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New Zealand’s most attractive employer revealed

Posted on March 21, 2015

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The Department of Conservation was announced as this year’s most attractive employer at this year’s Randstad Awards.

TVNZ – last year’s winner – was the runner up, while the New Zealand Customs Service came in as third.

Prior to the presentation, Randstad ran its annual employer branding research – of whom 7,975 were New Zealanders – which revealed that nearly one in every two Kiwis said they would like to work at the Department of Conservation.

In fact, the entire public sector seemed to have a strong appeal – three of the ten most attractive organisations were part of the public sector umbrella, and a quarter of respondents said they would like to be employed within the sector.

Brien Keegen, country manager at Ranstad New Zealand, said the Department of Conservation’s success was well deserved.

“For the past two years, the Department of Conservation has been recognised as one of the top three employers in New Zealand, which shows Kiwis continue to have a positive perception of this governmental department,” he said. “It is testament to the Department of Conservation that their appeal is across a wide demographic – with both young and mature workers, and male and female workers rating the organisation as the most attractive place to work in New Zealand.”

Other winners included IBM, which won the Inaugural IT Sector award, and ASB, the winner of the Banking and Financial Services Sector award.

Keegan added that it is important for organisations to continue investing in their employer brand in order to remain an attractive option for jobseekers, particularly given New Zealand’s tight labour market.

“With New Zealand’s economy continuing to grow, and increasing business confidence, it is very likely that the skills and talent shortage, which already exist in the market, will only get worse,” he said. “As it does, it is those organisations with a strong and positive brand association that will be able to recruit and retain talented staff and prosper in this market.”

“Winning the award really reflects the dedication of our 2000 staff and 15,000 volunteers,” Lou Sanson, director-general at the Department of Conservation told HRM. “It shows that people appreciate our dedication to New Zealand’s nature and the core part it plays in the brand of New Zealand.”

He added that the award is also a reflection of the key relationship the department has with its big commercial partners, including Air New Zealand and Mitre 10, who he said “give us so much credibility within the New Zealand community”.

According to Sanson, conservation is at “one of most exciting periods we’ve ever seen”, and New Zealanders “really get the value of what we do and what we contribute to our Kiwiness and our economy”.

“For an organisation that’s been through so much change it’s a huge symbol of faith by New Zealanders in what we do,” he said of winning the award. “We are so excited that so many people would want to work for us.”

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