CEO Diary

Welcome back to our latest edition of the hire and rental magazine

It’S bEEn IntErEStInG tIMES SIncE MY LaSt StorY to YoU aLL

the words “nimble and adaptable” are now firmly entrenched into the vocabulary of a business owner.

bEInG abLE to quickly change your business operations to fit the health requirements of the country is now kind of second nature. As much of a pain it is and it hurts us significantly in the pocket, our ability to bounce back out of that is the very reason you are a business owner. Your ability and measured risk taking is supposed to provide a return on that risk. Sadly, that is in the control of others at times, so your ability to be nimble and adapt is what will get you through. I am really amazed at some of our member’s tenacity. Especially in the Events sector. A sector that completely tanks every time we go into lockdown. Funnily enough, they don’t just roll over and die, they adapt and make it through. Some businesses are diversifying which is cool to see. I heard one member is contracting out their staff to scaffold businesses, another has gone into furniture deliveries etcetera with his covered trucks. Recently I visited a member promoting the “American retail sales driver of Halloween” by selling balloons and other paraphernalia, something they said was certainly helping the bottom line.

aDaptInG anD bEInG nIMbLE haS to bE thE WaY ForWarD noW

Geez, didn’t we dodge a bullet! We got our conference away on the second week of August, just four days before lockdown. This was our team’s first conference to organise, and I gather from the survey and the feedback from members I got to catch up with, that we did ok. We learnt a lot and there are definitely things we have put into the mind bank of what not to do next time, but overall we got through it. A big thanks to everyone who came – Suppliers that filled our trade hall up, our speakers and presenters were amazing, and the delegates came with their cheque books and dancing shoes (and drinking gizzards according to the bar tab!). Though our attendee numbers were down, which hits us in the pocket and has cost us a bit this year, we had some great suppliers step up and support the association, none more so than our event sponsors of Youngman Richardson, Baytex, Synergy Hirebotics, ICIB, NZI, Point of Rental, Trackunit, Brent Smith Trailers, OMC Power Equipment, BE Pressure and TVH. Their financial support is what allowed us to do the cool things we do at conference. You have to come to see!

GooD SEGUE roDnEY

Engagement is the buzz words in associations. Now, I am no rocket scientist or the most knowledgeable at running associations but what I have worked out is this: Membership organisations are always trying to lift engagement with their members. I get it, they want a pat on the back and want to do more for members, they can’t think what’s best for their industry and so want the membership to tell them. I have been told by the circles I mix in for running associations (can you believe it, there’s an association for association executives!) that the key to growth is getting more members engaged. Engaged members give you the mandate to advocate on their behalf, to create wealth for their industry by getting more involved. Hhmmmmm… I see it this way. I’m not saying they are doing it wrong, if it works for them, all good. What I’m saying and this is where you can correct me if you want – There are 3 types of members 1. The highly engaged members (those probably reading this magazine) that value the support and contact we have with them. They look to partner with us because it works for their business and they like the idea of being able to turn to us regularly for support, ideas, networking and to just bend an ear.

2. Others want to have their say whenever it pleases or fall back and use our support when the hole, they have dug is very deep. 3. And then there are the businesses that just want to put the sticker on the door and say they are part of the industry professional association so that they can tick a box for prequalification’s and marketing. So, WhY Do I have to push to get No.’s 2 and 3 to engage more? They pay their subscription, they get the magazine and the sticker, they are content? Force feeding them my snake oil is not going to get them more engaged. Am I just right to continue along the direction the board and highly engaged members want me to take the association and not worry about their opinions? At the end of the day, they are getting their perceived value from HIANZ. Back to my number 1’s. You hold the key to our successes going forward. Your highly valued opinions will direct and carve our path. Thanks for calling the shots right so far, you make me look like I know what I’m doing!! What have I just said? If you want to help shape the future of the association and the direction it drives the industry, give me a bell. If you are content to follow along and think we are doing ok, fine. I’m not going to be a preacher or make this into a “Party Political Agenda Broadcast (PPAB)”. I’m here when you need me (infill with the tune of “Lady” by Little River Band). 1100 words already, crikey I waffle. coUpLE oF thInGS and projects to update you all (if you are still reading this) on: „ Duty of Care statements – As an industry we need to make sure we are managing safety well and this includes both upstream and downstream duties. I said last magazine and at conference I want to get a team together to help create an industry statement of intent. This is the call for interested people to provide a hand on this.

„ The HIANZ board of Ant Smit, Dale

Lilley, Paul Harrison, Paul Raymer,

Martin Vogel, and Amy Gillies get together in December (via Zoom) to put together a strategic plan for the next few years for the association. If you want to provide some input, drop me a line. „ Our website has had further tidy ups. Thanks to Kylene for the work going on here. Go have a look at some of the changes and get ready to see more before

Christmas. „ Social media, I’m not a fan of it but we are putting more effort into communicating out through these avenues. Find, follow and like

HIANZ, EWPA, NZFIA and Silvercard on Facebook and LinkedIn.

The more people we are “liked” by, the wider our audience on certain matters, like finding your stolen trailers. „ Did you know 30% of our revenue in the association (taking conference and Silvercard out of the equation) comes from stationery sales. It is a massive help to our cashflow.

Please, please, please, buy off us.

I am fairly confident the pricing is good, and the sales really help our

bottom line. Don’t give your stationery orders to others, support your little old association with them!! „ Webinars, we ran a series of Webinars over lockdown and have stopped now as the numbers of watchers had dropped. Feel free to go onto our website and watch the recordings. Some really good content there and as this was our first go at it, we have learnt a few tricks and have had some feedback on how to make them better. Let me know what you think. We will do a new round next year. taLkInG oF thE new year, we are going to be working on a range of pre-hire and post hire checks for our equipment ranges. This is to provide guidance around a minimum standard we should be operating at and tie into the duty of care statement. The last thing I wanted to rant on about is your staff. I can’t stress enough the importance of your team and having them in the boat with you to help steer through these troubled waters. Communication is the most valuable tool here. Not you telling them everything but getting 2-way conversations going with them. Let them know you want to hear from them and as much as you might think they have nothing to offer, they are the ones who will be the most affected by your decisions, so having them play a part in talking about it is a good move. thE GoVErnMEnt has not provided clear guidelines on the vaccination topic which requires some of us to be jabbed. This runs you into an employment relations minefield particularly when there are no laws in place to help you to comply. I suspect there will be many more times that we will be put in a no-win situation by this government. So work with your team and get them of your side. We are currently developing some guidance and support information to help you through this minefield. That’s it from me. No more PPAB (my new acronym of the month, Party Political Agenda Broadcast). All the best as the country gets double jabbed (or not) and starts opening up so we can all get through the festive season without too much drama. ■

GooD chat.

Safety video on webSite Health and Safety information supplied with all machines

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