18 | Family values at the core of Cleland’s T T Richard Loader Taranaki - Cleland Timber REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT “It’s working along side them to ensure they have a financial plan and budget around their money and that it’s not getting blown every week.” T T to page 21 There is much to be said for the family owned and operated business that by its nature places customers and staff at the heart of its values, forging a culture of trust and respect reflected in the bottom line. Founded 104 years ago by the Cleland family, New Plymouth’s Cleland Timber Ltd continues to be operated with the same family values held dearly by its founding fathers. Daniel Donaldson, Cleland’s GM says that in the early days the two founding Cleland brothers both worked in the business and day to day were seen in the production departments. “Staff knew they were the owners and if there was a problem the brothers were there. That meant a lot to the workers and that’s something I’m very aware of. “I want to make sure I’m available and people feel they can come and talk to me, just like they used to talk to the founding owners. “That comes down to treating people as individuals and with respect.” Daniel makes a point of doing a daily walk around and acknowledging everyone. With a team of sixty, talking to everyone might be a big ask in a busy noisy environment, but waving out and saying ‘hi’ doesn’t take much effort. “Interestingly we have some very long serving staff. Our longest serving staff member started with us in July 1972. He turned sixty-five last year and just clocked over forty nine years but wants to reach fifty years service before he retires. “The average years service across all our staff at the moment is thirteen years, with seventeen staff having completed ten years or longer. I think that longevity is to do with the fact that it was a family owned business and continues to be operated that way with all the pros that come with that.” The question of staff longevity and what it means to be a business operated on family values is a key consideration for Daniel and his senior team as part of the company’s ‘people and culture’ strategy. Daniel says much of that centres around wellness and well-being. “We’re looking at things like offering personal development to our staff. “Professional development is one thing — that’s about training and up-skilling people to do their job and we like doing that. But developing people personally is different.” Daniel uses the example of some of his younger team members. Not long out of school, they might be earning $800- $900 a week without any idea about how to save or budget. “It’s working along side them to ensure they have a financial plan and budget around their money and that it’s not getting blown every week. Are they in Kiwi Saver and saving for a home deposit or whatever their personal goals might be? “So rather than come to us in a few years looking for a pay rise because they’ve over committed themselves financially, if we can work with them and get them on the right track they will appreciate that later on.”
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