Driving positive change through good processes and creative thinking has always motivated Nancy So, who has recently been promoted into the new role of executive manager operations and governance
for NZI.
Born in Guyana in South America, and from a Chinese background, Nancy moved to New Zealand when she was five-years-old, as her parents looked for better opportunities.
“My parents worked hard to give us a better life. My mum was a sewing machinist and my dad a cook, and they worked very long hours. Seeing their hard work and the sacrifices they made so I could have the opportunities I have today has driven me to constantly put a big effort in everything I do.”
Nancy has a degree in Economics, and her background includes strategy development and business planning roles in the public and private sectors. She joined IAG seven years ago and has been working closely with NZI for almost three years.
Nancy is passionate about driving positive change in her new role.
“I’m excited about the opportunity to look at ways we can improve the efficiency of our processes and continue to enhance our relationships with our broker partners.
“I’ll also be looking at ways to enhance systems and processes around partner lifecycle management, including partner selection criteria and due diligence; contract management processes; partner remuneration structures, processes and controls; onboarding processes for partners, and educating partners on our products and expectations.
“As we see higher industry standards and new regulations coming into force, it’s crucial to have stricter requirements around governance, linking ourselves back to what our customers, partners and regulators expect from us.”
Maintaining the social licence to operate
For Nancy, social licence and doing things right for customers is key.
“I’ve learned a lot about the importance of social licence from my time working in central government and at Fonterra. It’s the concept that if you don’t have the trust and support of your customers and the public, you may not be able to grow and succeed as a company, even if you are doing everything right legally.
“NZI has been a trusted insurer for over 160 years, and I want to ensure that we have the social licence to operate for another 160 years. Ensuring we have good systems and processes in place to do things right in accordance to customer, partner, and regulator expectations is key.”
Balancing act with a pinch of creativity
As a busy mum of three, balancing work and family life is important for Nancy, and this translates into extra planning and family traditions.
“Being a working mum has its challenges, but I always put my kids first as I don’t want to miss key milestones. Every day I’m at work I use the time to the best of my ability, I give it 100 percent. This way, I can make sure that when I’m home I’m actively present.”
Family traditions include her entire family - including three sisters, who together have ten children — coming together for dinner at her parents place every Saturday. For every birthday, she goes through the process of planning, baking, and decorating cakes.
“Creating cakes is a real passion for me. It’s such a meaningful thing for my kids. The planning does take a bit of time, days or even weeks, as my kids would say ‘I want a Minecraft cake’ or ‘I want a Peppa Pig cake’, and I would have to do some research first! I made my mum’s 60th birthday cake and she shows the photos every time she has a chance; she is quite proud.”
For Nancy, baking cakes isn’t so dissimilar from her work.
“You need to follow a recipe (process) as your guide, use the right ingredients and the right amount, but you also need to consider your ‘stakeholder’ and what they want. That’s where you get to add in a “pinch” of the personal touch and creativity.”
