Kiwi employers are ‘good blokes’

New Zealand employers are good to their employees and consider them part of their family, giving them respect and consideration.

That was the finding of a Survey of 1281 Finance, Accounting and HR managers conducted in four countries by consultancy firm Robert Half International.

The Survey found more than 65% of the respondents were happy with the companies that employed them – the highest in the Asia Pacific region.

About 76% of the participants said their organisation qualified as a good employer, compared to 70% in Australia and a regional average of 67%.

The Robert Half 2010 Workplace Survey found that the concept of a good employer was availability of training and development opportunities, followed by good pay, then the existence of leaders and mentors at a company.

The Company’s New Zealand General Manager Megan Alexander said retention of talent was not always pay-related.

“This survey highlighted the importance of reinvesting in training and development as the economy turns up. Good employers not only pay well but also focus on the so-called ‘soft skills’; the way employers communicate with their people and interact with them,” she said.

According to her, the extended emphasis on team building and conflict management were morale boosters.

Ms Alexander said the business sector was dominated by owner-managed small and medium companies, another factor that made employees comfortable.

Hence, when businesses had to rein in costs during the recession, their employees appreciated the way their managers communicated the need to take steps like freeze wages to ensure the survival of the overall organisation.

More than 50% of the Survey respondents said they were not seeking a new job, the highest level in the region.

A majority of them said, “My Company has focused on my career development and has looked after me.”

“It is great that New Zealand employees are, for the most part, satisfied with how they were treated during the recession.

“But now that the worst of the downturn has probably passed, employers need to start investing in the training and development that may have been frozen in the two years,” Ms Alexander said.

She said Generation Y (people born in the mid 1970s) was particularly interested in career development and hence investment in training should be a priority.

“Salary is important, but the offer need not match the top end of the market,” she said.

Photo: Megan Alexander