Rowing New Zealand

Introduction

Rowing New Zealand is the governing body for the nation’s rowing sports. The purpose of this organization is to offer support and leadership to create a success environment for the country’s rowing community. The organization is in charge of rowing at different levels including basic and startup class for secondary schools, and the intermediate level for clubs and universities, and at the premium level involving professional high performance organizations. The organization was established in the 19th century as the New Zealand Amateur Rowing Association (Rowing NZ, 2021). It was comprised of nine major clubs attempting to regulate and coordinate the sport at a professional level. As time went by, the sport has gained a lot of media attention and especially for the secondary schools. The overall aim is to dominate at the international level in the Olympics to attain the success of Australia and Great Britain at the global stage. Within the New Zealand sport sector, the organization is in charge of more than 65 clubs connected to different regional rowing affiliations. As an umbrella body, Rowing NZ includes the Rowing Association for Secondary Schools, Rowing Council for NZ Universities, Rowing Race Official Association, the Karapiro and Ruataniwha Rowing, and the Regional Performance Centres NZ. The organization is also in charge of the National Club Championships, Masters Championship, NZ University Championship, and the NZ Secondary Schools Championships. The selection criteria for national representation is also under the mandate of Rowing NZ.

Structure of Rowing NZ

As the managing body of a very competitive sports in New Zealand, Rowing NZ has done significantly well since its inception in the 1850s. It has supported the sport, including successful establishment at home and on the international scene since it was established. Rowing NZ has two main arms. The domestic division has its focus on universities, clubs, and schools within New Zealand. The professional high performance division focuses on international teams including the elite teams and the more amateur junior teams that participate on behalf of New Zealand. The structure allows the organization to develop and retain a workplace culture of top performance, as evidenced by the excellent performance both at home and internationally over the last few years.

In terms of organization and structure, Rowing NZ has a board that is responsible for the administration and management of day to day activities. Rowing NZ has 11 associations that include 10 regional affiliates plus the governing body for secondary schools referred to as the NZSSRA (New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Association). Right below the above associations include 65 clubs, each with its own affiliate association. NZSSRA is in charge of rowing schools instead of clubs (Rowing NZ, 2021). Rowing NZ also includes friends of the associations that support different aspects of the club. However, the latter do not enjoy any voting rights or a decision making power. From this structure, the intention of the organization is to ensure a stable governance framework that is reflective of best practice models, diversity, and inclusion.

Information from the official website of Rowing New Zealand (2021) indicates that the organization has a board of directors at the helm. It is made up of a chairperson and 10 members. The current chairman is Gerry Dwyer. Other members of the board include Raechel Cummins, Geoff Taylor, Thornton Williams, Jane Davel, Bruce Tong, Virginia Le Bas, Genevieve Macky, Jock Mackintosh and Annabel Ritchie. Rowing NZ is headed by a president Bill Falconer and a vice patron, Fred Strachan. Other administrative and managerial roles include a general manager (finance), office manager, and coach development manager. For the high performance rowing category, the leadership and management is made up of a general manager (performance), a high performance athlete development leader, a high performance operation manager, high performance coordinator, athlete wellbeing leader, high performance coaches, both male and female segments, elite development coaches, and the national pathway coaches.

As a private-public organization, Rowing NZ uses a board of directors as a way of representing the different interests of shareholders including affiliate clubs, regional associations, rowing participants, junior athletes, professional athletes, other governing bodies, and so on. The structure used by Rowing NZ ensures that the decision making process regarding the welfare of employees is well implemented. The board is appropriate for the organization because it allows issuance of a strategic direction, performance management, compliance and for the management of risk. The existing structure uses a board management as the top decision maker, and key professional management leaders within the organization in charge of different departments and for different roles. From a management point of view, the role of the board is appropriate for Rowing NZ because it allows strategic planning and a focus on identification of priorities, meeting of objectives and establishing goals for the entire organization. The board is able to find and gather resources, plan on the allocation of resources to support their decisions, and run an oversight role on the management of the organization.

Summary of How the Organization is Governed

As noted earlier, Rowing NZ has a board of directors made up of a chairperson and 10 members. The current chairman is Gerry Dwyer. Other members of the board include Raechel Cummins, Geoff Taylor, Thornton Williams, Jane Davel, Bruce Tong, Virginia Le Bas, Genevieve Macky, Jock Mackintosh and Annabel Ritchie. Rowing NZ is headed by a president Bill Falconer and a vice patron, Fred Strachan (Rowing NZ, 2021). The role of this board include strategic planning and a focus on identification of priorities, meeting of organizational objectives and establishing goals for the entire organization, finding means to gain resources for the benefit of the organization, plan on the allocation of these resources to support their decisions, and run an oversight role on the management of the organization.

Rowing NZ has a role to enhance and promote all rowing aspects and related activities in New Zealand. The board of directors released a strategic map and plan expected to run from 2020 to 2025. The strategic plan, released in 2020, looks at leadership, participation, and performance (Rowing NZ, 2021). The mission and vision of the strategic plan is to attain continual improvement with a vision seeking to improve the current position of rowing in New Zealand. The overall aims are categorized into five missions including continued improvement, trusting together, accountability, caring, and honor. Further, the strategic plan is focused on sustained high performance, a thriving domestic culture in rowing, people welfare and overall wellbeing, and operational excellence. The overarching established objectives are all geared towards making the organization better in all realms of operations including participation, management, leadership, engagements with others, team leadership, coaching management, performance, and a culture that upholds the values true to the nation.

In terms of the people, the strategic plan intends to establish relations with driven individuals who are relentless in the pursuit of organizational and personal excellence. The welfare aim is to ensure that everyone thrives within the organization and create high performance through the sustenance of health and happiness for all stakeholders. The teaming goals include ensuring collective working together to realize the goals of the organization, ensure flexibility and trusting, and encourage a democratic environment where knowledge sharing, questioning, and communication are an essential part of the organizational values. For the culture, Rowing NZ’s strategic plan for the next five years is to live and breathe organizational values that will see everyone hold themselves accountable.

To create a thriving domestic community, the strategic plan for Rowing NZ aims to investigate new structures and delivery possibilities post the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (Rowing NZ, 2021). It also aims to engage different stakeholders to create a streamlined domestic rowing community. To reflect the diverse population in New Zealand, the organization will deliver relevant events that ensure active participation opportunities for various talented individuals. The organization also intends to proactively promote safety practices, implement policies that protect young stakeholders, implement a coaching strategy to harness talent for both athletes and their performance managers, and offer clear development opportunities and pathways for the current and new officials. Lastly, the organization will assess alternative competition disciplines and structures including newer coastal rowing for the benefit of all members. People welfare and wellbeing prioritizes on the best outcomes for the staff, coaches, and athletes. The organization will also recognize the participation and involvement of volunteer groups in supporting rowing. Were resources allow, the organization also aims to support family time and apply the best human resource practices and positive employment support systems to ensure the best environment for internal stakeholders.

Short Bio on the President

Bill Falconer is the current president of Rowing NZ. Bill Falconer has had a long career in rowing, including actively as a rower, as a board member, as a long-standing chairman, and now currently at the head of management of the organization. As a long-time chairman of the board, Bill Falconer has a background in management. He has headed the board for years and gained enough experience to manage the organization as the top staff member (Scoop Business, 2016). Bill Falconer has also held other leadership positions as the chairman of the Meat Industry Association for more than a decade. He successfully oversaw operations of an organization that is highly sensitive, in terms of the commodities traded as well as the regulations imposed on the meat industry. He was able to establish unity in the organization and created an avenue for a collective voice to provide key stakeholders in the meat industry with the voice needed to address key issues including trade policies and government initiatives. At Rowing NZ, he has been a key part of the organizational progress, including being a critical player in a transitional period when the managerial head was fired for unethical behavior. From his career in the organization, Falconer has gained a wealth of experience in planning, organizing, coordinating, controlling, and commanding. At one point in his career, he was an executive chairman, serving both the interests of the board and heading the management function of the organization. Therefore, he is well versed with strategy formulation and implementation. Due to his rich management background, he is able to define and implement corporate strategy through purpose identification in line with organizational plans of action and other strategic direction that would help steer the organization into the right direction.

References

Rowing NZ. (2021). The 2020-2025 Strategic Plan. Available at https://www.rowingnz.kiwi/Attachment?Action=Download&Attachment_id=999Rowing NZ. (2021). Staff & Board. Available at https://www.rowingnz.kiwi/Category?Action=View&Category_id=523#Rowing NZ. (2021). Decision making in New Zealand rowing. Available at https://www.rowingnz.kiwi/Story?Action=View&Story_id=739

Scoop Business. (March 3, 2016). New Meat Industry Association Chair. https://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/BU1603/S00141/new-meat-industry-association-chair.htm