Establishment of Education New Zealand

The Ministry of Education looked to Maven to help it manage the establishment a new Crown entity, Education New Zealand (ENZ), which would have responsibility for promoting New Zealand education and training services overseas.  

The project included the effective transfer of infrastructure, business assets and personnel from existing international education groups and agencies, including the Ministry of Education, NZ Trade and Enterprise, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the Education NZ Trust.

Maven’s role was to manage all aspects of the establishment process for the new organisation, including:

  • Project management, change management and governance.
  • Assisting with the passage of the legislation through the House.
  • Appointment of a Chair and members to the Board of ENZ, and appointment of an interim Chief Executive.
  • Organisation design and transfer of staff from existing international education groups and agencies to the new organisation.
  • Securing suitable accommodation for the new entity.
  • Establishment of all necessary business and management systems, including HR, Finance and ICT.

Key Learnings

  • Business ‘ownership’ doesn’t automatically mean all key decision-makers are appraised of the organisation’s priorities, intentions or commitment.  Maven needed to work closely with decision-makers to promote and explain the project and its requirements in order to obtain necessary resources to deliver to our client’s expectations.
  • In the absence of an existing legislative basis, Maven adopted a pragmatic, business approach based on the grounds of ‘reasonable certainty’.  This reduced anxiety about process and ensured all parties were comfortable progress continued, albeit in a highly ambiguous environment.
  • Strong relationship management was essential to ensuring interagency collaboration worked effectively.  It could not be taken for granted and needed constant attention to be successful.  Giving a group of senior managers from the affected agencies accountability for joint outcomes was a useful approach.
  • Good project disciplines went a long way to giving decision-makers confidence in the transition process.
  • Communication needed to be creative, constant, tailored and delivered through a range of media.