Staff wellbeing key at SMEs, study finds

Work-life balance given similar emphasis as growth

Kiwi companies value work-life balance just as much as growing their business, according to new research by Suncorp.

The insurer yesterday launched its inaugural Business Success Index “From Risk to Reward”, based on independent research into business attitudes to growth, taking on risk and the factors which most influence success.

Paul Smeaton, chief executive of Suncorp New Zealand, said it undertook the research because it wanted to explore what was important to New Zealand businesses in 2017 — what might be holding them back, how they feel about taking on risk and how they see their businesses evolving over the next five years.

“We’re in the business of risk, and we wanted to know how New Zealand businesses perceive risk and how that shapes the way they approach their business,” Smeaton said.

The research included 20 in-depth interviews with businesses and an online survey of 415 small, medium and large businesses asking about perceptions of eight key areas.

It found having the right staff, leadership, management processes and funding were the key success factors for Kiwi businesses.

But it also found that 78 per cent of companies surveyed valued work-life balance as much as growing their business, while 58 per cent said they would rather focus on productivity and efficiency over growth.

Of those surveyed a third were actively growing, although another 28 per cent said they were looking to grow. A further 31 per cent said they would maintain their current size while 4 per cent planned to re-trench.

Businesses that were actively growing or looking to grow were more likely to be mid to large-size companies while smaller businesses were more keen to maintain their current size, according to the research.

Smeaton said the findings were even stronger for small to medium enterprises with more than one-third saying

We question whether things like success, growth and lifestyle [need] to be mutually exclusive. Paul Smeaton, chief executive, Suncorp New Zealand

they are not looking to grow at all, 62 per cent focused on productivity and efficiency and 80 per cent having a clear goal of work-life balance.

“When we think about growth, we tend to think about hiring more staff, leasing more office space, and expanding our physical presence into new markets, but this research suggests it’s time to redefine ‘growth’ on our own terms.”

Smeaton said many businesses believed growth came at the expense of quality of life, which was a prized asset for New Zealanders. “This attitude is likely to be limiting the aspirations of some businesses, however we question whether things like success, growth and lifestyle really need to be mutually exclusive.”

Smeaton said there may be more that SMEs, in particular, can do to identify and manage risks that will enable them to overcome challenges and succeed on their terms.

People were seen as the key to business growth and success with 87 per cent rating staff with the right skill set as a top factor, followed by 83 per cent pointing to the quality and reliability of staff.

Hindrances to success also included lack of quality staff as well as competitor activity, access to funding and economic stability.

“Businesses want help to connect with the right people, access to appropriate talent, access to technology and support with capital raising,” the report noted.

The research also found Kiwi businesses tend to take a conservative approach to taking on risk, with 42 per cent saying they had taken on moderate risk and only 11 per cent taking on larger risks when making business decisions.

Larger businesses were more likely to take bigger risks, however, across all business sizes just 48 per cent said they had a reasonable amount of confidence in taking risk.

Stephen Mills, executive director of UMR, which carried out the research on behalf of Suncorp, said there was some conservatism among businesses when talking about risk, with those taken often framed as “calculated or measured”.

“The impact of the GFC was still evident, with businesses quite cautious about the socalled recovery,” he said.