HRNZ Member Profile: Kate Rengey

Kate Rengey is currently the People and Development Director for OMD New Zealand, a global media agency with three offices in New Zealand. She is also the Branch President of the HRNZ Auckland Committee. Human Resources magazine caught up with her to gain an insight into her world.

1. What do you do in your current role to help your organisation be successful?

In my role as People and Development Director at OMD, my main focus has always been on our people: developing relationships, listening to how people are feeling and really understanding them. If I can keep our workforce happy, engaged, and empower them to grow and develop in their careers, then I know I’m contributing towards the success of OMD.

2. What attracted you to pursue a career in HR?

I’m a people person! In high school, I remember my brother encouraging me to do a double degree to open up different types of opportunities. I studied Business and Health Science and then fell into a recruitment consultant role. I just loved working with people and supporting them to develop in their careers.

3. What motivated you to become Branch President for Auckland?

We’re living in a fascinating world at the moment, and I feel that we’ve

got an excellent opportunity to build stronger connections within the HR community here in New Zealand. I’ve seen it done well in other parts of the world and feel our HRNZ Auckland Branch has the talent to do it even better. I wanted to be a part of that and what better way than becoming the Branch President!

4. What has been a highlight in your career to date?

Our team at OMD was a finalist in the ‘Workforce Experience Programme of the Year Award’ with HRNZ in 2019. The agency had been on such an incredible journey, and so the focus was our people; how we could empower them to take control of, belong to, and develop themselves within a new work experience. It was a true ‘People-First’ initiative. When we shared the good news with the agency, there was a real sense of pride across the team. It was awesome.

5. What do you most value about HRNZ membership?

I’ve always felt inspired attending our HRNZ Summits. I remember the one in Queenstown last year was terrific, and our Virtual Summit this year had such a great line up. To listen to the experiences of HR professionals at the top of their game is really valuable. I’m also interested in ‘HR Chats with Te Radar’ – it’s such a great new initiative to hear from leading HR professionals and learn more about different trends and ideas.

6. What’s something that not many people know about you?

I lived in London for a couple of years when I was 23, and then travelled through Africa on my way home. My friend Sheree and I spent about two months in Tanzania volunteering for the Korogwe Youth Centre, and it was just phenomenal. Living with a host family, we learnt some of the local language and were teaching English to orphaned children in the community. Playing sport during lunch, singing songs and connecting with the kids was an amazing experience. It had such

an impact on us, we decided to start a charity called ‘Friends of Korogwe’ and helped raised money for them over the years that followed.

7. If you could have dinner with three people living or dead, who would they be and why?

First would be, Arnold Schwarzenegger! His determination is unbelievable, and I love a good action movie! Winning the Mr Universe title at 20 and going on to win Mr Olympia seven times, he’s also starred in close to 60 films and once became the Governor of California, how could I resist. Second, my grandmother Oma. She was Austrian, so we’d sit around the table enjoying her famous schnitzels and Arnie would love them too. Third, Michael Jordan – his recent documentary was fascinating, I admire his skill and determination.

8. What’s your happy place?

Mount Maunganui! Climbing the mountain, enjoying the view and watching the world go by, it brings about a real sense of calm. It’s definitely my happy place.