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Mara Tolja

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Mara Tolja

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The journey to becoming the most globally connected nation in the world

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Posted by maratolja in Community Building, Culture, engagement, New Zealand, Social Networks

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adoption, community, Culture, Engagement, Expats, influencers, KEA, networks, New Zealand, participation, social networks

My social media feeds were all a buzz recently with the success of Lorde at the Grammys.  People I am connected with were proud to see another NZ success story. For such a small nation, I find that New Zealanders have a strong sense of belonging and pride.

In a recent survey it was found that expats are just as included in the pull of “brand New Zealand” as those back home. So how can New Zealand as a country benefit from this want from people across the world to be a part of the New Zealand success story?

KEA

One organisation that aims to help New Zealand become the “most globally connected nation in the world” is KEA (Kiwi Expat Association).  And with 1 million expats you can see why they would want to.   KEA was founded by Sir Stephen Tindall and Professor David Teece in 2001 and has quickly grown to be a vital link for expats to “home”.

 The vision we developed at KEA was for New Zealand to operate as a globally connected nation of 5 million people, rather than a geographically isolated country of 4 million.  It’s a vision that favours the “brain circulation” over the “brain drain” argument where expats are concerned; that an engaged network of expats could be part of the “soft infrastructure” on which New Zealand builds a globally competitive economy.  And there was always a belief that embracing our expats in this way would help bring many of them home sooner rather than later, with a good number of highly productive years left in the tank.

Ross McConnell
http://www.kinfolk.co.nz/blog/a-battle-for-the-ages/

The organisation hopes to reach and motivate expatriate Kiwis to increase their contribution to New Zealand.  And why wouldn’t they?  Just as alumni of large Ivy League universities work together to benefit each other – why not a country?

The upside for New Zealand as an alumni network, as a country, if you like, is that there are hundreds of thousands of Kiwis that have done incredibly well overseas that really do want to help the country, want to help these folks that are trying to network into different parts of the world.  We really need to reach out to them more and do the Yale, Harvard thing and use the power of our networks.

Craig Donaldson (Current KEA Interim Global CEO)
The power of networks transcript

But how do you engage such a large community?

In the KEA report in 2009, it was interesting to see that initiatives such as mentorship and job boards did not have the impact that was anticipated.  What would influence people to move beyond passive participation in an online network, to active participation?

Since the report, KEA has been actively using the power of social networks to increase their membership. Increasing their numbers from 30,000 members in 2012 to over 200,000 in 2014.  And with the search for a new CEO, the focus of the organisation is shifting too; moving from adoption of members to more commercial outcomes.  It is all about the “possibilities of harnessing the strength of a globally connected New Zealand and achieving Kea’s greatest imaginable challenge: 1 million Kiwi advocates, champions and story-tellers by 2016.”

Having this expatriate advocate network connecting through storytelling is very powerful.

…storytelling is not just about the transfer of knowledge; it is also a movement designed to amplify the voice of a community (Burgess, 2006). Everyone can participate because everyone has a story to tell.  http://librarydigitalstorytelling.wordpress.com/what/

Celebrating success stories is one way to foster “brain circulation” and limit brain drain. But it’s just one small step. In the next post, I’ll suggest ways that KEA can connect and empower their huge network to do more than just celebrate from afar. By focusing on specific behaviours and tapping into all 6 sources of influence, KEA can turn expats into a powerful network of ambassadors that can help each other and the country as a whole.

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How growing companies can (and should) feel small

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Posted by maratolja in Culture, engagement, New Zealand

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Connect, Culture, Engagement, Executive, Learning, New Zealand, Personality, Xero

I’ve been looking at growing New Zealand companies recently – companies like Xero and Trademe, and they still show the positive signs of the best start-ups. They seem to have a purpose that unifies the people there and creates a positive culture and it resonates in their brand. They have a personality. Or, said another way, it feels like they’re a company made up of real human beings who treat their customers as real human beings.

As companies grow though, those traits can sometimes fade.  Big companies can feel like corporate machines. A place where competition beats collaboration and where personal agendas override a shared purpose.  By growing bigger, these companies risk losing the things that made them special in the first place.

But a few manage to avoid the traps of bigness.  And, In implementing an enterprise social strategy, I’ve seen 5 ways you can grow big and still feel small.  These are seen in the power of CLICK.

The power of CLICK

Be Connected

Be Connected
A sense of connectedness comes from an understanding of how your employees and your customers fit into your company.   As you grow – you want every employee to understand how their role is connected to the customer experience and to your products.  At Zappo’s (an online shoe company in America), every employee knows that their primary job is to keep their customer happy, and they are empowered to make this happen.  They don’t need permission.  Your employees should know what your company stands for – and should feel empowered to make this happen.

Be Learning

Be Learning
When you are a small company, you are continuously learning.  Asking questions and gaining skills.  As you grow, you want to maintain this culture of learning. Companies such as Google are well known for allowing employees time to develop ideas and innovations.  Everybody should always be asking questions.  As new people keep joining, you need to cater to onboarding them and providing a way for them to quickly understand who does what.  Your enterprise social network should be connecting these people to each other. It is the source for questions and answers and curated product information.  But don’t think it is  just for new people.  People who have worked with you for some time, will be upskilling and adapting, as will you.  Empower the entire company to learn and grow together.

Be Interactive


Be Interactive
Every entrepreneur has a personality that they bring to their company. This personality is easy to convey when they are a small team.  But as the company grows, you want this personality to scale.  Think of your Enterprise Social Network, as a virtual open door to your office.  If you want everyone to share and be a part of the company’s collective strategy, then you need to take everyone on the journey with you.  Share what you are doing and why.  Your employees should know your company success stories and be able to own these too.   By being open and allowing people to have a voice, you have the opportunity to open up real conversations.  By listening and interacting – you can respond, grow and adapt.

Be Creating

Be Creating
When a company grows beyond four walls – it is crucial to know what is happening.  With multiple teams, goals and agendas – working collaboratively can help connect the dots within the company.  By embedding a culture of content creation – where knowledge sharing is rewarded and encouraged – you can help people work out loud – and stop the silo mentality that begins to creep in.

Be Kind 

Be Kind.
It really is that simple.  A company is all about people.  Recognise those that are living the values – and sharing the personality that you want to maintain.  This way you can be sure to have the greatest people, and the greatest company.

What now?
Don’t be trapped into creating layers of hierarchy, complex processes and bureaucratic policy.  Prioritise the people in your company, the personality – and it may just all CLICK into place.   😉

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