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New Zealand/June 22, 2022/By: Melanie Carroll/Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/

Early childhood education company Evolve Education has been named the most attractive company to work for in this year’s survey by Randstad.

Evolve, whose childcare centres include Lollipops and Little Wonders, bumped last year’s winners, the New Zealand Customs Service, off the top spot.

“I think to some it might be surprising that there is an early childhood education organisation that’s top of the list,” said Randstad New Zealand country director Richard Kennedy​.

Evolve Education was recognised for its job security, interesting work and financial health in the survey of 4200 members of the general public about their perceptions of employers. An essential service itself, it also helped other essential workers do their jobs.

The Department of Conservation (DOC) took second place, and infrastructure company Ventia was third.

People surveyed recognised DOC for giving back to society, providing interesting work and having a good reputation, and Ventia was recognised for being financially healthy, offering career progression and interesting work.

Air New Zealand was not eligible to be included in this year’s results after it was named the most attractive place to work for three consecutive years.

Essential service providers such as healthcare, police, migration and other government agencies hit the spotlight after the Covid pandemic hit, and featured strongly in the annual survey, Kennedy said.

“Essential services are currently as seen as good places to be that offer interesting work and varied work, but also that stability and flexibility that seems to be prominent in the eyes of the Kiwi population at this point in time.”

People said salary was important but no longer the top priority, replaced instead by the ability to work flexibly. Learning and development ranked third.

“The data would suggest that there’s been a re-evaluation by the New Zealand public around work-life balance,” Kennedy said.

“Salary has been a key driver for years and years, and in this current economy where you’ve got rising interest rates, rising inflation, salary will still be there. But at the same time, there’s going to be a ceiling where organisations are not going to be able to pay any more.”

About 40% of people in Auckland said that in the future they expected to work from home about 80% of the time, with 37% of people in Canterbury expecting the same. That rose to 55% of people in Wellington expecting to work from home most of the time.

Offering a good work-life balance and a chance to upskill were two areas employers could gain an advantage when there was strong competition for workers.

“As employers continue to feel pressured by rising salary costs, we believe it’s time to reset the talent game plan and move beyond salary. Our findings show that two-thirds (67%) of New Zealanders are ‘very likely’ to stay with their current employer if reskilling and upskilling opportunities are offered. This is hugely significant,” Kennedy said.

There were differences between the generations, with younger workers looking for strong management and older people preferring a pleasant workplace.

Employers needed to think creatively about how they could offer employee satisfaction, engagement, retention and loyalty, said Ian Scott​, general manager of Randstad New Zealand

“The expectation is that 50,000 people aged under 30 will leave New Zealand over the coming months, putting pressure on an already limited talent pool.

“Employers wanting to retain talent should consider what their people are wanting and how they can match this. For example, at Randstad, flexible working also includes the ability to work from another city or country for an extended period of time. This is hugely beneficial to employees wanting to reconnect with family or experience working abroad.”

Top 10 employers 2022

1. Evolve Education

2. Department of Conservation

3. Ventia

4. Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment

5. New Zealand Customs Service

6. Green Cross Health

7. WSP

8. Healthcare of NZ

9. AsureQuality

10. Department of Internal Affairs

Top 10 employers 2021

1. NZ Customs Service

2. DOC

3. MBIE

4. Beca

5. TVNZ

6. Ebos Group

7. Ministry of Health

8. Kiwibank

9. Massey University

10. Ara Institute

Source: https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/129022028/nzs-most-attractive-place-to-work-in-2022-revealed-in-randstad-survey