Business Leader Wellbeing Lifts To Record High Post-election, After Six-month Low

New Zealand business leaders scored a record high (74) on the World Health Organisation’s internationally recognised WHO-5 wellbeing index in the two weeks following the general election, according to the latest BDO Business Wellbeing Index (November 2023 report) - Te Rangahau o Ngā Hauora Pai.

This represents a significant turnaround in wellbeing, given the biannual BDO Index also highlights a record number of business leaders (58%) faced negative wellbeing in the past six months – driven by growing concern for business finances; the stand-out driver of negative wellbeing.

49% of business leaders attribute their negative wellbeing in the past six months to business financial pressures, the highest across the four BDO Index surveys to date (launched April 2022). Current overall business financial performance sentiment remains at a low point, with only 48% of business leaders feeling positive about this all or most of the time. Looking ahead to six months’ time, the impact of financial pressures is expected to worsen, with 56% expecting to feel less mentally healthy in their business lives as a result of business financial concerns.

Improving business leader optimism regarding key election campaign policy themes

Despite a continuation of these underlying business financial pressures, the November report – entitled ‘A Changing Landscape’ – highlights seeds of optimism emerging among business leaders since the election.

“We've seen a lift in sentiment in recent weeks, with the election outcome appearing to give many sectors a greater sense of clarity and hope regarding our economic context. However, underlying financial pressures remain for many businesses. We continue to work closely with business leaders to address these pressures by helping to proactively manage their financial forecasts and cashflows. What’s increasingly important in this changing landscape is confirming business strategies are fit for purpose - ensuring they still align with the reality of the current operating environment and potential future market conditions.”
- Kimberley Symon, BDO Advisory Partner

The November report shows improving sentiment among business leaders regarding policy areas in the recent National Party election campaign - with 69% of business leaders feeling positive about regulations and compliance (including tax) and 63% in relation to ESG business impacts in the past two weeks. National campaigned on reducing ‘red tape’ for businesses, including easing aspects of environmental compliance for farmers.

“What we see from clients is that tax and compliance changes can trigger uncertainty and complexity, creating additional work for business leaders with more documentation to be completed and information to be provided. This takes business leaders and owners away from the core activities involved with running and improving their businesses. It will be interesting to see how the new Government’s tax policies impact New Zealand businesses. We saw both National and ACT campaign heavily around tax, but we won’t see how this shakes out until a December mini-budget. With that in mind, business leaders should pay close attention to upcoming policy announcements and continue keep on top of their compliance.”
- Iain Craig, BDO Tax Partner

Growing optimism across sectors and markets – excluding agriculture

These pockets of optimism also extend to the outlook for a range of key sectors and markets. An increasing number of business leaders have positive expectations for overall business performance in six months’ time (69%), with Māori business leaders (88%), retail business leaders (81%) and tourism business leaders (79%) showing most optimism. Agribusiness leaders are the only sector group to show less positive future expectations of overall business performance (59%) – likely a reflection of disruption from recent weather events, increasing costs, and falling commodity prices.

Business leaders setting boundaries to protect their wellbeing, but more room for outsourcing to balance workloads and strong financial management processes

Business leaders are not always feeling positive about their wellbeing in their business lives, but many are taking active steps to look after their mental health at work. When asked what they do to stay mentally healthy, 53% of business leaders report that they are managing boundaries in their business lives, including having dedicated time to switch off from work. This is closely followed by respondents adopting flexible work practices (51%), which reflects a wider societal shift towards hybrid and flexible approaches to work. One-third (32%) of respondents say they use strong financial management processes, such as creating a cash flow management plan and regularly reviewing accounts.

Kimberley Symon, BDO Advisory Partner, adds:

“Workload is a constant juggle for business leaders and their teams. It’s important for business leaders to consider if some of their current projects, roles, and tasks could be outsourced rather than assigning them to employees. Virtual CFO services are a great example of a resource outsourcing solution that can take stress out of business financial management – offering ready access to specialist expertise in cases where businesses don’t have the funds or means to effectively recruit this resource in a tight labour market.”

More about the report

BDO’s fourth edition of the biannual BDO Business Wellbeing Index is based on survey responses from a nationally representative sample of over 560 local business leaders in the two weeks immediately following the 14 October 2023 election. The survey measures both business performance sentiment and mental wellbeing among respondents, including their current and future outlook (in six months’ time). The report features insights and practical tips for business leaders, as well as a video interview with BDO business experts.

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