Dan's your man for power play

BY SELWYN PARKER

And you think your business is tough! You ought to be in Dan the Man's shoes.

That's Dan Warnock, chief executive of power distribution company UnitedNetworks, and inevitably known to the company's linemen and trench-diggers as Dan the Man.

He has hardly been in town five minutes but has bought a gas company - Wellington's Orion Gas - is restructuring head office and working through the consequences of the $1.03 billion purchase by his predecessor of three other firms - Power New Zealand, TransAlta and TrustPower.

He is also plotting a much bigger future for UnitedNetworks, which is already New Zealand's biggest "poles and wire" company in an industry that has been in turmoil since it was brutally deregulated by the National Government.

UnitedNetworks wants into other industries.

"We're not just a lines company," says Mr Warnock, in a native Nebraskan accent. "Hell, we're a network company. Telecommunications, water, wherever there's a network, we can do it."

Be warned, Telecom New Zealand and Clear Communications.

In February, Mr Warnock took over the helm of publicly listed UnitedNetworks, New Zealand's 12th-biggest firm by market capitalisation, with $2.2 billion in assets.

At 40, he is a rising star in UnitedNetworks' 79 per cent American owner, Utilicorp United, which sells power and gas in Nebraska and surrounding states, and in Canada and Australia, where it owns 34 per cent of Melbourne's United Energy.

An accountant with a degree in business administration from the University of Nebraska, UnitedNetworks' new chief executive is in a hurry.

He aims to set new standards of industry performance, make his firm the lowest-cost operator, go after the other networks and instil new company values.

Like many American managers, Mr Warnock runs the business with a sort of warm-hearted toughness. He is pushing through a redundancy programme after the acquisitions of last year, while extolling American-style corporate values.

He makes a point of going to the sites to explain layoffs in person. "The chief executive is hugely important. If it doesn't start there, you've got a major problem," he says. "I front 'em. The buck stops with me."

Apparently, the linemen and trench-diggers had never come across anything like the man from Nebraska in full oratorical flight. They say that Mr Warnock can make redundancy sound like a gift from a grateful company.

Most of UnitedNetworks' staff will keep their jobs but, to those who are surplus to requirements or who just want to take their redundancy and run, Mr Warnock gives them a sermon: "Find your passion. Find out what you really want to do. You tell us. We'll try and meet your needs. We'll support you. We're here for you."

And if you have a complaint, you can e-mail him.

But those who stay with the company will be evaluated, appraised and trained to heck. Mr Warnock is big on performance measurements, job descriptions, company values, precise manning levels and other human resources techniques where, he says, New Zealand is behind the United States, at least in the poles and wire industry.

"We owe it to our employees. It's not fair if we don't evaluate their performance. And if they're good in some areas but bad in another, heck, we give them help."

Under UtiliCorp, UnitedNetworks' pay scales were quickly tuned to reflect performance. Today, 30 per cent of senior executives' earnings depend on results; for field staff, it is 5 per cent.

And it is results that count. If someone comes up with an idea that saves or makes the company money, he or she gets a slice of the action.

"I tell 'em - I'll just write you a cheque," Mr Warnock says.

Under American management, UnitedNetworks ranks corporate values with profits, if not higher.

"Our earnings objectives must line up with our personal objectives. If somebody can't keep the values of the company, to me that's a problem.

"If, say, somebody does a good job but is really bad on interpersonal skills, we'll say, 'Heck, you need help,' and we'll give it to them. We'll coach 'em."

Mr Warnock likes straight-shooters. "[Lack of] open and honest communications is one of the biggest reasons for company failures.

"I say to my managers, 'You can tell me anythin' you want in the right tone and attitude, anythin' you want'."

(Like many Nebraskans, he often drops the g.)

Company insiders say it took some of the Kiwis a while to accept this suggestion but they are getting the hang of it.

"If you're open and honest with me, I can respect you better. I can work with you. But if you've got your own agenda, I don't want to waste time. I have to move on."

No, Dan the Man does not want to waste a nanosecond. As he quaintly puts it, some staff have had to be "taken out to the back of the woodshed." And if that does not work and he feels he cannot trust you, it is then a handshake and farewell.

Enthusiastic as he is, the company still is not everything for Dan Warnock.

"I've got five children, aged 16 to 4, and I'm tellin' you they're my priority. I'm gonna work hard for this company but when they need me, my family get me."

He gives the same message out on the sites. Apple pie? Nope, it is New Age management, American-style.

Watch this company. It's truckin'."