HRINZ Conference 2006 National President’s Summary Report

Geoff Summers FHRINZ

Well, what a great conference it was this year. I’m delighted that we were able to put together such an outstanding event for our members, and I hope that everyone who attended got the maximum benefit from all of our wonderful international and New Zealand-based speakers.

We learned about the key intergenerational differences that set people in my (baby boomer) age group apart from those in Gen X, Y (and where ever else the demographic shifts are beyond that), and we dissected many of the perceptions that each generation has of the other.

We looked at the pros and cons of each cohort and discussed how our different working styles can, if properly identified and managed, be of immense benefit in the workplace, and not a source of misunderstanding or resentment, as has occasionally happened.

Differences in age, experience, expectations of working conditions, salary, promotion and so forth have always existed in the workplace, but as the boomers enter the autumn of their working lives, the institutional knowledge they have cultivated along the way hangs in the balance and may be totally lost unless the younger generations reap the reward of that experience through mentoring and some stability in their working lives. After all, as the saying goes, “good things take time”.

There are a lot of baby boomers in positions that younger people also want, yet we’re the generation that have decided that we don’t know how to spell retirement, and we’re not going there.

So what are these young people going to do? Well, we know that many of them leave, perhaps under the slightly misleading notion that they need to do the OE thing and work abroad for a while before they can come back and plant a stake of credibility and experience in the ground back in Godzone.

While there is certainly something to be said for gaining a big picture reality of the world beyond our shores, the truly disconcerting thing is that the longer it goes on, the less likely we will be to repatriate our younger talent in the future.

The issue is going to create some really interesting dynamics in the workplace, and I hope that everyone who attended the conference took something away from the intergenerational discussions we had that they can take back and discuss in their own workplace.

I want to thank everyone involved in bringing together this year’s conference, and specifically the HRINZ Board, who help out with all sorts of volunteer projects and work each year, and the CEO and her staff at National Office who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything goes according to plan.

Also, Clockwork (the professional event organisers we contract to run the conference for us) who once again made it easy to not notice that these things do not happen by chance.

A big thank you to all of the HRINZ Branch Presidents, Branch Committee Officers, and Members, and most importantly to our fantastic sponsors - Mercer, Global CareerLink, H2R Consulting, Adcorp, Southern Cross Healthcare, Allied Pickfords and CCH, without whose generous support this year’s conference would not have been possible. My thanks everyone for your excellent work on behalf of our members throughout the country.

 

HRINZ announces new gifting concept

The Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRINZ) has initiated a new gifting concept that will allow a not-for-profit organisation to be represented at the institute’s popular annual conference.HRINZ CEO Beverley Main said it was not unusual for some organisations to send several delegates to the conference. However, for most not-for-profit groups, funding for even one conference registration fee was usually too tight.

“Larger, better-resourced organisations regularly send clusters of staff to the conference so they can maximise the overall professional development of their workforce, but for those without a large training budget, it’s a different story.

“As an incorporated society ourselves, HRINZ knows how much of a hurdle that can be, so we’ve decided to help bridge that gap for the not-for-profit sector.”

At the recent HRINZ 2006 Conference, Beverley announced that an employee or volunteer from a not-for-profit organisation would be gifted one full conference registration each year, allowing them to choose which sessions they would most benefit from. The inaugural benefactor of the conference placement is Auckland-based Frog recruitment and the lucky attendee, Simone Anzböck, is a Director of AIESEC currently working in New Zealand from Austria.

AIESEC is a not-for-profit international educational organisation, founded in Europe in the aftermath of World War II. It now operates in 97 countries and territories worldwide, providing international internships and youth leadership opportunities in a global learning environment. AIESEC is described as an international platform for students and young graduates to discover and develop their potential.

“Speaking with Simone at the conference, I was delighted to hear how much she was enjoying the experience and the opportunity to learn more about how Kiwis think, work and get along,” Beverley said.

Jane Kennelly, Managing Director of Frog Recruitment said the donation of a conference ticket for not-for-profit groups is a fantastic idea and she hopes the initiative will be well supported.

“It’s our pleasure to be involved in this great project, which is really going to help not-for-profit organisations get a tangible benefit from an excellent professional development opportunity.”

If you'd like to know more about how your organisation can gift a conference registration to a deserving not-for-profit organisation please email hrinz@hrinz.org.nz

For more information on Frog Recruitment go to: www.frogrecruitment.co.nz

For more information on HRINZ go to: www.hrinz.org.nz

For more information on AIESEC go to: www.aiesec.org

Pictured below at the 2006 HRINZ Conference (September 14-16) are (left to right): Simone Anzböck (AIESEC), HRINZ CEO Beverley Main, and Frog Recruitment Client Services Manager Katherine Hall.