Building Trust in NZ Business: 5 Strategies for Volatile Times

With political instability and declining institutional trust, New Zealand businesses must step up. Recent conferences on housing, energy, and geopolitics reveal a troubling trend: misinformation, polarisation, and eroding social cohesion threaten organisational resilience across Aotearoa.

The Optus triple zero outage—which saw three deaths and regulatory fallout—shows how quickly reputational credit evaporates. For Kiwi businesses urged to boost productivity amid volatility, the question is clear: how do we build consensus and trust when political leaders can't?

1. Treat Misinformation Like a Communicable Disease

Prevention beats cure. Protect your organisation through early detection systems—platforms like Reddit flag emerging reputation risks. Disinformation requires coordinated response across government, business, and civil society.

2. Prioritise Human Connection

People trust people, not algorithms. New Zealand's 2023 local elections proved this: Chatham Islands hit 68.34% turnout, Kaikōura 59.37%—versus Auckland's 28%. Smaller communities leverage personal relationships, demonstrating a national superpower we can all harness.

3. Strengthen Governance Structures

Stakeholders distinguish between unavoidable crises and governance failures—the latter destroys trust faster. Build systems enabling rapid response and meaningful stakeholder collaboration.

4. Design for Worst-Case Scenarios

Average-case planning fails in extreme times. Build redundancies for edge cases: localised energy systems, citizens' assemblies like Te Rūnanga o Toa Rangatira's Porirua initiative, and iwi housing partnerships create resilient infrastructure.

5. Maintain Always-On Trust Building

Trust compounds—positively and negatively. Organisations need consistent, active trust-building strategies. This requires focus and humility, not just resources.

Key takeaway: Arrogance kills influence. Your current actions matter more than past achievements. Build trust actively to create organisational resilience against uncertainty.

New Zealand's Energy Crisis: What the Frontier Economics Report Means for Kiwi Households and Businesses

The government's response to the Frontier Economics report has sparked debate across New Zealand's energy sector. While addressing key concerns like dry year risk, gas shortages, and Lake Onslow, the tepid political reaction overlooks a critical reality: electricity bills are forcing Kiwis to go hungry and businesses to close.

Energy industry expert Vic Crockford identifies eroding social license as the sector's biggest challenge. With power costs now the second-largest financial stressor after rent for vulnerable New Zealanders, and consumer prices outpacing income growth, public skepticism about our energy system is intensifying.

However, promising developments emerge from the announcement. A strengthened Electricity Authority with greater monitoring powers, combined with government investment in community energy projects and locational generation solutions, signals potential for innovation. Iwi-led and community-governed energy initiatives are already demonstrating how local power generation can reduce costs and grid demand.

For New Zealand's energy future, three priorities emerge: transparent stakeholder engagement, strategic positioning for government funding opportunities, and regulatory readiness for enhanced Authority oversight.

Learn more about how energy policy impacts New Zealand communities and businesses.

Interview with Victoria Crockford

RNZ’s Kathryn Ryan interviewed Vic with her Coalition to End Women's Homelessness hat on, discussing the the latest Stats NZ housing report on housing in New Zealand, as evidence that homeless women are in much less visible situations than men.

"How many people work for you?" This is a question I get asked frequently. My response is always the same: "How many do you need?"

Read Vic's full thoughts on why, in a world of constant change, flexibility isn't just a business strategy—it's the ultimate competitive advantage.

Heft is proud to announce the appointment of Sarah Johnson as our new General Manager.   

Sarah steps into this leadership role with a mandate to drive Heft's continued growth, strengthen its position as a bold and strategic industry leader, and expand the firm's influence across New Zealand's communications landscape.

We use AI to supercharge ideas, not create them. Think of it as a powerful implementation tool that comes after strategy, not before. This approach naturally protects client information because we're not feeding existing content into AI systems - we're using AI to help articulate and implement our strategic thinking.