A long term approach to managing our people
We are able to recruit highly qualified staff from all over the world. We retain science staff long enough for them to make a real contribution to our work.
 Measuring large trees is a team effort. |
Manaaki Whenua strives to recruit and retain good people, and to take good care of them as staff. Without their skills, knowledge and networks, we would be unable to deliver benefits to New Zealand. We have developed six goals and strategies for our people, and have continuously built on these over the last twelve years. These are:
- recruiting and retaining well-qualified, high-performing people
- increasing our women and Ma-ori science staff
- identifying, developing and retaining a talent pool of top people at all levels
- paying general market salaries for our science staff
- providing security of income for families and in retirement
- measuring the quality and quantity of our professional scientific outputs.
Recruiting and retaining well-qualified, high-performing people
One third of all our post-graduate science staff come from a wide range of countries in Asia, Europe, North America and the Pacific. In the last three years, about half our post-graduate science recruits, 80% of them with PhDs, have come from a wide range of countries. More than 60% of our New Zealand post-graduate science staff have PhDs.
| Science staff recruited - country of origin | ||
| 2001-2002 | 2002 - 2003 | 2003 - 2004 |
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Average service length for post-graduate science staff is almost 12 years. Turnover, including redundancies, of our open-term science staff (90% of science staff) is low and stable. Turnover of fixed-term science staff is higher on average, but more variable. The recent high turnover reflects the progressive conclusion of 17 post-doctoral fellowships, and 18 investment fixed-term agreements that we funded from 2001 to 2004. We retained eight out of the 17 post-doctoral fellows (our target: 50%) and 60% of investment-funded staff on either extended fixed-term agreements or open-term employment. |
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Increasing the proportions of women among science staffThe proportion of post-graduate women on our science staff has doubled since 1995, to about 32%. |
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The proportion of post-graduate women in our science staff has doubled since 1995, to about 32%. The percentage of women recruited has been 33–55% in recent years, so our proportion of post-graduate women scientists continues to increase towards the proportion of women (about 45%) who are qualifying with MSc and PhDs in our areas of science. Three cohorts of post-graduate science staff (those recruited
in 1993–95, 1995–98, and 1998–2001) were analysed
for the proportions of men and women retained at three-year intervals.
Initially, for the first cohort, we retained a smaller percentage
of women than men. For later years and in all periods for the other
two cohorts, we retained a higher proportion of post-graduate women
recruits. e
believe this is a major success. |
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My experience ... support for Post-Docs
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Increasing the proportions of Māori among science staff |
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| The proportion of Māori among science staff remains at about 5%, which is close to the proportion of university graduates who are Māori (6%). Recruitment rates have varied, partly reflecting the availability of Māori graduates in science. We decided some years ago that our key goal was to be the first-employer of choice for Māori scientists, and that retaining recruits long-term was less important provided those who left stayed in the science system or related work. Of our Māori science staff who have left, 70% have stayed in the science system. |  |
“After completing a PhD in Australia I was delighted to be
offered an investment postdoctoral position with Manaaki Whenua,
as it meant a return home and the opportunity to work in native New
Zealand forests with internationally-recognised ecophysiologists.
The project resulted in two papers (one published in 2003, and one
currently in review) in a leading international journal. Midway through
the postdoc project, my mentor and I successfully applied for Marsden
funding. This funding success would not have been possible without
the support and experience of Manaaki Whenua staff. With the stability
of an on-going contract at Manaaki Whenua, I’ve been able
to develop collaborative links with scientists at several institutions
around the world. The investment postdoc position provided a vital
first step in the development of my scientific career.” 
My experience ... starting a career with Manaaki Whenua
“I
began my association with Manaaki Whenua when they employed two recent
science graduates to work on ecological projects in collaboration with Māori.
We started in 1994, with a po-whiri (welcome) of considerable warmth, and ‘manaaki
tangata’ (looking after people) became an important part of my experience
at Manaaki Whenua. Many of the staff were great mentors for someone starting
out. I was supported in a number of key areas — understanding the
complex and often difficult science-funding environment, undertaking
ecological science in a Māori context, developing networks, and of
course with the science itself. My time at Manaaki Whenua was essential
preparation for subsequent PhD study, then employment at the National Institute
of Water and Atmospheric Research, and for my current position as a lecturer
at Lincoln University. The skills I developed at Manaaki Whenua play an
important role as I mentor and nurture a new crop of budding young scientists. "
Dr Shaun Ogilvie (Te Arawa me Ngā ti Awa)
Identifying, developing and retaining our pool of top talent
Every year since 1997, we have reviewed our pool of top science talent (about 75 people) at senior, mid-career and recent-recruit levels. Turnover of this group, about 5% in most years, is comfortably lower than for open-term science staff so in the long term we retain our top talent for about 20 years on average. All losses are reported to the Board. We also review merit-based salary increases and bonuses awarded to this group to ensure top performance, compared with science staff as a whole, is rewarded appropriately. |
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Career development of our top talent group is very carefully considered as part of the annual process carried out for all staff. In the last two years a small number of early-career ‘budding leaders’, who show high potential for leadership roles later in their career, have been identifed and given additional leadership development tasks.
My experience ... developing programme leader skills
“While working at Manaaki Whenua, I have received some fantastic
opportunities to develop both my science skills and my skills as a ‘leader’.
Many young scientists are not always aware that they might have leadership
potential in addition to their formal science training. It takes someone
to recognise and foster those leadership skills. In my case, my Team Leader,
Programme Leaders, and Regional Manager have all offered me opportunities
to grow and develop as a leader. This occurred, for example, through ‘standing
in’ for a Team Leader or a Programme Leader when they were absent,
learning to deal with issues that they deal with on a daily basis. Being
offered a position as a Programme Leader has provided challenging opportunities
to manage people, their science projects, and their ideas for the future.
Other personal development opportunities also exist, such as training courses
that emphasise leadership and interpersonal skills, or attending conferences
on research, science, and technology in New Zealand.”
Dr Andrea Byrom
Pest Ecologist
Paying market salaries for science staff
Manaaki Whenua scientists’ salaries are above the science sector but below the general market.
When
Manaaki Whenua formed in 1992, science salaries had already suffered
a 15% loss in real terms over the preceding five years. For the 110 science
staff who have been with the company since 1992, the average salary increase
to September 2003 has been 47% compared with a 22.5% increase in the
consumer price index (CPI). The
range of salary increases for support and management staff is similar
to those for science staff.
Diagram showing these results »
Despite these large salary increases for our science staff, both their median base-salary and median total-remuneration are still below the general market median levels for all jobs of similar size, based on job points.
Base salaries are 3–6% less than the general market except for scientists (300 job points). Total remuneration is 5–8% less than the general market except for technicians (170 job points).
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Manaaki Whenua base salaries compared with science sector (red) and general market (orange) medians. |
Manaaki Whenua total remuneration compared with science sector (red) and general market (orange) medians. |
Providing security of income for families and in retirement
Manaaki Whenua contributes to superannuation or student loan repayments for >60% of staff.
Since 1993, we have provided income maintenance insurance for all staff in addition to allocations of sick leave. In 1999, the period of income maintenance cover was extended from one year to five years (at 80% of income) for all staff. We also provide life insurance cover for staff, ranging from 3-times salary (up to age 35), reducing progressively to salary-equivalent (from age 55).
We contribute 7% of salary to the Government Superannuation Fund for 68 staff, and we match contributions up to 4% of salary (increasing to 6% in September 2005) to other qualifying superanuation schemes for 168 staff. This year we extended our scheme to match contributions to debt repayments of student loans. Now, 63% of open-term staff receive employer contributions to either superannuation or student loan repayment. Only 16% of the New Zealand labour force received superannuation contributions from their employers in 2003. |
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Measuring the success of our strategies
From the evidence above, we believe our strategies in relation to our people are being successful. But are those strategies helping to achieve our higher-level purpose of having the right people, doing the right things, and doing them well enough? Evidence for this is provided in other sections of this report: in the examples provided in Science Making a Difference, the quality and quantity of the work of our scientists, and in our financial results, including our re-investments in capability and new areas of work.
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