The Wellington winter chill has been a stark contrast to what has been a particularly hot start to the 2016/2017 financial year in project delivery at Momentum. There is a vibrancy and confidence in the market.

The capital’s economy is alive and kicking. At the Wellington Gold Awards in June 2016, one rather senior public official made light of his poor choice of words when lamenting the city’s health a few years ago. The opening of high end Australian retailer David Jones and rumours of Top Shop and Zara scouting for suitable locations in Wellington points to strong retail trends. Weta Workshop continues to be a world beater on the international film-making stage, house prices are increasing, and craft beer geniuses Panhead, Garage Project and ParrotDog go from strength to strength.

The strength of the broader local economy is reflected in the demand for professional services right across the city. With two of the largest government transformation programmes in history concurrently underway, demand for both seasoned project managers and business analysts has been stretched. This supply gap has been intensified by the July release of capital spend, ongoing digital transformation and legislative commitments in the financial sector.

Technical ability and a polished resume count for nothing if prospective employers are not confident in a candidate’s ability to communicate, collaborate and be flexible. Unfortunately for the typically time-poor hiring manager, these traits are often difficult to assess in an initial meeting over a flat white, and virtually impossible to assess by reading a CV. Recently, Momentum hosted Colin Ellis, author of The Conscious Project Manager, to discuss exactly what separates a good project manager from a great one. Ultimately, it boils down to the hardest soft skill of all: Leadership.

The 2016 government financial year has seen a strong demand for business-focussed project and programme professionals. These candidates can build and deliver concise business cases, demonstrate a strong stakeholder management style, and establish vibrant project teams.

Employers across the private and public sectors are attempting to build project management practices with an increasing reliance on permanent resource. With candidate pools stretched and most salary bands not being adjusted, the market is struggling to meet the maturity level required for prospective permanent staff. In attempting to attract suitable permanent talent, prospective employers should build career development plans, adjust salary bands and highlight additional benefits where possible.

Project and programme co-ordinators with strong scheduling and planning capability are also in demand, as clients expect more lifecycle knowledge and understanding of both agile and waterfall methodologies.

The demand for quality business analysts has remained strong and steady, primarily thanks to the major transformation and change programmes in the market, with skillsets loosely segmented into three main categories: Traditional requirements-gathering BAs; business casing BAs; and business process mapping BAs. The BA community is now intrinsically connected to the project lifecycle as the link between delivery with the over-arching organisations objectives. Contract rates for senior BAs have increased by $5-$10 per hour.

As spring approaches, Momentum hopes to see more of you at our next Insights session in conjunction with Colin Ellis.