Communication key for complex global business

With 220 staff spread across 11 locations around the world, communication is key at ADInstruments.

The Dunedin-based company was established 28 years ago this week by chief executive Michael Macknight, who was completing his master's degree and needed a project.

Initially based in a bedroom at his parents' home and now housed in the spectacularly-renovated Donald Reid warehouse between Vogel and Cumberland Sts, it has developed into a world-leading provider of computer-based data acquisition and analysis systems for the life science industry.

The company has offices in New Zealand, Australia, China, India, Pakistan, North America, South America, the UK/Europe and the Middle East.

It recently won the international trader category in the Westpac-Otago Chamber of Commerce Obiz awards.

Operating a global business did come with some difficulties, particularly when dealing with different languages, time zones and cultures, chief human resources officer Kelly Macknight said.

Then there were the different roles in the various offices, with research and development, marketing, instructional design and most of the senior executives based in Dunedin, and manufacturing in Australia. The remaining offices were sales.

So while it could get a little complicated, communication was the key and technology allowed the management team to keep in close contact with their global team, Mrs Macknight said.

The likes of Skype and chat service Chatter were used, while the senior management team spent time in offices around the world.

A chief executive's blog was sent out weekly, with updates on what was happening in the company, developments in training and support and biographies of staff around the world. An annual survey was done to ''make sure we're getting things right'', she said.

Every two or three years, a conference was held to bring staff together.

Organised by Mrs Macknight, they had been held in the likes of Queenstown, Germany, Las Vegas and Hong Kong.

ADInstruments has been inducted into the Kenexa Best Workplaces Awards five-year league, which recognises organisations that consistently rank as New Zealand's best workplaces for at least five years. It has also won a best employer award in North America.

The best thing about the best workplace awards was they were based on what the company's staff had said and how they ranked it, Mrs Macknight said.

When it came to staff recruitment, the company had ''really high standards''. Its mantra was that you ''don't just hire the best of the bunch''; you hire someone who is going to fit in with the company and its culture.

''It's something we really spend a lot of time trying to drum into managers,'' she said.

It was not fair to the rest of the staff if someone was hired that did not have the right skills or personality.

ADInstruments had attracted some ''very top-tier'' high-quality senior staff and people like that did not work for a company of its size if they ''don't see what it's all about'', she said.

It had quite a stable base of staff and did not have a particularly high turnover. Trying to ''develop a pipeline'' when it came to recruitment was good for Dunedin as a whole and all the other tech businesses, as it meant a wider pool of people coming through.

ADInstruments attended careers fairs in schools to encourage students to move into sciences and computer science, showing what types of jobs could follow. The company was at a very interesting point, with lots of exciting things about to happen, and it intended to keep growing the business, she said.

Last week, ADInstruments announced a strategic partnership with United States-based company Millar Inc, which develops cardiovascular research products. The partnership gives ADInstruments exclusive distribution of Millar's research products.

Add a Comment