Great insight there. The appointment of a CEO is surely the most important matter to NZR in this day and age. Looking at some of the good NZ companies (or world), seems that governance is strong and experienced. Where it’s not - failure. Is the difference here in sport that the emotion that gets the better of people? If I was looking at the coaching from a governance point of view, there would be some key metrics in the requirements given the role; for me the Sumner Beach Boy would be a long way off in terms of coaching but would be A++ for identifying talent (players and coaches), recruiting them and providing the space for them to do their jobs. He would also mark highly for fan engagement- his (cynical?) management of the media is also very clever (at times) which plays to brand. Given our playing drain if he is successful his biggest role may be to manage an environment where players who play overseas ($$$) are integrated into the domestic based talent seamlessly for AB squads post 2023 RWC, no point in cutting this players out now - too many good ones plying their trade elsewhere and given the growing importance of the RWC to the calendar, we should look to embrace it - the economic situation of our country can’t support so many professionals. Just an opinion!
Does NZRU’s incompetent governance tell us it is out of its depth?
I do not know the size of the governance mess Chair Reddy has inherited, but it must be significant given the many publicised missteps over the past one to two years. Some of the blame should rest with her predecessor and his peers on the NZRU Board. But without doubt, the person who is most culpable must be CEO Mark Robinson. It will be interesting to see how long a leash he will enjoy under the new Chair.
Between 1990 and 2005 I worked as a head-hunter in the corporate market. I managed up to six large clients who were engaged in banking, IT and telecommunications. My hands-on role was to engage with the Chairs and CEOs of these corporates who in turn would contract me to find them their next CEO or direct report. An average brief would take up to four to six months to complete. In nearly every case, the incumbent, who the client company wished to replace, was never aware of my activity. Indeed, employment laws around constructive dismissal could have come into play if the process was handled badly. When working for NZ or Australian clients, 70% of those shortlisted would have been head-hunted from offshore – greater IP. The brief was invariably to find the best person possible. Money was not normally a problem as the client knew to get the best from say, Europe or the US, the package would need to be cognisant of those markets.
The long running fiasco surrounding the appointment of a new coach, post RWC 2023, is one of many glaring examples of a management process not knowing what to do. I understand the Board has a sub-committee responsible for overseeing the process of appointing the AB Coach post RWC 2023? All that sub-committee had to do was copy the practice of many large corporates who regard the process of appointing senior executives as ongoing. It is a process that does not involve advertising, nor media involvement of any sort. It is a process run by a competent head-hunter whose job is to find the best possible candidate or candidates. And no one would know the replacement work was being undertaken until the announcement of the successful appointee.
Whatever result Foster’s team delivers at RWC 2023, the coach replacement fiasco has made his task so much harder. If the NZRU were a public company, the share price over the last period would have tanked to the extent that shareholders would be demanding directors’ resignations. Dame Patsy Reddy has her work cut out.
Great insight there. The appointment of a CEO is surely the most important matter to NZR in this day and age. Looking at some of the good NZ companies (or world), seems that governance is strong and experienced. Where it’s not - failure. Is the difference here in sport that the emotion that gets the better of people? If I was looking at the coaching from a governance point of view, there would be some key metrics in the requirements given the role; for me the Sumner Beach Boy would be a long way off in terms of coaching but would be A++ for identifying talent (players and coaches), recruiting them and providing the space for them to do their jobs. He would also mark highly for fan engagement- his (cynical?) management of the media is also very clever (at times) which plays to brand. Given our playing drain if he is successful his biggest role may be to manage an environment where players who play overseas ($$$) are integrated into the domestic based talent seamlessly for AB squads post 2023 RWC, no point in cutting this players out now - too many good ones plying their trade elsewhere and given the growing importance of the RWC to the calendar, we should look to embrace it - the economic situation of our country can’t support so many professionals. Just an opinion!
Does NZRU’s incompetent governance tell us it is out of its depth?
I do not know the size of the governance mess Chair Reddy has inherited, but it must be significant given the many publicised missteps over the past one to two years. Some of the blame should rest with her predecessor and his peers on the NZRU Board. But without doubt, the person who is most culpable must be CEO Mark Robinson. It will be interesting to see how long a leash he will enjoy under the new Chair.
Between 1990 and 2005 I worked as a head-hunter in the corporate market. I managed up to six large clients who were engaged in banking, IT and telecommunications. My hands-on role was to engage with the Chairs and CEOs of these corporates who in turn would contract me to find them their next CEO or direct report. An average brief would take up to four to six months to complete. In nearly every case, the incumbent, who the client company wished to replace, was never aware of my activity. Indeed, employment laws around constructive dismissal could have come into play if the process was handled badly. When working for NZ or Australian clients, 70% of those shortlisted would have been head-hunted from offshore – greater IP. The brief was invariably to find the best person possible. Money was not normally a problem as the client knew to get the best from say, Europe or the US, the package would need to be cognisant of those markets.
The long running fiasco surrounding the appointment of a new coach, post RWC 2023, is one of many glaring examples of a management process not knowing what to do. I understand the Board has a sub-committee responsible for overseeing the process of appointing the AB Coach post RWC 2023? All that sub-committee had to do was copy the practice of many large corporates who regard the process of appointing senior executives as ongoing. It is a process that does not involve advertising, nor media involvement of any sort. It is a process run by a competent head-hunter whose job is to find the best possible candidate or candidates. And no one would know the replacement work was being undertaken until the announcement of the successful appointee.
Whatever result Foster’s team delivers at RWC 2023, the coach replacement fiasco has made his task so much harder. If the NZRU were a public company, the share price over the last period would have tanked to the extent that shareholders would be demanding directors’ resignations. Dame Patsy Reddy has her work cut out.