Now is the time for creative thinking

Many New Zealand businesses, like their international peers, are in survival mode; facing an uncertain future and attempting to predict future prospects, weighing short-term pressures against long-term goals in order to make the best decisions for their businesses and their staff.

The employment decisions businesses make when times are tough are the employment decisions that really count. They define an organisation's values, indicating whether hasty short-term thinking has been allowed to undermine the platform on which a business has built its employment brand. Management behaviours define a culture far more than policies and procedures. Leadership counts.

The business leaders and HR managers I have spoken with over the past weeks - or heard speak - all acknowledge the challenges of the current economic situation; for some it also creates opportunities. Less "busyness" can open up time and willingness to learn new skills, or to take a more strategic long-term view of personal and business priorities. Others are having to do more with fewer resources, which, coupled with uncertainty creates even more stress.

Personal and organisational stress is inevitable when the global economy falters, but an informed, committed and healthy workforce will be more robust and engaged at work. In this issue we have chosen to feature some employers who are working with their staff to ensure the survival of their business and their livelihood - and are noting some of the benefits along the way.

The case for supporting flexible hours and other work-life initiatives is as relevant as ever, but needs to be linked with moves for greater productivity. Flexibility has not only been legislated for, suddenly it is being seen as a tool to avoid redundancies and retain valuable staff. Some will want to want to trade work for training. Some might want that half day a week to take care of themselves or other aspects of their lives, families and relationships.

We are starting to hear stories of businesses with management and staff pulling together to survive and make the business more viable and innovative. We are also starting to hear warnings about "new" New Zealanders being the first to lose their jobs, or older women being "over-represented" in the redundancy statistics.

In the last decades of the "talent wars" the face of the New Zealand workforce has changed - we are older, we are younger, we are Pakeha, Asian, Māori, Pasifika and we all need to work together. That wasn't easy before and it hasn't got any easier now, but that doesn't mean it's not worth doing, for our businesses and our communities.  So the other main feature of this magazine are stories of business organisations around the country which work at integrating new migrants into the workforce and finding businesses which take advantage of the opportunities and skills which migrants bring to them.

 In 2007, we brought Frans Johannson's mantra "diversity drives innovation". In 2009 we need innovation more than ever. EEO and diversity are not just for good times as some "nice to have"; they are for now and the future we need to build.