Back to Blog

Changes to Paid Parental Leave

Paid Parental Leave extended to 26 weeks from 1 July... From 1 July if an employee meets the ‘six month test,’ that is they’ve been employed by you for at least an average of 10 hours per week for six months or more) then they are now eligible for 26 weeks parental leave.  For employees who meet the 12 month test you are required to provide 52 weeks.  The ‘keep in touch’ allowance has also changed.  Find out more at:  https://www.business.govt.nz/news...

Great Business, Great People, Great Results...

Once again, No8HR is enormously proud to be associated with the Dairy Business of the Year Awards.   This year’s Supreme winners were Richard and Nadine McCullough from McCullough farm Partnership in the Waikato.  As well as the Supreme Award, Richard and Nadine scooped the Lowest Environmental Impact Award and Best Waikato Farm Performance Awards.   With a 6.2% return on assets and a 44% profit margin, the McCulloughs indeed proved that that excellent business re...

Great Places & Great Citizen Moments…

Some shout outs to people making a difference, big and small Tinopai on the Kaipara Harbour There’s a little place called Tinopai on one of the gentle arms of the Kaipara Harbour in Northland.  At Tinopai at some point in the past the community got together and decided to build a wharf that today is used by local and visiting fishing fans alike.  As I walked this wharf on a recent trip north I was inspired by what this simple act of planning and community spirit had achieve...

Get Inspired

If you’re up for some personal development and are prone to ‘overthinking’ then this is a good one…..be like Houdini! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ICREZm9CtE...

Team Size, Friend Numbers and some simple leadership sense

Reading this article from leadership Guru Charles Handy reiterates some of those intuitive principles we all know as leaders…with numbers comes complexity and the requirement for new thinking…or is it simply a case of ‘breaking down the numbers in the group?’  We think this is worth a read…  https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-wisdom-of-Charles-Handy?gko=6b365&utm_source=itw&utm_medium=itw202004604&utm_campaign=resp...

8 Steps Programmes Coming Up –Virtual and Face-to-Face!!!

Following our success with facilitation in the enforced ‘on-line’ culture of lockdown, we’re instigating a virtual 8 Steps Programme.  And because it’s the first time this full programme will be presented on-line in this way we’re applying a special discounted rate…and we’ve programmed it in the evenings so that it will work for those of you with busy lives.   Monday          6 July Monday          13 July M...

Under Pressure

Getting It Right Before You and Your Business Are Under Too Much Pressure We all know that calving is tough.  There’s the long hours, increased complexity and the knowledge that what you do now significantly impacts your business’ performance next year. You can’t afford to go in to calving with things at anything less than 100%.  So if you’re struggling with any team member issues, work productivity or just feel like the farm is  ‘not where you want it to ...

Great Jobs....

Great jobs available now and year around… More and more we’re seeing a shift in recruitment in the dairy sector away from its traditional focus on 1 June.  We support this for a number of reasons: It makes us really think about what jobs we need doing on farm when, and maybe having three full time team members all year around isn’t the right answer – there are lots of great ideas on alternatives out there and there are lots of people looking for ‘non-traditional’ farmi...

Leadership & Resilience

COVID has tested our leadership strength, but it is an immutable truth of life and leadership that every person’s strength can also be a weakness.  This article from Adam Bryant published in PwC insights is particularly good in helping us understand the downsides or resilience and ‘going it alone.’ https://www.strategy-business.com/blog/The-downside-of-resilient-leadership?gko=4823b&utm_source=itw&utm_medium=itw202004521&utm_campaign=resp...

Unconscious Bias

I, along with most of the world, remain aghast that racial violence and bias remains so prevalent in the world today.  The killing of George Floyd in the US is yet another reminder that as human beings we need to continue to strive to simply be better people.   Conscious bias is simply not acceptable but here I want to focus on unconscious bias.  Unconscious bias is a mindset we all suffer from and I want us to challenge ourselves to bring our unconscious bias into the l...

Kick or Pick the Lockdown Habit

I wish we could say we came up with this expression, but we didn’t, it’s from the Government's Get Sorted programme but we liked it, and the sentiment behind it, so we want to share it with you. Like lots of families over lockdown we created some new habits and at our extended family zoom meeting last Sunday we talked about the things that we wanted to ‘stay changed’ even though we were out of lockdown.  The range of responses was interesting: Eat less takeaways Travel less See...

Alert Level 1

Focus on recovery...but don't forget to celebrate! Kiwi culture is notorious for its understatement.  And whilst we are often quietly proud of our successes we seldom shout them from the rooftops.  Our success with COVID-19 is another example of this.  We are letting the world ‘find out’ about our success story by ‘looking at the numbers’ and monitoring our media; we don’t want to appear smug when so many others are still suffering; we know we are privileg...

Bursting (Out of) Your Bubble

Is it just me or did everyone look a little bit different…better? After nearly eight weeks of only seeing people outside my bubble over ZOOM, facetime or some other pixelated medium we, I suspect like most of the country, had an extended family dinner last night (following all the rules of course and I’m happy to report only eight as Mum and Dad decided to keep to their bubble for another few days).   And as I looked around the table and we shared our highlights and lowlights ...

We Like Data...

And we thought this analysis by Newsroom reporter Farah Handcock published yesterday (Thursday 14 May) was a great summary of how NZ has navigated the COVID19 crisis as told ‘by the numbers.’  As we said in our last newsletter – something for us all to be proud of… https://www.newsroom.co.nz/covid-19/2020/05/13/1101216/covid-19-in-nz-the-numbers ...

Budget 2020

Today we, like most businesses, are analysing what the budget means for us.  There’s lots in it and there is a focus on business and, not surprisingly, the health sector.   Below are a couple of links to help you negotiate what this budget could mean for you and your business.   https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2020-05/b20-wellbeing-budget.pdf https://treasury.govt.nz/publications/budgets/budget-2020...

Are You Proud?

If you’re not you should be.  Look at what New Zealand has achieved through the luck of timing (sometimes it’s good to be at the end of the world), decisive action and a culture that has demonstrated kindness, tolerance, tenacity and support in equal measures over what is arguable the start of the toughest economic challenge we’ve ever faced. As I stood at my gate at 6am on ANZAC Day I joined so many New Zealanders in recognising and celebrating bravery in the face of adversity a...

Pivot Your Career to the Food & Fibre Sector

We all know there’s going to be unemployment, but we all also know that there is a continuing ‘war for talent’ so that our businesses can perform at their best, particularly as many pivot in ways previously unthought-of to not only survive but also to thrive in a post pandemic New Zealand, potential Australasian bubble, and across the globe. We work with primary sector business, both on and off-farm,  who are looking for talented team members now.  Over the last mo...

Learning that Matters

Learning that matters...and keeps your business 'on course'! We’ve been working hard over the last couple of weeks to make sure that our popular ‘Eight Steps to Increasing Your Productivity’ management programme is ‘Zoom Fit’ and ready to deliver with no loss of quality or emphasis for participants on implementing the ‘how to’ of good management practice in their business. Not to be confused with a webinar (information download), facilitated discussion (listening to other people’...

Great Citizen Moments

Some shout outs to people making a difference, big and small The aforementioned bugle players on the morning of 25th April 2020… Much, quite rightly, has been made of our healthcare essential workers, but we also want to recognise our other essential service providers who have kept the rubbish off our streets, the water in our taps, the electricity in our power lines and the wastewater treated.  How much worse would isolation have been without you! You for the neighbourly t...

Keeping Your Team Together

Keeping connectedFocusing on personal and business resilienceBuilding and maintaining teams Many of you know that this is stuff that we do well….and it’s never been more important.  Normally we run sessions like this in your business, working with you as the business leader to work out what your objectives are and then formatting a programme.   We’ve been working really hard on ways to deliver this ‘remotely’ and are now ready to go….and the first five ...

Minimum Wage Increase

The minimum wage increased on 1 April to $18.90 and if your employees are working then you must pay them a minimum of this hourly rate (except if they are on the starting out and training wage) for all work that they do. If your business is affected by COVID-19 and is not receiving any revenue then you may be exempt…take a look at Employment New Zealand’s advice on this in the below link, and if you have any questions give us a call https://www.employment.govt.nz/leave-and-holidays/othe...

Great Citizens Moments

This month our ‘shout outs’ are to people who can help us make a difference, big or small Salvation Army and Countdown making a difference through a new ‘food bank’ process https://www.foodbank.org.nz As I queued at my local Pak n Save in Te Awamutu for groceries yesterday (yep, queuing for groceries, who’d have thought) the store sent out one of their team members with bottles of water to help us all keep hydrated whilst we waited in the sun….Good ...

Can We Help Your Business?

There isn’t a business in NZ that isn’t touched in some way by the current COVID-19 crisis…and we want to make sure our clients are getting it right during this difficult and constantly changing timeThere are likely to be increased risks to your business as we navigate these difficult times and some of our clients have already experienced employee representatives trying to cajole and take advantage of them as they try and do the right thing by their teams.  So, whether your busin...

Great Citizen Moments...

Some shout outs to people making a difference, big and small And one year after the terrible events of Christchurch 2019 we celebrate All new New Zealanders…no matter how long you’ve been here, we salute you for the contribution you are making to our country, the diversity we all bring which makes us stronger, and the sacrifices you’ve made to be here….kia kaha The Young Guy at FreshChoice Supermarket in Te Awamutu who earlier this month rescued my niece when she got...

Where to go for Advice

Repeating the important contacts we circulated last month…There’s lots of useful information but the key points for employers are: Ministry of Health Advice https://www.health.govt.nz/our-work/diseases-and-conditions/covid-19-novel-coronavirus?utm_source=business.govt.nz&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=special_cv_edition Healthline has a free dedicated phone number for health advice and information about coronavirus, including registering self-isolation. You can call 0800 358 54...