How New Zealand Management Scores Internationally

A new report by led by the London School of Economics and McKinsey and Co which finds New Zealand Management in the manufacturing sector is middling to average by global standards, is a message with a silver lining, according to Catherine Beard, executive director Manufacturing, at Business New Zealand.

According to the study, New Zealand managers have considerable room for improvement, particularly when it comes to people management. Our managers were found to be not as good as managers in other countries at attracting, developing and retaining talent and equally not as good at managing poor performers. In contrast we did quite well on operational and performance management, which includes things such as modern manufacturing techniques, and efficient systems such as LEAN manufacturing and setting goals and targets.

Catherine Beard says the reason the report is very valuable is because small improvements in management performance equate to large gains to the bottom line for manufacturers.

“The report finds that if firms increase their management capability from the lower to the upper quartile (management score of 2.5 to 3.2) the impact would be equivalent to increasing their workforce by 41% or their investment in capital by 75%.”

“Investing in our people management skills is much lower cost than increasing employee numbers or investing in new capital, and the productivity gains are significant.”

“This is a great opportunity to improve our productivity at relatively low cost, and Business New Zealand will be working with our regional EMA and Chamber partners to promote our wide range of people management courses and get this issue onto the radar of our local manufacturers”.