At Port Otago, chief executive Kevin Winders gets the final interview for every potential staff member joining the company.
He does not look at their curricula vitae, instead it is usually a 20-minute chat over a coffee where he focuses on what they care about.
He endeavours to understand what they do outside of work, how they think and whether they are going to add to the company’s culture, be safe and look after their mates — "or be a risk".
He finds out about their family, whether they are passionate about sport and if they have something to go home for every day. If they are unable to convince him of that, then they do not have a job.
"To come and work at Port Otago, you’ve got to care and be the right sort of person and we’re pretty picky," he said.
In a nutshell, Mr Winders wants his 320-strong team to come to work, have a good day and walk out the door to do the things they love.
People — it is a word the port boss uses frequently throughout his conversations, repeatedly highlighting how fortunate he is to have so much talent on hand.
When asked what he was most proud of this year, two things immediately sprang to mind, unsurprisingly both involving people.
The first was safety leadership training rolled out for the company’s safety representatives. At the end of the block course, they had to present to the port runaka safety council on a project they had come up with to change the port’s safety systems.
To see that team, from the shop floor, getting up in front of the council and presenting their ideas— nerve-racking as it was for some — was "super cool".
Safety was a hugely important topic for a port company and it was something that did not just sit with Mr Winders — "it sits with everyone".
Ports had a plethora of heavy containers and heavy equipment, and humans tended to come off second best in the event of a collision. So it came down to having the right gear and safety systems, he said.
Second was the Te Rauone Beach project, which had been 10 years in the making.
The Te Rauone Beach Coast Care Committee, Te Runaka o Otakou and Port Otago have worked together for a decade with the goal of restoring and developing the beach amenity.
For Port Otago, it was a $3 million project to benefit the community and it involved a great group of advocates passionate for their beach to be reinstated.
What was particularly rewarding was how Port Otago’s team thought they were going to do it one way but, when they started work on it, they found a better way which ended up being four times faster and more efficient.
"It worked brilliantly.
"For me, the talented people we have in our business, you’ve just got to pinch yourself. We’re so lucky ... so lucky we’ve got the calibre of people who solve all the problems," he said.
In some continents like Europe and Asia, there were dedicated ports that were a long way from communities, whereas at the likes of Port Otago, the community was the port.
The company tried to be "the big neighbour who [was] well respected in the community", rather than the noisy neighbour who threw its bottles out after parties and continually made a mess, Mr Winders said.
He was conscious that, between Forsyth Barr Stadium and Port Otago, there were trucks continually on the road and trains going past.
The port saw an opportunity to look after some of the groups in the community in which it operated, whether that was paying for school pupils’ swimming lessons — "we’re connected to the water" — or assisting when "good people" in the community turned up and asked for a hand.
"You have an impact on their lives, to do something nice to balance the ledger. It’s pretty good. We start with keeping our people safe, being a good neighbour," he said.
Mitigation of Port Otago’s Rio rumble was acknowledged this year with the Hugh Vivian Taylor Award, Australasia’s top honour in acoustic engineering.
Giant silencers to cut unwelcome noise from Rio-class ships berthed at Port Otago were fitted on to one of the auxiliary engines of each ship after complaints from harbour residents.
That came after Port Otago employed Marshall Day Acoustics to measure the noise and propose a solution. The improvement for the local community was immediate.
The impact of Covid-19 on supply chains had been well-documented, but some aspects of the pandemic had been positive for the port company, Mr Winders said.
"Seeing our team having to adapt to manage Covid then having to adapt to issues around global shipping ... ships not turning up, then no ships for a week, then four ships wanting to come in two days.
"We’ve had to adapt really quickly, our team got good at that. I think we’ve learnt new skills, opened our eyes. The organisation is in better shape to adapt."
Mr Winders acknowledged it was "pretty painful" through the early stages of Covid, when staff were literally defending the border, before it morphed into being in the community.
He was proud of keeping the port’s cruise team throughout the pandemic — "one of the few ports that did" — and they were redeployed, in the absence of cruise ships, to do "whatever was asked".
It was great to see the return of the cruise industry. When the first cruise ship docked in October — after a two-and-a-half-year absence — many port staff, from cargo handlers to office workers, lined up on the wharf to greet it, he said.
"We waved ... the passengers really appreciated it," he said.
The cruise industry delivered $60 million to $70 million to the community, which was also "pretty cool".
"It’s lovely to see it back, it’s a good business."
Owned wholly by the Otago Regional Council, Port Otago is made up of four business components; container business, bulk business, property business and cruise business.
It was a regional port, of small to medium size; he likened the arms of the business as the legs on a stool — take away that cruise business, and the three-legged stool became "a bit wobbly". Having all parts back made the business better.
Chalmers Properties, the property business, was a good business, with property in Auckland, Hamilton and Dunedin, he said.
"We don’t do residential towers or shopping developments. When we have a prospective new tenant, we know what we’re doing and stick to our knitting and do a good job," he said.
The port’s financial report for 2021-22 shows the property division returned increased profits to the company due to increased rents and largely contributed to an $82 million surplus before tax and a $70.5 million after-tax profit. The company paid a dividend of $13 million to shareholders, up from $10 million the previous year.
Mr Winders described it as a "good solid balance sheet" and said he was looking forward to this year’s result being "even better".
When the port had a good result, all that money went to subsidise rates in Otago; many of the company’s staff owned houses and so benefited from that, which was a nice connection, he said.
Ultimately, the company’s aim was to be a conduit to market for exporters in Otago-Southland and to pay a dividend to its owner.
As well as its staff, Mr Winders praised the quality of Port Otago’s board, including its diversity of skills. It was a collegial environment to work in and he could not speak highly enough of it, he said.
When it came to diversity in the workplace, there were "absolutely" more women coming in, as it endeavoured to attract them, he said.
Rostering could be a bit tough, because of the ebb and flow nature of shipping.
"It’s not for everyone but I’m pleased we’re getting more females into the workplace. We’ve got a good balance."
After five years in the role, Mr Winders still enjoys his job.
"It’s cool, it’s really cool ... I get to work with some really cool people. The talent we’ve got in here is pretty amazing."
His job was to give them "clear direction" and a hand if they needed help, if they "hit a dead end or road blocks".
"We try to run as a small company, as a small team. People are encouraged to take ownership and get out there and make a difference."
As he watched the bustle of the port out his office window, Mr Winders said it was a dynamic, not static, business.
There was no room for complacency and there was always room for improvement. There were different problems to be tackled all the time, and it was stimulating, he said.
During Covid, the port team worked hard to keep exports flowing, providing export receipts for both its region and country.
Most of its customers were rural-based — dairy, meat, forestry, plus the likes of some fish, fruit and processed timber — and the company got to know its customers personally.
From the rural perspective, by virtue of Mr Winder’s previous positions at Silver Fern Farms and PGG Wrightson, it was familiar territory.
"I get it," he said.
If supply chains did not run regularly, then that led to serious problems which could ultimately close plants.
When it came to plans for next year, Mr Winders said the port was a long-term infrastructure business; it was always looking at its infrastructure and what it needed to do in the next 20 years, for the next generation.
There were some usual projects, like repairs, and some "quite chunky" infrastructure projects.
A large IT spend was under way, and the business was focused on managing that without distracting from its core focus — looking after its customers.
Regarding reducing emissions and what was happening around the work with technology, it was talking to customers and seeing where it needed to invest.
"We’ve said we’re going to maintain our diesel straddles for a few more years until electric straddles become more mainstream.
"Sometimes you have to back yourself and wait for technology to get a bit more visible."
Like any other business in the space, it was trying to learn more about options around its operational fleet and how to reduce carbon emissions, while making sure it did not put its "dominoes on the board" with a decision that it was going to regret.
The challenge next year was to do a lot of work in that space, and it was also focused on its customers and understanding what they were up to.
When it came to Mr Winders’ leadership style, he said he tried to be calm.
"I’m pretty calm and chilled. I like to have a bit of fun and I’m a bit casual. There are not a lot of formalities with me."
The team is also like that.
"We do like everybody to be what they are and get out of bed every morning and not try too hard".
He also knew what he was good at — and what he was not. He endeavoured to provide his input into the business on those things that he was good at, and leave the things that he was not to others.
"I’m pretty straight up. What you see is what you get. No airs and graces and we just get things done. That’s typical of our leadership team," he said.
Rather than talking about what it was going to do in the future, he liked to complete projects. To talk about what it had done, rather than what it was going to do. There was also a dislike of "big words and corporate speak" in the business.
Every Friday morning, Mr Winders writes a newsletter for the team about what is going on.
"There’s nothing more to the business to know. We’re open, straight up, we don’t have ... any secrets."
