How do we help people take time off to refresh when there always seems another critical problem to address? Making sure there is enough depth in the team so chief executives can get a break seems pretty obvious. But implementation can sometimes be harder than the outside observer might think.
The "Great Resignation" is real. Many younger Kiwis working in our businesses have had their OE delayed.
With borders opening up and the cost of living in New Zealand rising we are also seeing people take up opportunities offshore or switch jobs here for improved pay or conditions.
Our immigration settings and slow visa processes are making it hard to replace key talent resource quickly. This places a burden on the workforce that remains and our ability to be productive.
I'd certainly call on the Government to relax immigration settings more than they have and to speed up the process for granting visas.
This equally applies to the tourism sector — hit hard by closure of our borders. While residents of visa waiver countries can now enter, 'visa required countries' (representing an important group for tourism) will likely struggle to get visas.
Rumours (and experience) is that it can take many months to get a visa. The tourism sector wants our tourists back.
All businesses I'm involved with are facing rising costs whether from supply chain disruption, increased transport costs, increased interest costs, labour, materials and the like.
While consumers seem more accepting of the need for price increases, the topic we are all considering is at what point will consumers simply go without and how will we then deal with the inevitable consequences of that.
I've been hesitant to say we are in a recessionary environment as we are good at talking ourselves into doom and gloom and I'd rather not be an advocate of that.
But one can't deny that globally around the world economies are doing it tough and conditions in New Zealand are not easy either. All boards are discussing the impact this is having on our businesses and how best we respond.
Again most businesses I'm involved with are trying to embrace "working from home" to some degree.
In many respects, it's a positive development and beneficial for employees.
It's not a panacea though — especially for younger people early in their career. There is a lot of learning from casual observation of more senior colleagues as well as the ability to interact in less formal settings than a zoom or teams meeting.
I think there is a way to go before we land on the right balance. I'm not sure that empty office towers every Monday and Friday is that.
The topic of sustainability is crucially important to the ongoing wellbeing of many of the companies I'm involved with including Fonterra, Fletcher Building and Tourism Holdings.
The extent of the challenge for each entity is different but significant. What excites me is that our people are searching for and finding solutions to what in some cases some would describe as "wicked problems". It's obviously key that we be transparent with our stakeholders around our challenges and share the solutions we are developing when we can - without giving our competitors an early march on what may become a competitive advantage.
Most organisations in New Zealand are also seeking to recognise the importance of Māori culture, values and Te Reo to our people and broader stakeholders. Doing that in a way that is genuine and not patronising or inappropriate approbation is something many organisations including their boards are working hard to achieve.
We also need to take our shareholders and stakeholders with us as we seek to do what we believe is right.
Returning more directly to the topic of capital markets the reality is that many companies have seen their share price fall below what we as governors think represents fair value.
While the opportunity can exist for share buybacks in some cases, in other instances I believe it's about keeping the faith — performing well, staying focused and better telling our strategy and stories to the market so our real value is ultimately better reflected in our share price.
I doubt there is ever an easy time to be a director but certainly the last few years have provided plenty of challenges to work through and there remain many headwinds ahead.
Having crossed the divide from being an adviser to being a decision-maker, I've had the opportunity to interact with a broad section of capital market participants in a different context from my old life as a corporate lawyer. I believe New Zealand's capital markets are very well served by the professional services community (lawyers, the audit profession, valuation experts and the like), the traditional trading banks, investment bankers and specialists.
Finally, I'm confident that if good businesses need capital that our capital markets will be there and respond accordingly.
There is no shortage of capital around.
- Cathy Quinn ONZM is chair of Tourism Holdings and a director of Fonterra and Fletcher Building. She formerly chaired legal firm MinterEllisonRuddWatts. She was the only lawyer on the Capital Markets Taskforce.
