INTOUCH: Government on Board

The Government is firmly behind the Management Focus initiative and the benefits are already being seen, according to Economic Development Minister Pete Hodgson. He was speaking at the June launch of this year’s Management Focus initiative.
Management Focus was established by group of leading New Zealand private and public sector organisations to encourage managers and business owners to work together to develop their management capability. Groups involved include NZIM, the Ministry of Economic Development and Business New Zealand.
Hodgson said the initiative would make an important contribution towards developing the stock and capability of New Zealand’s business managers; managers who are “strategic in their thinking, who seek to continuously develop themselves and the people they lead, and who seek out and respond to new business opportunities, particularly those arising in international markets”.
He said mastering the demands of global marketplace is essential to New Zealand’s future economic prosperity and that doing so is reliant on strong leadership and effective workplace practices.
“Skilled and proficient managers are essential to drive forward the engine of economic growth. Working together to upskill and boost New Zealand’s pool of capable and visionary managers is incumbent upon us all. It is together, public and private, that we will demonstrate the leadership we aspire to see in our managerial workforce.”
Hodgson said the Management Focus Fund, developed to support the themes and objectives of Management Focus, has supported three exciting projects in its first round. (See pg 11 for details.) second call for applications will be made this month. Visit www.managementfocus.org.nz for more information.