Hill Labs at 40: Reflecting on the past to look to the future

Pictured above: Jonno and Roger Hill.

Hamilton-based analytical testing company Hill Labs is celebrating 40 years in business this year. Managing Director Jonno Hill credits the success of the company today to the legacy of the strong cultural values that his parents founded the company upon four decades ago.

Started in 1984 by Dr Roger and Anne Hill, Hill Labs has grown to become New Zealand’s largest privately owned analytical laboratory. They use the latest technologies to supply a broad range of laboratory tests to domestic and international markets in the agricultural, environmental and food industries.

Jonno has spent his entire career working in the company his parents founded, but neither he nor his parents really saw him coming to join the family business when he was younger.

“It was not until I was six months before finishing my PhD that I even considered it, to be honest. It seems crazy in hindsight because it’s gone so well,” reflects Jonno.

Taking on the Managing Director role in 2018, Jonno says it’s been a wonderful exercise in experiencing intergenerational family business and the persistence of culture.

“Company culture and values accrue around the people who are leading the business. Hill Labs was my parents’ business, and so the culture and the values reflect the things that they cared about. Of course, growing up I was also strongly influenced by those same values held by my folks, and so I think that’s maybe why the company just feels like it fits so well. It almost felt like coming home when I joined the business,” says Jonno.

Family values

This sentiment is also shared by many of Hill Labs’ employees. Senior technician, Gina McNamara has been with Hill Labs coming up to 23 years and says that during her time with the company, her and her colleagues have formed a real community.

“There’s quite a few of us still here now that have been there since the beginning of my career. Together we’ve been through weddings, births, and all sorts of milestones that you would celebrate with your close friends and family. There’s certainly a sense that we’re working together for something special, and that’s one of the best parts about working for Hill Labs.”

Jonno agrees.

“When I first started at Hill Labs, I was struck by the way people treated each other, the way we talked to each other. I’d say that our culture has a nice mixture of informality and authenticity, but we’re all still committed to getting the job done.

Because Hill Labs’ culture and values are so deeply ingrained, it can be easy to overlook their significance. Jonno believes it’s important for leadership to be attentive and intentional in recognising and articulating these foundational elements and shaping the company’s ethos into words and actions.

This commitment to the values of the past isn’t hindering them from focusing on the future, in fact, it helps Hill Labs create a competitive edge.

“I really love the idea of preserving, nurturing, and growing the legacy of my parents. It doesn’t mean that we’re frozen in time. The business does evolve, but it’s certainly an evolution rather than a revolution, we like to say.

“When we’re recruiting, particularly towards senior roles, we’re really explicit about our company values because it helps us attract the kind of people whose personal values match with ours. This improves our chances of appointing people who are going to be a good fit for the business,” explains Jonno.

Always adding value

A good fit for the business means having people join the team who are there for the long run and who know the value of taking a customer-centric approach. Senior Client Service Manager for Key Accounts, Graham Corban has been with the company for 30 years and says that there’s immense satisfaction in the company still being around and being stronger than ever – all while sticking to the values and ways of doing business that they felt was important.

“One thing that I really appreciate about Hill Labs’ leadership is that they have the courage to expand, grow and take risks, and as a business, we’ve deliberately chosen to focus on providing value to our clients,” says Graham.

Customer value is one of the key drivers that keep Hill Labs innovating now and will continue to do so in the future.

“When thinking about customer value, it all comes down to what people really care about. We know it’s turnaround time, it’s quality, and it’s customer service. And that leads us to think about how we manage our operations so that we can deliver those things,” says Jonno.

“For us, operational excellence means having really good, streamlined processes, leveraging scale where we have it. And a really important ingredient for us – and it’s one of the benefits of being privately owned – is that we invest heavily back into the business.”

Opportunities to innovate

Looking to the future, Jonno is keen to preserve the things that underpin Hill Labs’ success but says he’s really energised by change and the myriad challenges that New Zealand and various markets are facing. This gives way to huge opportunities for innovation in primary industries and the environmental space.

“Innovation is almost like a magic trick – it’s one of the ways that you bring new value into the world. You’re creating something valuable out of thin air really, and businesses that innovate are doing such a favour to the markets they’re in because they are creating new value and solutions where there was nothing before.”

According to Jonno some of these innovations are going to be driven by technology, and some will come from being clever in established areas by finding new ways to work with partners and customers.

“I generally see challenge and opportunity as two sides of the same coin. I’m looking forward to seeing how our business will change over time, and I’m open minded as to who we could be, and what we could be doing. That will be led by knowing what our customers need from us in the future, and where we believe we can be market leaders as our organisational capability continues to evolve”.

Creating and delivering new solutions is what will see the company continue to grow into the future, confirms Jonno, who says that the company’s growth aspirations will see them continue to take measured risks, though never with quality.

“We want to do a good job and stick around for decades to come because we really care about the important work that our customers do. We’re all raising our families here in New Zealand and we want to be able to swim in our rivers and streams while also seeing our primary industries and broader economy thriving, and we want our future generations to be able to enjoy all that too.

“The key to our continued success will be staying true to our values and focusing on our core purpose of helping our customers to protect the environment, to keep people safe, and to produce world-class food.”