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Management Training Developments in The South

We are well into the second month of the New Year, are seeing a summer with a positive twist in the tail, and I imagine that most members will by now be back at the desk, in the yard or on the move somewhere meeting the usual operational business demands.

My comments this month generally follow-up on what was presented in the last UPDATE, but with new business –front elements added.

As stated previously I believe that while we can say with reasonable confidence that the worst of the recession-related impact is behind us, the legacies of the downturn and a degree of instability across the commercial sector will surely linger in the months to come.

We have recently seen the Statistics New Zealand December Quarter unemployment figures, these presenting a significant negative jump on the previous Quarter.

Nationally the December figure shows that the unemployment level hit 7.3 percent, this reflecting that 168,000 New Zealanders were without jobs. Before these figures were released the general informed view was that we would see unemployment peak at a level that ‘had a six in front of it’.

One component of the nation-wide result that was of most concern was that within the 15 to 24 year old age group, unemployment levels increased by 6.4 percent to a staggering 18.4 percent. While some of this maybe based around seasonal factors, there is clearly a very real need for the Government to urgently implement increased education and skills training for these younger workers and in this regard there is some comfort to be taken from the Prime Ministers ‘state of the Nation’ speech delivered on 9th February.

John Key’s comments focused on the recognition of the need for wider pre-employment education and training, and that greater opportunities need to be made available for young people to learn trades and practical skills in schools.

We will be watching to see the detail of these steps once announced and our Business NZ team in Wellington will be continuing to actively lobby Government around the related issues.

We here in Otago and Southland can take some heart in the knowledge that against the December national trending pattern we actually saw an improvement in the comparative regional employment outcomes.

In Otago the December quarter unemployment figure was 3.9 percent, this representing an improvement against the 5.6 percent seen in the previous quarter.

And likewise, positive movement at even better levels was seen in Southland where the December figure was 2.8 percent against the previous quarter’s 3.2 percent.

These outcomes appear to support the fact that southern business communities have not been hit as hard as those in the north, where in some cases the unemployment levels have exceeded 9 percent.

Generally, within ‘the tail’ of a recessionary cycle, the unemployment situation is the last element to produce a correction to allow us see a swing back in a more positive economic direction, and therefore, if true on this occasion, we can expect to see a growing improvement on the employment front in the months ahead.

In January we saw the Government address the annual minimum wage issue, the result being a marginal lift of 25 cents an hour to bring the minimum level to $12.75 an hour.

Prior to the announcement I was hearing within Otago and Southland that some members held strong concerns that they might be faced with a significantly higher increase, perhaps up to $13.00 plus an hour. The concerns were generally based around the possible upward ripple impact where the wage levels of other workers are, one way or another, connected to the minimum wage level.

So, in some cases there will be a sense of relief at the actual increase seen, but in the minds of others, any increase at all will present expanded difficulties. There is no doubt that across the region there are still many members who are continuing to experience the impact of the recession and that these organizations simply have to carefully watch all elements connected with wage rates and employment issues.

The Association is of course trying to keep well abreast of, if in fact not well ahead of, what is happening across the commercial sector and we are implementing new services and capabilities that we feel will strengthen membership ability to deal more effectively with the new challenges that will surely come before us.

On Monday this week, 8th February, in advance of our first OSEA Board Meeting for the year at Ascot Park in Invercargill, I released the following media announcement:
The Otago Southland Employers’ Association and The New Zealand Institute of Management, late last week, signed an Agreement which will see The Employers’ Association takeover the management and delivery of NZIM executive training and development programmes throughout Otago and Southland.

Announcing the new arrangement John Scandrett, CEO of OSEA stated:
"Over recent months we have been moving ahead on a number of initiatives to reshape our business activities so that they will better meet the needs of what our members seek in today’s challenging business environment. The acquisition of the NZIM training courses will add weight, in different market segments, to the seminars and training programmes traditionally run by our Association and we are very pleased to have reached the new ten year arrangement with NZIM".

Mr Tom McBrearty, Acting CEO of NZIM-Southern in Christchurch said:
"We have been struggling with aspects of the effective delivery of our programme in Otago and we were in the process of working through re-development prospects when we were approached by OSEA. The outcome reached represents a win/win for both our organizations".

"The NZIM brand has over a long period been synonymous with comprehensive management training throughout the country and the OSEA brand has equally been historically linked to the provision of quality-based employer related services in their local region. Under our new agreement, which takes effect this month, OSEA will assume the full management and delivery functions for the NZIM courses in Otago and Southland and these will be offered under an equally-weighted dual branding structure".

"We fully expect our membership in The South to continue to support the NZIM programme under the new Agreement and to also take wider advantage of the expanding range of OSEA training and business development courses" Mr McBrearty said.

John Scandrett went on to say:
"The arrangement with NZIM comes at a time when we are also poised to launch our new business women’s initiative, "She’s Motivated".

"OSEA seeks to recognize the growing diversity of the important roles that women hold in wide-ranging regional commercial activities and we have taken the view that we should step closer to meeting the demands that business women, both urban and rural, are looking for through specialist training courses, seminars and conferencing"

He said:
"Under the She’s Motivated brand we will offering new business training and development programmes that are specifically designed to assist women run their own businesses, or to be better informed to assist in operating the family business or general business activities whether these be city or country based".

"Examples of the new courses include Career Planning for Women, Starting Your Own Business, Women Working in a Senior Management Team and Assertiveness Skills for Women"

John Scandrett said:
"We feel that in many ways business training programmes and associated networking opportunities have been traditionally rather “blokesy-focused” and the new OSEA initiative is very much designed around creating expanded and relevant opportunities that meet the specific demands of how women need to see and address commercial challenges".

The above new initiatives represent a serious ratchet-up of The Association’s refocus on the development and introduction of an expanded business base that will not only serve members needs more appropriately across a wider front, but will also create meaningful new revenue-generating capabilities for OSEA.

It is becoming increasingly clear that in different forms the traditional Government backing for some training and business-related services will be trimmed or will be eliminated altogether. It is most important therefore that we recognize that in today’s tight central funding environment we must be increasingly prepared to shape our own independent organizational destiny.

We are proactive in this respect.

John Scandrett
Chief Executive Officer

These articles and much more available in the latest Update - The Official OSEA Magazine