We’re about to introduce some changes to our HR policies and I’d like to get your ideas on what you can do to get people on board with these changes. I also would love to hear what people out there are doing to get their managers to read the policies.

I can’t go stomping around each store and shove the policy manual in managers faces – that would just take too much time and they still probably wouldn’t read it. Arrrgh it’s driving me mad!

Post your advice as a comment below. In the June issue of the HumanResources magazine we’ll publish the best answers and see what Flora does.

The atmosphere, the interactions, the heated debates, the laughter and sharing of knowledge was what captured me from the HRINZ members clinic. Every single panellist had insightful knowledge backed up by relevant and practical examples which made it more engaging for me. The discussions we had at our table were challenging and also enlightening. It was interesting to see different perspectives of HR experiences come together and create one idea of how HR can be improved.

Engaging and participating in the concurrent sessions was what made me come out of my comfort zone. These sessions gave me the opportunity to network, dialogue and glean insight from people with experience in the HR environment. The first session Effective Cross-Cultural Communication using Appreciative Inquiry was a fantastic start to an awesome three days. Within the short time that Holona and Trish Lui had to share such amazing knowledge, they really engaged me from start to finish. I valued seeing the depth of consideration that is required when dealing with communication in a diverse environment. It allowed me to see the holistic perspective that is required in order for communication to become effective, given the unique circumstances of dealing with different cultures.

One of the highlight sessions for me was Peter De Jager’s session on Boiling Change Down to Seven Questions. This by far captivated me not only because of the enthusiasm and passion Peter had, but also the relevant content he shared. It once again gave me a holistic sight in to what the fundamental things to consider are when it comes to making change. A lot of the things he shared about resisting change were eye opening because society is unconsciously aware of our responses when it comes to implementing change. The thing I liked about this session was that no matter what context you came from (university, public sector, NGO), this session was very relevant! In fact it probably sent every single individual in the audience off to morning tea with something new or something to look deeper at.

One more key thing that really stood out for me was the final keynote session by Mojo Mathers. Mojo is a living example of what it means to go against all odds, fight barriers of intimidation and stand for what is right. Ending a three day conference all about diversity with Mojo Mathers sharing her life experience was so fitting and marvellous. This session changed my perspective in how I see disabilities in the workplace and how diversity can have a positive impact on any organisation.

Overall, my experience at the HRINZ Conference 2012 is something I will value and cherish. The networks and friendships built over this short timeframe are of much value to me and more so the knowledge I have gained. The HRINZ team did a fantastic job of putting this together and there is no doubt I will be speaking highly of this event to those within my sphere, especially at Victoria University. Being one of six student ambassadors there was a rewarding opportunity and meeting the rest of them was great! I have never met a bunch of enthusiastic students who I can share my passion for HR with and this has opened doors up for future networking opportunities. I would also like to acknowledge every single speaker that shared such valuable knowledge at this conference. Diversity has become of much more value for me and seeing the passion in every speaker encourages me to get out there and continue to make a change – just as each individual at the conference endeavours to do. I am very grateful to have experienced this fantastic opportunity at a young age and I look forward to breaking out in to the practical HR environment very soon.

Sovaia Uluiburotu

HRINZ Student Ambassador

Victoria University of Wellington

Tones of innovation and change also grasped my attention in Professor Robert Wood’s seminar. While the main emphasis of his discussion was on gender diversity, I quickly realised just how broad diversity really is. I suppose, much like our expanding universe, one could focus on the outer galaxies or on a single atom. This session made me aware that my very own mind-set could be the greatest barrier to creating a diverse workforce. Again, our similarities as human beings were reinforced, as so many of us are reluctant to ‘own’ the problem, simply believing that ‘others’ have issues with diversity. We all possess unconscious biases and perhaps a good first step is to become aware of our own biases. I gained a great practical tool from this session, this being consciously slowing down my own thinking processes. I have already implemented this metacognition in my everyday life which I feel is expanding my own awareness of diversity.

The plenary panel, chaired by Julia Stones wove many of the themes of the conference together and was a particular highlight for me. The creative way the panel presented themselves, in a dimly lit theatre with a spotlight that moved from speaker to speaker, created an intimate atmosphere that matched the messages of the speakers. The panel spoke with honesty and integrity about existing biases within human resources and challenged the audience to think more critically about their own cognitive diversity. By hearing human resources professionals acknowledging that barriers do exist, my own motivation to be in this field was further strengthened, as this indicated to me that these professionals are open to taking responsibility and to driving change. Diversity was positioned as arguably, the source for all learning, as well as a manner of future-proofing our organisations. I especially appreciated the belief of these professionals that we really can make a difference by being the driver of change, but that we do need to take some risks to do this.

This cognitive awareness was then echoed in Nigel Latta’s captivating session regarding our own unconscious biases. This session accentuated the importance of asking questions and not merely making quick assumptions. I realise that as human beings we group things together and use stereotypes in order to reduce cognitive effort, but perhaps we need to slow down these ‘automatic responses’ to increase diversity and quality.

This vibrant, diverse and captivating HRINZ conference influenced me to start increasing diversity and organisational change by reflecting on my own thought processes and changing my own perceptions. As the poet, Rabindranath Tagore says: “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.”

Colette Wood

HRINZ Student Ambassador
The University of Auckland.

Underpinning all this professional and personal development was change management discussions that enabled one to conceptualise successful transformation and discover that in reality change is neither difficult nor traumatic. Put simply, we resist the thought of change more than the change itself. For a member of the audience acting like a sponge, the holistic nature of the conference meant that speakers reinforced each other at all levels – albeit indirectly and from different perspectives. I thought this was a text-book example of diversity-of-thought. The collaboration by speakers resulted in the delivery of a message that in its core was truly congruent with the aim of the conference – that diversity results in success. In a single word, the conference was fantastic.

For those that did not attend and would like a summary of why we need to incorporate diversity into our organisations:

-          Increases inclusion and acceptance – thus improving freedom of thought and empowerment levels

-          Increases ability to identify and capitalise on new markets and trade opportunities

-          Insurance policy against group think

-          Source of growth and innovation

-          Increases organisational adaptability and responsiveness thus reducing risk

-          The moral reasons for doing so

-          The ethical reasons for doing so.

I would like to express my gratitude to HRINZ for enabling me to attend. Thank you also to those who shared their thoughts and experiences with me during networking hours, thank you to my mentors/managers at Mercy Hospital and the SDHB, and of course thank you to my lecturers at Otago Polytechnic.

Talis Liepins

HRINZ Student Ambassador

Otago Polytechnic

Noted professionals like Ravi Kalpage were especially welcoming to the students and it was great to be faced with such enthusiasm towards what we study and our plans for the future. As a student I was eager to learn a lot from this conference, but was apprehensive about how I should or could contribute to discussions that were centered mainly around peoples’ real-world HR experiences. However, I found the whole conference experience to be extremely interactive and that was possibly the most important fuel to my learning process over the course of the three days. My opinions were not only valued, but also actively sought out by others. Particularly helpful was the way in which the topic of diversity was related to numerous facets of HR.

My most memorable session was the New Ear’s Resolution taken by the wonderful Taruni Falconer. Not only was the content of her presentation especially riveting to me, I loved the way she presented it by making us speak in a new language ‘Redunduncia’. Through this new language/communication exercise, we were able to understand the dynamics through which language and communication operate. Taruni made me realise that we take for granted the ease with which most of us can communicate and the sheer importance and impact that this has in human resources.

Another session that I found particularly relevant to the current New Zealand context was New to New Zealand by Angela Atkins. Coming into a new country and starting in a new job, having to learn the hard way about all the differences that exist between New Zealand and your home country, can be daunting and difficult. Discussing all the issues that arise for migrants was a real eye opener. It hit a lot closer to home when I thought about all the issues that my parents might have faced when entering their first jobs in New Zealand nearly two decades ago. It was then that I realised that perhaps small, often overlooked practices such as a buddy system can make a world of difference to a migrant as well as their family. It was with relief that I then noted that the firm I am going to enter next year is also employing a buddy system for all new graduates entering their programme. This made me understand that efforts to welcome and help orientate migrants to their new job and new country should not just be limited to a migrant context. With more and more companies developing more highly distinct and unique cultures, it is arguably becoming more important to have some form of buddy system for any new entrant into a firm, regardless of whether they are new to the country or not. An interesting discussion also ensued about whether New Zealand was a ‘collective’ or ‘individualist’ country. I was surprised to find that my discussion group was divided in two over this debate. It was interesting to listen to justifications for various arguments and to also eventually realise that our answers were completely subjective to our own experiences and upbringing.

One of the most inspirational and memorable speakers of the conference was Pete De Jager on his Change Management session. His questions of ‘Why?’, ‘What’s in it for me?’, ‘What do I do differently?’, ‘What won’t change?’, What might go wrong?’ and ‘How do we deal with chaos?’, were very relevant to the constant change that we go through on a daily basis, whether it be in universities, in organisations or in the wider context of the community. The most interesting observation made by Peter was that with change, there is always chaos and that this is something we need to embrace as it is nearly always inevitable. Instead of fighting hard to suppress chaos, we need to learn from it. I found this concept to be so simple, yet it still seems to baffle people when change results in chaos.

However, I have to say that the most precious thing I gained out of this wonderful conference experience are the new friendships that were formed. Getting to know and spend time with the other student ambassadors was a very exciting part of the conference. The six of us from all over New Zealand came together with such ease and comfort. I truly feel that my conference experience was made all the more richer because of the amazing, talented people that I was fortunate enough to get to know over the course of the HRINZ Diversity Conference, 2012.

Paru Krishna
HRINZ Student Ambassador The University of Auckland.

It was great to hear from Mike Bennetts that HR had a place in the top table at Z Energy and that he believes HR helps them win, delivers strategic outcomes and helps build competitive advantage over time. Bryan Dunne of the Earthquake Commission (EQC) added that he finds HR to be effective in producing building blocks for finding and retaining staff and helping manage EQC activity effectively. Constructive criticisms on HR were also valuable. Geoff Smith from ProCare Health found that HR lacked knowledge on the financials and Peter Merry of Talent Strategies added that HR needed to do less of the transactional activities and to be more strategic. The discussions that followed the opening panel comments were very engaging, as practitioners shared their own stories on how the panel’s views were relevant in their own businesses. I found the group discussion aspect hugely valuable by allowing me to take on board the practitioners’ shared experiences, hurdles and successes to aid me in making more informed decisions in my own career.

Every one of my following sessions was just as engaging and relevant in today’s diverse and ever-changing society. Three of these sessions particularly stood out for me by leaving lasting impressions and really changed my mindset and views. The first being, Riding the Wave: Addressing Our Unconscious Bias. This session focused on how organisations unknowingly act in an unbiased fashion when recruiting ethnic people. What was particularly shocking and awoke me to my own bias was when we were shown a video of a young Chinese man struggling to get a job due to his accent. He was just as qualified as any other applicant and I personally felt he was suitable for the role and that his accent was not an issue. However, when he suddenly changed accents to an English accent it really opened my eyes to how my view of his intelligence and ability to fit in a team significantly increased. I will now actively take this revelation on board to help overcome my own assumptions and biases in the workplace and in my personal life.

The second session that really grabbed my attention was Peter De Jager’s, Boiling Change Down to Seven Questions. His animated story on how he trained his manager to never answer the phone during meetings was greatly entertaining whilst also communicating to the audience that it is easy to change people but you just have to put in the right feedback systems. A second example that really stuck with me was Peter’s technique to make the problems that occur during changes into positive problems. Peter used the example of a past change situation where they introduced a new software program. Faults were going to occur with the software whether they liked it or not, therefore to make this positive they turned it into a game. IT technicians developed a competition between staff where they alerted a technician when they encountered a problem and received an arrow on their desk. The worker with the most arrows at the end of the activity won. This was a fantastic practical example which I could envisage using myself in future situations.

The final session that really spoke to me and I would also say moved me was the closing key note address by Mojo Mathers. Mojo’s strength from such a young age and determination to succeed regardless of the barriers before her was hugely moving and inspiring. Mojo was also greatly informative on the ease in implementing small practical workplace changes and modifications to enable the deaf and hearing impaired to be effective in their jobs. The challenges Mojo faces daily would deter most of us, yet instead she has pushed society’s boundaries and has became a voice for many. I am greatly motivated with what she has achieved thus far and look forward to watching her career progress with the Green Party.

I would lastly like to acknowledge the two key elements that really made the conference great for me. Firstly, the line between the speaker and attendee was constantly blurred. Every speaker was approachable and inviting which made for easy conversations and a warm atmosphere. Secondly, the people were an integral component to the success of the conference. In particular, the HRINZ team who were so supportive, my fellow ambassadors with their contagious enthusiasm for HR and drive to learn, and finally the diverse group of knowledgeable and respected practitioners who I am very lucky to have spent three days with, engaged in their shared stories and experiences. I feel so very privileged to have shared in their conference experience for 2012.

Sarah Columbus

HRINZ Student Ambassador

Canterbury University

The State of the HR Profession members clinic was my personal highlight of the conference and set a high standard for the remaining three days at Te Papa. The panel of New Zealand CEOs created a session that was controversial, fresh and engaging. As the profession of HR evolves, one can ask, ‘What is the role of HR?’, ‘Does HR add value to organisations?’, ‘In what way does HR hinder the success of organisations?’ and ‘What does HR need to do in order to be considered as a true business partner?’ I was particularly impressed that the panel presented a balanced approach and consideration of both the positives and criticisms of HR when addressing these questions.

It was clear that the value HR adds to organisations depends on the type of organisation and industry that it operates in. For example, Brian Dunn of EQC identified that HR at a strategic level has been fundamental in managing the exponential growth of EQC employees since the Christchurch earthquakes, while at the same time managing organisational culture effectively. Sarah Williamson from Mt Cook Airlines explained that HR played a unique role in the Airline Industry through largely managing and mitigating risk within the strong regulatory environment. Furthermore, Mike Bennetts of Z Energy and Gary Diack of Solid Energy argued that HR enables their organisations to deliver on strategic outcomes and build a competitive advantage through attracting talent. In wake of these encouraging arguments, Geoff Smith of ProCare was a brave man to profess to a room of HR managers that HR is a confused and irrelevant profession that does not contribute to the success of organisations. Geoff did a brilliant job at justifying this view through arguing that HR is primarily an administration role, based on theoretical rules. This can actually hinder strategic direction and stifle innovation and creativity within an organisation.

As a student, the remainder of the session for me was an amazing opportunity to interact with top HR managers from around New Zealand and discuss key actions for change that would enhance the purpose and usefulness of HR. A clear theme of the need for HR to know its business better and take a strategic view quickly became apparent. As one group stated, it is essential that HR “avoids putting difficulties in front of solutions”. This can be achieved through influencing business mindset, talking in business terms and demonstrating added value through measurable performance indicators. As a result, HR is able to build organisational capabilities more effectively and be a key driver of success.

Overall, the conference was a fantastic experience that broadened my perspective of the HR profession in a very practical and real way. It was thought-provoking, inspiring and encouraging to be around so many like-minded people with a passion for HR. A number of the sessions were particularly relevant to my studies and I look forward to sharing what I learnt with my HR classes and colleagues at Waikato University.

Deborah Versluys
HRINZ Student Ambassador

University of Waikato

The HRINZ National Conference 2012 is now open for registrations!

• People go to sleep after lunch is served on daytime flights?  It’s 3pm and everyone around me are snoring their heads off.  Most of them can’t have been awake for more than nine hours.  I wonder if they nod off at their desks after lunch on a typical work day.
• Fellow passengers (usually male) wait until they get on the plane to strip off most of their clothes, empty their pockets or search through their carry-on bag for something they probably packed in their checked luggage.
• These passengers invariably sit near the front of the plane so they manage to hold everyone up as they block the aisles looking for stuff that they should have.
• The person sitting in the window seat next to you is usually one of the last to board and almost always has a weak bladder.
• The passenger who waits until the boarding queue is really long, manages to push their way in near the front and for some reason always has a problem with their boarding pass or passport which holds everyone else up.
• When you go to put your bag in the overhead locker the one allocated for your seat is full with other people’s excessive hand luggage.
• The rules about hand luggage size and number only apply to you and not to your fellow passengers.
• People wait until they’re the next to be screened by security before they empty their pockets (all fifteen of them), remember to remove their laptop from the case and still manage to set off the alert warnings when they eventually walk through.  Again it’s usually a male thing – sorry guys.
• I always get in the slowest immigration queue with the largest number of illegal aliens/asylum seekers or just people with lots of problems.  It doesn’t matter which queue I choose it always happens to me.
• Just as I’m about to be sent to the next available counter someone with special needs appears out of nowhere and gets priority over me.
• My suitcase is the one that falls off the baggage truck and either gets driven over or left on the tarmac for hours, is on top of the pile when it rains during unloading, or manages to mysteriously get dents in every corner between destinations.
• They run out of my food preference just as the trolley reaches me.
• They stop serving food just as they reach me due to turbulence.
• The people who seem to be queuing for the toilets are actually just having a wee leg stretch and chat to their fellow passengers in front of the toilets and by the time I figure they’re not actually queuing the seat-belt sign comes on and we have to return to our seats because of turbulence or in preparation for landing.

Am I alone in these experiences?  Do you have any other pet peeves to add?

This year HRINZ National President, Catherine Taylor, attended too – it’s important that the HRINZ President gets to attend at least one CIPD conference, and preferably at the beginning of their term as it can take a while to build all those relationships that are vital to an organisation as distant from the rest of the world as ours is.

Manchester in November can be pretty bleak but this year we arrived to a late heat wave with temperatures hitting 16 degrees for a few minutes some days and some watery sunshine – on one day we even had a day of clear blue skies with not a cloud in sight.  Now you’re probably wondering how we managed to see the sky given that we were there to work, but we planned our trip to arrive on the weekend to recover from the inevitable jetlag that comes with 26 hours of flying and 10 hours of killing time in transit lounges at various airports.

On Monday evening things got underway with a welcome reception for international delegates followed by a dinner for those from HR membership associations from around the world so that we could compare notes and talk in-depth about HR issues affecting each of our respective countries’ workplaces and memberships.  The conference started on Tuesday morning and ran for three days.

Catherine will cover HR highlights from the sessions we attended in her blog post and magazine article but I thought, as the CEO of HRINZ, I’d talk in my blog post about the operational differences I picked up between a large UK HR conference and exhibition and a small NZ conference and expo.  While it’s not about HR per se, there are some interesting ‘people’ observations to share.

Names and numbers

Both countries call it a conference, unlike the US (congress) and Australia (convention) however it’s an exhibition in the UK but an expo at home.  They look pretty similar though, once you allow for the sheer scale of these things.  This year’s conference was smaller than usual with around 1300 delegates – Britain is still in the grips of workplace uncertainty and the effects of the recession and the Euro crisis are being widely felt – though past conferences have seen numbers hover around 3,000.

The US Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) conferences attract around 13,000 delegates, so with about 300 attending the average HRINZ conference scale does play a pretty big part in creating a different experience.  Their expos are much larger too and they promote quite different products and services to the HRINZ HR Expo but more about that later.

Registration

Registration on the day is managed using electronic kiosks – delegates print their own name tags and collect a conference bag off a stand – and help is available for those that need it if you don’t mind queuing.  Every time a delegate enters the expo hall or moves into the conference sessions’ areas the bar codes on their name tags are swiped with an electronic reader.

As delegates enter sessions they’re handed an A4 booklet which contains the speakers’ slides, some pages for note taking and an evaluation form.  Slides are not provided post-conference and the evaluation forms are completely manual, which must take forever to be entered into a spreadsheet before being analysed and reported on.

I’m told that this system is going to change as it’s fraught with difficulties, especially when speakers don’t supply slides or decide to change them on the day.  Not to mention the whole sustainability issue for the environment (and the cost of producing them).

Audience behaviour

Cell phone etiquette is the same in both countries and ignored equally, though with larger audiences the incidence occurs more of course.  The same can be said about delegates arriving late and leaving early.  When there is time for questions the number of statements made by some delegates still tends to outweigh the number of actual questions asked, and are nearly always prefaced with “Thanks for a really interesting session which I found incredibly valuable…” and then they go into a long convoluted story about an issue or experience that they’d like to share, but with no question in sight, or perhaps a patsy question.  When there is only limited time for questions this can be really annoying for the rest of the audience and you can almost hear mutterings of “Do it in your own time!”.

I think our audiences are far more direct in their questions.

Pitch

Pitch seems to be a perennial problem the world over – it’s almost impossible to please everyone in the audience as they all come from such different backgrounds and stages in their careers and some need transactional / operational information (usually in very specific detail with lots of graphs and charts) while others like me want to hear about the big picture stuff that is preferably fresh / new, or at least approached from a different angle.  And whatever is presented must be robust and credible and presented well, preferably with a bit of humour or quirkiness.

Top Speakers

Fortunately I always manage to attend a few sessions where the speaker is brilliant (usually in the concurrent sessions) and after the session while the speaker is packing up their notes I rush to the front of the room waving my business card and asking if they’d like to speak at the best little HR conference in the world.

I’m rarely turned down as almost everyone wants to come to New Zealand (I never mention how long it will take to get there or to recover from the jetlag at both ends as I don’t want to burst their bubbles), though it doesn’t always work out, usually because of their existing work commitments or unrealistic fee expectation.  Once they’ve been to New Zealand they tend to stay friends of HRINZ for life, or at least exchange the odd email for a few years.

International Delegates

One thing I love about the CIPD Conference, but which we could never do, is the fact that there are so many international delegates from all over the world.  CIPD creates an international lounge for us within the exhibition hall and it’s great for networking, using for meetings or just chilling in during some of the breaks.  They need to work on the quality of the coffee though…

Catering

Speaking of catering, there’s another huge difference between our events when it comes to lunches.  Delegates are provided with a hot lunch each day, which is set up rather like a large workplace canteen.  You line up with your plate and are given two options – with meat or without meat.  Their idea of ‘dietary requirements’ is addressed very simply – you’re either a carnivore or a vegetarian.  They don’t serve fish or chicken for those who like to eat white meat instead of red, and the meat is invariably mince.

We had cottage (shepherds) pie and carrots on day one, chilli con carne on rice on day two, and lasagne and salad on day three.  Vegetarians were offered the same meals but with vegetables replacing the mince.  The food was wholesome and tasty, portion sizes were predetermined by the serving staff, and energy levels kept high.  There were no desserts for those with a sweet tooth, but free lollies and chocolate abounded on the exhibitors stands for those needing a ‘white death’ fix.

As someone who gets involved with special dietary requirements when we hold HRINZ conferences, and knowing how much time and effort meeting everyone’s ‘special dietary needs’ can take, I was intrigued at how CIPD handled this.  So much so that on day two I asked one of the catering staff how they managed to cater for people with food allergies, intolerances and preferences.

There didn’t seem to be any special bay with trays of personalised meals hovering and no-one seemed to be asking for anything special.  The chap I asked looked at me blankly, paused for a moment and then said “There’s a vegetarian option”.  I persisted and said “but what about people who can’t eat dairy / gluten / nuts / eggs etc?” to which he replied, “There’s a vegetarian option”.  I gave up at that point.

I wonder how they manage the complaints.  At our conferences as we spend almost as much time on sorting out dietary requests as we do putting the programme together.  Well a slight exaggeration but sometimes it feels like it, and it’s really soul destroying when those specially crafted meals aren’t even collected by the individuals who have requested them.

The exhibition

Because the exhibition hall in Manchester is huge (it’s held in the former railway station which has been beautifully restored) there is room to have stands from quite different suppliers to the ones we have room for in New Zealand.

There’s the usual EAP and counselling offerings, software providers and a range of tools and solutions on offer.  There are education providers (though I noticed less this time) and of course remuneration and recruitment organisations.

But the thing that really stood out for me this year was the sheer number of exhibitors offering incentives and rewards.  Child care facilities or programmes were a close second.  Alcoholics Anonymous had a stand too – that was a first for me, though there have been similar support agencies exhibiting in previous years.  The US SHRM expo I visited in 2006 was over represented with weight loss programmes (Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers mainly) probably to counter the Dunkin Donuts which were supplied at coffee breaks!

Dotted around the expo hall were spaces for cafes, face to face networking areas as well as social media networking, and even several seminar areas which exhibitors presented mini seminars at – all possible because of the sheer vastness of the venue.

Other ideas

I picked up a few pearls which include little things like providing a phone battery charging service and a proper coat check service to avoid coats being mixed up and taken by the wrong people.

And the CIPD use a neat little mini programme with sessions on one side and a map of the venue on the other – we’ll be adopting this to get around having to print conference handbooks which probably no-one reads anyway.

Overall I enjoyed the conference on several levels – it’s always good to feed your brain, to take a break and do something different for a few days, and to observe how others do things.  The networking is always good at these events, but the best thing is reminding people that New Zealand, despite its tiny population size and remoteness from the rest of the world, can hold its own in the area of doing pretty good HR and delivering small, but perfectly formed, conferences to a world standard.