Over the holidays a recent discovery got me to thinking about what data leads designers to imagine the future. As per the status quo of any extended holiday (once the eating, spending time with whanau (family), lounging about and doing things one tenth the speed we usually do), we generally turn our attention to tidying…
Employees are the cornerstone of any successful organisation. Not surprisingly, it’s why businesses are constantly looking to fill positions with top employee talent – because they want to improve their products and services. However, in a competitive job market, businesses must up their game to avoid losing top talent to the competition. This is where…
Several months ago, I was talking to HERA’s CEO Dr Troy Coyle regarding some of the positive advantages of early engagement on construction projects. I reflected on the way our industry currently conducts business and the general way it manages change. It is because of this, or rather because of the lack of it, I…
Recently, I met up with a senior leader whom I admire because of the way he practises mindfulness in his leading. The focus of our conversation was being authentic and mindful in our leadership. We agreed that a good definition of mindfulness is about being awake to and aware of what is happening to ourselves…
Have you ever asked yourself this? It is a term that is often bandied about in leadership discussions. But what does it actually mean and why is it important for HERA to talk about it? Recently, being a charismatic leader has come up in many conversations for me (and not by my initiation). It’s prompted…
We’re making great strides in achieving diversity in the boardroom, but we’re still not there. One would think it’s a no brainer. But every time an announcement is made around diversity in the boardroom, I always get asked for comment about why this is important which makes me wonder: Is this really not self-evident or…
We all know that HR has fundamentally been about helping enable culture and driving performance. But in order to do this effectively in today’s world, we need to recognise the key role HR plays in enabling innovation. There is an innate tension within high-performing leadership teams, a product of the diverse and (partially) non-overlapping goals…
Surprisingly, this appears to be the case according to research recently released. An interdisciplinary team involving researchers with backgrounds in engineering, intercultural communication, and applied linguistics from universities in the United Kingdom, Belgium, Australia, and Japan conducted the research. They analysed written materials with intercultural communication as the subject, as used in engineering education. They…
The biggest single industry in New Zealand for waste is building and construction. So with commercial construction at record levels, residential building consents peaking at 1970’s levels, massive housing shortages combined with anticipated additional demand from Kiwibuild – we must find a better way. The solution is adopting circular economy thinking. Not only does this…
What do you ACTUALLY do? Your answer can help our industry better promote itself. There is no doubt that heavy engineering has an image problem. We’re consistently hearing how hard it is to attract and retain quality staff. Students are not choosing it as a study focus. Apprentices are hard to find. Women are not…
