Strong Voices

IHC Chief Executive Ralph Jones retired at the end of 2024 after 33 years at IHC and more than two decades as Chief Executive. He spoke to Gina Rogers.

It is not just the years that make this a huge part of Ralph’s life – he speaks of his time at IHC with affection and yes, some frustration, but mostly with a quiet sense of pride in an organisation that is a far cry from the one he came in to. He says that when he started many of the senior team in the organisation did not see IHC as a business and that was something that needed to change. Now he says IHC is far better able to support people in many more ways thanks to a better and more organised approach. But before we got down to talking about the job, his first thoughts were of the people with whom he had worked – the people we support, their families, IHC members and staff. He talked about his daughter riding her trike up and down the hall in national office in weekends while he worked, some colourful nights while travelling for work and a particular love for his time working in Auckland.

Ralph was working for Ernst & Young in Wellington in 1990 when he was headhunted by then Chief Executive JB Munro, who talked him into coming in for a chat. Ralph was heavily involved in corporate restructuring and receiverships following the 1987 share market crash, which he admits was pretty disheartening work. He says JB’s offer was attractive because of the diversity of the role.

And diversity is certainly something Ralph would end up getting plenty of – he accepted roles including General Manager of Corporate Services, General Manager Human Resources, Area Manager in Wellington and General Manager of IDEA Services Northern/Midland Region. In his time as Chief Executive he has seen significant growth in investment in disability services, housing and community programmes.

He is enormously proud of the organisation IHC is today and that people are the centre of what IHC does. Under Ralph’s leadership, IHC has continued to innovate despite decades of underinvestment by successive Governments and underfunding of the disability sector.  IHC has developed a number of charitable entities under Ralph’s leadership including a community and social housing provider Accessible Properties NZ Ltd, and individualised disability services provider Choices NZ Ltd.  

Ralph also relaunched the IHC Foundation in 2007 with the assistance of Sir Roderick Deane and Jan Dowland as a separate trust. IHC endowed the IHC Foundation to support a wide range of initiatives that contribute to IHC’s vision of an inclusive New Zealand.

He is also proud of IHC’s sector leadership and generosity, but he admits he is frustrated that he has not been able to achieve more for the disability sector.

As Chief Executive, Ralph was influential in negotiating the landmark sleepover claim, worked on various residential pricing projects and was appointed by the New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN) to represent it in the initial pay equity negotiations. Ralph was recently awarded Life Membership of the NZDSN. The nomination highlighted that “During the Sleepover and earlier Pay Equity negotiations, IHC’s finance staff did a great deal of the background work to support the claims. IHC also sponsored the legal advice used during the negotiations”.

When Ralph started at IHC, he says, he knew little about intellectual disability other than being contracted through Ernst & Young to undertake the financial modelling of de-institutionalisation of the Kimberley Centre and Tokanui Psychiatric Hospital in the late 1980s.

From the outset, Ralph understood that IHC did not have a simple business model. “This was not widgets,” he notes. “It was a complicated organisation that supports some of the most vulnerable people in society and support was complicated.”

In 1995 JB appointed Ralph as General Manager of the Northern Region-– a time that he, and many others, talk about with fondness. He says it was a special time for his young family moving from Wellington to Auckland and he loved the work. “We played hard and worked hard with very long hours and being available 24/7”.  He says he felt very privileged to be trusted with such a role at a young age and he developed a close-knit team of very exceptional regional managers around him who were experts in all things regarding intellectual disability.

Former General Manager Denyse Wilcox says Ralph went to Auckland and basically restructured. “He introduced service streams in the Northern Region, which was actually quite cutting edge in its day. Instead of having generic managers he had a regional manager, a manager vocational, he had me managing family-whānau services and designated service manager-type staff, and we had to build that infrastructure; there was no infrastructure.”

Ralph’s operational roles brought him great satisfaction. He was proud to work alongside committed staff when he was managing services and was inspired by leaders like JB Munro and Jan Dowland, appreciating the vision and charisma they brought to the organisation. He says it was at times hard working for JB. JB was driven by making things happen rather than going through the red tape but achieved so much. As for Jan, he says she was just what they needed after JB. “She took the organisation from a seat-of-your pants organisation to a professionally-based service provider at a time when legislation, regulation and accountability became ever so important for New Zealand’s largest disability charity.”

Throughout his tenure, Ralph has faced many challenges, especially during the statutory management phase. “It was a particularly hard time but stimulating,” he says. The sleepover case was a landmark employment case for the country, and the stakes were very high for IDEA Services and IHC. The Service & Food Workers Union was pursuing a claim through the courts, arguing that hours worked on a sleepover shift were work and that those doing the work should be paid the minimum wage rather than an allowance. IDEA Services had lost the case in the Employment Relations Authority, the Employment Court, and a further hearing was scheduled to be heard in the Supreme Court. Another loss would put IDEA Services in critical financial solvency difficulties because the companies could not afford the sizeable liability for backpay.

Ralph agreed to put the companies into voluntary statutory management on 5 October 2010. IDEA Services did lose in the Appeal Court, but before its claim to the Supreme Court could be heard, Ralph negotiated a settlement with the Crown negotiator and union.

Ralph candidly shares that being Chief Executive is not always as glamorous as it may seem. “As essential as it is, sometimes governance oversight and managing the governance process can take up a high proportion of a Chief Executive’s time and be very demanding particularly when attending more than 40 IHC and subsidiary board meetings and board-committee meetings each year.” However, he finds immense satisfaction in building relationships with directors and colleagues to drive the strategic vision and priorities across the Group and ensuring important matters are openly discussed beyond the board table, often into the late hours of the evening when necessary. The friendships formed over the years have enriched his experience and provided a support network during challenging times. Ralph says he has been particularly fortunate during his 22 years as the IHC Group Chief Executive to have worked alongside outstanding IHC NZ Presidents and Board Chairs in Barbara Rocco, Donald Thompson, Neil Taylor and Tony Shaw.  

“Since COVID-19 society has changed,” Ralph observes, acknowledging the increased difficulties faced by families and the organisation alike. He recognises that IHC’s essential services are more important than ever, and he hopes for continued growth in meeting these needs.

Ralph has learned that effective leadership requires a thick skin and a sense of humour. “You can’t satisfy all of the people all of the time,” he notes, yet he emphasises the importance of responsibility. “It’s not all about you, but you have to take your responsibility seriously and always make decisions for the good of the whole organisation.”

As he prepares for retirement, Ralph reflects on his career with gratitude. He says he has planned for his retirement for a number of years and is ready to pass the torch to the next generation of leaders who will continue to advance IHC’s mission.

Ralph’s legacy will be defined not only by his accomplishments but by the relationships he has built and the lives he has touched. He is heading off to spend more time with family, friends and his great loves – restoring classic British cars, playing guitar, fishing and spending time in the Marlborough Sounds.

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Caption: IHC Chief Executive Ralph Jones retired at the end of 2024 after 33 years at IHC.