What you’re telling us

Every month we reply to members’ questions and comments drawn from conversations with the MTA team. Do you need advice or an answer on something? Radiator would love to hear from you. Email simon.bradwell@mta.org.nz.

“We are in a small rural town and are pretty concerned about the level of crime. Is there any advice on protecting our businesses better?”

If you don’t already know your local police, take the opportunity when or where you can to introduce yourself, and let them know where your business is. Old-fashioned points of contact can be very helpful in smaller centres.

“It was great to read about succession planning in the June issue of Radiator, it is something that I have been thinking about for a while and there was a lot of good advice and it has really got the conversation started.”

This is great to hear. For members wanting more advice, go to MTA’s Toolbox and have a look under business-advice and succession planning or give our Member Services team a call and they will be able to help.

“Good to see MTA acting so quickly when Waka Kotahi discovered a member who breached the rules.”

It’s important to uphold the MTA’s brand integrity and fronting this in the media gave us the opportunity to reassure the public they can trust us to stand by them.

“We have a couple of new migrant staff members at two of our sites and they have started a bit of a network to get other qualified staff to immigrate. This seems to be a mutually beneficial situation for our members, and for their workers. They won’t recommend anyone who will reflect badly on their reputation.”

Getting skilled workers is quite the challenge for employers at the moment and this is one way that will help with the skilled workers shortage across all sectors of the automotive industry.

Counterfeit gift vouchers

There has been a slight increase in the number of fake vouchers being presented in the Waikato and the Bay of Plenty regions. In all cases, the fakes have been photocopies and have a few obvious telltale signs: the colour is not as vibrant and there is no MTA logo in the foil part of the voucher.

The top voucher in the photo is an original MTA voucher with the photocopies that were presented below it.

The Northern Region held their most recent committee meeting at The Crate in Albany on 8 June with the aim of improving the wellbeing and success of the Northern Region members.

The committee explored ways to create a group for those employees of members who currently do not have full membership themselves, to make it easier to access events and training. Leveraging data obtained from the MTA ‘Burgers and Beers’ event was discussed, and there was a suggestion to send out a questionnaire to people via email with the incentive of a prize.

The committee has organised a Meet and Greet on 19 August at the Roosters for the Northland and Rural members to promote engagement and networking.

Support for ‘Gumboot Friday,’ an organisation focused on mental health, was discussed. A Gumboot fundraiser event was proposed, and plans were made to discuss national participation.

Don’t miss our upcoming events such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie screening in September and the Business Management Essential training. See the Toolbox to book or contact Amy, your Regional Training and Events Coordinator.

To get involved with the Northern Region committee, please contact Amy Lai on 021 292 7652 or amy.lai@mta.org.nz

The Cook Strait committee met on 26 July in Levin. A few significant challenges were highlighted by the committee. There is a shortage of skilled workers and young adults who are uncertain of their career paths. Recruiting apprentices proves difficult, given the preference for experienced people. However, some companies are choosing to “grow their own” by investing in apprentices to address this issue. Another pressing challenge brought up was recalibration, particularly with the emergence of ADAS. There is a lack of knowledge in this area, which raises safety concerns and potential accidents if recalibrated wrong. Collaborative efforts with insurers are lacking, and investing in training and equipment is essential to overcome these challenges. The last issue our committee is facing is the Government’s policy around the Covid-19 isolation period, which is still affecting the industry, leaving employers short-staffed, and losing hundreds of hours of work, affecting them financially.

The Cook Strait region has a series of events and trainings coming up to promote engagement and offer valuable opportunities for professional development.

The events and training in August include watching the All Blacks vs Australia at a Wellington pub, First Aid training, Dealing with Difficult Customers and Fire Extinguisher training in September. You can find these on Toolbox under Events and Training, or you can contact your Regional Events Coordinator, Shannon.

To get involved with the Cook Strait committee, contact Shannon Morbey on 021 031 0075 or shannon.morbey@mta.org.nz