Good governance for great outcomes

When James Pomeroy launched Pomeroy Group, providing business advice and recruiting services to the hospitality and tourism industries, he recognised that he also needed to learn more about governance – so he joined the Institute of Directors.

His company is now entering its sixth year of trading. An industry leader, it provides comprehensive advisory, permanent recruitment and temporary staffing as well as HR consulting and governance services for small-to-medium-sized businesses across Aotearoa.

Pomeroy was elected to the IoD’s Canterbury branch committee in March 2024. He recently completed the organisation’s Company Directors’ Course (CDC) and is working through its chartered membership pathway.

He was in his mid-20s when he launched Pomeroy Group and largely a novice in governance.

“I had owned my own café, which we sold after Covid,” he says. “I saw a gap in the market to help businesses that faced the same challenges I’d had in owning a small hospitality business.

“But I hadn’t had much exposure to governance. I thought, ‘if I am going to do this I want to learn from an organisation with real clout behind it’ and the IoD was the natural fit. I have also found the networking really valuable.”

As director and CEO of his company, he oversees a permanent team and 150 temporary employees. He established an advisory board in 2024.

He also sits on the boards of several not-for-profit organisations related to youth, hospitality, the arts and the rainbow community.  

Having been “burned” by an early experience on the committee of an arts organisation, he was keenly aware of the importance of good governance.

“I was 20 and was shoulder tapped for the role,” he says. “It was an interesting learning in terms of a body lacking any clear strategy and with big ideas but not the ability to see them through.

“I suspect quite a few directors have had similar experiences. That is why the work IoD does in this space is important.

“I didn’t have a corporate background, all my skills I had learned on the job. So having an advisory board of highly-skilled directors for Pomeroy Group has been critical for me this year, and will be going forward.”

He says completing the CDC “solidified” for him that he is now on the right track with a good understanding of governance.

The programme is a five-and-a-half-day course for directors and senior leaders reporting to boards that focuses on improving decision making in the boardroom.

“I recognised that, if you want to be taken seriously as a director in a commercial context, then you need to do the course and become a chartered director. It is the benchmark of high-quality governance.

“There is also a lot of value in the course for those who are new to governance or who are reporting to boards because it gives you a very good framework to work with.”

Pomeroy says he enjoyed the dual aspects of learning, from the course facilitators and peer-to-peer within his cohort – which he felt was a good experience for all parties.

“There is a lot of content to take on board including technical information about law and compliance, all the things you have to be across.

“The course facilitators were great. They are all professional directors and leaders in their field. Carol Scholes [CMInstD] was the main facilitator for my group and she was very clear about what is right and what is wrong in terms of governance. She was very focused on the need to make a decision and what that looked like.”

Pomeroy says his “unconventional” journey into executive management and governance helps him bring a diversity of thinking to a board.

“I’m neurodivergent so I enjoy dealing with multiple different issues for different boards. I didn’t do a law or accounting degree; I began my career as a barista, progressed up the management ladder, slogged my way through hospitality and came out the other side.

“Diversity helps prevent groupthink. I’m 32 so I bring a youth and a rainbow-leaning, customer-centric approach that comes from hospitality and a background in HR.

“Good governance is about outcomes for the organisation. You need to be able to have a balance of views and healthy dissent while being constructive. It is not about you as an individual but about collecting ideas around the table to set the goals for the organisation.”