Exporter importing talent

Briton Jerry Saville wants to leave a legacy of a greater number of nationalities at Fonterra. Picture / Fotopress

Fonterra is the world's leading exporter of dairy products but, in the fight for international executives, it has shown bottle as an importer.

Human resources director Jerry Saville is part of a new breed of manager taking charge at a company central to the economy.

Saville, a Briton, joined the company last May having spent 27 years working for Shell Oil in the US, Asia, Australia, Europe and Africa.

His appointment reflects a globalisation of managers whose arrivals include American Jay Waldvogal as chief operating officer, Indian-born Sanjay Khosla as managing director for milk and chief executive Canadian Andrew Ferrier.

The latest is Guy Cowan, who will take up his position as chief financial officer on March 1. Cowan was born in Argentina, educated in Brazil and Britain, married an Australian, worked in the US, England and South America and is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese.

The Briton's background sounds exceptional but is now commonplace in a company whose executives' profiles read like OE adventures.

Saville said the globalisation of management was no fluke but securing the best was often a slow process.

"Getting the right mix ... is sometimes like looking for a needle in a haystack."

However, with New Zealand's small population, Fonterra does not want to be seen as focusing on imports at the expense of local talent.

"People accept that skills need to be brought in from outside because I think New Zealanders tend to go overseas to get experience and they welcome other people coming in and bringing their experience with them," Saville said.

His HR team is embarking on a publicity drive so graduates and school leavers are aware of career opportunities at Fonterra.

"I think a lot of our work in the next few years will be to give people a good perspective on what Fonterra is really doing, whether it's at our consumer end, ingredients end or research."

Fonterra is owned by 12,000 plus dairy farmers and was formed in October 2001 from the amalgamation of the Dairy Board, Kiwi Dairies and the Dairy Group. It is the world's largest exporter of dairy products and has customers in 140 countries, assets of nearly $5 billion, a turnover of almost $12 billion and more than 19,000 employees worldwide.

Internationally experienced managers have become an essential tool for a company with global aspirations.

"People talk about globalisation of the economy and they think of financial services and computing and the fact that when you ring an airline in the services industry you end up talking to someone in India," Saville said.

"But even in our industry, which is a very old industry based around food, tastes are changing."

Market opportunities, such as the Western influence on Asian eating habits, require managers who can communicate in many cultures.

Half of Fonterra's staff are based overseas.

"The best people to sell our products in Indonesia are Indonesian. We may need to bring the Fonterra approach but one of the legacies I'd like to leave is a greater number of nationalities in our management workforce."

Kiwi managers have long been experienced travellers. What is new is the importing of managers from other industries. "There's a war for talent out there," Saville said. "There's never enough talent to go around. That's why we have to play on our uniqueness."

Working for a world leader in a country known for its lifestyle is a big draw for the blue-chip executives Fonterra targets. But it was the chance to leave his mark that lured Saville here.

He said success in attracting and developing the best managers brought another challenge - keeping hold of them.

The Briton's philosophy at Fonterra sounds something akin to the wider debate facing the country as a whole.

"In an ideal world, you want to create people who are able to leave, but are also happy to stay."