Workplace Partnership – Northpower and the New Zealand Public Service Association

1. Introduction and Purpose

This is a story about Northpower, the largest electrical distribution contractor in New Zealand. It is a story about people and a traditional company in provincial New Zealand doing some seemingly unremarkable things and yet achieving some remarkable results. Specifically, it is about Northpower's Whangarei contracting team - the managers, the workers and the PSA[1] - and how they have chosen to work constructively together and solve problems jointly in order to succeed.

It hasn't always been this way. Although people have been full of good intentions and wanting to do the right thing, great results were difficult to achieve on Northpower's Whangarei network prior to 2003. Both managers and workers were frustrated on a variety of fronts, but that frustration has been replaced with satisfaction without complacency.

This case study is not a story about what to do to replicate the good results Northpower has achieved, and it is certainly not about "ticking the boxes". Those who want successful and enduring relationships by using quick-fix approaches are unlikely to read this account to the end - there's no magic bullet to reveal. Rather, this story tells of the typical challenges and temptations associated with people building and nurturing productive employment relationships.

Much of the material for this story is drawn from direct quotes from those interviewed. It is their words that tell the real story.