The country's top workplaces have been revealed with a mixed bag of organisations claiming prizes, but which company has earned the highest accolade?
Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ) has been crowned New Zealand's overall best workplace of 2014.
The company took out the top award at IBM Kenexa Best Workplace Awards.
VTNZ beat 228 New Zealand organisations to receive the top accolade. It also received the award for the Best Enterprise Workplace (750 or more employees).
The Awards are New Zealand’s largest and longest-running study of workplace climate and employee engagement.
The annual programme identifies the best places to work in New Zealand as rated by their employees.
Employee's grade their workplace and employers in a confidential online survey across key categories including leadership, development, recognition and employee engagement.
Leighton Abbot, Senior Consultant, IBM Smarter Workforce for New Zealand, congratulated VTNZ on their success and on-going commitment to provide a great working environment for their staff.
“VTNZ has demonstrated that through clear leadership and communication staff will remain motivated and engaged through significant change,” Abbot said.
“The review of vehicle testing and licensing requirements has stimulated innovation in their business, and the increased commitment that their people have to the company speaks volumes about how they have turned a challenge into an opportunity.”
More than 32,000 employees from 228 New Zealand organisations representing private and public sectors participated in the survey with 42 companies reaching ‘finalist’ status across the five employee size categories: Small, Small-Medium, Medium-Large, Large and Enterprise.
Best Workplaces winners in each size category were: Hyundai Wairarapa – Eastwood Motor Group (Best Small Workplace), Giltrap Audi (Best Small-Medium Workplace), Mars New Zealand (Best Medium-Large Workplace), Overland Footwear (Best Large Workplace) and VTNZ (Best Enterprise Workplace). IBM also presented awards for the Most Improved organisations in each size category to CityLink, New Zealand Cricket, TSB Bank, Russell Group and Ballance Agri-Nutrients.
Overland Footwear, last year's overall winner, joined Flight Centre (NZ) in the Ten-Year League, the two organisations which have ranked consistently as a finalist in the survey year-on-year for 10 or more years.
Eleven companies were also recognised in the Five-Year League: AA Insurance, ADInstruments, Brother International NZ, FMG, Hyundai Motors New Zealand, Inspire Group, Maven International, Mars New Zealand, South Taranaki District Council, Trade Me and Warehouse Stationery.