Amongst fierce competition, the Department of Conservation has received the top accolade for the Most Attractive Employer at the annual Randstad Award.
Beating off strong opposition from last year’s winner, TVNZ, who came in second place and the New Zealand Customs Service in third place, the Department of Conservation moved from their third place ranking last year to take home the supreme award.
A media statement from the organisers says that the Randstad Award was presented in front of senior executives from 150 of New Zealand’s largest employers to recognise those organisations that New Zealanders find the most attractive.
Brien Keegan, country manager of Randstad New Zealand, says given the Department of Conservation’s success at previous Randstad Award’s, this year’s supreme award win is 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. 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.”
The annual Randstad Award employer branding research reveals nearly one in every two Kiwis (49 percent) say they would like to work at the Department of Conservation. In fact, the entire public sector industry has strong appeal with three organisations in the top 10 most attractive companies and more than a quarter of respondents saying they would like to work for organisations within this sector.
IBM, which for the second year in a row was voted as the fourth most attractive company to work for in New Zealand, won the inaugural IT sector award, which recognises the most attractive organisation to work for within the IT industry. For the third year running, ASB won the Banking & Financial Services Sector Award.
Keegan says, given New Zealand’s tight labour market, it is important for organisations to continue investing in their employer brand in order to remain an attractive option for jobseekers in 2015 and beyond.
“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. 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.
Air New Zealand, which was inducted into the prestigious Randstad International Hall of Fame in 2014 after becoming the first company around the world to win the top award for three consecutive years in 2011, 2012 and 2013, will remain in the Randstad Award Hall of Fame until 2016.
2015 marks the fifth year the annual Randstad Award employer branding research was conducted in New Zealand. The international research, which was first launched in Belgium in 2000, is conducted in 23 countries across Europe, Asia Pacific and the Americas. The Randstad Award continues to grow exponentially and is now recognised as a coveted award.
The scale of the Randstad Award employer branding research is unrivalled internationally. The study, on which the Randstad Award is based, is the largest piece of employer branding research in the world. This year alone, the Randstad Award research captured the perceptions of 225,000 potential job seekers globally, of whom 7,975 are New Zealanders.
Randstad Award Top 20 Most Attractive Organisations in New Zealand
Randstad Award Hall of Fame 2014-2016: Air New Zealand
1. Department of Conservation (3)
2. TVNZ (1)
3. New Zealand Customs Service (6)
4. IBM (-)
5. AUT University (18)
6. Coca-Cola Amatil (2)
7. ASB (5)
8. Massey University (11)
9. Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (12)
10. The University of Auckland (16)
11. House of Travel (10)
12. Kiwibank (14)
13. Vodafone (9)
14. Fonterra (15)
15. Bank of New Zealand (19)
16. Fisher & Paykel Healthcare (30)
17. University of Otago (13)
18. PriceWaterhouseCoopers (32)
19. Victoria University of Wellington (28)
20. Deloitte (26)
*Brackets indicate position in 2014
