INSPIRED BY KIWI INNOVATION
Just as the athlete with a highly skilled and knowledgeable team is steered to international success at AUT Millennium – so too can businesses be guided to excel and become global players in the international arena. Today, dominance in sport runs much deeper than the fortuitous combination of talent and a good coach. It’s not just about training harder than everyone else.
It’s about training smarter… At AUT Millennium, the game for New Zealand’s elite athletes has changed - with world-class facilities and services grounded in the latest sport science research. Athletes are supported and guided by a highly skilled and knowledgeable team from school age through to the world stage. In the past, the expert support network for athletes was spread across a wide range personnel and venues, which wasn’t optimal That’s not the case now, according to CEO of AUT Millennium and President of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Mike Stanley., With High Performance Sport NZ we have been able to provide an environment where experts including trainers, nutritionists, physiologists, coaches and medics all collaborate and focus jointly on an athlete’s success quickly. Athletes are getting the very best people 100% focused on them, their achievements and how to optimise their performance. It’s accelerated the rate of improvement and were seeing the results in international competition” Located on the North Shore in the Grow North District, AUT Millennium is home to a diverse range of organisations, from sports clubs and national sporting associations, to medical services and programmes for the community, local schools and sports groups. AUT’s Sports Performance Research Institute New Zealand’s (SPRINZ) is also located at AUT Millennium. Their team of internationally-renowned experts gather and use sport science and health information from high performance athletes and the wider community. Mike Stanley describes AUT Millennium as, “a community of expertise and athletes at various stages of their development, from children who are learning to swim, to some of New Zealand’s very best athletes.” In addition to preparing athletes for international competition, AUT Millennium addresses national, regional and local needs in sport, physical activity and community health, with the aim that New Zealanders may live healthier lives by excelling in sport and fitness. Mike Stanley believes that although training for a sport at an elite level is very specific to that particular sport, there is a lot athletes can learn from other disciplines. For example, rowing is renowned for its gruelling endurance training while shot put is explosive in nature. Both sports and their athletes can take elements of the other’s training into their own discipline with great results. How does this relate to business? In today’s competitive economic climate, businesses can face similar hurdles and challenges. If experts can meet regularly, establish trust and share knowledge from their own business disciplines, Mike Stanley believes that it is possible to move beyond the current level of difficulties. Similar teething problems and the same costly time-consuming mistakes can be avoided. Just as the athlete with a highly skilled and knowledgeable team is steered to international success, so too can businesses be guided to excel and become global players in the international arena. The Grow North Innovation District ethos is to translate what AUT Millennium has done for the sport ecosystem into the innovative business ecosystem; to build an escalator that nurtures companies from start-up to scale-up faster and build sustainable businesses on the world stage. If you’re an innovative tech business located on the North Shore and want to benefit from shared knowledge from peers and those who have successfully built global businesses - join our community portal - go to www.grownorth.co.nz to find out more.
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The key to AFT Pharmaceuticals' success has been creating the intellectual property behind many of their products through patents and trademarks. Husband and wife team, Dr Hartley Atkinson and Marree Atkinson, started AFT Pharmaceuticals (AFT) in their home garage. Last year financial year the NZX and ASX listed company earned revenue of NZ$81.9M* and has a market capitalisation of around NZ$250M. This proves that Kiwi companies can become global players in their respective industry while being headquartered in the Grow North Innovation District. Dr Atkinson reflects on AFT’s small beginnings, “When we started in 1997 it was just Marree and I. Twenty years later, we have 92 staff, offices in Auckland, Sydney and Kuala Lumpur, our painkiller Maxigesic is licensed in 124 countries, with a strong product pipeline. We’re running all of this out of Takapuna and frankly, why not because this is a beautiful part of the world to live in.” The size and reach of the big international pharmaceutical companies makes pharmaceuticals a very competitive business. Dr Atkinson says that the key to AFT’s success has been creating the intellectual property behind many of their products through patents and trademarks. “We exploit niche opportunities that big pharma companies can miss, we invest heavily in our R&D and while we manufacture and sell globally, we’ve managed to keep the intellectual property here in New Zealand.” AFT believes the key to improving people’s health lies in innovation. R&D in pharmaceuticals can take two forms: Developing and licensing new drugs and devices and making existing products better. AFT does both: Having produced new products like Maxigesic and the Maxiclear range that have been licensed around the world. Existing treatments like Crystaderm has been improved upon and is now the market leading first-aid treatment product in New Zealand. Despite the international success, Dr Atkinson is quick to acknowledge the role local support has played for AFT. “In many ways, AFT only exists today because pharmacists supported our products when Marree and I were on the road selling them back when we started the business. That support has remained in place. Of course efficacy and price are important, but anecdotally we know there is a lot of support for us because we’re a Kiwi company and we develop our own products here. That means a lot to us and we’re really grateful for the support.” With the guiding principle to do things better than they have been done before AFT will continue to develop innovative products that help people. https://www.aftpharm.com/ *Current revenue was NZ$81.9M with 66% being ex NZ Fuel50 empowers leaders with employee-driven data and tools to engage and motivate their teams by having better quality coaching conversations.
The workplace landscape has changed and the world of HR has to change with it. Today, employees want more – with work satisfaction and overall career experience topping the list. Deloitte named career pathing a key area of focus for organisations in this current workforce climate. More than 80 percent of companies want better talent mobility in their organisation, while 70 percent of employees leave due to a lack of career development and growth opportunities. As talent turnover costs rise, companies need to adapt or risk losing key talent. It’s that simple. At the forefront of this shift is Fuel50 – an award-winning, gamified, cloud-based platform that addresses these critical gaps with innovative solutions that directly impact engagement, performance and retention on all levels within an organisation. “The way talent traditionally climbs the career ladder and develop skills is broken, leaving talent frustrated and companies lacking the levels of engagement and performance required to move at the pace of business today,” says Anne Fulton, CEO and Co-Founder of Fuel50. Launched in 2012, Fuel50 resides in the Grow North innovation district with headquarters in Takapuna. Its aim is to reinvent the career management wheel. This is no small task especially when you’re competing in a global market. Fuel50 empowers leaders with employee-driven data and tools to engage and motivate their teams by having better quality coaching conversations. Employees are given the keys to fast-track their career trajectories. By highlighting what they’re good at and what they need to work on, employees are matched with internal opportunities linked to their roles. Fuel50 is currently in use by 75+ Fortune 500 companies, deployed across 33 countries and in 28 languages. Fuel50 is continually innovating. They’ve been described as being ahead of the curve with new product releases that leverage their world-leading artificial intelligence and role matching capabilities such as FuelGig™, FuelMentor™ and FuelSuccession™. On their product roadmap are tools to transform performance management systems with future-focused performance enablers and visibility for HR into their workforce capability and talent trends. Fuel50 boasts several global accolades, including the Brandon Hall Gold Award for Best Career Management & Planning Technology. They’re a company that wholeheartedly practices what they preach, with a close-knit company culture where their Fuellies truly feel part of a family that is changing careers all around the world, for the better. www.fuel50.com |
AuthorsGrow North articles are written by CEOs that call the Grow North Innovation District home. Edited by Kel Marsh. A free service. See more Innovative Kiwi stories
March 2019
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