ema december 2009...page 2 ema business plus magazine - exclusive ema news, advice, learning and...

■ Finding the right EMS

■ Help! I need casual staff

■ Reduce your IT costs - here's how

In this issue: Sex for Christmas?

How to enter the Aussie market

EMA member proud moments

Employers hoping Employers hoping to hire in 2010: Surveyto hire in 2010: Survey

E M A N o r t h e r n & C e n t r a l a r e t h e m a j o r s t a k e h o l d e r s i n :

Issue 66 - Decem

ber 2009

EMABusinessn e w s , a d v i c e , l e a r n i n g a n d n e t w o r k i n g

Rotorua's Lakeland Queen

MEMBER PROFILE

EMA Central's AGM draws crowd

Finding the right EMS for you

Most private sector employees on wage freeze. Employers hope to hire in 2010

Entering the Australian market: Lessons from Kiwi companies

Holden Sportswagon best for business

04

05

06

18

20

02

03

12

Succeeding as enterprises and individualsPaul Winter

Strong case tax reform lodgedAlasdair Thompson

Defining the future New Zealand - It starts with a conversationPhil O'Reilly

Sex for Christmas!?

Effective family firm governance: What's needed?

Holiday entitlements. 'Help! I need casual staff'

Determination on relocation expenditure released. EMA's E&Y Tax Tips

Client security key to finance industry's future

08

10

11

16

23

12

14

17

Reduce your IT costs - here's how

Hiring new staff?

20

23

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Our Vision. Your Success PAGE 1

Rotorua’s Lakeland Queen cruises

Make sure when visiting Rotorua that you experience a trip on the MV Lakeland Queen, New Zealand’s only genuine stern wheel, paddle driven boat; a replica of the Mississippi river boats.The Lakeland Queen team will gladly welcome you on board for a scenic cruise, complemented with a mouth-watering range of cuisine and selection of wines and beverages. Enjoy one of the daily cruises with breakfast or lunch on Lake Rotorua taking in the scenery of key landmarks such as Ohinemutu, Kawaha Point, Mokoia Island, and Sulphur Point. Complement the sunrise with a delicious buffet breakfast and an hour long cruise or a relaxing lunch break with a full buffet and one hour cruise.

EMA member the Lakeland Queen prides itself on quality and service to all and provides cuisine to suit its varied international clientele. The MV Lakeland Queen is 32 metres and weighs 130 tonnes, and a great venue for a wide range of functions from the family wedding through to exclusive corporate functions or school groups from of 50 to 300pax.For details freephone 0800 572 784 or go to www.lakelandqueen.com

On the cover is published for:

EMA NORTHERN

159 Khyber Pass Rd, Grafton,

Private Bag 92066 Auckland

Ph: 09 367 0909 or 0800 800 362

Email: [email protected] Website: www.ema.co.nz

Chief Executive: Alasdair Thompson

Advocacy Manager: Bruce Goldsworthy

Manager, Employment: David Lowe

Manager EMA Learning: David Foley

Manager EMA Events: Mauro Barsi

Whangarei

Myriam Heynen

09 459 1501 mob 021 920 414

Waikato

Denis Quigan 07 839 2995 mob 027 203 0694

Cor Speksnijder 07 853 0018 mob 027 203 0694

Bay of Plenty

Kim Stretton 07 577 9665

Terry Arnold 07 575 8401 mob 021 662 656

Rotorua

Clive Thomson

07 345 8122 mob 027 437 2808

EMA CENTRAL

PO Box 1087 Wellington

Ph: 04 473 7224 Fax: 04 473 4501

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.emacentral.org.nz

Chief Executive: Paul Winter

Gisborne office: 06 863 2438

Hawke’s Bay: 06 843 3419

Taranaki: 06 759 4006

Manawatu/Wanganui: 06 350 3395

Nelson: 03 548 4528

Editor

Gilbert Peterson 09 367 0916

Writer

Mary MacKinven

Published by

TPL Publishing Services

Project Manager

Anthony Stead 09 529 3921

Advertising Sales

Colin Gestro (09) 444 9158

[email protected]

ISSN No. 1176-4953

EMABusiness

EMABusiness

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OuOOOOuOOOuOOOOOuOOOOOOOOOO r Vision Your Succe24

EMA Business Plus Magazine - Exclusive EMA news, advice, learning and networking

By Paul Winter, Chief Executive, EMA Central

When in survival mode our focus is naturally short term, and in recent times many enterprises have been focusing on survival rather than long-term success. But are the two goals mutually exclusive?

Assuming they’re not completely exclusive, and that more of our enterprises are ready to shift focus from survival to success, are there some organisational strategies good for pursuing both short and long term goals?Sometimes circumstances for an enterprise are so critical that, as with human health, immediate surgery is unavoidable.

Whether today’s circum-stances are critical to that extent or not, we need to take the time to pause, and review our thinking, before acting. Thomas J Watson, founder of IBM summarised the IBM philosophy with a one word motto: “THINK”.We need to remain open to the possibility that others might be able to help with the critical decisions we need to make, just as we might with our personal health.

The vast majority of our enterprises are not at the point of extinction. So we can pursue both long-term success as well as short-term survival and, importantly, you are highly likely to be more successful in seeking to balance the two goals rather than focusing on just one or the other.

In the book Goal Setting and Task Performance, Professors Locke and Latham summarise 393 separate research studies on goal setting. They looked at 40,000 subjects performing 88 different tasks, in eight different countries over time spans ranging from minutes to years.

According to their research, the probability of reaching your goals increases when you:■ Set specific and difficult goals ■ Limit the number of goals■ Create short-term and long-term

goals.Before looking at specific

strategies that could be part of your plan to survive and succeed, I challenge those whose goals and plans are kept only in their minds to take the time to write them out in summary form.

For one thing, when they’re written down it’s easier to share them with others who could help,

like your banker. If the goals are really challenging then they also need to be shared with key staff.

Research results show that individuals with written goals and written plans to achieve those goals far outperformed those who ‘only’ had goals.

To survive and succeed the pitfalls of making decisions under pressure, (when time is of the essence and cash is limited), need to be avoided. We need to ask are we looking through too pessimistic or too optimistic a lens?

Others can help challenge our paradigms, and the assumptions that influence how we see the world, and our business opportunities.

If others think we are pursuing the right opportunities with the

right solutions then our focus can turn to the evidence on how well we are executing our plans.

Making some wrong decisions is inevitable but being open to recognising our mistakes, and having the courage to learn from them and change, that’s the key to survival and eventual success.

Many bosses glibly say the engagement of their people is the key to great business plan implementation, and that that applies equally in hard times or when success seems easier. But the best test of that engagement is when people are willing to go the extra

mile to help your enterprise succeed.

A 2007/08 worldwide study of 90,000 respondents by Towers Perrin showed 21% of staff were engaged, 41% enrolled (loyal people willing to contribute but without going the extra mile), 30% were disenchanted, and eight per cent were fully disengaged but just hadn’t yet left!

Personal self interest always wins out, and its your most talented people who are not

engaged that are most likely to leave. In our November round of

member briefings we stressed the importance of investing in both operational and cultural excellence.

Good people can’t make a bad enterprise succeed. To succeed you may well need to change your business goals or model.

Similarly, a potentially good business will only achieve its potential through an organisational culture that engages its people.

So we all need always to think before acting, and have both good long and short-term goals, and the plans to make them a reality.

And make sure you check out the evidence to ensure you’re pursuing both operational and cultural excellence.

Succeeding as enterprises and individualsEMABusiness

'Good people can’t make

a bad enterprise succeed.

To succeed you may well

need to change your

business goals or model.'

Our Vision. Your Success

By Alasdair Thompson, Chief Executive, EMA Northern EMABusiness

EMA’s overall mission is to advocate for all measures that assist business and our view is that anything discouraging business investment will ultimately harm the creation of wealth and employment.

So we place top priority on lifting productivity to achieve faster economic growth. But to get that happening, we can see New Zealand needs more capital investment and higher level skills.

We welcome the Government goal for New Zealand to catch up with Australia’s average GDP per capita income by 2025, and the challenge in doing that which will require 1.8% GDP growth per annum over and above Australia’s if the goal is to be achieved.

Plainly, reaching that goal will require New Zealand’s tax system and tax costs to become at least as competitive as Australia’s, or more so.

So, in making our case to the Tax Working Group we adopted the following principles:

Business related taxes:■ The tax review should focus on

the urgent need for more capital investment

■ Compliance costs are important. Requirements for such as Fringe Benefit Tax are onerous and easily dispensed with.

■ Other approaches such as ACE (Accreditation for Capital Equity) should be considered to address the shortage of equity capital, especially in the event that Australia adopts it.

■ We support an increase in GST if required to offset other tax adjustments.

Personal income tax:Principles adopted for personal

taxation are:■ Negative tax systems should cover

only the bottom strata of the tax

base. We suggest a cap of the bottom 20% should apply.

■ While our rates of income tax are not high, tax thresholds should be restored to indexed levels of the past 10 years to eliminate fiscal drag, and applied to future tax on the same basis.

■ The high disincentive to earn in the Working for Families scheme must be addressed. The scheme should target only the lowest income earners.

■ The perverse effect of the Working for Families scheme on high marginal tax rates must also be addressed.

■ We do not support a capital gains tax but could support options removing the benefits of LAQC’s and negative gearing on rental properties. Losses on a rental property should not be able to be offset against personal income, or limited.

■ We support the recommendation of the 2001 McLeod report where a top tax threshold should be applied - $1million was suggested - to attract the immigration and investment here of high net worth individuals.There’s no doubt a quantum leap in

business investment is required if we are to catch up with Australia’s GDP.

But to do that and become more competitive, we need a company tax rate that encourages them to retain earnings and re-invest in capital equipment and in skills development of their employees.

The simplest way to achieve this is to drop the company tax rate well below the personal tax rate as is the practice in most nations. At present New Zealand’s company taxes are amongst the highest in the world.

Tax on company profits in New Zealand makes up 17.2% of total tax revenue.

Our company taxes, as in Australia, have been increasing relative to other OECD countries. In 2009 we are 22nd equal with Australia. We were 6th in 1989.

In recognition of the withholding nature of company tax we recommend the company tax be lowered to 20% or below and for imputation credits to be removed.

Other points we made were that provisional tax should be able to be paid with GSTpayments. This would simplify tax for SME’s that don’t have PAYE obligations, though with the right systems in place it could in addition be used for those that do have them.

With this in place an SME can complete bi-monthly or monthly returns which include a company tax calculation based on their net GST income less payroll in place of current provisional tax payments, and with a wrap up calculation at the end of the fiscal year to pay a top up, or obtain a refund.

We also recommended that Fringe Benefit Tax be captured by converting the value of the fringe benefit into income of the employee or beneficiary and paid as part of their income and taxed accordingly through the PAYE system. This would remove the need for businesses to supply returns for FBT and at the same time negate the need for IRD to issue, maintain and gazette separate FBT rates.

We also favour introducing a tax cap to attract high net worth individuals. This bold move would give wealthy expatriates and others a big welcome. McLeod undertook modelling of it in 2001 based on the 1999 tax base; we suggest the data is still relevant for this proposal. Then its net cost was said to be $11 million with a $1 million cap applied. The reasoning in its favour was that more high net worth individuals would base themselves here and negate the cost.

We believe the ‘selling’ of it to the New Zealand public may be surprisingly straightforward if managed well.

For the full submission I invite you to go to our website www.ema.co.nz/advocacy

Strong case for tax reform lodged


After 24 years with EMA Central, Tony Ward, Team Leader Learning Partnerships has decided to call it a day. Mind you, this is 19 more years service than he originally planned. When Tony started in 1985, to set up the association’s first Hawkes Bay office in Hastings he planned to stay five years at most but he “stayed all this time because it is extremely interesting and no two days are the same.” Prior to joining EMA in 1985 (then the Wellington Regional Employers Association) Tony was employed in a training/industrial relations role and before this was a union official.Tony rates the 1991 Employment

Contracts Act, where compulsory Union membership was abolished, and individual employment contracts were introduced, as the most significant and radical change to the employment landscape.Highlights in his long career include being part of a team that designed the First Line Managers Training Course still popular today, producing three industrial training videos, one of which won an international award, and getting EMA and Business NZ involved in Government funded training for employers.For those of us still in the work force what advice does he have? Don’t take

yourself too seriously, don’t stay in a job you don’t like - go and get a new one - have fun at work and his most recent addition: Look after pensioners!

Tony Ward preparing to take it easy

Calling it a day

ABOVE: Danella Rennie (SPEL), Keith Hansen (EMA Central Board Member)

RIGHT: Paul Winter (EMA Central CEO), Dean Schmidt (Former EMA Central Council Member)

ABOVE: Sherry Johnston (Working Wise), Jo Turner (EMA Learning), Michelle Brokenshire (Internal Affairs)

Attendees at the AGM were..

ABOVE: Kerin Roberts (EMA Central), Murray Ferris (EMA Central Council Member), David Brandon (EMA Central)

RIGHT: Sandra Webley (EMA Central) Trevor Goodwin (EMA Central Board Member and President of Business NZ), Jeremy Baker (newly elected Council Member)

The founders of the Logan Brown restaurant not only won the EMA Central sponsored Business Welly Award, but also took out the overall top award at the recent Wellingtonian of the Year Awards. Recently named New Zealand’s best, the Logan Brown restaurant business has been extended in two different directions with tangible links to the ‘mothership’ Logan Brown restaurant. A BBQ tool belt (Grillslinger) was designed in Wellington, manufactured in China and sold overseas and this was followed by the development of a prime time TV show called “Hunger for the Wild”

Welly winner

EMA Central's AGM draws crowdEMABusiness


EMABusiness

Confused about which environmental management system (EMS) your business should use to measure and/or mitigate your environmental footprint? Attendees at an EMA Northern seminar last month had their confusion dispelled at a comprehensive half day workshop.

They heard from the promoters of four EMS:■ Envirostep, from the Ministry of

Economic Development (MED);■ Enviro-Mark NZ from Landcare

Research (a CRI);■ GreenBizCheck from

Australian-based 2009 GreenBizCheck Pty Ltd; and

■ SMARTWeb developed by Microsoft and Village Green Environmental Solutions from Sustainable Edge Ltd consulting in New Zealand.The presenters outlined how their

online schemes worked, and the costs. All said theirs was so simple anyone could enter the data and receive instant recommendations and practical help to reduce waste and save money.

But every business must do its own homework. For example, the MED website lists more than 200 local and internationally recognised schemes.

Many companies are certified by more than one scheme to prove to different partners in their supply chain, and customers, they are taking serious steps to reduce their environmental impact.

“Climate change and CO2 emissions are one part of this, but environmental responsibility is another,” said Charlie Bartlett from Landcare Research.

Each of the four EMSs and their key points of difference are:

Envirostep launched in July is a free, entry level, web-based management tool to

help SMEs in particular take first steps towards understanding, improving and communicating their environmental performance.

Businesses answer a series of questions online to measure their performance in 10 areas such as recycling, and water and fuel use, to identify their current environmental impact and how they can improve it.

The EMS includes an online guide and email feedback form that MED’s administrator will respond to.

Website: www.eco-verification.med.govt.nz/envirostep

The Enviro-Mark NZ programme helps all-size organisations develop and implement an EMS, then certifies them after an

independent audit. Certification can occur at bronze,

silver, gold, platinum and diamond levels of achievement each taking about six weeks to prepare for. The diamond level is on a par with the globally definitive EMS standard, ISO14001.

Organisations join for an annual subscription that includes access to ‘assist, check and certify’ support, costing from $1700 to $5100 depending on the number of sites the organisation has, plus $185 an hour for an average five hours for an auditor on site per certificate, and $395 for an audit management fee per certificate. The average single site cost is $2835 pa to gold level accreditation. Certificates last 12 months then a new audit is necessary. Website: www.enviro-mark.co.nz

GreenBizCheck is a self-certification (unaudited) environ-mental programme to help businesses save money and reduce their

impact on the environment; its aimed at offices, retail and cafes/restaurants.

Clients complete a comprehensive

online questionnaire on the latest global, environmental best practice standards.

An impact report instantly generated includes a range of practical measures to reduce your company’s environmental impact encompassing energy conservation, water consumption reduction, waste reduction, recycling, transpor-tation, travel, supply chain sustain-ability and IT. You can maximise your competitive edge with the GreenBizCheck certification log at bronze, silver and gold levels.

Annual subscriptions start at $499 for an organisation with one to 10 staff members, and rise to $8900 plus $15 per staff member for those with more than 501 employees. The scheme offers a 100% money back guarantee. Website: www.greenbizcheck.com

SMARTWeb is a measurement and mitigation scheme for any sized organisation wanting either an

internationally recognised system for carbon analysis and trading and/or a system to measure their environmental footprint and energy use, said Annette Lusk of consulting and SMARTWeb audit company Sustainable Edge.

SMARTWeb does not provide certification but instead a detailed asset management information and analysis, and industry benchmarking.

SMARTWeb tracks electricity use, water consumption, transportation, natural gas, waste and other factors to save on users’ consumption, based on your actual energy bills, and links to Outlook Express to send action reminders. The cost is from $1250 to $4092 with green to gold to platinum level achievements based on the organisation’s occupied floor space area. A simple report can take as little as two weeks, three weeks for the fullest type. Website: www.villagegreenglobal.com/gallery.html

Finding the right EMS for youBy Mary MacKinven, EMA journalist


PAYROLL P

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wages program.

Visit our constantly updated website at www.acepay.co.nz

for employment law, legislative links, tax planning etc

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Just over half of employers said they gave no wage increases at all over the last year, according to EMA Northern’s Annual end of year employment round-up survey.

But job prospects for those laid off during the recession are looking brighter next year with a third of employers thinking they may want to increase the number of their permanent employees in the first half of 2010.

40% in all of the 759 survey respondents (last year 794 responded) – believe they may increase their permanent employees in the second half.

Most businesses, 60% including both large and small, reported they are doing very well or alright. A further 23% say they are coming right.

But 16% of businesses are ‘concerned’ and two per cent think they may not survive. Smaller businesses predominate amongst these.

A third of employers report they have used reduced working hours to control costs, but attrition and redundancy

were used by 55% and 53% of respondents respectively.

Reducing pay rates has clearly been a last resort; only 9% of employers took that step.

Employers ranked changing the Holidays Act and the personal grievance laws as their top priorities for law changes. The Government has announced reviews on both and certainly got it right.

An alarming 56 employers believe they had personal grievances lodged because that was the only way their former employee could get social welfare assistance when they needed it.

Full results follow:Between 24 and 26 November

2009, the EMA undertook the survey to find out how employers are approaching key issues. 759 businesses responded.

3. What was the approximate average

percentage wage increase you gave your staff over the last 12 months (exclude any collective bargaining)?

51% of employers gave no increase at all. Of those employers who did give an increase, the average was 3.3%.

4. In 2010, do you think you will increase the number of permanent employees?

In the first half of the yearYes 32% No 68%

In the second half of the yearYes 40% No 60%

5. Have you had a specific strategy to retain skilled employees?

Yes 52% No 48%

6. Employment law changes – Please rank the following in order of importance to you:

Most private sector employees on wage fBy David Lowe,

EMA Northern’s Manager of Employment ServicesEMABusiness

1.

2.


freeze. Employers hope to hire in 2010Ranked 1 Ranked 2 Ranked 3

Holidays Act changes 60% 31% 10%

Personal Grievance law change 32% 51% 16%

Collective bargaining/union law changes 8% 16% 74%

7. If you have been involved in collective bargaining,

please rank the following in order of their importance:

Ranked Top

Union access – need to change the law 22%

Want ability to have collective employment agreements with non-union employees

34%

Remove right to strike for multi-employer collective agreements or joining an employer as a subsequent party

24%

Allow for improvement of employers to communicate with unionized employees 48%

Remove passing-on laws 42%

ACC8. Do you want the opportunity to get ACC insurance

cover from a private sector insurer (i.e. similar to the ACC model in place briefly in 1999)?

Yes 67% No 33%

9. Do you want your levies set by ACC with a rebate at the end of the year if your accident record is better than forecast?

Yes 94% No 6%

10. Of questions 8) and 9), which is most important to you?

11. If you employ less than 20 employees:a) Do you include the 90 Day Trial Period in your offers

of employment?Yes 72% No 28%

b) Have you terminated anyone under the 90 day trial provision?

Yes 48 employers No 361 employers

Collective Bargaining12. Do you have a collective employment agreement?Yes 26% No 74%

13. Have you settled collective employment bargaining in the last 12 months?

Yes 16% (108 employers) No 84% (557 employers)

14. On an annualised basis, what was the percentage increase agreed to?

31% of collective employment settlements were for 0%. Of those who did settle for an increase, the average was:

2007 2008 2009

First period 4.03% 3.8% 2.65%

Second period 3.55% 3.0% 3.0%

Third period 3.3% 1.7% 2.8%

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ORB 0558 XT A4_EMA_05.indd 1 19/11/09 11:51:47 AM

There, that got your attention!This is the first of a series of articles from the New Zealand Men’s Health Trust. The NZMHT is a Charitable Trust set up in 2007 to help inform and educate men in New Zealand about health matters.

There’s a lot for us men to talk about; the health of men is in many ways poorer than that of women – we have higher rates of many cancers, heart disease and diabetes. Men who suffer from any of these conditions do worse than women with the same conditions, and die at a greater rate.

But guys really want to know about sex. In particular they need to know about those conditions which matter to men – sexual performance (or lack of it) and conditions which may affect their performance or their equipment. We look after our cars and our sports gear, so why not our own personal bits?

There are many myths out there about sex and related subjects. One of the greatest is that inability to perform is all about stress, anxiety, fatigue, or too much alcohol. Actually, persistent erectile dysfunction (inability to achieve or maintain a useful erection) usually has a physical basis which can be dealt with. Similarly premature ejaculation can be treated and resolved successfully.

The best and safest way to address any important health issue is to go to your own trusted family GP for advice and guidance. Preferably this should be

a doctor you see once a year or so for a check up, who you relate to well, and who knows a little about you. You may prefer a different doctor to other family members, often in the same practice.

GPs are specifically trained to look after the whole person and this is therefore a much safer way to get health advice than attending one of the many “Men’s Clinics” advertised. These clinics do not know you at all and focus strongly on drug treatment of erectile dysfunction.

What about male menopause? Do we just get too old and have to “hang up our boots”? Or is there a real condition in men? It is becoming more accepted that the gradual decline in men’s hormone levels with age does sometimes amount to a condition which should be managed properly.

Because it’s a much more gradual process than in women, we may assume there are other causes for how we feel about sex these days– too unfit, too tired or stressed at work, too unhappy with some part of our life.

In reality, lowered hormone levels can be part of a variety of conditions which should be treated, and if hormone levels are low other health conditions can be aggravated.

That last statement is particularly true for depression, which can be caused by low testosterone levels; depression itself which is untreated can lower a man’s hormone level.

Infertility is being increasingly recognized in New Zealand men and

can cause a lot of distress to men and their partners. Fortunately the whole subject is now very well managed and many men who have difficulty achieving pregnancy with their partner can successfully become fathers.

Can a man get breast cancer? What about cancer of the testicle? Should every man examine himself and how is it done? What’s all this I hear about the prostate these days, especially the prostate checkup and cancer? What conditions affect the penis and what should I know?

In each issue next year we’ll deal with particular men’s health issues, and provide practical suggestions about what every one of us can do to improve his health.

There’s a lot of good (and some very bad or dangerously misleading) material on the internet. We’ll recommend where to look for the good stuff.

Early on we’ll talk about the “check up” – a great idea for men at all ages, and how to get the most value and understanding from this health ‘warrant of fitness’ – its easy and vital for every man. The more you know about what needs checking and the questions you should be asking the more value a short trip to the doctor will have for your healthy future.

Have a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year from the trustees of the New Zealand Men’s Health Trust! For more information on the MHT go to www.ok.org.nz or email [email protected]

Sex for Christmas?

By Dr Graeme Washer, Men’s Health Trust

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By Joanna Overall

Joanna Overall completed a Master of Commerce early this year with a thesis entitled ‘Governance of Family Firms: An Exploratory Study’.

Family businesses provide a rich and complex context for research on their governance as their nature gives rise to specific requirements. However the amount of research into the governance of small-medium sized family businesses in New Zealand has been limited so the current project was both theoretical and field based, and employed intensive case studies of two established and growing family firms entering their second generation.

The project sought to explore how some family businesses incorporate governance (in particular, formal boards of directors) into their organizational processes given the different ownership structures and nature of family businesses. I wanted to know under which circumstances family businesses develop, or under-develop, their models of governance, and what factors contribute to effective, or dysfunctional governance.

The case studies describe the process that two firms undertook in their transition from having non-existent governance to implementing a formal board of directors.

What was most interesting was that though the firms at first glance were similar in many respects (ie at the same stage in their life cycle), I found that underlying factors such as the personality of the founder, their attitude towards external governance, and the degree to which a founder is willing to relinquish control, heavily impacts the process and role of a board of directors in family firms.

Variances in both the external and internal context cannot be underes-timated for their impact on how a board develops and functions. Both case studies highlighted some complex

factors inherent in family firms, including:■ Issues of succession■ Dynamics around family

relationships and identity■ Principles of fairness and equity

between family membersBut there were many differences

between the two firms too, including the reason the governance process was undertaken, subsequent development of the board and board roles and ultimately a different impact the governance had on the respective firms.

In Case 1, the founder himself chose to employ a formal board of directors due to his failing health and a desire to free himself from the day-to-day concerns of the firm. His attitude

towards governance was that it would assist a smooth and sustainable handover to the next generation. As such, the founder could be objective about the positive role external directors could play in guiding the firm into the future and was able to submit himself and the firm to the rigors of a board of directors.

On the other hand, in Case 2, the founder somewhat reluctantly allowed his successor, his son, to engage in the governance process. He allowed it to occur only inasmuch as he could see value in gaining the sector specific knowledge that external directors could provide. His initial attitude towards external governance was very reserved though this has now softened due to trust being built with patient and understanding directors.

As a consequence of the differing attitudes and preparedness for

governance, the boards of the two companies played significantly different roles.

Another key finding was that a high degree of sensitivity around family relationships is required amongst directors of family firms. Directors who understand the family and its dynamics to a deep level are imperative if trust is to be established between the board and the founder/owner.

Access to directors who bring sensitivity to relationships, and emotional intelligence to their board roles, is very important for governance to operate well in the family setting.

Further, a higher degree of trust than normal between the chairman and the family firm founder is required in building formalised governance, to cater to the demands of the relational and emotional aspects of the firm.

In this study, the level of trust between the parties had a large impact on how effective and robust the governing body could be.

Recommendations■ As the catalysts, and degree of

willingness to engage with a board of directors, are context specific and differ from firm to firm, inferences on best practice, or wide sweeping statements of applicability of the governance type cannot be assumed to fit all firms of seemingly similar characteristics. Though two firms may have similar features, their ‘governance specific context’ may differ significantly.

■ Though emotional intelligence cannot be taught, there are merits in giving advice and training to directors on how to carefully manage the relational/family aspects of the firm.

"I’d like to express my gratitude to the EMA for partnering with the University of Auckland Business School and making it financially possible for me to complete my Master of Commerce in the ‘Governance of Family Business’."

Effective family firm governance: What’s needed?

EMABusiness

"Directors who understand the family and its dynamics

to a deep level are imperative if trust is to be established between the board and the

founder/owner."


Employment chatWhat employers are ask ing AdviceLine th is month

Q. Can you give me a quick rundown on managing holidays and how I have to pay staff for holidays, and the difference between permanent and casual staff? – Ben

Dear BenThe times when holidays are taken should be by agreement between the employer and employee. If, however, you are unable to reach agreement you can require an employee to take their holiday entitlement by giving them at least 14 days notice. If an employee wishes to do so, you must allow them at least two weeks of their holiday entitlement in a continuous period. Effectively, every employee starts accruing time towards paid holiday leave from the day they start work for you. After 12 months in your ‘continuous’ employment they become eligible to take four weeks paid holidays. But if they want to take paid leave ‘in advance’ of their entitlement (before the 12 months), they must have your agreement. Employees engaged on a fixed term of less than 12 months, and casual employees, can be paid their holiday pay in their regular pay packets, often referred to as ‘pay as you go’ holiday pay. It is important to clearly cover the details of the arrangement adopted in the relevant employment agreement. Alternatively holiday pay can be paid at the end of an engagement at eight per cent of gross earnings. When a permanent member of staff takes paid holidays you must pay them the holiday pay before the holiday is taken unless it is agreed they will be paid on their normal pay dates during the leave period, which is fairly common. Entitlements to daily pay for all types of employees’ annual leave are calculated on the basis of the greater of the employee's ‘average weekly earnings’ (1/52nd of their gross earnings) or the employee's ‘ordinary weekly earnings’

(regular gross pay) as stipulated in their employment agreement. Employers are also entitled to close down their businesses once a year during which time staff can be required to take annual leave. (For more on that read Employment Chat in our November edition of EMABusiness+). AdviceLine advisers are experts on this complex stuff. For the difference between permanent and casual staff, read on.

Q. We need casual staff for the festive season. What is the best way to find them and what should I be aware of? - Sally

Dear SallyMany recruitment agencies place casual and temporary staff and there are always a large number of students looking for work over the summer months. Otherwise advertise as usual, or ask people you know if they know someone who’s unemployed.Casual work is irregular and not guaranteed to last for any particular duration; it’s offered as and when required. A ‘casual’ worker can accept or reject work that you offer.Remember, you need to observe the same employment procedures as for permanents; provide an employment agreement; give the person time to consider it and get advice; and ensure both of you sign it before the job starts.Make sure the job requirements and casual nature are clearly described and understood. Believe me, this can be a fraught area legally. You need to ensure you don’t create a working relationship that is more than you intended, so it is important to manage the employment in line with the terms of the casual agreement. This is wise advice to protect both parties.

Q. The recession doesn’t seem to be abating for my business and as I look to Christmas and next year I am pretty pessimistic about keeping all the staff. While I am concerned for

them I am also worried about the impact it is having on me personally. Where can I get support from someone who really understands a business person’s perspective? - Ken

Dear Ken,First, if you are concerned about your own health you should take professional medical advice. Business concerns and potential restructuring raise many stressful issues.Making people redundant in a restructure to save your business is unfortunately common at present, and valid. EMA has written guides and has advisers to assist you to manage the process fairly. You can phone AdviceLine as often as you need to, or engage an EMA employment consultant to help, or someone from EMA Legal. The core group of advisers for many businesses are your accountant, lawyer and business banking manager. There are specialist advisers/consultants available in addition to those from EMA for employment law, if you can isolate the main source of your issues. Business Mentors New Zealand (businessmentor.org.nz) offer qualifying owners/managers access to private-publically funded mentoring services for two years for a registration fee of $100 + GST.

By the EMA Advocacy team in consultation with EMA Advice, and based on real calls to EMA’s AdviceLine.

The information in this article is a guide only and not to be used as business advice without further consultation. Start with our AdviceLine team at phone 0800 800 362 (within NZ), 1800 300 362 (from Australia) or 09 367 0909 for EMA Northern and 04 473 7224 for EMA Central), 8am-8pm weekdays. Or, email [email protected] or go to information such as the A-Z of Employing – a manager’s guide on more than 100 employment topics, at www.ema.co.nz/advice

Holiday entitlements. ‘Help! I need casual staff’


By Business NZ’s CEO Phil O’Reilly

Imagine Googling New Zealand and the results reading "the world's innovation powerhouse. This small country produces IP and technology responsible for many of the everyday products and service used around the world...”

Last week, Business NZ and the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MORST) brought business leaders and scientists together in “an experiment” to seek some out-of-the-box thinking about how to make the statement above a reality in the new low carbon economy.

The experiment consisted of getting a business-science conver-sation going at NIWA’s head office in Auckland. It was a day of introductions, match-making, brainstorming ideas and dialogue.

As NIWA chief executive John Morgan pointed out, the words ‘science’ and ‘business’ have rarely been used in the same sentence until now. It’s a partnership that has the potential to define our future New Zealand.

As far as commer-cialising our cleverness in the global market is concerned - optimising and capturing its wealth - we are selling ourselves short.

With the help of our friends at MORST, we decided to try something new. Not just bringing the right people together for the business and science communities, but letting an organic process develop in terms of avenues of opportunity and innovation in the science-business interface with green-tipped outcomes.

It’s a fact that sustainability as a concept is profoundly important to New Zealand because it matters to

consumers around the world. In this world, and in the future world, the global consumer is our customer – and a business is nothing without customers.

New Zealand has a great opportunity right now; we have low corruption, efficient food production and we are highly regarded in terms of quality.

For “the experiment”, we selected major New Zealand companies and business leaders with the clout to have an impact in terms of potential GDP growth as a result of progressing innovation. We also selected these companies to be able to work together on a cross-sector basis, and matched these with scientific leaders – including some legends of the science world – in the areas of potential business innovation.

Our aim was to have as flexible an agenda as possible, leaving plenty of scope for exploration. Generally our aims were:■ For companies to better

understand and share insight on science-facing sustainable innovation

■ For science to better understand and share insight on consumer and market-facing sustainable innovation matters

■ To get science and government alongside mainstream New

Zealand business, not just the technologically poised

■ Create relationships for further partnership opportunities.

While aiming for as little confinement as possible, we also kept in mind what businesses had already said they want. This included:■ product integrity and production

efficiency throughout the value chain

■ bringing efficiencies back-of-house through ICT

■ resource-use efficiency and creating commercially scalable product from waste

■ smart grids, smart buildings, and distributed generation

■ enhancing business-science alignment – R&D investment, and responding to market pull versus technological push.

The 47 participants on the day broke up into groups to brainstorm some of the above issues and explore possible gateways to innovation that will take NZ Inc forward as a leader in the low-carbon global marketplace. Some of the themes that emerged during the course of the day follow.

They included New Zealand’s capability to create and drive product categories. We can create

measurement and validation of products and services, and have the added advantage of being trusted as a nation. In other words to leverage off ‘Brand NZ’; predicting the market in which we operate, creating specific products, measuring the validity of those products and services against the market, identifying the competition, educating and informing.

Another theme that emerged was taking a helicopter view of what’s actually going on in New Zealand

Defining the future New Zealand: It starts

The CEO roundtable listens to outcomes from the day and gives feedback


Phil O’Reilly

with a conversationand using smart grids or networks to reduce energy costs in buildings.

This goes beyond retro-fitting old homes in New Zealand, to look to the homes of the future and what a smart building in the New Zealand context consists of. It means using design and a blend of smart building materials through to smart appliances and household transport.

The cross-pollination of the different businesses and categories present meant there was great diversity and big picture thinking. While this also meant limited opportunity to drill down into great detail, the whole idea of the day was to make introductions and excite interest for tomorrow.

This was achieved – and with some concrete outcomes, which is more than many expected, and the best-case scenario I had imagined.

A strong proposition that emerged from one group included the creation of value through the supply chain by using an exemplar – as has proved successful in the wine industry.

The simple beauty of this approach is that industry can look at it and say ‘I could do that and it’s not that hard’, and realise it makes good business sense whether they agree with climate change or not – it’s just what smart business needs to do.

Another solid outcome came from a group addressing the issue of how to develop the relationship between business and science and bring these groups closer together.

They identified a commercial opportunity and practical online solution that has the potential to overcome the current lack of knowledge transfer and the language/communication gap between research and business people. In other words,

the creation of a road map from science to business.

Overall, I was impressed by the great energy in the room. The beauty of New Zealand’s size it that we’re small enough to try things out, to get the right people together in the same room and put our heads together.

At the end of the day, participants also had the opportunity to run the day’s outcomes past some influential CEOs, to confirm the process and get views back from a business perspective about the value of ideas generated on the day.

These CEOs included Warren Parker form Landcare Research, Shaun Coffey from IRL, Andrew Ferrier from Fonterra, John Morgan from NIWA, Chris Ellis from Fletcher Building Products NZ and Dr Alan Beedle, Chief of Staff to the

PM’s chief science advisor Professor Sir Peter Gluckman.

We realised that it is possible for scientists and business people to be able to speak the same language – even though they may not do this in their everyday lives.

The challenge now will be keeping the momentum going.

We will be continuing the dialogue and meeting of like minds; plus there is already forward movement from groupings formed on the day.

Already, I have received feedback confirming there have been exchanges of emails and meetings set up.

Some of this feedback suggested that the key to unlocking “the

incredible value that the Science community is holding onto but doesn’t know how to get to business, is to get both groups (particularly science) to punch out of the planning loop.

“Science by its very nature is more cautious about getting the numbers absolutely perfect with higher levels of risk aversion, whereas business, particularly the innovative early movers, are prepared to learn on the run and make decisions on sometimes imperfect information.”

The idea is to create an innovation environment that embraces both eco-systems but

keeps us (NZ Inc) moving forward; picking some early movers to back and getting the ball rolling on setting an example.

As for my key take out for the day, and for making ‘NZ inc’ a more effective and efficient business through science-based innovation: I’m no scientist, but this is an experiment I thought worked, and we’re going to continue to work at the hypothesis that science and business can work together.

Bruce Curtain of Opus and Mike Tournier of Landcare Research present their group’s ideas


The old way - you throw more money at things and buy more bits of hardware to run new applications or increase their performance.New way – technology now reduces the amount of hardware you require and increases the performance of what you have got.

Five key cost reduction benefits available now are:1. No need to purchase hardware2. Need less power and cooling3. Require less support and

maintenance time4. Faster and easier backup5. More reliable, less risk

1. Manage your data storageThe average data growth in

businesses worldwide is 60% annually according to IDC. This is due to videos, music and graphics all of which are now a big component of email files. What this means is every year (or more often) you will run out of space, memory, and capacity to store it all.

The old way is you buy more hardware. The new way is you get technology now available to run a series of functions to reduce your data storage requirement by up to 98%. You do this by:

- De-duplication- every email coming into your organisation at present can be saved up to 20 times in various places after being forwarded by all and sundry, to local files, backed up

and archived. De-duplication ensures only one copy of a file is kept and backed up, with other access to it referring just to that file.

- Tiering & archiving – you keep the files you need every day that are accessed by multiple people on a faster and more expensive disk, and send other data onto your tapes or backup in the back cupboard. This increases speed and performance and reduces the need to keep buying more space.

2. VirtualisationVirtualisation is

arguably the most significant advance in IT technology in relation to server and desktop hardware in the last few years. Why buy and maintain five or 10 servers to power and support when, using virtuali-sation technology, they can be consolidated down to just two? The savings are obvious, and

3. Cloud where it makes senseKiwis seem to have in our nature

the need to own things rather than rent them. The same applies to IT, often to our detriment. With the evolution of Cloud computing services the opportunity arises to run applications and services you previously paid large licensing and upgrade fees for, as well as

the hardware to run them on, along with support and maintenance. Now you can pay on a month to month basis, often per user, for the use of those same applications with no support costs, increased performance and stability. When a new version comes out you automatically upgrade with no additional costs.

4. Managed IT supportEveryday around the country IT

managers, CFO’s, GM’s and others wake up praying their servers or networks won’t go down. The costs incurred to fix them, not to mention lost productivity and frustration, can make this a perpetual worry.

In the new world of IT support, IT business partners can provide a service which rewards them for keeping servers running

and responding faster to issues. This means they invest time in monitoring and maintaining your networks to minimise downtime. It means fewer headaches, better performance and a stable network all for a fixed price.

5. Mobilise your workforceWhat if every member of your

staff worked from home one day a week? The saving in terms of power, real estate, parking, tea and coffee, toilet paper etc combined with an increase in staff morale, and produc-tivity, and reduced turnover, makes a mobile workforce more than just a buzz word.

Technology to send your voice mails to your email, carry out video conferences on your laptop, access your office files and emails from anywhere is now within reach of any New Zealand business.

Call Maclean Computing for a chat about this. 0508 MACLEAN [email protected]

Reduce your IT costs – here’s how...EMABusiness


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The Taxation (International Taxation, Life Insurance and Remedial Matters) Act 2009 enacted in October provided for certain relocation payments to be tax free in the hands of employees. This applies to the extent that the payments are on the list of eligible relocation expenses issued by Inland Revenue (IRD) and meet certain criteria specified in the legislation.

The IRD has clarified eligible relocation expenses by issuing Determination DET 09/04: “Eligible relocation expenses” (“the Determination”).

The Determination lists eligible relocation expenses that may be treated as tax free in employees’ hands for 2002–2003 and subsequent income years. The list is compre-hensive. It sets out the types of eligible expenditure as: ■ Preparatory (e.g. obtaining

immigration services) ■ Transportation (e.g. excess baggage

charges arising from the transpor-tation of household and other

personal effects and “tools of trade”)

■ Property (e.g. exiting or breaking existing accommodation leases and similar contracts).

■ Individuals, dependants and miscel-laneous (e.g. language training for the employee necessary for the relocation – up to 12 months after relocation). These types of expenditure may

be treated as exempt income when an employee is reimbursed, or the expenditure paid on an employee’s behalf, in circumstances where the employee relocates their accommo-dation for employment purposes.

Additional criteria that needs to be satisfied before relocation payments may be treated as tax free are set out in the amended section CW 17B of the Income Tax Act 2007. Broadly, the following requirements must be met: ■ The relocation is a result of the

employee: ■ taking up new employment with a

new employer; or ■ taking up new duties at a new

location with their existing

employer; or ■ continuing in their current position

but at a new location. ■ The employee’s workplace is not

within reasonable daily travelling distance of their residence.

■ The payment made to employees must reflect the actual expenditure incurred.

■ The relocation expenditure must be incurred within certain time limits (generally by the end of the next tax year following the income year in which the employee relocates). The Determination has been

published at the IRD website (http://www.ird.govt.nz/technical-tax/determinations/other/determinations-other-relocation-0904.html) and will be included in the IRD’s December Tax Information Bulletin.

The Determination may be supple-mented or amended from time to time by further IRD determinations.

Aaron Quintal is a Tax Director at Ernst & Young. If you require assistance with these issues please contact Aaron on 09 377 4790 or email [email protected].

Determination on relocation expenditure released

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Strategic advice Practical solutions Skilled representation


In a good economy, a bad hire can hurt a small business. In a bad economy it can be devastating. More than ever businesses must ensure they avoid hiring a horror story.

Hiring new staff is tough especially these days. When a vacancy occurs, managers are bombarded with dozens of applications and struggle to screen wheat from the chaff.

Most business owners have never been trained how to employ new staff. Most hire on the same basis that they were hired – on gut feel. But just because a person presents well, communicates confidently and has a glowing CV doesn’t guarantee they can, or will do the job!

As an organisational psychologist, I have spent the last 10 years learning and applying scientific principles of the hiring process. Without doubt, the key driver of successful recruitment is a systemised process. This ensures all the bases are covered, and you test candidate(s) in all areas relevant to perform the job successfully. This way you compare apples with apples.

I have found my ‘tree” analogy a useful way to understand the principles of a diligent hiring process.

Visualise a fruit tree. The fruit of the tree represent the candidate’s

knowledge, skills and experience (KSE) – these are the Can factors – can they do the job? This area is assessed during the hiring process through the application form, CV, interview and background checking.

A candidate’s KSE is easy to assess since it’s observable, coachable and trainable. It’s learned behaviour.

It’s important your applicant has the required standard of KSEs to do the job, but it’s even more important to understand how they will do the job.

Managers are often fooled by what I call “candidate infatuation.” While a candidate may look inviting and in great condition today, what will next season’s crop deliver? We need to check the condition of the roots.

In the hiring process, the roots of the tree represent the Will or How will they do the job? The willingness to do a job is driven by a person’s innate characteristics - attitude, mental ability, motivation and values. These attributes are not immediately observable. You can’t glean this information from interviews, application forms or CVs.

Many managers think they can read candidates only to find out after hiring the person that though they sparkled at interview and had a glowing CV, six months down the track things are turning out differently.

I can’t tell you how many times I have heard managers say, “This isn’t the person I hired.”

The only way to check out a candidate’s innate attributes is to use a validated psychometric and/or skills test. I like to refer to these tools as job-fit profiles.

Now you are probably saying, “Hey, Rob, we are only hiring a receptionist not a CEO. Don’t these things cost an arm and a leg and only used by top corporations?” No matter what position you are hiring for, understanding an employee’s attitude, personality and mental ability is critical to avoiding a horror story.

As from today, I want you to stop hiring on emotion, gut feel and infatuation. Put together a disciplined process. It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does need to test all the applicants’ knowledge, skill and experience and their attitude, personality and mental ability.

As a member of EMA and to help you get started I want to gift you a copy of my latest eBook, “How to Avoid Putting Square Pegs into Round Holes”. You can download it at www.tipsforhiring.com/profiling Rob McKay MA(Hons) is Director of AssessSystems Aust/NZ Ltd – Organisational Psychologists. He can be reached at 09 414 6030. [email protected] or www.assess.co.nz

Hiring new staff? Skills AND attitude neededBy Rob McKay EMABusiness

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In June 2009, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) ran 20 workshops throughout the country for companies currently exporting or looking to export to Australia, and their trusted advisers.

During the workshops, six New Zealand case studies were assessed and information was gathered from the 250 participating companies.

The following is a snapshot of key findings from the workshops, to consider when entering or expanding in the Australian market.

Stage one: Strategic planningMake sure you have a clear idea of why you're entering the Australian market:■ Can you describe what success will

look like in five years?■ Given your five year plan, what

does year one look like, year two etc?

■ Are you ready to invest the resources required to meet your success targets?

■ Is now the best time?■ Do you have a true point of differ-

entiation in the market?

Stage two: Operational planningMake sure you know:

■ Who your customers are and what they need (not necessarily the same as New Zealand market).

■ Who your competitors are.■ Your price point - don't assume

it is the same as in New Zealand, as it could be a lot higher, or at a point too low to make the investment worthwhile.

■ The best location to set up.■ The best channel to market.■ What your total costs will be.■ Transportation/logistics.■ Business regulations.■ Inter-country banking/ finance.■ Tax.■ Legal implications.

Research how your industry operates in the Australian market - what are the differences to New Zealand?

Are there any regulations/legislation you need to be aware of? How will customers access your type of product/ service in Australia?■ Check that the brand you

are using in New Zealand is appropriate for the Australian market.

■ Consider all the different market entry models available, such as purchasing a complementary business, setting up your own office, hiring Australian sales

staff, using agents/distributors, partnering with an Australian company, or finding an Australian investor.

■ Seek professional advice - partic-ularly around complying with Industry, tax and legal regulations.

■ Understand that Australia IS a far more litigious country than New Zealand.

■ Investigate if IP protection would be sensible for your product/service.

Stage three: First steps■ Visit the market as often as

possible to get an understanding of the feel of the location you are considering.

■ Remember Australia is made up of eight states - each of which can be considered a market in its own night.

■ Build relationships in Australia with experts in your industry, as they can help to give you credibility in the market and can provide useful networks.

■ Consider a staged approach. location by location - remember some Australian cities are the same size as the whole of New Zealand. In most cases, it is better to tackle one location at a time.

Entering the Australian market: Lessons from

Mario Marconini, the Director of International Negotiations for Brazil’s Federation of Industry, visited EMA Northern recently and offered some contemporary and candid comments. He said that since 40% of Brazil’s GDP was based in Sao Paulo it was where the lobbying took place. The macro economic issues had been addressed since the 1990’s but not the micro economics.Brazil’s financial sector was regarded as very competent with more than 350 banks, about half Government owned.Between the 1970’s and 2009 there have

been 10 national crises posing significant problems; only the most recent was not of their own making. Brazil has 400 million hectares of arable land with only 9% used; the farming sector could benefit from New Zealand agritech.Their oil industry has a conservative 5 billion barrels of oil reserves in the north east and maybe as much as 100 billion barrels in total.Infrastructure is poor following 25 years of little or no work, particularly in roading. Only 10% of roads were black topped. This is where the greatest opportunity

exists, and where private investment was needed.Services from New Zealand offer a great opportunity, particularly in the education and English learning area.The main barriers to trade are not tariffs but rather the documentation (bureaucracy) required to do business. The level of approval stamps etc was daunting but once you got through that you could easily do business. The average tariff is 10.5% though some products peak at 30% in sensitive areas such as clothing and textiles.

Brazil Industry Federation pays a call


Kiwi companies■ Consider your first location

carefully - it may be better to look at one of the large regional towns.

■ Hire Australian staff or partner with an Australian business and listen to their advice about the market. They will bring with them networks and market knowledge - make use of it.

■ Make sure you understand the legal and tax implications for the type of operation you want to set up.

Stage four: Commitment■ Be prepared to pull back If you

are not happy you have all the information you need.

■ Ensure you have sufficient funds available to support the setting up of your Australian presence - allow up to two years and realise that you may not make a profit straight away.

■ Ensure you have commitment from your management team - they need to provide strategic leadership and may also need to work in-market for a time to really build the business.

■ Choose a location close to your customers and/or partners.

■ Assess your progress on a regular basis - are things going to plan/budget? If not you may need to

adjust your strategy.■ Think creatively about what

networks you might be able to tap into - in both Australia and New Zealand - including expat Kiwis, business and professional associ-ations.

■ Carry out due diligence on any other party you are going to work with.

■ Make sure you are sending over the right staff for the job and locate them in the right place.

■ Look at how you can leverage your New Zealand business and clients - your Australian operation may provide benefits to your New Zealand customers.

■ Persevere - becoming successful in the market may take some time.

Stage five: Expansion within Australia■ Know who your new customers

are.■ Reassess your business model.■ Ensure you have commitment

from your management team - they need to provide strategic leadership In the new state/area and may also need to work there

for a time to really build the business.

■ Understand the issues around transportation/logistics.

DON'T■ DON'T make assumptions - In

particular, don't assume your New Zealand model/operations will work in Australia.

■ DON'T underestimate the amount of funding required to set up and maintain a credible presence in Australia.

■ DON'T underestimate the size of Australia and distance between major locations (this will have cost and time implications).

■ DON'T take verbal agreements as final confirmation - get everything in writing.

■ DON'T rush in before you have done your market research - It will cost you money and may make the difference as to whether or not you are successful.

For assistance with taking the first steps into any international market contact catherine mullane on 09 3670970 or [email protected]

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– Peter Townsend, CEO, Canterbury Employers' Chamber of Commerce


Distributors and manufacturers of industrial and construction equipment, Youngman Richardson & Co Ltd, are proud to have won the Supplier of the Year Award for the second year in a row at the Hire Industry Association of New Zealand Awards 2009.Managing director Tony Fairfield says the award was given to his company in recognition of highly valued service and support to the hire industry. The NZ owned and operated company is headquartered in Mairangi Bay, Auckland.

CRM support companies merge Locally owned company Fusion5

that specialises in the implementation and support of data management software has acquired Savio Solutions.

The new business headquartered in Auckland also has offices in Wellington and Australia, with 90 staff. The merger makes Fusion5 the largest group of application consultants available locally, says managing director Rebecca Tohill.

Buckley wins big contract for US particle accelerator

Auckland's Buckley Systems is making 60 magnets for the US Energy Department's new ‘synchrotron’ atomic particle accelerator in New York.

The machine will be bigger than a football field and accelerate particles almost to the speed of light. The extremely bright light beams created are used for research in fields ranging from cancer radiation to engineering.

Buckley’s multi-million dollar manufacturing contract is one of seven for the synchrotron, and one of five making magnets to be delivered by September 2011. Others are in the US, Russia, and Europe.

Alloy Yachts awardsBoaties can take a dockside stroll in

the Viaduct Basin this month to ogle a new superyacht: the third and largest Kokomo at 58.4m made locally by EMA member company Alloy Yachts International. It is appearing in the basin

around December 17. Alloy has won four international awards this year, three at the International Superyacht Society Awards 2009.■ Managing director Tony Hambrook

was awarded the ISS Leadership Award by his peers;

■ Mondango won Best Sailing Yacht 40m plus;

■ Allogante won Best Motoryacht 24m - 40m, and

■ Mondango won The Showboats Award at the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show 2009 for best sailing yacht over 45m.

Members of EMA Northern and EMA Central receiving this magazine are urged to send us their press releases or links to sites displaying their recent successes. We will trumpet them on this page, as a member service (no charge). Please email your news to EMA Northern journalist Mary MacKinven at email:[email protected], ph: 09-367 0939.

Holden Sportwagon best for business

Award for service

EMA MEMBER EMA MEMBER PROUD MOMENTSPROUD MOMENTS NOTICEBOARDNOTICEBOARD"Where EMA members show off their achievements"

The Holden Sportwagon has been chosen as the best large car in the country by New Zealand Company Vehicle magazine, and it has also won the AA Large Car of the Year award.

“The VE Sportwagon drives as good as it looks,” said Robert Barry, Editor of New Zealand Company Vehicle.

“We recognize that business buyers need the size, comfort and flexibility of a large car but that fuel economy is of the upmost importance,” said Simon Carr, Holden New Zealand Managing Director.

The new Model Year 10 Commodore sedan, Sportwagon and Ute range have the space, safety and comfort of a large car with a fuel economy comparable to some smaller

4-clyinder vehicles.Fuel efficiency is achieved

through the addition of Spark Ignition Direct Injection (SIDI) technology which has reduced fuel usage by up to 13% and reduced carbon emissions by up to 14%.

At just 9.3 litres per 100kms on the 3.0 litre variant, a business person travelling 40,000 kilometres could save $847.60 and 1.3 tonnes of CO2 at an indicative price of $1.63 per litre for fuel.

In a real world test recently undertaken by Driver Magazine, the Commodore Berlina did 983kms on one tank achieving a fuel economy of 8.5l/100kms.

The Holden Commodore range is the first Australian manufactured range to receive a maximum five star safety

rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).

The VE Sportwagon range includes six airbags, rear park assist and Electronic Stability Control (ESC) which incorporates Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD), Electronic Brake Assist (EBA) and Traction Control System (TCS).


*Terms and conditions apply: This offer is valid from 1 May 2009 to 31 December 2009 (“the Promotional Period”) and is only available to organisations who are members of the Employers and Manufacturers Association (Northern), Employers and Manufacturers Association (Central), Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce, and Otago Southland Employers Association during the Promotional Period. For full details of terms and conditions see www.ema.co.nz/activa.htm


Some of the exciting special deals and rewards for EMA members

Accomodatio

a

Power

Accommodation

Media

Of ce/Computing

Finance

Travel Health & Wellbeing

Services

Telecommunications

www.ema.co.nz/advantage_home.htm/memberbenefits

As one of the country’s largest business organizations,the EMA has access to a number of special deals and offers.

Below are 6 of the latest additions to the EMA partnerswho offer benefits to members

Take full advantage of these offers & lots more...

0800 800 362 orwww.ema.co.nz

04 473 7224 orwww.emacentral.org.nz

Schofields offer EMA members 10.5% discount on all Holden vehicles

The way to recruit staff!$225 FREE sign up bonus • 10% rewards on every purchase

Exclusive access to QJumpers’ talent pool15% discount on all Jumbo Box and Jumbo Junior shipments

The DataPlus+ range from Chubb has been expertly designed to ensure you have the best protection for your vital data media

Exclusive Merchant Services package

Business to business trading on-line

E MArket

EMAdvantage A4 Business Plus Advert July.indd 1 6/07/2009 2:35:09 p.m.


MEMBER PROFILEIn our regular snapshots of EMA member companies, we describe the business of Certus Financial Group based in Grafton, Auckland

Financial advisers’ practices have lately been under review in New Zealand and worldwide, but seeking to set the record straight is Certus Financial Group. They say their financial advisers sleep well knowing they have not lost their clients’ money.

Director Warren Robertson says: “We have not had one client exposed to finance company collapses because of our quality control in selecting products – and through our relationship with AMP we have the resources to do research.”

Another ‘safety’ practice Certus

uses is recruiting specialists such as a financial planner who discusses life, salary protection and health insurance with corporate clients’ staff one-on-one; employees have just the one specialist to deal with.

The Group’s salaried advisers are not paid more depending on where they direct investment funds .“They have no product bias but recommend what’s correct for the client,” says director Mike Sheehan.

Mike and Warren head up 20 advisers located at seven offices from Northland to Pukekohe. Six further insurance brokers (operating as Certus Insurance Brokers Ltd) manage the full range of business insurance products

such as business asset insurance, business interruption cover, Public and product liability, motor vehicles, salary protection and directors’ liability.

The directors have been in the industry since the 70s but in 1998, feeling that a more corporate structure would offer more security, they set up Certus as a broad-based financial services company.

Clients include companies with 20-30 staff up to state-owned enterprises and multi-nationals with 3000 employees nationwide.

Mike and Warren regularly hit the road making presentations to clients’ staff to explain corporate welfare benefit packages their clients propose for their

staff or already offer. They include superannuation, KiwiSaver, other forms of employer-funded benefits such as group health, group life insurance and disablement policies, and salary protection plans. Induction programmes are a common way to deliver all this information at once.

Warren says, “It is more credible and of greater benefit for our clients for a Certus adviser to tell staff of their employer’s generous staff benefit

packages than it is for the employer to do so themselves!”

Mike says human resource personnel and senior management are frequently asked where staff should invest for KiwiSaver, or such things as ‘where are my funds performance statements?’ But when it comes to recommending

superannuation investment funds the employer should not give advice to staff. That’s a role for the Certus adviser.

“An enjoyable part of what we do is talk to staff,” Mike says.

Certus generally recommends a company set up with one preferred KiwiSaver provider to ensure a coordinated and consistent approach for all staff. Certus provides access to five KiwiSaver fund providers – a suite of products accessed through its agency agreement with AMP.

Warren says multi-nationals generally offer staff the same welfare policies worldwide. Employer contributions to company super schemes can be around 9%, and one company is moving to 12% over the next three years to attract staff to the South Island where it is based. The Australian contribution rate for superannuation is also currently 9%. The norm for New Zealand based businesses is around 5% company contribution plus 5% of remuneration contributed by the employee where a plan is in place.

All employers in New Zealand are legally required to contribute 2% of an employee’s wages/salary to KiwiSaver (unless the person opts out

of the scheme); and only a small number of Kiwi firms provide employer-funded schemes other than KiwiSaver.

Warren says, “New Zealanders are realizing there is something magical about taking money out of their pay and transferring it directly to a savings plan such as superannuation.

“The two groups of people we see retire with plenty of money and dignity are those who build up a business and sell it, or those who have been in a company super plan for 30 or 40 years that they haven’t touched. But the average New Zealander still retires with $30,000 in their pocket and owns half a house.”

Directors of Certus Corporate Ltd Mike Sheehan, Brendon White and Warren Robertson.

Client security key to finance industry’s future

“It is more credible and of greater benefit for a Certus

adviser to tell a company’s staff of their employer’s generous staff benefit packages than it is for the employer to do so

themselves!”

EMAdvantage A4 Business Plus Advert July.indd 1 6/07/2009 2:35:09 p.m.

holden.co.nz

More and more, an environmentally responsible approach is expected when it comes to making sound business decisions. The new V6 Holden Commodore helps deliver to this change in thinking. Introducing the revolutionary new SIDI Direct Injection Engines, available across the range of V6 Commodore Sedan, Sportwagon and Ute.

Available in either 3.0 litre or 3.6 litre, these state-of-the-art V6 engines deliver incredible improvements in fuel consumption across the range – up to an impressive 13%. With improved fuel economy comes a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 14% - comparable to, and in some cases even better than, some smaller 4-cylinder vehicles+.

The maximum 5-star ANCAP safety rating across the entire Commodore range helps you protect your company’s biggest asset – your employees.

And you’ll fi nd the new V6 Commodore offers exceptional Whole of Life costs through the combination of better fuel economy and strong residual value.

Best of all, there’s no compromise on performance – the new V6 Commodore still drives like a Holden should.

*Lease based on a 45 month/50,000km Non-Maintained Operating Lease and includes on road costs. Normal lending criteria apply. Offer valid from 1 November to 31 December 2009 at participating Holden Dealers while stocks last. Not available in conjunction with any other offer or discount. Proof of current EMA Membership must be provided to Holden Dealer in order to qualify. +Based on 3.0l Commodore, as calculated at rightcar.govt.nz

See your local Holden Dealer to find out more.

Purchase or lease a new Omega Sedan or Sportwagon before 31 December 2009 and

receive a complimentary driver training day with Holden Advanced Driver Training,

valued at $395. For more information about the programme, visit holden-driving.co.nz

or lease from $799 per month.*

for only $39,650+ GST

+ ORC

New Omega Sportwagon

or lease from $769 per month.*

for only $37,990+ GST

+ ORC

New Omega Sedan

You’ll fi nd the new V6 Commodore as compelling as this offer.

ema december 2009...page 2 ema business plus magazine - exclusive ema news, advice, learning and...

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