Handley: business needs human touch

By Karyn Scherer

At first glance, Cathy Handley and Pam Corkery do not appear to have too much in common.

One is short, unassuming and could be mistaken for a kindly aunt. The other is tall, outspoken and is not likely to ever be mistaken for anyone other than herself.

In fact, both women are as tough as steel. And coincidentally, both have recently released tell-all books which have painted very unflattering - and remarkably similar - pictures about their respective worlds: business and politics.

Handley, general manager of Palmers Gardenworld when it was owned by Maine Investments, has bought Corkery's book and she is already recognising with dread some of her own experiences.

"I heard her on TV the other night going whack, whack, whack and I thought about my book and about being bullied. That knot in your stomach, that horrible feeling when somebody's being dominant - it was very familiar."

Her own book, Receiving Orders, is an account of her time as head of Palmers and the devastation caused by the decision to place the business in receivership. It is a painful reminder of the effects business decisions can have on the lives of far-from-ordinary people - like the Palmers' supplier whose small business was helping to support his handicapped son.

Handley describes in the book the angry phonecall she received from the supplier, letting her know that the receivership meant he was going to have to place his son on welfare.

Although she now works for Fletcher Challenge, she still keeps in touch with many of those she knew at Palmers and Levene. Many, she says, are still suffering.

"They cannot commit and they cannot trust, and I think that is the greatest regret. There is not a lot of joy in what they do because they have come to understand there are a group of people who are happy to trade them to their own advantage."

While there are those who will be tempted to simply cry, "get over it", Handley sees her book as an opportunity to learn some lessons from the debacle.

It was, for example, widely recognised at the time that Palmers, along with its sister companies Brentex and Watkins, was simply a victim of a deal that was intended to ensure the survival of other Maine businesses. But the point, says Handley, is that this was never explained to staff.

"I think the fact that nobody turned up to explain that decision to anybody at any stage reflects very badly on those who took the decision. It was a gutless thing to do."

Reading the book, you could be forgiven for concluding these nameless, faceless decision-makers have got off lightly, and that accounting firm KPMG has borne the brunt of all her anger about the situation. But Handley makes no apologies for her view of the events.

"It's not Maine's record I was looking to write," she explains. "I wasn't in Maine and I didn't meet the international consortium of banks, so I don't know what their advisers told them."

As she sees it, the book is simply a personal record of her own experience of being in the right place at the wrong time. While she has mostly written it for the staff and creditors of Palmers, she hopes it will also serve as a wake-up call for the business world to examine its own conduct, and the effects its decisions have on people's lives.

While Palmers was a particularly unhappy experience, her 20-year career has convinced her of one thing: it is a fallacy that managers need to detach in order to make tough decisions.

"There is a very good fundamental commercial reason for caring. If your people are feeling undervalued, then how could you possibly be maximising the value of employing those people?"

Handley is acutely aware that she has worked with very few women managers during her career, and her own conclusion is that a "self-serving male culture" is part of the problem.

Her book is subtitled "Caught In The Corporate Crossfire," but it could just as easily be "Men Behaving Badly". Or perhaps, "Businessmen Are From Mars, and Women Wish They'd Go Back There."

But in fact, Handley cannot be simply written off as a man-hater. Some of her best friends are men. And some of them are as bitter about their experiences as she is.

"I believe that a lot of men, if you asked them if they liked the business dynamic and the way they operated in the main, would say: 'of course we do'. But some also find it too aggressive, too alien, too unpalatable and too suppressive."

It is sad, she agrees, that some women still feel the need to emulate what she believes are undesirable male traits to get ahead. And it is no wonder that many talented women, having finally reached the top rungs of the corporate ladder, are now opting to jump off to do their own thing.

It is not just a coincidence, she believes, that the ranks of the self-employed are swelling by the day.

"There are enormous numbers of very intelligent people, quite capable of an enormous amount in business, who are just floating around on the outside. The question for business must be to address that issue. After all, they can't afford to take on consultants for everything."

Yes, she is bitter. But she is also optimistic.

She describes the appointment of Theresa Gattung as head of Telecom as the biggest victory for New Zealand businesswomen to date. While she admits she does not know Gattung well, she met her once and they talked for an hour. She was impressed.

Palmers, she says, is now thriving under its new owner, Mitre 10. And she is convinced that as long as women persevere and dare to challenge the hierarchy, things will improve.

Receiving Orders is, in fact, a plea for all staff - male or female - to conquer their own fears and speak out in the workplace for what they believe is right and just.

"Its unfortunate that we paint some businesspeople as such bogeys," she says. "It's as if they weigh 70 stone and they're going to come and punch our lights out for speaking out. I actually believe they're quite easily intimidated, to be quite honest and that's just stupid."

She will be happy if her book simply makes a few people think a bit more deeply about the nature of power.

"There isn't one situation in business that I've ever confronted that didn't have more than one way to resolve it. It's all about selecting from a menu of options."

Those doing the selecting, she argues, must never forget that the choices they make may well leave indelible marks on people's lives.

Of course, she acknowledges, the business world is all about making tough decisions. She knows what it is like to lay-off staff, as she has done it herself.

The key is ensuring that people affected are treated with intelligence, honesty and compassion. And when the wrong decisions are made, as will inevitably happen from time to time, that the person responsible shows that they are sorry.

"I don't honestly believe that that is too much to ask for."