The National HR Summit New Zealand is back and bringing together HR leaders from across New Zealand to build connections, share ideas and create lasting professional relations.
From recruitment in today’s competitive market to building resilience, this event is uniting the sector to tackle the workforce challenges you care about most, with the strategies you can rely on.
We will also announce the winners of the highly anticipated HRD Awards New Zealand live from the summit.
Embrace your workforce’s full potential, connect with your community and conquer the hurdles that stand in your way – reserve your seat today.
Join us in recognizing the profession’s best in class at the HRD Awards New Zealand – the nation’s leading independent rewards program for HR professionals. Winners will be revealed live and in-person this April during the National HR Summit New Zealand.
Hear evidence-based insights from HRDs, CHROs, and global HR heads of New Zealand’s most successful companies
Gain new perspectives from HR peers who are facing the same challenges – generate ideas, share real-life experiences, and hear proven strategies
Connect with over 100 HR leaders face-to-face
ANZ Head
HiBob
ANZ Head
HiBob
Having spent the past decade in the SaaS tech industry, Nick has built high-performing teams across the world. In the past two years, Nick has been a driving force of HiBob’s rapid growth in the ANZ region and works closely with HR leaders to help solve their challenges. Nick’s passion lies in coaching and mentoring, and believes that an amazing customer and people experience is at the heart of every successful business and team.
Chief Culture Officer
Electric Kiwi
Chief Culture Officer
Electric Kiwi
Sonya Bloomfield is a visionary and commercial leader who is passionate about shaping and nurturing organisational culture and creating inclusive workplaces where people can thrive.
With a track record of success in multiple industries, she’s found a home for her sense of fun, cheekiness and creativity and is having the time of her life collaborating with the team to create a culture in which high-performing global teams are motivated and invested in making it better for customers and our world.
Mediation Practitioner, People and Culture Specialist
The Helpful Human
Mediation Practitioner, People and Culture Specialist
The Helpful Human
Nikki Bould, a dynamic Human Resources Consultant, specializes in Alternative Dispute Resolution, training, and management. As an accredited mediator and co-founder of DSCINZ, Nikki is passionate about conflict management in the workplace and beyond. Understanding the challenges HR professionals encounter in managing employee conflicts, Nikki provides practical strategies for recognising and preventing emerging conflict, and multiple approaches to resolving disputes. Utilizing solution-focused techniques, she facilitates sustainable agreements and restores significant relationships.
Head of Talent Acquisition
WSP NZ
Head of Talent Acquisition
WSP NZ
Sue has over 15 years of recruitment experience and is currently the Head of Talent Acquisition at WSP in New Zealand, a leading global engineering and professional services company. Sue has been with WSP for over six years, and is responsible for leading a team and developing and implementing talent acquisition strategies that align with WSP’s vision and values, as well as achieving successful business outcomes. Sue is dedicated to finding, attracting and retaining the best talent for WSP, and creating a positive and inclusive candidate experience. Sue is passionate about innovating and challenging the status quo through market challenges.
Black Ferns Director of Rugby
Black Ferns Director of Rugby
A seasoned rugby union and sevens coach from New Zealand, Allan has led the Black Ferns sevens and served as the inaugural head coach for the Chiefs Manawa in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Allan is the current Director of Rugby for the World Champion Black Ferns. With a successful transition from a thriving professional player to a title-winning coach, Allan Bunting possesses the unique toolkit to cultivating cultures that yield Gold-medal performances. His competitive edge not only drives results but also fosters creative problem-solving during high-pressure moments. Apart from numerous accolades both on and off the rugby field, Allan takes pride in being a devoted father to his four incredible children.
Chief Executive Officer New Zealand
TELUS Health
Chief Executive Officer New Zealand
TELUS Health
Julie Cressey has extensive experience in Human Resources, Organisational Development and Consulting Services. In her role as CEO of TELUS Health she works closely with a wide variety of organisation to support their Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives.
GM Safety & Wellbeing; Head of Culture & Leadership
Port of Auckland
GM Safety & Wellbeing; Head of Culture & Leadership
Port of Auckland
Phil is on the executive at Port of Auckland with accountability for development of organisational/Health & Safety culture as the basis for improving performance. He has a particular interest in improving organisational culture though inclusive workplace and union relations and improving performance by increased involvement of employees in decision-making and change – how we do things is just as important as what we do.
While the practice of many industrialised businesses has been to accommodate rather than collaborate with unions, and manage rather than collaborate with employees, the port through its “Regaining Our Mana” strategy has challenged the status quo and built more sustainable relationships through its High Performance, High Engagement program. HPHE ensures the people closest to the issues are involved in developing solutions, leveraging the collective knowledge of the workforce.
He has previously worked with the Ministry of Health and the DHBs on strategic workforce issues. And for 17 years prior to that, Phil led workplace relations and the employment law function at Air New Zealand. Over that period Air New Zealand transformed its relationships and engagement, as well as increasing its business efficiencies.
Phil is a qualified lawyer and in 2009 was an employer representative in the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Holidays Act 2004. Prior to joining Air New Zealand, Phil had a career as an international corporate transactions lawyer in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Middle East. It was there that he developed interest based negotiation skills.
Chief People Officer
Hind Management
Chief People Officer
Hind Management
Phillipa has over 12 years experience Human Resources, joining Hind Management in 2017 on return from the UK, responsible for developing and implementing the group’s People, Culture and Growth strategy as the group expanded the NZ footprint.
Under her leadership, Hind Management has achieved several national and international awards and accolades for the ongoing work on accessibility and disability inclusion programmes, as well as gender and rainbow inclusion commitments aimed to enhance the employee experience, retention, community engagement, and well-being.
Phillipa is passionate about building thriving culture, enhancing diversity and inclusion and strives to make Hind Management a role model for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, empowering people to thrive and deliver outstanding results.
Phillipa is a Chartered Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRNZ) member. Holding a CIPD qualification in Human Resource Practice from the United Kingdom, an Advanced Diploma from the New Zealand School of Travel & Tourism and currently studying towards a Graduate Diploma in Applied Management.
Phillipa also is a member of the Excellent network for Employee Experience and human-centered design and a Global Transform Ambassador. She previously, served as a Hotel Industry advisory board member, bridging the gap between the education sector and the industry. In 2023, awarded the title of NZ HR Director of the Year Award by Human Resources Director Magazine.
Counsellor, Registered Clinical Social Worker, Facilitator, Organisational Wellbeing Consultant, Trainer
Counsellor, Registered Clinical Social Worker, Facilitator, Organisational Wellbeing Consultant, Trainer
Gerard Hoffman brings 40 years of experience in social work, counselling, service leadership and training across many New Zealand and Australia social services sectors. Gerard has worked extensively in the areas of restorative practice, suicide prevention, sexual violence prevention, psychological first aid, and individual and organisational mental health and wellbeing promotion. In addition to his work with TELUS Health New Zealand, He is registered with the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board and Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers Association.
Director People Experience
Auror
Director People Experience
Auror
As Director of People Experience at Auror, Katrina’s mission is to build the best place for people to do great work. Born and raised in the UK, she spent much of her career there designing and launching national leadership development programmes for the UK social sector before moving to Aotearoa with her family. Forever learning about how to help others (and herself!) do better when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, Katrina believes in using equitable design principles to produce better outcomes for everyone. She is an experienced facilitator and coach, and also a proud parent of a wonderful 4 year old human.
Partner- Advisory
Contented AI
Partner- Advisory
Contented AI
Annie is a seasoned HR practitioner and executive leader with twenty years of local and international industry experience. She also comes from running her own successful HR consultancy, The Honest Human. Driven by her passion for resolving the challenges of enablement faced by businesses, she has now partnered with Contented Co-founders Hannah and Lucy to help companies adopt customised AI solutions. What makes Annie ‘fizz’ is the current work she is doing: actively guiding clients in integrating AI into HR teams and seeing the hugely successful results.
Country Leader, A/NZ
Deel
Country Leader, A/NZ
Deel
Shannon Karaka is the Country Leader and Head of Expansion for Australia and New Zealand at Deel. Deel makes it easier for businesses to hire anyone, anywhere in the world. Founded in 2019, Deel’s technology offers payroll, HR, compliance, and benefits needed to hire and manage a global team.
In his role, Shannon helps ANZ businesses use global hiring to address chronic talent shortages, to quicker expand into international markets and to retain key staff that want or need to move away from Australia and New Zealand, ensuring that key talent continues to work effectively for local companies.
Before joining Deel, Shannon worked in business development roles for WeWork, Salesforce and Google, witnessing first hand the power of platform and Saas based companies to achieve business transformation.
As a side hustle, Shannon was the founder of Get Happy Co, a happy clothing brand advocating for mental health. Shannon is also an investor in healthcare startup Smart Doctor, a virtual care platform in Latin America that connects doctors with patients who do not have health coverage or have limited access to medical services.
Shannon is a life-long advocate for medical and mental health care for all, and promotes flexibility and a healthy work-life balance as way to maintain a positive mindset.
Head of People and Culture
Connetics
Head of People and Culture
Connetics
Mark Lewis became the Head of People and Culture at Connetics in May 2022, spearheading strategic HR initiatives amidst considerable challenges. His leadership facilitated winning the war for talent, increasing opportunities for women in the sector while also decreasing turnover, and increasing employee engagement. Mark’s data-driven approach helped identify valuable opportunities for the business, ultimately determining its growth strategy for the next decade.
Mark is a truly visionary leader with an impressive ability to balance priorities for the long-term while supporting the immediate needs of the organisation. He garners deep respect from his colleagues for his brave and empathetic qualities.
Head of Capability and Organisational Development
Mitre 10
Head of Capability and Organisational Development
Mitre 10
An accredited coach, facilitator, instructional designer, learning and culture strategist, Nish has been in the learning space for 23 years. Failing at her first career as a broadcast journalist set Nish up for success for her future endeavours- personal and professional. As the Head of Capability and Organisational Development at Mitre 10, she balances fun and function, creates safe spaces for growth and brings people along on growth journeys that add value to individuals and teams. She is a learning tech geek and is always trying a different app to be that 1% better every day.
Her personal time is equally divided between long walks with her young son and puppy, cooking up the next Air Fryer miracle and serving on the board of the Migrant Careers Support Trust.
Director
FixHR
Director
FixHR
After meeting close on 4,000 business owners and identifying that HR problems had a powerful way of taking the shine off life for small business owners, Ainsley decided to be part of the solution. In 2020 she launched a different HR consultancy company that makes excellent HR practices available to small businesses. FixHR guides their clients through employment issues with commercially savvy staff who appreciate the impact of HR solutions on relationships, and the bottom line. Clients often comment FixHR takes away the overwhelm, and makes great HR accessible. The horizon is big, bright and beautiful for FixHR in 2024!
former Global Head of Talent – Customer
Xero
former Global Head of Talent – Customer
Xero
Candice Payne is a global talent leader with over 10 years experience spanning multiple industries. She has spent the last 6 years of her career with Xero where she supported the business through its period of rapid scale from 1,500 – 5,000 employees and was responsible for designing and delivering an end-to-end global Talent Strategy.
Candice is passionate about creating beautiful hiring experiences that are efficient, effective and inclusive. She is known for exploring new ways to do things and taking measured risks that enable success or further learning.
With her deep human focus, Candice has a proven track record building highly engaged and psychologically safe teams and supports individuals to strengthen their craft and belief to make a meaningful impact.”
Chief People Officer
Douglas Pharmaceuticals
Chief People Officer
Douglas Pharmaceuticals
Ceri’s passion is people and performance! She believes that ‘happy healthy people deliver sustained high performance’. This means that she puts people and their engagement at the core of what she does, every time! Ceri understands the need to focus on the culture, capability, and capacity of our people, to drive sustainable business performance.
She is a strategic leader with over 15 years of experience in leadership and consulting roles working for and with a variety of high-profile New Zealand organisations. In her role on the executive leadership team, she has had the pleasure of leading the group’s strategic People and Culture function to ensure Douglas is a highly engaged and high-performing organisation.
GM Talent & Culture, NZ & Pacific
ANZ
GM Talent & Culture, NZ & Pacific
ANZ
Michelle has been ANZ’s General Manager Talent & Culture for New Zealand and Pacific since August 2018.
In this role, Michelle is responsible for leading the development and implementation of innovative people strategies, programmes and policies to support the employee experience for ANZ’s 8,000 employees in New Zealand, and 1000 employees in the Pacific. She is also responsible for ensuring the company has the right people and capabilities to support the organisation’s business strategy and performance, and contributes to ANZ’s global talent and culture strategy.
Previously, Michelle was General Manager Business Optimisation and Relationship Services in the New Zealand Commercial & Agri business. She has also held various human resources roles in New Zealand Institutional, Commercial & Agri, Wealth, Corporate Centre and Operations.
Michelle has a BA (Hons) in Human Geography from the University of Otago, a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Policy from Victoria University of Wellington and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Head of Learning & Capability
Tegel Foods
Head of Learning & Capability
Tegel Foods
Shyamini Szeko, Head of Learning & Capability at Tegel Foods, brings over two decades of diverse industry experience. Recognized as a change agent, she designs impactful learning solutions aligned with business objectives, emphasizing diversity and inclusion.
Currently pursuing her third master’s degree in Change and Organizational Resilience through academyEX, Shyamini remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of industry trends and enhancing her expertise for meaningful contributions to her field and the broader professional community.
Beyond her professional role, Shyamini serves on the board at Albany Senior High School, contributing her expertise to education. In her leisure time, she enjoys crafting delicious meals and baking special occasion cakes for loved ones. Traveling, both within New Zealand and globally, brings her immense joy.
Director
FixHR
Director
FixHR
After meeting close on 4,000 business owners and identifying that HR problems had a powerful way of taking the shine off life for small business owners, Ainsley decided to be part of the solution. In 2020 she launched a different HR consultancy company that makes excellent HR practices available to small businesses. FixHR guides their clients through employment issues with commercially savvy staff who appreciate the impact of HR solutions on relationships, and the bottom line. Clients often comment FixHR takes away the overwhelm, and makes great HR accessible. The horizon is big, bright and beautiful for FixHR in 2024!
Chief Executive Officer New Zealand
TELUS Health
Chief Executive Officer New Zealand
TELUS Health
Julie Cressey has extensive experience in Human Resources, Organisational Development and Consulting Services. In her role as CEO of TELUS Health she works closely with a wide variety of organisation to support their Mental Health and Wellbeing initiatives.
In this inspiring keynote, hear how Allan cultivates high-performing teams through building self-awareness and guiding individuals to find their true purpose. From the World Sevens Series Championships to Gold at the Olympics, hear how his experiences on and off the field have shaped his leadership approach to nurture the best and brightest in rugby.
Black Ferns Director of Rugby
Black Ferns Director of Rugby
A seasoned rugby union and sevens coach from New Zealand, Allan has led the Black Ferns sevens and served as the inaugural head coach for the Chiefs Manawa in the Super Rugby Aupiki competition. Allan is the current Director of Rugby for the World Champion Black Ferns. With a successful transition from a thriving professional player to a title-winning coach, Allan Bunting possesses the unique toolkit to cultivating cultures that yield Gold-medal performances. His competitive edge not only drives results but also fosters creative problem-solving during high-pressure moments. Apart from numerous accolades both on and off the rugby field, Allan takes pride in being a devoted father to his four incredible children.
As the talent shortage continues, how are HR teams ensuring they are securing the best employees in the market? Hear how top New Zealand companies are attracting and finding the best employees.
Director
FixHR
Director
FixHR
After meeting close on 4,000 business owners and identifying that HR problems had a powerful way of taking the shine off life for small business owners, Ainsley decided to be part of the solution. In 2020 she launched a different HR consultancy company that makes excellent HR practices available to small businesses. FixHR guides their clients through employment issues with commercially savvy staff who appreciate the impact of HR solutions on relationships, and the bottom line. Clients often comment FixHR takes away the overwhelm, and makes great HR accessible. The horizon is big, bright and beautiful for FixHR in 2024!
Head of Talent Acquisition
WSP NZ
Head of Talent Acquisition
WSP NZ
Sue has over 15 years of recruitment experience and is currently the Head of Talent Acquisition at WSP in New Zealand, a leading global engineering and professional services company. Sue has been with WSP for over six years, and is responsible for leading a team and developing and implementing talent acquisition strategies that align with WSP’s vision and values, as well as achieving successful business outcomes. Sue is dedicated to finding, attracting and retaining the best talent for WSP, and creating a positive and inclusive candidate experience. Sue is passionate about innovating and challenging the status quo through market challenges.
Country Leader, A/NZ
Deel
Country Leader, A/NZ
Deel
Shannon Karaka is the Country Leader and Head of Expansion for Australia and New Zealand at Deel. Deel makes it easier for businesses to hire anyone, anywhere in the world. Founded in 2019, Deel’s technology offers payroll, HR, compliance, and benefits needed to hire and manage a global team.
In his role, Shannon helps ANZ businesses use global hiring to address chronic talent shortages, to quicker expand into international markets and to retain key staff that want or need to move away from Australia and New Zealand, ensuring that key talent continues to work effectively for local companies.
Before joining Deel, Shannon worked in business development roles for WeWork, Salesforce and Google, witnessing first hand the power of platform and Saas based companies to achieve business transformation.
As a side hustle, Shannon was the founder of Get Happy Co, a happy clothing brand advocating for mental health. Shannon is also an investor in healthcare startup Smart Doctor, a virtual care platform in Latin America that connects doctors with patients who do not have health coverage or have limited access to medical services.
Shannon is a life-long advocate for medical and mental health care for all, and promotes flexibility and a healthy work-life balance as way to maintain a positive mindset.
Head of People and Culture
Connetics
Head of People and Culture
Connetics
Mark Lewis became the Head of People and Culture at Connetics in May 2022, spearheading strategic HR initiatives amidst considerable challenges. His leadership facilitated winning the war for talent, increasing opportunities for women in the sector while also decreasing turnover, and increasing employee engagement. Mark’s data-driven approach helped identify valuable opportunities for the business, ultimately determining its growth strategy for the next decade.
Mark is a truly visionary leader with an impressive ability to balance priorities for the long-term while supporting the immediate needs of the organisation. He garners deep respect from his colleagues for his brave and empathetic qualities.
former Global Head of Talent – Customer
Xero
former Global Head of Talent – Customer
Xero
Candice Payne is a global talent leader with over 10 years experience spanning multiple industries. She has spent the last 6 years of her career with Xero where she supported the business through its period of rapid scale from 1,500 – 5,000 employees and was responsible for designing and delivering an end-to-end global Talent Strategy.
Candice is passionate about creating beautiful hiring experiences that are efficient, effective and inclusive. She is known for exploring new ways to do things and taking measured risks that enable success or further learning.
With her deep human focus, Candice has a proven track record building highly engaged and psychologically safe teams and supports individuals to strengthen their craft and belief to make a meaningful impact.”
Expand your network, make connections, and meet fellow delegates in a structured networking session.
The winners of the following categories will be announced:
With initiatives ranging from inclusive hybrid work arrangements to career development programs, companies are rethinking their retention strategies. In this session, Phillipa Gimmillaro will share how retains its employees in this competitive market.
Chief People Officer
Hind Management
Chief People Officer
Hind Management
Phillipa has over 12 years experience Human Resources, joining Hind Management in 2017 on return from the UK, responsible for developing and implementing the group’s People, Culture and Growth strategy as the group expanded the NZ footprint.
Under her leadership, Hind Management has achieved several national and international awards and accolades for the ongoing work on accessibility and disability inclusion programmes, as well as gender and rainbow inclusion commitments aimed to enhance the employee experience, retention, community engagement, and well-being.
Phillipa is passionate about building thriving culture, enhancing diversity and inclusion and strives to make Hind Management a role model for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, empowering people to thrive and deliver outstanding results.
Phillipa is a Chartered Human Resources Institute of New Zealand (HRNZ) member. Holding a CIPD qualification in Human Resource Practice from the United Kingdom, an Advanced Diploma from the New Zealand School of Travel & Tourism and currently studying towards a Graduate Diploma in Applied Management.
Phillipa also is a member of the Excellent network for Employee Experience and human-centered design and a Global Transform Ambassador. She previously, served as a Hotel Industry advisory board member, bridging the gap between the education sector and the industry. In 2023, awarded the title of NZ HR Director of the Year Award by Human Resources Director Magazine.
Workplaces across New Zealand and globally are increasingly focussing on workplace culture’s crucial role in staff engagement and organisational performance. Research on psychological safety, bullying and harassment prevention provides strong evidence that organisation-wide education and empowerment programmes can significantly impact staff wellbeing, retention and workplace collaboration.
Counsellor, Registered Clinical Social Worker, Facilitator, Organisational Wellbeing Consultant, Trainer
Counsellor, Registered Clinical Social Worker, Facilitator, Organisational Wellbeing Consultant, Trainer
Gerard Hoffman brings 40 years of experience in social work, counselling, service leadership and training across many New Zealand and Australia social services sectors. Gerard has worked extensively in the areas of restorative practice, suicide prevention, sexual violence prevention, psychological first aid, and individual and organisational mental health and wellbeing promotion. In addition to his work with TELUS Health New Zealand, He is registered with the New Zealand Social Workers Registration Board and Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers Association.
The winners of the following categories will be announced:
As teams and managers continue to face burnout and stress, what preventative measures can companies adopt by taking a proactive approach to finding solutions? In this session, hear how top New Zealand companies are supporting and motivating employees through successful wellbeing initiatives.
Director
FixHR
Director
FixHR
After meeting close on 4,000 business owners and identifying that HR problems had a powerful way of taking the shine off life for small business owners, Ainsley decided to be part of the solution. In 2020 she launched a different HR consultancy company that makes excellent HR practices available to small businesses. FixHR guides their clients through employment issues with commercially savvy staff who appreciate the impact of HR solutions on relationships, and the bottom line. Clients often comment FixHR takes away the overwhelm, and makes great HR accessible. The horizon is big, bright and beautiful for FixHR in 2024!
ANZ Head
HiBob
ANZ Head
HiBob
Having spent the past decade in the SaaS tech industry, Nick has built high-performing teams across the world. In the past two years, Nick has been a driving force of HiBob’s rapid growth in the ANZ region and works closely with HR leaders to help solve their challenges. Nick’s passion lies in coaching and mentoring, and believes that an amazing customer and people experience is at the heart of every successful business and team.
GM Safety & Wellbeing; Head of Culture & Leadership
Port of Auckland
GM Safety & Wellbeing; Head of Culture & Leadership
Port of Auckland
Phil is on the executive at Port of Auckland with accountability for development of organisational/Health & Safety culture as the basis for improving performance. He has a particular interest in improving organisational culture though inclusive workplace and union relations and improving performance by increased involvement of employees in decision-making and change – how we do things is just as important as what we do.
While the practice of many industrialised businesses has been to accommodate rather than collaborate with unions, and manage rather than collaborate with employees, the port through its “Regaining Our Mana” strategy has challenged the status quo and built more sustainable relationships through its High Performance, High Engagement program. HPHE ensures the people closest to the issues are involved in developing solutions, leveraging the collective knowledge of the workforce.
He has previously worked with the Ministry of Health and the DHBs on strategic workforce issues. And for 17 years prior to that, Phil led workplace relations and the employment law function at Air New Zealand. Over that period Air New Zealand transformed its relationships and engagement, as well as increasing its business efficiencies.
Phil is a qualified lawyer and in 2009 was an employer representative in the Ministerial Advisory Group on the Holidays Act 2004. Prior to joining Air New Zealand, Phil had a career as an international corporate transactions lawyer in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the Middle East. It was there that he developed interest based negotiation skills.
Director People Experience
Auror
Director People Experience
Auror
As Director of People Experience at Auror, Katrina’s mission is to build the best place for people to do great work. Born and raised in the UK, she spent much of her career there designing and launching national leadership development programmes for the UK social sector before moving to Aotearoa with her family. Forever learning about how to help others (and herself!) do better when it comes to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, Katrina believes in using equitable design principles to produce better outcomes for everyone. She is an experienced facilitator and coach, and also a proud parent of a wonderful 4 year old human.
Chief People Officer
Douglas Pharmaceuticals
Chief People Officer
Douglas Pharmaceuticals
Ceri’s passion is people and performance! She believes that ‘happy healthy people deliver sustained high performance’. This means that she puts people and their engagement at the core of what she does, every time! Ceri understands the need to focus on the culture, capability, and capacity of our people, to drive sustainable business performance.
She is a strategic leader with over 15 years of experience in leadership and consulting roles working for and with a variety of high-profile New Zealand organisations. In her role on the executive leadership team, she has had the pleasure of leading the group’s strategic People and Culture function to ensure Douglas is a highly engaged and high-performing organisation.
How can HR professionals harness the benefits of AI tools to improve efficiency? This practical workshop will cover a step-by-step guide to using ChatGPT to support the HR function.
Partner- Advisory
Contented AI
Partner- Advisory
Contented AI
Annie is a seasoned HR practitioner and executive leader with twenty years of local and international industry experience. She also comes from running her own successful HR consultancy, The Honest Human. Driven by her passion for resolving the challenges of enablement faced by businesses, she has now partnered with Contented Co-founders Hannah and Lucy to help companies adopt customised AI solutions. What makes Annie ‘fizz’ is the current work she is doing: actively guiding clients in integrating AI into HR teams and seeing the hugely successful results.
The winners of the following categories will be announced:
Expo Passport Grand Prize
Collect all exhibitors’ stamps on the Expo Passport for the chance to win a $300 gift card to Amano!
Sponsor Prize Giveaways
Visit the sponsor’s booth to know how to join
In this practical workshop, hear strategies for managing team conflict effectively to avoid further escalation and minimise risks.
Mediation Practitioner, People and Culture Specialist
The Helpful Human
Mediation Practitioner, People and Culture Specialist
The Helpful Human
Nikki Bould, a dynamic Human Resources Consultant, specializes in Alternative Dispute Resolution, training, and management. As an accredited mediator and co-founder of DSCINZ, Nikki is passionate about conflict management in the workplace and beyond. Understanding the challenges HR professionals encounter in managing employee conflicts, Nikki provides practical strategies for recognising and preventing emerging conflict, and multiple approaches to resolving disputes. Utilizing solution-focused techniques, she facilitates sustainable agreements and restores significant relationships.
How can companies deliver effective learning experiences for their hybrid workforces? This session will discuss strategies for enabling employees to capture learning opportunities both in and out of the workplace.
Director
FixHR
Director
FixHR
After meeting close on 4,000 business owners and identifying that HR problems had a powerful way of taking the shine off life for small business owners, Ainsley decided to be part of the solution. In 2020 she launched a different HR consultancy company that makes excellent HR practices available to small businesses. FixHR guides their clients through employment issues with commercially savvy staff who appreciate the impact of HR solutions on relationships, and the bottom line. Clients often comment FixHR takes away the overwhelm, and makes great HR accessible. The horizon is big, bright and beautiful for FixHR in 2024!
Chief Culture Officer
Electric Kiwi
Chief Culture Officer
Electric Kiwi
Sonya Bloomfield is a visionary and commercial leader who is passionate about shaping and nurturing organisational culture and creating inclusive workplaces where people can thrive.
With a track record of success in multiple industries, she’s found a home for her sense of fun, cheekiness and creativity and is having the time of her life collaborating with the team to create a culture in which high-performing global teams are motivated and invested in making it better for customers and our world.
Head of Capability and Organisational Development
Mitre 10
Head of Capability and Organisational Development
Mitre 10
An accredited coach, facilitator, instructional designer, learning and culture strategist, Nish has been in the learning space for 23 years. Failing at her first career as a broadcast journalist set Nish up for success for her future endeavours- personal and professional. As the Head of Capability and Organisational Development at Mitre 10, she balances fun and function, creates safe spaces for growth and brings people along on growth journeys that add value to individuals and teams. She is a learning tech geek and is always trying a different app to be that 1% better every day.
Her personal time is equally divided between long walks with her young son and puppy, cooking up the next Air Fryer miracle and serving on the board of the Migrant Careers Support Trust.
GM Talent & Culture, NZ & Pacific
ANZ
GM Talent & Culture, NZ & Pacific
ANZ
Michelle has been ANZ’s General Manager Talent & Culture for New Zealand and Pacific since August 2018.
In this role, Michelle is responsible for leading the development and implementation of innovative people strategies, programmes and policies to support the employee experience for ANZ’s 8,000 employees in New Zealand, and 1000 employees in the Pacific. She is also responsible for ensuring the company has the right people and capabilities to support the organisation’s business strategy and performance, and contributes to ANZ’s global talent and culture strategy.
Previously, Michelle was General Manager Business Optimisation and Relationship Services in the New Zealand Commercial & Agri business. She has also held various human resources roles in New Zealand Institutional, Commercial & Agri, Wealth, Corporate Centre and Operations.
Michelle has a BA (Hons) in Human Geography from the University of Otago, a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Policy from Victoria University of Wellington and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors
Head of Learning & Capability
Tegel Foods
Head of Learning & Capability
Tegel Foods
Shyamini Szeko, Head of Learning & Capability at Tegel Foods, brings over two decades of diverse industry experience. Recognized as a change agent, she designs impactful learning solutions aligned with business objectives, emphasizing diversity and inclusion.
Currently pursuing her third master’s degree in Change and Organizational Resilience through academyEX, Shyamini remains dedicated to staying at the forefront of industry trends and enhancing her expertise for meaningful contributions to her field and the broader professional community.
Beyond her professional role, Shyamini serves on the board at Albany Senior High School, contributing her expertise to education. In her leisure time, she enjoys crafting delicious meals and baking special occasion cakes for loved ones. Traveling, both within New Zealand and globally, brings her immense joy.
In this interactive session, delegates will discuss key HR challenges covered at the conference and develop action points to implement change.
TELUS Health is a global healthcare leader providing comprehensive primary and preventive care services and solutions to improve physical, mental and financial wellbeing for employees and families worldwide. With our advanced technology and dedicated team members, including more than 100,000 compassionate health professionals, we are covering nearly 70 million lives in 180 countries. We are on a mission to become the most trusted wellbeing company in the world by building the healthiest communities and workplaces on the planet through simplifying access to care and improving the flow of information between care providers, insurers, employers and individuals.
For more information please visit: https://www.telushealth.com/en-nz
Deel is the all-in-one HR platform for global teams. It helps companies simplify every aspect of managing an international workforce, from culture and onboarding, to local payroll and compliance. Deel works for independent contractors and full-time employees in more than 150 countries, compliantly. And getting set up takes just a few minutes.
The way we work is going global, with businesses hiring people scattered all over the world.
But until now, no HR platform has been able to handle everything, for everyone. From different payroll software for every region to multiple HR platforms for their mix of workers, some teams have to use 16 different tools to make it work.
Deel’s the future of global HR, but it’s a platform you can use today. It’s the only platform that works for your team wherever they are, whatever their status. Consolidate international hiring, payroll, and HRIS for contractors, EOR employees and team members hired through your own entities, into one easy-to-use platform.
Building a global team is simpler than ever. Hire employees, sponsor visas and run payroll through our Deel-owned entities worldwide. Handle all things global HR in one place with built-in compliant contracts, background checks, equipment, app provisioning and more. Get a one-of-a-kind worldview of data across your global workforce, plus we integrate with any tool so you can customize any workflow and keep data in sync across your tech stack.
Deel has everything to run your global team efficiently. It’s one place for everything and everyone, in our all-in-one HR platform built for global teams. For more information, visit Deel.com.
Employment Hero is the world’s leading HR, payroll and employee engagement platform. Its powerful employment platform and groundbreaking employment superapp, Swag, are changing work for the better. The award-winning employment software helps launch businesses on the path to success by powering more productivity every day. Employment Hero powers over 300,000 businesses and its core platform reduces admin time by up to 80 per cent. For more information visit employmenthero.com
HiBob is on a mission to transform how organisations operate in the modern world of work with its HR platform, “Bob.” Leading the way for the future workplace, Bob offers resilient, agile technology that wraps all the complexities of HR processes into a game-changing, user-friendly tool that touches every employee across the business.
Since late 2015, trusted and empowered “Bobbers” from around the world have brought their authentic selves to work, inspired to build our exceptional HR systems that will revolutionise the work experience for HR professionals, managers, and employees alike. More than 3,000 companies use Bob globally to accelerate hiring, retain the best talent, and elevate employee engagement.
Contact details:
Damien Andreasen – VP, APJ
Humanforce provides the market leading, employee-centred, intelligent and compliant HCM suite for frontline and flexible workforces, offering highly configurable, best-in-one WFM, HR and Payroll – without compromise. Founded in 2002, Humanforce has 2300+ customers and over 600,000 users worldwide. Today, we have offices across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.
Our vision is to make work easier and life better by focusing on the needs and fulfilment of frontline workers and the efficiency and optimisation of businesses.
Gallup is a strategic research-based consulting firm with a strong presence in New Zealand as well as globally. Gallup’s key difference is its research and grounding in applied behavioural economics and with more than 80 years of experience we provide a holistic approach to helping organisations achieve their objectives through strategic planning, talent management, strengths-based development and customer, employee engagement and diversity & inclusion programmes.
Contact details:
Stefanie Ngata, Workplace Advisor
+64 021 210 6748
The HealthNow platform enables organisations to deliver an individualised and flexible wellness benefit to their staff. Select contribution amount, create the benefits plan by selecting the sectors to allow spending and then empower your people to spend within the sectors you choose, empowering them to access wellness when, where and how they want it.
Lifetime is a full-service, nationwide financial advisory for all the ‘must haves’, ‘would likes’ and’ what if’s’. We provide a compelling point of difference for recruitment and retention driven businesses by offering bespoke employee benefit plans. Together, we ensure your best people live their best lives.
Menodoctor is a nationwide menopause clinic and workplace training and support service based in New Zealand, founded by menopause doctor and advocate Dr Linda Dear. We provide the complete menopause care package for your organisation:
ReadyTech Workforce Solutions provides cloud-based HR, payroll, and recruitment solutions to companies in Australia and New Zealand. Their platform covers the entire employee lifecycle, from recruitment to retirement. This cutting-edge software helps businesses find, pay, and retain their staff with ease and efficiency. ReadyTech’s platform features a variety of game-changing features, including automation tools to streamline HR and recruitment processes, accurate payroll management, compliance support, and advanced analytics to provide valuable insights into workforce performance. With an outstanding team of experienced professionals and an unwavering commitment to customer service, ReadyTech Workforce Solutions is the leading choice for businesses who want to revolutionise their HR, payroll, and recruitment processes.
Contact details:
HRD New Zealand
Contact details:
Key Media