Workers need to be back in the office, NAB's Kiwi boss says

Many businesses are struggling to get workers back to the office. Photo / 123RF

Workers need to come back to the office to enable collaboration, help train newer staff and be seen for promotional opportunities, says a Kiwi heading up a major Australian bank.

Ross McEwan, a New Zealander who grew up in Hawke's Bay and is chief executive of National Australia Bank - the parent of BNZ - spoke to business representatives at the Trans-Tasman Business Circle meeting in Wellington yesterday.

McEwan said New Zealand and Australia were in a "pretty good position" compared to many others.

"Particularly when you compare us with other major global economies where monetary policy, war in Ukraine and the ongoing impacts of Covid are really hurting."

McEwan said people in the UK and Europe were battling high inflation, plunging currencies and spiking interest rates, while the US also faced high inflation and rising interest rates and China was seeing its slowest growth in decades.

New Zealand and Australia had also lifted their official cash rates.

"It's true that in New Zealand and Australia, higher interest rates, higher energy bills, and the cost of living are also having an impact."

But he said most households in Australia were well placed to manage higher interest rates with Australian mortgage holders four years ahead on their loans on average while in New Zealand almost half of borrowers were well ahead on their home loan repayments.

Economic growth was predicted to be more modest than in the past but still solid.

"Even in more severe scenarios we still expect growth in both New Zealand and Australia next year."

While confidence was down business investment remained strong and unemployment was at record lows.

"New Zealand and Australia are the best two countries in the world to be in right now. We can look to the challenges and opportunities ahead with confidence and optimism."

But he said to take advantage of the position the two countries were in, there were three issues that needed to be tackled - people, managing geopolitical and cyber security risks and decarbonisation.

"We are nothing without our people and we owe it to them to help them be their best.

"They have faced many challenges through Covid. I'm proud of how our teams at BNZ and NAB have found a way through and supported each other with great resilience and adaptability."

But now that most restrictions had ended McEwan said businesses needed to create environments where people could be their best because that would result in better productivity.

"Key to this is getting people back into the office. I'm a big supporter of this because of the many benefits that come from being together.

"Working in teams on challenges, training and learning from each other, and identifying opportunities for promotion are all benefits of being in the office regularly together. So too are the colleagues and friends that support our mental wellbeing."

At National Australia Bank that meant workers being back in the office two to three days a week.

"We recognise that flexibility is very important, but so too is maintaining a vibrant culture. And that can only be achieved through being together more often."

In 2021 BNZ moved to a permanent hybrid working model and reducing its office space by 30 per cent

The bank was also focused on training its leadership team and people in the digital and data skills needed.

"We are already taking action here by training over 2700 colleagues as accredited cloud experts over the past two years."

McEwan said many businesses were struggling to find workers.

"This is a flow-on effect of shutting ourselves off to the world for nearly two years by closing our borders."

Australia had responded by increasing the immigration cap from 160,000 to 195,000 over the next year.

National Australia Bank CEO Ross McEwan. Photo / supplied

McEwan said Australia and New Zealand's relationships with a range of countries was critical to ensuring economic prosperity.

"We need to be alive to the risk of tensions with China and what that may mean for trade.

"Covid showed us the importance and benefits of having a diverse range of trading partners to avoid or minimise disruption to critical supply chains. We need to keep working hard to maintain those partnerships and expand into new ones, so we are not trapped with the risk of just one major trading partner."

McEwan also warned of threats from cyberattacks.

"I said in a statement to an Australian parliamentary committee two years ago that cybercrime was one of the greatest threats of our time. It remains so."

NAB had 50 million attacks on its digital channels every month which were blocked.

"Multiply this across the industry in Australia and New Zealand and you see the size of the problem."

He said NAB and BNZ were trying to protect customers with new technologies such as biometrics and a team of experts that monitor customer accounts 24/7 to detect unusual account activity.

"Tens of millions of dollars are invested each year to protect our customers. We also partner with government and industry on a range of key initiatives."

But he said more needed to be done.

"Because for every attack or threat we stop, cyber criminals or countries behind them will launch another one using new and different methods.

At an individual level personal vigilance and education was vital, he added.

McEwan also outlined the opportunities in transitioning to net zero carbon to address climate change.

"Australia's economy stands to gain around $890 billion over the next 50 years. The economic opportunity in New Zealand is also significant."

While inaction would be costly.

"We know too well that natural disasters exacerbated by climate change not only take a human toll but a huge financial one too."

McEwan said New Zealand and Australia were in unique positions but needed to get on the front foot together.

"As a strong business community, one of the key things we can do is tell the world that we are open again. And very loudly."