Our People
John Robertson, Director
John Robertson & Associates Ltd (now JRA (NZ) Ltd) was established in 1993, with the goal of assisting organisations improve their performance – through people. As the founding Director, John has had more than 20 years experience in the field of industrial relations and human resource management, both in New Zealand and overseas. He has an honours degree in economics from the University of Otago, and has particular expertise in the areas of strategic human resource management, organisation development and the management of change. Following eight years as an industrial relations advocate for the Wellington Employers Association, John subsequently headed the human resource management functions of a number of prominent NZ organisations during the 1980s, including EMCO Group, Steel and Tube Holdings, Trustbank Holdings, and the NZI Group. John is also a frequent presenter and chair of HR and related public seminars and conferences.
John's primary role is to ensure JRA has both the people and the resources needed to deliver world-class products and services. He is also very involved in business development initiatives in New Zealand and offshore, in managing key client relationships, and providing expert advice to those organisations requiring customised survey solutions.
Neal Knight-Turvey, General Manager, JRA (Aust) Pty Ltd & Research Director
Neal joined the JRA team in 2006 as its Research Director, and in 2007 became the GM of our Australian operation. Neal brings seven years experience in survey research linking people management practices and employee attitudes with organisational success. At JRA Neal applies his expertise in advanced analytics to the unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work Survey to help further determine the drivers of 'best workplaces' in New Zealand. Neal is also responsible for providing Higher Level Analyses to individual companies seeking to identify and model the key people management practices that best promote their employees' level of engagement and subsequent business performance.
Prior to joining JRA, Neal was an academic and a senior consultant with a Brisbane-based HR consulting firm. Neal has presented his research to numerous international conferences and his study on the innovative use of employee survey data was nominated for an outstanding research award at the 2005 Annual Academy of Management Meeting in the US.
Neal has a conjoint Masters and PhD in organisational psychology from the University of Queensland. He is a registered psychologist and a member of the Academies of Management in Australia and New Zealand, the US and the UK.
Leighton Abbot, Senior Consultant
Leighton joined the JRA team in 2003, following his graduation from the University of Auckland with an MCom(Hons) in Management & Employment Relations and a BA in Psychology. Leighton’s Masters thesis investigated the fulfilment of the psychological contract held by employees in a professional services environment, and his related research interests include career theory, organisational psychology, and social psychology.
Within JRA, Leighton’s role includes project management of the unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work Survey, New Zealand’s largest single survey of employee engagement, and a major undertaking he has been heavily involved with since 2003. Leighton is also first-point-of-contact for JRA’s many clients undertaking our New Zealand Workplace Surveys, as well as the man who keeps our client database and websites up-to-date and informative.
Sarah-Jane Clarke, Senior Consultant
Sarah-Jane joined the JRA team in October 2007. Sarah-Jane comes from a consultancy background working as an Organisational Psychologist for both Public and Private Sector Organisations. As well as this, Sarah-Jane has been extensively involved in sales and psychological research domains. Sarah-Jane graduated from Massey University with a BA in Business Psychology, MA in Organisational Psychology and has sat her registration exams as a Practicing Organisational Psychologist.
Sarah-Jane’s role in JRA includes looking after our customer feedback survey focust, customised surveys, project management, and client relationship management.
Catherine Donohue, Receptionist/Administrator
Catherine began work for JRA in June 2007, coming from a background in retail. Catherine takes care of our reception and general survey administration support.
Jenn Edwards, Survey Administrator/Analyst
Jenn joined the JRA team in 2006, after 13 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry in the United Kingdom. Her work initially began in sales and then progressed to a project management role, which included the design and implementation of the support function for a customer relationship management software system for a UK-based company. On her return to New Zealand, Jenn worked part-time administering pharmaceutical clinical research projects whilst raising her two young children.
Her background of a BSc from the University of Auckland majoring in both Statistics and Psychology, together with her experience within the pharmaceutical industry, brings a diverse knowledge base for her role as Survey Administrator/Analyst at JRA.
Anna Firmin, Accountant
Anna joined JRA in June of 2007. Anna has extensive experience in both management and financial accounting roles in New Zealand and the United Kingdom in the diverse industries of executive search, financial services and aviation. Anna graduated from the University of Waikato with a BMS in accounting. After graduating she joined KPMG in their audit division and gained CA status during her time there.
Anna’s role is part-time at JRA and she has responsibility for the internal accounting function.
Heather King, General Manager
Heather joined JRA shortly after its founding in 1993. A University of Otago BA (Psych)/BCom graduate, Heather has a strong training and development background having held senior positions in NZI Life and the NZI Group, where she developed and ran a comprehensive package of training and management development programmes. Heather has considerable organisation development experience, including the measurement of organisation climate, developing and implementing team building exercises, and the design and facilitation of programmes to support organisation change. She has a particular interest in performance management systems, and has developed and facilitated strategic and operational planning processes for clients.
Within JRA, Heather is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with Consulting Partners, business development, and project management for key clients. As she has been at JRA since the inception of www.survey-online.com, few people know more than her about how the system works and how to get the best out of it. Heather’s extensive knowledge of the practical implementation of workplace surveys, including 360-degree feedback, means she is a great resource to help plan any survey project.
Iain McCombe, Development Manager
Iain joined JRA in 2002, after graduating with an MA(Hons) in Organisational Psychology from Massey University and a BCom from The University of Auckland. He is also is a certified PRINCE2™ Practitioner. Particular research interests for Iain include the effects of stress in employment (his Masters thesis) and organisational structure and its influence on culture.
Iain provides a valuable contribution to JRA on three main fronts. Firstly, he oversees the development and maintenance of JRA’s world-class online survey application www.survey-online.com to ensure it meets client needs both in terms of functionality and user-friendliness. Secondly, Iain provides training and on-going help desk and technical support to Survey Administrators within our ‘subscriber’ client base. And thirdly, Iain is a key member of our diagnostic team, applying high-level statistical methods skills to assist clients analyse their data for greater insight into the drivers of ‘great workplaces’. In this capacity, he is also heavily involved in the design and implementation of customised surveys.
Amy Shipley, Senior Consultant
Amy joined JRA in 2005, after working the previous 5 years in the FMCG industry providing analysis and insight into product performance. As well as this, Amy became an accredited Herrmann International Consultant, working with companies to encourage Whole Brain Thinking. Amy graduated from Canterbury University with a BCom (Hons) in Human Resource Management and Organisational Strategy.
Amy's role in JRA includes looking after our customer feedback survey focust, customised surveys, project management, and client relationship management.
Update December 2007: Amy is now on indefinite Maternity Leave - have fun new mum!
Amy Silvester-Brooks, Survey Administrator
Amy joined the JRA team in 2007, after four years study at the University of Auckland. Her background is in Psychology, Economics, and Marketing, with a diverse range of other subjects thrown in for good measure – chemistry, physics, pure mathematics, international business, history, and biopsychology to name a few. She has a particular interest in ‘what makes people tick’, as well as love of numbers; both of which come in handy when working at JRA. She has also had extensive training in the visual arts and dance; everything from sculpture, life-drawing and multi-media to ballet, jazz and contemporary.
Amy’s role in JRA involves survey administration, analysis, and liaising with clients.
Rob Veitch , Survey Administrator
Rob came to JRA in mid 2007, after graduating with an MSc(Hons) in Organisational Psychology from the University of Auckland and a BCA in Information Systems from Victoria University of Wellington. Rob’s Masters thesis investigated the outcomes of temporary agency workers’ evaluations of their the psychological contracts with their client organisations and temping agencies. His related research interests include social exchange, flexible work practices, and the influence of personality and disposition on workplace evaluations.
Rob’s role at JRA involves the administration of surveys, liaising with clients, and conducting Higher Level Analyses for individual companies to help determine their key drivers of employee engagement.
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