Economist - Meet people in this job

Fiona Stokes – Economist:

Fiona Stokes is an economist for BERL, a private economic research company that works with clients including government departments, regional councils and private businesses.

Getting out in the field

Fiona Stokes is keen to dispel the myth that being an economist means you are bound to a desk.

“We’re based in Wellington, but I have clients nationwide and we do a reasonable amount of travelling. Last week I was in Whakatane, next week I’m going to be in Dunedin – I’m away somewhere at least two or three times a month.

“Because of that you get to meet a variety of people – from people who are running their own companies to city councillors.”

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Good communication skills a must

Because you work with a range of people, communication is an essential part of the job. “You need to be able to relate to people from a variety of backgrounds, and be able to take quite technical information and make it easier to understand.”

“If you can explain to somebody in those 30 seconds that it takes to get from the ground floor to the fifth floor what they need to know to meet their needs, then you’ve done your job.”

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A job well done

For Fiona, the greatest sense of satisfaction comes from helping clients improve their business.

“A couple of years ago we did a survey of the forestry and wood processing industry, looking at what skills and training employers and staff would need in the short to medium term. That was a really good project because I got to meet with employers, and see some of the issues and barriers they were facing. And I also got to talk to people who were employed in the industry and hear their point of view in terms of the skills and training they required to do their job.

"It gave me a good feeling to know that the work I was doing, and the recommendations I was making in the report, were going to have a positive impact on their business and the wider community.”

Alex Harrington – Economist (New Zealand):

Alex Harrington says that if you want to become an economist, think carefully about the subjects you choose to take at university. “In your degree you are always going to have options, so make sure you do papers that give you opportunities to write and present your work.

“I started my degree doing economics, history and philosophy as part of a BA at Victoria University and then narrowed it down into majoring in economics, where I eventually went back for Honours. There were some good benefits of having done an arts degree. It got me writing a lot more than I would have done in a commerce degree, and being able to write well is important.

“A number of tutorials required me to get up and present to people. I’m not the kind of person who can stand up at the drop of a hat in front of an audience. But as an economist, being able to present your work to colleagues is a big part of the job, so learning how to do it at university was invaluable.”

Alex did, however, learn a few things the hard way on his path to becoming an economist. “I did get a little bit of bad advice when I was deciding what subjects to take at high school. Someone told me not to worry about calculus in seventh form, which meant later on I had to do catch-up. Calculus plays an important role in economics and as I went on I found myself struggling."

It all worked out well in the end and Alex has been working at Treasury for nine years, where he is a senior economist who works with a variety of people, all from different educational backgrounds. “I work with a good bunch of talented individuals with a range of skill sets. There are a lot of economists who come from accounting backgrounds, but also there are philosophy, geography and even engineering graduates.

“If you get the right training from the beginning, you can really excel in this role. And then you can get on with providing advice to try and help make New Zealand a better place.”

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The Global Management Challenge: China vs the World

The global balance of economic power is shifting. Chinese managers are setting the management agenda for China and are poised to do so for the rest of the world, and managers in Europe and North America would do well to pay attention, according to a report commissioned by The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM).

This research has identified some significant differences starting to emerge between Chinese and Western managers, and provides some important lessons for us all to learn.

What Western managers need to learn, and learn quickly.

Know the competition

Our perception of Chinese managers remains rooted in the past. China is still seen by most managers as a society whose economic strength relies on low costs, long hours and tough management. In fact our research suggests that China is starting to develop a distinctive and highly effective management culture – sophisticated, very commercial, innovative and ambitious. Western economies risk losing out in the same way they did to Japan in the 1970s if we do not take the Chinese management challenge seriously, and react accordingly.

Get your priorities right

It is apparent from our research that Western managers do not necessarily practice what they preach. Overwhelmingly they subscribe to a management paradigm that emphasises positive features, such as getting things done, customer focus, good working relationships and communication. However, and very worryingly, the areas the British, French and US managers identifi ed as the most important are not the areas in which they felt they performed most strongly. It seems that we do the less important things well, and the most important things less well.

Invest in development

However, despite scoring our management practices the same or lower than the Chinese, we do not identify any clear management weaknesses or development needs. Meanwhile, despite scoring themselves highly, the Chinese stand out as being modest about their performance, identifying several weaknesses and areas for improvement. The Chinese managers we surveyed come across as well educated and far more ambitious than those in the West – although we seem happy with mediocrity, they are not, and they are doing something about it. In contrast with the Chinese, the UK management population appears under-qualifi ed, under-developed and less interested in improving their knowledge and performance.

Get ready for a new style of Asian management

Chinese management doesn’t appear to conform to simple cultural models, and clearly draws from Western – especially US – management theory and practice. However, there are some subtle but significant differences of emphasis and we need to be alert to an emerging Chinese way of managing (just as we had to learn about the Japanese way). We will need to learn from their different perspective and also to understand the potential impact this will have on future economic relationships.

· The global top ten characteristics of good managers

· Determination to get things done, and done right

· Good communication skills

· General knowledge, ability to learn and wisdom

· Takes responsibility for making things happen

· Has a positive and supportive relationship with people

· Management skills, leadership and control

· Customer-focussed

· Knows the business and its products

· Team-working skills

· Good at organising own and others workload

· Key Findings