powder & Industrial Coatings NZ Rayglass Boats Endace Services Exporter of the Year (export revenue $1million - $10million) Eagle Aviation Consulting ICL Education Keedup TNT Emerging Exporter of the Year Triumph & Disaster Virsae Zealong Tea Estate Baldwins Intellectual Property Best Use of Commercialisation of Innovation for Export Adept Medical BBC Technologies Methven Quantec Quantium Solutions Best Use of Digital Strategy for Export Metal Heart Natural Ringa Company Triumph & Disaster

Catherine Lye, ExportNZ manager Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty

Melissa Conrad, executive officer, ExportNZ Bay of Plenty

An outstanding cross-section of New Zealand companies have made it through as finalists in this year’s export awards.

The annual awards programmes are organised by EMA’s ExportNZ division.

Entries in the 2016 Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards come from Northland, Auckland and Waikato. The winners will be announced on June 23 in Auckland – tickets are still available for tables and individual seats via www.exportexcelerator.co.nz Entries in the 2016 Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards come from the Bay of Plenty.

The winners will be announced on June 24 in Mt Maunganui – tickets are still available for individual seats via www. bopexportawards.org.nz The finalists are:

2016 finalists for the Air New Zealand Cargo ExportNZ Awards

2016 Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards YOU Travel Emerging Exporter of the Year Award C-Corp NZ Streamland Honey Plant You Know We Ain’t Volcanic Hills Winery Page Macrae Engineering Innovation in Export Award New Zealand Manuka Skyline Rotorua Ubco Beca Export Achievement Award Phil Caskey of New Zealand Manuka Chris Chaplin of Trimax Mowing Systems Peter Edmondson and Peter McCormick of Puma Dart Products Sharp Tudhope Lawyers Exporter of the Year Award Ntec Tertiary Group Automation & Electronics NZ Skyline Rotorua • For more information on ExportNZ, contact your local representative (pictured below) Visit www.exportnz.org.nz

Sharon Robertson, executive officer, ExportNZ Waikato BusinessPlus June 2016

27

International trade

By Daniel King and Brendon Wilson

Panama

Lessons learned from the Panama Papers’ hidden funds We’re all bemused by the recent media excitement over the John Doe leaks of the Panama Papers. But amongst this excitement, the leaks have highlighted the need in New Zealand for more transparency and strengthening of existing legislation covering foreign trusts.

Rightfully or wrongfully, New Zealand has received less-than-desirable global media coverage for our role in many cases. The Panama Papers have caused a stir globally by identifying huge numbers of offshore legal/financial structures or “vehicles” located in countries other than the residences of their benefiting owners.

The implication is that many times, even this huge number of publicised cases also exists under other “arranger” companies and countries. In many countries the only formal records are held by a law firm in the offshore country - the true owner of the assets is not identified and cannot be discovered. Where New Zealand is that offshore country, this lack of transparency and record-keeping in our legal requirement is problematic and is damaging our reputation.

We can assume that not all foreign trusts are involved in illegal behaviour, but given the lack of information captured, who knows if the proportion is high or low? In many cases these trusts have been established for legitimate purposes and take advantage of the confidentiality and

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the relative security of New Zealand’s financial and legal systems and New Zealand’s good reputation.

However, it is important to remember that 80 per cent of money-laundering involves trusts, ie, structures which have been deliberately used for this purpose to make it easier for the perpetrators to hide from justice.

“Where New Zealand is that offshore country, this lack of transparency and record-keeping in our legal requirement is problematic and damaging our reputation.”

Funds can be hidden here in NZ Transparency International New Zealand identified this risk in its benchmark report, the 2013 National Integrity System Assessment. Without a central register holding basic information, funds can be hidden in New Zealand-based foreign trusts with no identification of benefiting owners, whether they be of good or bad repute, and whether the funds are of legal or illegal origin.

We do welcome the New Zealand government’s current inquiry into New Zealand’s foreign trust rules - but we are most concerned that its limited scope won’t tackle the risks of financial crime links to the country’s companies and trusts.

New Zealand has consistently scored highly) in the Transparency International Corruption Perception Index (although is recently dropping), and New Zealand has an enviable reputation for integrity in business. To retain this reputation, it is essential that New Zealand take early, firm action to keep our world-standing in this area, and reassume the leadership position we used to be proud to hold.

We recognise that global focus is required to address these issues. It is important that New Zealand is strongly involved in international efforts to combat misuse of trusts and companies, in co-operation with countries and non-government organisations globally - and not, as at present, be the low-performer in this activity.

And most valuably, in New Zealand’s efforts to maintain its integrity as a nation, we owe it to ourselves to widely discuss and agree workable remedies – both here in New Zealand and in international forums – and to firmly and quickly implement the best solutions.

Why would New Zealand not aim at holding a reputation for high integrity world-wide?

• Daniel King and Brendon Wilson are board members of Transparency International New Zealand.

Visit www.tinz.org.nz

“… we want to move away from lectures and a bums-on-seats approach, to utilise our electronic capability and leverage our IP to grow our linkages overseas. A goal is to have students in New Delhi able to get AIS diplomas approved by NZQA.”

MEMBER PROFILE

NZ education services

in demand overseas In its 25 years, the Auckland Institute of Studies (AIS) in Mt Albert has never had a bottom line in red ink.

“But we’ve come perilously close at times,” says president, Dr Richard Goodall, who has been there 17 years and is originally from Australia.

“I like to think of our boutique university as a not-for-loss organisation.”

AIS is one of New Zealand’s largest, independent degree-granting institutions, with two campuses in Mt Albert: St Helens, which was formerly a maternity hospital; and the Asquith campus near St Lukes, which was a television studio where Xena the warrior was made.

Dr Goodall says, “Most disciplines we teach are business-related, and I say to our students, would you rather learn about business from a business such as ours, or from a government department?

“Here our students can see and talk about good budgeting in situ, as it were.”

The privately-owned AIS recruits 90 per cent of its 1100 students from overseas, in three main ways.

First, some students come through a network of overseas agents who typically represent a range of institutions in several countries.

AIS President, Dr Richard Goodall (left) and Professor Nevan Wright (right) pose with a student at graduation with networks of institutions overseas, which allow students to do part of their programme of learning there and finish their degree or diploma course here.

A long-standing example is with Tonga, Dr Goodall says. “We’ve given our Tongan partner all our curricula, which means students can stay at home and study to our standard.”

Students learn the NZ way Now about half the students are from India, and half of those are enrolled in post graduate courses.

“We apply a problemsolving-based approach, and give a lot of attention to the needs of the workplace.”

Zealand seeking a pathway to settlement.

After their studies, if they can get a job and a two-year work visa, and if that works out, they may be able to get permanent residency.

Secondly, some students come through word of mouth in response to the AIS reputation, particularly from the Pacific.

“A point of difference about us is that while our students come from many different countries, our 100 teaching staff, half of whom have PhDs, also come from 30 or 40 different countries.”

“We cater for this by running our own career centre with several staff devoted to job search and seeking internships for them,” Dr Goodall says. “The service has grown by leaps and bounds as local work experience puts them ahead of someone with no local work experience.”

The third route is as a result of the AIS’ links

He says a lot of students come to New

Often the students’ learning style has been

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It also delivers blended learning, combining traditional and online styles.

“Two years ago we made a big investment in technology to put our courses online, for students to be able to file all assignments electronically, and for classes to be recorded for reference later. Both campuses are “drenched” in Wi-Fi. CertTESOL students work through exercises together in class

“Most disciplines we teach are business-related, and I say to our students, would you rather learn about business from a business such as ours, or from a government department?” by memorising or rote learning, not like in New Zealand where students are taught to question and analyse.

“But employers want people who can manage time, and conflict,” Dr Goodall says. “I also get them involved in group work and they haven’t done that before.

But they need it to get a job. I ask them to think about the power of the group, where their own skills contribute to the outcome for the group, and where their different cultures can be a strength.”

the issues, how to do practical things as a result, and to review the concepts and principles they applied in reaching their conclusions. “We apply a problem-solvingbased approach, and give a lot of attention to the needs of the workplace.”

Customer driven “To review our performance, we track the success of our alumni. After they have been out at work for two years we ask them how much of their course at AIS they have applied in their workplace.”

Dr Goodall says AIS reciprocates moderation and benchmarking with other tertiary institutions.

“We ask our students to evaluate their teachers and courses, as we always want to learn what went well and what we could do better. As a result we are rated Category 1

by NZQA.”

“Though we run seven days a week, and could take another 500 students, we want to move away from lectures and a bumson-seats approach, to utilise our electronic capability and leverage our IP to grow our linkages overseas.

“A goal is to have students in New Delhi able to get AIS diplomas approved by NZQA.” As for the staff, Dr Goodall says the workplace is what keeps their people staying on. “We have remarkably low staff turnover, with an egalitarian environment and we enjoy a family atmosphere.

“We’re really in the business of helping our students make big changes in their lives, and if you get your degree here you earned it,” he says.

Another issue dealt with is plagiarism.

Dr Goodall says, “We put every student’s assignment though a wonderful computer programme that checks every phrase against its vast database. We know when a student is doing all their own work.

“But people come here to study because they admire and respect our style of learning, and for the environment and assessment systems we have.

“We make sure our students are not passive receptacles of knowledge but make themselves responsible for how and what they learn.”

Dr Goodall says in every course delivered, the student must come to understand

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Students enjoy the multicultural environment on campus

FREE for all EMA members | To register call AdviceLine on 0800 300 362 or email AdviceLine@ema.co.nz Visit www.ema.co.nz

Winter Member Briefings Schedule 2016

Waikato / BOP Day/Date

Time

Venue

Mon. 4 July

9.30am - 11.00am

The Junction Hotel, 700 Pollen Street, THAMES

Mon. 4 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

ASB Baypark, 81 Truman Lane, MT MAUNGANUI

Tues. 5 July

9.30am - 11.00am

East Bay REAP, Reap House, 21 Pyne Street, WHAKATANE

Tues. 5 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

Suncourt Hotel & Conference Centre, 14 Northcroft Street, TAUPO

Weds. 6 July

9.30am -11.00am

Holiday Inn, 10 Tryon Street, Whakarewarewa, ROTORUA

Weds. 6 July

2.00pm - 3.30pm

Central North Island Kindergarten Association, 6 Glenshea Street, PUTARURU

Thurs. 7 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Claudelands Conference Centre, Cnr Brooklyn Road & Heaphy Terrace, HAMILTON

Day/Date

Time

Venue

Thurs. 7 July

2.30pm - 4.00pm

Bruce Pulman Park, Teamsports Centre, Walters Road, PAPAKURA

Fri. 8 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Quality Hotel Lincoln Green, 159 Lincoln Rd, HENDERSON

Mon. 11 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Titirangi Golf Club, Links Road, NEW LYNN

Mon. 11 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

Waipuna Conference Centre, 58 Waipuna Road, MT WELLINGTON

Tues. 12 July

9.30am - 11.00am

QBE Stadium, Stadium Drive, ALBANY

Tues. 12 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

Bruce Mason Centre, 1 The Promenade, TAKAPUNA

Weds. 13 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Rainbows End Conference Centre, Clist Crescent, MANUKAU

Weds. 13 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

Ellerslie Event Centre, Ellerslie Racecourse, 80 Ascot Avenue, REMUERA

Thurs. 14 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Counties Inn, 17 Paerata Road, PUKEKOHE

Fri. 15 July

7.30am - 9.00am

EMA, Room 2C, 145 Khyber Pass Road, GRAFTON

Fri. 15 July

3.00pm - 4.30pm

EMA, Room 2C, 145 Khyber Pass Road, GRAFTON

Mon. 18 July

11.00am - 12.30pm

Butterfly Creek, Tom Pearce Drive, MANGERE

Tues. 19 July

9.30am - 11.00am

Aotea Centre, Limelight Room, Level 3, Mayoral Drive, AUCKLAND CITY

Tues. 19 July

2:00pm - 3:00pm

Webinar: www.ema.webex.com

Auckland

Northland Day/Date

Time

Venue

Weds. 20 July

3:00pm - 4:30pm

Switzer Residential Care, 71 South Road, KAITAIA

Thurs. 21 July

9:00am - 10:30am

Scenic Hotel Bay of Islands, 58 Seaview Road, PAIHIA

Thurs. 21 July

1:30pm - 3:00pm

Distinction Whangarei (ex Kingsgate Whangarei), 9 Riverside Drive, WHANGAREI

BusinessPlus June 2016

31

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