Your Business: Giving thanks - Jonny McKenzie, PosBoss

Jonny McKenzie, CEO of PosBoss.

Jonny McKenzie is CEO of PosBoss, which produces point of sale software for the hospitality industry. The Wellington-based business has a team of seven staff.

How have you been saying thanks to your staff and customers at this time of the year?

I think it's important at this time of year to make personal contact with your customers. I also think it's the time of year when people expect recognition for their efforts and that this should be delivered on.

Before PosBoss, I owned hospitality businesses - Hawthorn Lounge, Cuckoo Cocktail Emporium, Hooch, CGR Merchant & Co and The Roxy Cinema - and how we said thank you was by organising a unique group event for our staff. We did things like hold 'The Oscars' at Fishermans Table, a Titanic lip-syncing contest and a masquerade party at a secret location.

We set up PosBoss in 2013, but 2014 has been the first year when we've had staff, so this year has been my first to run a 'thanks' experience for our team. I wanted to do something that would bring the team together outside of the normal day-to-day routine, so I've been taking the team on visits to our local customers. That way they get to sample what our customers produce and see who our software is supporting. I think it's also important to remind our clients that there are 'real' people behind our software, and I think taking the time to visit is a great way to do this.

What are some other ways you say thanks to staff more generally?

During the 15 years I worked directly in the hospitality trade, how you said thank you for hard work was by providing a beverage or two at the end of the shift. That also gave us time as a team to discuss the customers or events from the night.

With Posboss, I've tried to bring a similar concept across. We have a weekly standup beverage together outside of our work environment. It gives a chance for us all to congratulate each other on good work, hear the challenges the team has faced or just provide time for some general chit-chat about what's going on personally with people in the company.

You mentioned you've been taking your team to visit customers as a way of saying thanks in this pre-Christmas period, but is that something you also do throughout the year?

Yes. Because we're a new company, personal visits have been an important way for us to say thanks - particularly by asking our clients to go for a coffee away from their business. It gives them a chance to escape their 'office' and gives us an opportunity to get feedback on the product. It also means we're out in the market every day, so that allows us to pick up on, and talk about the trends that are happening out there.

What's the best 'thanks' you've ever received in your working life, and what kind of impact did it have?

That would have to have been a board game from coffee roasters Coffee Supreme. It was a simple but beautifully designed game they'd had made, and it was a perfect gift for the summer break we were heading into. It related to their company brand and ethos, but most importantly it was something that our team could play together.