New In The Job

...at Environmental Choice New Zealand.

What’s the job? Michael Field has been appointed to the board that oversees New Zealand’s eco-label, Environmental Choice New Zealand.

New Zealand has an eco-label? Absolutely. Owned by the government, but operated independently, Environmental Choice New Zealand certifies products as adhering to an international environmental standard. Products that pass its assessments bear a green planet-and-tick symbol.

Sounds rather...green. Green like American dollar bills. The companies with products which pass the label’s environmental assessments have a combined turnover of more than $2 billion. Mr Field says he’s a big supporter of business. He just thinks it’s possible to do it better – more sustainably.

What’s he done before now?Mr Field is currently sustainable development manager for BNZ. Prior to that he was sustainability manager for the North Shore City Council.

Bit of a theme there.Yes. As well as presenting and publishing several papers on subjects such as sustainability in manufacturing and construction, and environmental aspects of finance and technology, Mr Field was also responsible for developing the sustainable procurement framework used for this year’s Rugby World Cup.

What else? Well, while working with sustainability-focused carpet manufacturers Interface Inc he was one of ten global recipients of the Sustainability Champions award. He spoke right after Al Gore at a conference.

Bit of an act to follow.Yes, he did say it was a little daunting.

So how did he get to where he is? Mr Field says his university study of business management loosely equates to what he does now. But he said growing up with a stockbroker father, around business talk, was also a significant influence, as well as a trip to a power station where a close-by polluted river was filled with dead fish.

So he always aimed to work in this area? Well, the field didn’t exist when he was studying, so not really. He says it was luck more than his judgement on university course decisions that led him to where he is, as well as an interest in the human side of business and environmental issues.

..at NBR Talent.

What’s the job? Jonathan Lockyer has been appointed NBR Talent commercial manager at the National Business Review.
 
NBR Talent? What’s that? It’s a new recruitment initiative that offers major employers access to top talent – quality candidates that have been pre-screened by 11 specialist recruitment consultancies’ all at a pre-agreed rate of 10%.

Where was he before he joined the NBR ranks? Mr Lockyer worked for a bespoke recruitment consultancy, where he started a sales and marketing executive recruitment practice in the middle of the recession.
 
That sounds challenging. Just a bit. He says it was by far the hardest role he’s taken on.
 
So where did it all start? With a B bursary and a partially finished bachelor’s degree in management studies from Waikato University.
 
Partially finished? Mr Lockyer left university to take a trainee management role at Waipuna Hotel and Conference Centre. There he spent six months in every section; from housekeeping and front desk to managing weddings and conferences.

It certainly hasn’t held him back. Nope – he says if anything it’s made him work harder to achieve his goals. While he was helping host a conference, Peugeot shoulder-tapped him to sell cars. Mr Lockyer went on to work in London at the recruitment consultancy firm Michael Page, managing client and candidate relationships at a senior level. He’s also twice built a team from scratch to a profitable business unit, once in England and once in New Zealand. Both are still running successfully.
 
Why recruitment? It’s a satisfying business! Mr Lockyer says one of the key areas of satisfaction in recruitment is helping a client fill a previously hard-to-fill position. By examining the brief in detail, and taking the client out of their comfort zone in regards to candidate background, a candidate that the client might not have previously considered could turn out to be ideal.
 
So how important is a degree? Mr Lockyer says they're definitely important, and if he had a second chance he’d complete his. But work experience within relevant sectors was invaluable, “especially in a corporate competitive environment, where stakeholder engagement is a major part of moving forward”.

Did he always know what he wanted to do? Yes and no. He knew he wanted to be in a client-engaging role within the corporate business world; he was open to what exact role and sector that might be.