AA Insurance – Chris Curtin (Chief Executive) and Nikki Howell (Head of Human Resources)

In Case of Emergency, Break Glass
The Canterbury earthquake series was one of the largest insurance events experienced globally.  AA Insurance outlines how the events unfolded and how the initial response was perceived by customers and staff.  Chris and Nikki will discuss the impact of the crisis and the importance of leadership in helping a business survive a potentially game changing scenario.  There are no off the shelf solutions that simply require you to break the glass when a crisis occurs.  AA Insurance found that several underpinning initiatives embedded over a decade made a critical difference in leading Christchurch staff and customers through the trauma of the Canterbury Earthquakes.

New World Te Rapa – Bob Laws (previously Personnel Manager)

Relationship Awareness: Making Leadership Personal
Effective communication is critical to successful leadership; knowing how your thought processes impact how you see the world and, in turn, how it sees you is a central part of having Relationship Awareness. Teaching employees how to change their approach to situations can improve how they respond and the outcomes they are able to achieve. Bob Laws will share his experience with Relationship Awareness training which has contributed to substantial decreases in absenteeism, enabled the complete dissolution of rifts between branches of an organisation, and increased Engagement Index score by 24% in a single year.

Warehouse Stationery – Garth Cook (Learning & Development Manager)

Bringing leadership to life: Four lessons from Warehouse Stationery
Over the last 5 years Warehouse Stationery has changed from a group of professionals to a professional team of retailers. Garth Cook will discuss four lessons to consider when looking at leadership in your own organisation, and how Warehouse Stationery did it:

• Create an environment in which leadership can blossom
• You should listen to what is not said as well as what is
• Create frameworks: map out the who, what and why
• DIY leadership development