All Graeme Blackford wants is a "good country chef".

Someone who is qualified but can cook a juicy steak, a good chicken meal and rustle up a few burgers.

But the Grand Tavern publican's search for a chef has moved into its fifth month with no sign of a likely candidate coming forward.

He's advertised in local and national newspapers and even has a blackboard sign outside the tavern in Te Aroha, advertising for a chef.

While there are cooks out there looking for work, no-one qualified has put their hand up.

It has meant the tavern's restaurant hasn't been able to operate.

"You can't function without a cook or a chef so we're not getting by at all, and it's starting to cost us money."

Blackford is president of the Thames branch of Hospitality New Zealand and he reckons his problem is not an isolated one.

And he's right. Hamilton restaurants were also struggling to attract top chefs while the New Zealand Restaurant Association admitted there was a skill shortage when it came to finding people willing to work in a commercial kitchen.

A search of the job website, Seek.co.nz, showed there were 26 jobs listed under the title, "chef" for the Waikato.

Pay rates ranged from $20 to $29.99 per hour while another job was listed with the rate of $35,000 to $44,999 per year.

"We [the association] had a meeting recently and talked about the lack of chefs," Blackford said.

"You can't get anyone. You look at the hospitality column of the situation vacant and it's all people looking for chefs.

"I know of a hotel in the South Island which took about 12 months to find a chef."

He thought there was a shortage of trades people across the board. Costs involved with training programmes were holding people back.

A lack of accommodation in rural towns like Te Aroha also added to the problem.

"People from the cities don't want to come into a country town, even from Hamilton.

"In Te Aroha, there's no accommodation, no where to rent."

Blackford said he had been spoilt for the past 11 years where he had been able to lease out the restaurant at the tavern to people who had "worked hard but made good money".

"With the summer coming up, we're going to miss out if we can't find anyone."

Blackford agreed there were plenty of Aucklanders moving to Te Aroha but most were retirees, and not looking for a new career challenge.

"They're people who have probably made about $500,000 or $600,000 on selling their property, and paid about $300,000 for a good house in Te Aroha.

"They've got cash in the pockets but not looking to work, they're 70-plus. You're not getting anyone in their 40s or 50s coming here."

Blackford said he was still hopeful someone suitable would answer his call for help before the summer season starts.

"We just want a qualified person who is happy to work evenings and weekends especially, that's where you're going to get most of the work."

Head hunting chefs

In Hamilton, the city's top restaurants were head-hunting chefs from each other because they couldn't find new people to fill the void.

More successful city restaurants were offering higher pay rates to retain chefs.

Lawrenson Group owns 16 restaurants and pubs in Hamilton's CBD.

Its chief executive John Lawrenson said his HR manager kept watch on recruitment websites to find new staff.

Their search showed chefs were the sixth most advertised in the country and the least responded to.

With no new qualified chefs answering advertisements, Lawrenson said there was a fair bit of work going on to lure head chefs from other restaurants.

He thought there were only about five or six good restaurants in Hamilton and about the same number of "good cafes".

"The sad reality is there's not a lot of good qualified chefs around."

Pay rates had "skyrocketed" to about $35-$45 per hour, in an attempt to keep staff.

Long hours and difficult working conditions were a few of the factors Lawrenson thought were limiting a chef's career.

"Working as a chef is hard. They work long hours prepping, work 12 to 14 hour days and we try to juggle the hours for them so they have four days on and three days off.

"Kitchens are very hot places to work in. It can get up to 30 degrees [Celsius] in the summer."

Some chefs moved into the industry in their late 20s but by their early 30s were ready to get out.

"They leave and become a rep or open up a cafe somewhere. As a result the demand for chefs continues to rise."

He believed many restaurants were considering applicants from as far as Asian to work in commercial kitchens.

Shortage of chefs

New Zealand Restaurant Association Chief Executive Marisa Bidois said chefs were on the skill shortage list for the country.

"We have done a lot of research on how difficult it is for our industry to recruit any particular position. Chef seems to be one of the most difficult," she said.

A recent NZ Restaurant Association survey found from 200 members, 65.57 per cent said it was "extremely difficult" to find a chef and 28.67 per cent said it was "difficult" to find a chef.

"We had 0.82 per cent - that's not even a whole person - who said it was easy," Bidois said.

"It's such an important issue. It's a hot topic for our industry."

Bidois also said more than 60 per cent of members stated finding a suitable candidate had increased in difficulty over the past year.

The New Zealand Restaurant Association runs a Pro Start training programme, working alongside the government to try recruit and promote the industry to unemployed people.

It's aimed toward people the association believes can make a suitable transition into the industry and offers month-long training and on-the-job experience.

The programme runs in Hamilton and Auckland.

"Our employment rate is extremely low - there are not enough people to cover submissions at the moment.

"There are great stories from people who come through the programme but it is difficult in general for employers to find the right people."

Bidois has seen small community restaurants get creative when it comes to pitching their job offers.

Businesses propose a lifestyle change, cheaper rent and a balance between work and home life, she said, but Bidois understands the difficulty.

"Through speaking with other members, they've said it can take months to find the right people, but that's not through lack of trying.

"There's been substantial growth in the hospitality and tourism industry in the last five years. It's grown a lot and grown quickly.

"All of these things are good for the industry but it puts more pressure on finding the labour."

This article was originally sourced from Stuff NZ.

Clarity around the distinctive and different roles and responsibilities of independent public servants and political staff will give the incoming government and its staff a fresh start, says Public Service Association national secretary Glenn Barclay.

The Code of Conduct for Ministerial staff, introduced by the State Services Commission today, will support political staff so they don’t overstep the mark when working with independent public servants.

"Political staff are public servants too. They deserve State Service Commission guidance around standards of integrity and conduct as much as any other group," Glenn Barclay says.

"Over the past few years it has become increasingly clear to the PSA that more tangible supports are needed to protect public servants for perceived or actual misconduct. Political advisors can be subject to pressure from a range of sources. This code will provide them with some protections as well as helping the delivery of free and frank advice.

"All public servants, whether under the State Services Code of Conduct or the Ministerial Code of Conduct, now have guidance around recognising and respecting the roles and responsibilities of their colleagues," Glenn Barclay said.

The PSA says there is space within New Zealand’s constitutional framework for political advisors to sit alongside independent public servants. But says it is critical that there are parameters around each role to protect the individuals involved as well as the integrity of our democracy.

This article was originally sourced from Scoop Politics.

Summerfruit NZ and the Meat Industry Association of New Zealand (MIA) have this week signed the Government Industry Agreement for Biosecurity Readiness and Response (GIA) Deed, joining the fight against pests and diseases that could significantly impact New Zealand’s economy.

By signing the GIA Deed, Summerfruit NZ and MIA join the fifteen other industry sectors that have agreed to work with Government, and each other, to combat the threat of an incursion of a pest or disease.

Summerfruit NZ represents the collective interests of New Zealand’s apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach and plum growers. The value of the New Zealand summerfruit industry approached $140 million for 2016-17 and is well on the way to reaching its goal of being a $250 million industry by 2035.

Tim Jones, Summerfruit NZ Chair said, “Like all horticulture industries, Summerfruit NZ faces a large number of biosecurity threats that could damage the livelihoods of our growers.”

“Biosecurity is an investment, not a cost”, said Mr Jones. “GIA creates a foundation for us to have a more informed interaction about the biosecurity system with MPI and other GIA industry partners. This includes ways biosecurity might be improved, making recommendations for improvements where required, planning for the risk of any biosecurity incursion and taking a lead role in the event of an incursion.”

These comments were endorsed by John Loughlin, MIA’s Chair. “Biosecurity is fundamentally important to the New Zealand meat industry as it underpins our reputation for producing safe, high quality product,” said Mr Loughlin.

“A large-scale biosecurity incursion like foot and mouth disease could devastate the meat sector and seriously impact the wider New Zealand economy,” he said. “The recent Mycoplasma bovis incursion in South Canterbury highlights how even a relatively unknown disease can have a big impact on the industry. Customers increasingly demand meat and pharmaceutical products that have a disease-free status – maintaining New Zealand’s unique international biosecurity status gives our industry a major advantage.”

“We look forward to working in partnership with Government and other industries to maintain and improve New Zealand’s biosecurity readiness and response.”

MIA represents New Zealand’s meat processors and exporters, and its members account for more than 99% of the meat processed in New Zealand. The meat sector exports almost $8 billion annually, and is New Zealand’s second largest export and single largest manufacturing sector.

GIA Manager Steve Rich welcomed the two new arrivals on behalf of the wider partnership, saying that the new additions are a tangible demonstration of the future of biosecurity in New Zealand. “Here you have two very different sectors, but with common interests to achieve better biosecurity, joining together to deliver better outcomes with their peer industries and Government.”

“MIA and Summerfruit NZ joining the GIA partnership means the vast majority of New Zealand’s land-based agriculture sectors are now represented in GIA, along with Government. We look forward to working with them to jointly manage biosecurity readiness and response,” said Mr Rich.

This article was originally sourced from Scoop Business.

Drug and Alcohol Practitioners’ Association Aotearoa–New Zealand (dapaanz)

The Drug and Alcohol Practitioners’ Association Aotearoa–New Zealand (dapaanz) says the government’s proposed package to deal with methamphetamine addiction in New Zealand is out of balance and shows it still has its thinking wrong on drug harm reduction.

Dapaanz Executive Director Sue Paton said it’s great to see more resources being promised to tackle methamphetamine, but that the government still seems to think it can punish the problem away.

“It’s a shame that unfortunate comments about human rights have distracted from the proposed investment into education and treatment for people addicted to methamphetamine. But it’s also a shame that more than half of the $82 million set aside ($42 million) will be spent on enforcement.

“This is out of balance with our government’s own National Drug Policy which stresses innovation, proportionality and compassion over outdated war on drugs thinking, and it’s completely out of accord with what we know works.”

Ms Paton said experts in the drug treatment sector have been telling the government for years that the best way to reduce the supply of any drug is to reduce demand for it, and the only way to do that is to support people to come off their addiction.

“Education, treatment and more rehab beds will help with that. Harsher penalties, cancelling benefits, more drug dogs and entering people’s houses without a warrant will not. Even the government’s own advisors and the police are saying we can't arrest our way out of this problem.”

Ms Paton said people with an addiction were often caught between a rock and a hard place. They want to stop, but fear coming forward because they might be treated like criminals. But when they finally do put their hands up for help they find there’s no treatment available or that they have to wait three months.

“The education and new treatment places promised will help, but will still only be scratching the surface of what needs to be done. Dapaanz would like to see much more, if not all, of that $82 million put towards treatment. It’s the only thing that will make a real difference in reducing drug harm.

“Countries like Portugal and Holland have been taking this approach in recent years and their rates of drug use, drug-related crime and their prison musters have plummeted as a result – so what drug treatment experts in New Zealand are saying has been proven overseas.”

Ms Paton says it takes courage to try something new, but that’s why our National Drug Policy talks about innovation.

“There’s a glimmer of hope in the government’s new proposal to increase education and treatment. Let’s focus on that and what the experts are saying instead of people having fewer human rights or becoming harsher as a society. Let’s stick with our National Drug Policy of innovation, proportionality and compassion because that’s what will truly work.”

This article was sourced from Scoop News. 

This important contribution to the New Zealand literature on volunteering is a report written by Volunteering New Zealand and the Department of Internal Affairs.

The report contains:

• Recommendations
• The current state of volunteering and volunteer-involving organisations
• Issues affecting volunteering in New Zealand
• The decline in volunteer hours
• Other observations about changes to the nature of volunteering
• Issues/barriers for volunteer-involving organisations and volunteers
• Issues/barriers for volunteer-involving organisations
• Issues/barriers for volunteers
• Looking to the future: possibilities for support, and other opportunities
• Proactive responses
• Better support for volunteering
• The need for Government to lead by example
• Improved Research

This article was sourced from Volunteering New Zealand.  

The 2017 Directors’ Alert was issued this month by Deloitte Global. This year’s publication is based on the need for courageous actions in the boardroom, highlighting the benefits of diversity and discussing some of the main disrupting factors that boards must address: technology, transparency, innovation and culture. The report serves as a useful tool for boards to approach these issues.

We strongly recommend you at least read the key “Q’s for directors to ask” on strategy (page 7), Culture (page 11, and the table on page 10), technology (page 19), disruption (page 23) and diversity (page 39). Click here to refer to these pages. 

The insights and challenges equally apply to profit focussed businesses and public benefit entities.

Related to the challenges facing all organisations is the generational disruption that millennials are to employers. The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2017 provides an update on how millennials view the world and work.

Last year, many millennials seemed to be planning near-term exits from their employers. But, after 12 months of political and social upheaval, those ambitions have been tempered, according to Deloitte Global’s sixth annual Millennial Survey. Young professionals now indicate they’re less likely to leave the security of their jobs, more concerned about uncertainty arising from conflict, and—especially in developed countries—not optimistic about their future prospects nor the directions their countries are going.

Next month we will cover benchmarking. As we have found that benchmarking has a very strong impact on organisation performance and also the outcomes achieved across the relevant industry. The highlighting of key differentiators in high and low performance can sometimes be surprising and definitely focus the efforts of an organisation to improve their outcomes!

For several years, we have been debating the issue of Millennials, with organisations focused on how to recruit and best manage this tech savvy, materialistic, and connected demographic. However, Generation Z – born between 1994 and 2010 – is currently entering the workforce and it is vital we understand who they are, what talents they bring, and what challenges we might face in engaging with them.

Understanding the values that Gen Z hold, and what drives them will help us to shape how our organisations meet their needs and maximize their contribution. This networking lunch topic will discuss the typical attributes we can expect of this new generation, what their likely motivations are, and how their career priorities may differ. Focusing on the psychology of young employees and how leaders might effectively influence this generation, this discussion offers insight into possible differences but importantly also highlights how they are similar to current generations.

We hope you can join us and connect with others in the industry to discuss if our organisations are ready for a changed world. To register, click on the dates below: 

Sydney - Wednesday 4 October 
Brisbane - Thursday 5 October 
Canberra - Monday 9 October 
Perth - Wednesday 11 October
Melbourne - Tuesday 24 October 

Engineering student Emily Campbell welcomes a renewed push to see more women in the male-dominated profession.

Engineers Australia recently announced a target to have women making-up 30 per cent of its 100,000 member organisation by 2020, including board members, managers, staff and volunteers.

New statistics compiled by the peak industry body showed women currently accounted for just 12 per cent of Australia's engineering workforce.

Across the three industries employing the most engineers - design, manufacturing and construction - the national pay gap favours men by as much as 22 per cent.

Ms Campbell, 23, an engineering and arts student at the Australian National University, said part of the problem was the historical perception of engineering as a man's job.

"It is a complex issue, but I think a lot of it does come down to the way we are socialised. Engineering has a bit of an image problem," she said.

"I think there are a lot of really great ideas out there to make sure have a diverse and inclusive workforce, but there's not a lot of cohesion about these things."

Engineers Australia board member Trish White said the industry needed to get better at attracting and retaining women.

"The first issue is that there is a lack of girls studying the required maths and science to become engineers in the first place," she said.

"Then we have the problem of the number of graduates that actually go into the workforce.

"We also have an issue with the number of women who remain in the profession as leaders."

Ms White worked as an engineer in the transport and communications industries before joining the Defence Science Technology Organisation and then entering the South Australian parliament.

She said engineering had come a long way since she first started in the industry, but there was still a fair bit of work to do.

"Workplaces today are much improved on when I started and had to deal with the open taunts and the open discrimination," she said.

"But, what still exists is a significant gender pay gap and a lot of workplaces lack access to flexible working arrangements, and there are still few women in senior leadership roles."

This article was sourced from Brisbane Times. 

In a newly-minted role for the cyber security pioneer, Professor Jill Slay has been appointed Director of Cyber Resilience Initiatives at the Australian Computer Society.

Slay was formerly Director of the Australian Centre for Cyber Security, and previously headed the ACS Cyber Taskforce which Slay said lead to the new role.

“My purpose is to make sure we in Australia have enough people in the workforce to defend us from bad guys,” she said.

‘Bad guys’ is the term Slay uses for hackers. One of the most pervasive cyber crimes is targeted phishing – gaining access to a user’s CV and sending tailored job offers or emails with other targeted content containing malware.

Cyber shortage

Slay has been outspoken about the cybersecurity workforce shortage in Australia, saying we simply do not have enough such professionals in the industry, and need to do more to attract people to this specialty.

“I use the salary as bait,” Slay joked.

A mid-level cyber security professional earns about $140,000 per year according to Slay, and high-level experts are said to earn a seven-figure salary.

“They just get headhunted from one company to another,” she said.

Slay said no matter the profession, people with cyber security skills will never be unemployed.

“Cyber security has to infiltrate almost every discipline because we’re all dealing with computers, we’re all dealing with policy of some kind, and there aren’t enough technical people to do the work, and the tech people don’t often understand legal and business issues.

“My job is to get everybody to understand it,” she said.

Training and education

Slay’s role as Director involves several things. Implementing cyber security training in a range of departments is one of them.

According to Slay, there are two key areas where cyber security accreditation can improve: in entry-level and highly-advanced jobs.

“The things that we need in Australia are for TAFE to embed more cyber security in their curriculum and for universities have to have a range of programs from info systems through to computer engineering that all have technical cyber security in them.

“ACS can contribute here because we’re the people who actually develop the curriculum advice,” she said.

Slay said Australia has more jobs for entry-level people, but still needs specialised professionals.

“We also have a big gap in where SMEs, which are 60-70% of Australian industry, where you don’t even have one half of a qualified cybersecurity person.

“A conservative estimate of what we want in Australia is 10,000 people working in cyber security -- and we don’t have 10,000 people in the pipeline,” she said.

Slay said her role needs to evolve as cyber security progresses, but she will primarily look at how to incorporate cyber security into ICT. Her focus is to work with other directors on the implementation of the new cyber certifications, which were launched earlier this month.

A crucial aspect of this role was developing and rolling out national standards and subsequently helping ACS and its members understand the benefits and opportunities in ICT professionals gaining skills in cyber security.

“If I’m a member who hasn’t got those cyber security skills, I need to be guided to something to read or study, so I’m going to develop that as well.

“We also need to come up with an appropriate assessment of career skills, which is the pathway we’re trying to provide,” she said.

Cyber crime and AI

Slay said artificial intelligence could be the solution to handling large amounts of data in cyber security.

“The big data community wants to put sensors on things to collect data, and the more data collected, the more risk there is of malware, and the need to detect, store and secure it.

“You can’t sift through it manually to detect malware but you can automate [that process],” she said.

This article was originally sourced from Information Age. 

Getting students involved as members can leave a lasting impression after they graduate. But some association membership pros say it’s important to ask a few questions before launching or reconfiguring your student membership category.

With the school year now in full swing, I wanted to turn some attention to a subset of membership that associations probably don’t spend a lot of time thinking about—student members.

If you have student members, maybe you overlook their needs simply because there aren’t a lot of them, or they don’t pay much—or anything—in dues.

Maybe you don’t offer student membership at all. In that case, you might want to consider adding it. This was a recent topic in the membership section of ASAE’s Collaborate community [member login required].

What we know is that young people are likely eager to join but probably need some special attention when it comes to recruitment and engagement.

“Students have different needs than professionals,” says Dan Ratner, membership and business development strategist at the Next Steps LLC. “Usually, associations start a student membership category without thinking about the resources or benefits that are most relevant.”

Ratner began his association career working as a student program manager for the National Association for Music Education. He was responsible for running a national honor society for student musicians.

“I think you really do have to speak to students,” he says. “Students are interested in a lot of what associations have to offer, but associations often miss opportunities to reach them.”

Whether you have a student membership category or are considering adding one, answering a few basic questions can help you decide how much time, attention, and resources to devote to students.

Where Is the Opportunity?

The Massachusetts Society of CPAs recently asked this question before it launched a free student membership category tailored to rising high school juniors and seniors considering careers in the accounting profession.

MSCPA already had a traditional college-level student membership. Staff saw an opportunity to bring in even younger members based on experience with a few programs that were engaging high schoolers.

“We hosted high school days as previews into the profession,” says Erica DeBiase, MSCPA’s academic and career development specialist. “We already engaged with high school students in a number of face-to-face ways, so we figured why not get them on our radar as members.”

One year in, MSCPA has about 65 high school student members—a small fraction of the 750 college members and more than 11,000 professional members. But Barbara Iannoni, MSCPA’s academic and career development director, says the upfront investment is worth it.

“For tracking purposes, it’s easier for us to know who is entering into college as a potential accounting major,” Iannoni says. “We can now track students from their high school years, all the way through graduation, and into the profession.”

Another important consideration is whether your association has access to student networks. MSCPA leveraged its existing event series, a dedicated social media presence for students, and connections with teachers who could promote the benefits of membership.

What Should You Offer Student Members?

Once you have identified your student member prospects, you have to start thinking about their unique needs and how they differ from professional members.

“If you’re going to start a student member category, you better know their niche,” Ratner says. “Students want access to career opportunities, and they understand the value of networking online.”

MSCPA found early success with a dedicated student newsletter focusing on career development and networking. And the MSCPA Foundation offers scholarships to college and graduate students who demonstrate strong academic performance and financial need.

What Should You Charge?

What students pay for membership varies by association. Regardless of whether you charge a discounted rate or offer free membership, you probably won’t see an immediate return on investment. And that’s OK, Ratner says.

“The ROI on student membership is always a long-term investment,” he says. “If the student graduates and stays on a membership track, you could potentially see a lifetime of value.”

MSCPA decided to keep membership to high schoolers open and free as an incentive to get students in the door and moving along an engagement path that transitions easily into a professional membership and certification.

Ratner recommends that associations narrowly define their student membership categories and from time to time verify student members’ status, especially if the membership comes at a discount. To thwart the few professionals who, inevitably, will try to sneak in using a student category, require that students register with their .edu email account or request a teacher or professor contact on the membership application. Then be vigilant about member data, Ratner advises, so you know when a student graduates.

This article was originally sourced from Associations Now.