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No Slump in Morale for Real Estate Giant - JRA Best Workplaces Awards 2009 Winners Revealed...

Auckland, Friday, 27 November 2009 – Great workplaces were celebrated last night at the JRA Best Workplaces Awards 2009. Top organisations from all over New Zealand were acknowledged in their respective categories and an overall winner was announced. Take a more visual tour of the finalists and winners in JRA's Hall of Fame.

Overall winner
Colliers International New Zealand was awarded Overall Winner for the JRA Best Workplaces Awards 2009

Category winners
Small Workplace category (20-49 employees) - BIG FM
Small-Medium Workplace category (50-149 employees) - Colliers International New Zealand
Medium-Large Workplace category (150-399 employees) - Barkers Mens Clothing
Large Workplace category (400+ employees) – Flight Centre (NZ)

The JRA Best Workplaces Awards is the largest annual employment engagement survey in New Zealand, where in 2009, 27500 employees across 216 organisations rated their employer across 60 questions covering topics such as communication, culture and values, common purpose, learning and development, and reward and recognition.

When asked what in particular contributed their success, Mark Synott, Managing Director of Colliers International New Zealand, says, “We formed a committee that focused on initiatives that would build on our ‘best workplaces’ company goal, with particular focus on fun and social events that build a positive culture.”

Colliers also made deliberate efforts to retain staff during the recession, Colliers focused on particular aspects of the workplace to engage and create a ‘sense of future’ for their staff.

“We focused much more this year on training to generate future revenue. It’s important to decide what costs you retain and what costs you cut in a tougher economic climate and we haven’t cut anything that has become part of the culture we have been building over the past few years,” says Synnott.

John Robertson of workplace survey and analysis specialists, JRA (NZ) Ltd, which carries out the JRA Best Workplaces Survey, says, “These winning companies are being celebrated for their ability to successfully engage with their staff in a meaningful way. They have made their employees feel satisfied, committed and prepared to go the extra mile.”

Other significant winners on the night where those organisations that showed the most improvement in each category between 2008 and 2009:

Most improved category winners:
Small Workplace category (20-49 employees) - Tamaki Healthcare
Small to Medium Workplace category (50-149 employees) - PayGlobal
Medium to Large Workplace category (150-399 employees) - Barkers Mens Clothing
Large Workplace category (400+ employees) – Ruapehu Alpine Lifts

Five-Year League Award
The JRA Best Workplaces Survey is now in its tenth year and to mark this occasion a new award was introduced – the ‘Five-Year League Award’ - presented to 2009 finalists who achieved that status in five of the past six consecutive years.

AMI Insurance, Flight Centre, Outward Bound Trust of New Zealand, Overland Footwear and Vero Insurance New Zealand were all acknowledged for consistently achieving a high level of employee engagement within the workplace.

Employee engagement insights
The JRA Best Workplaces Survey offers valuable insights into issues that affect how engaged employees feel in their work, which in turn impacts an organisation’s performance.

“Senior management priority and organisation focus on employee engagement actually increased in 2009, as well as the level of employee engagement. The proportion of engaged employees increased from 33 per cent in 2008 to 35 per cent in 2009,” says Robertson.

“We found that employee engagement level increased for organisations that made a deliberate attempt to retain staff, whereas employee engagement levels decreased for those organisations who relied heavily on redundancy to survive the recession.

“The JRA Best Workplaces Survey 2009 results found that having a positive workplace climate and culture seems to be more important than salary to staff.

“Overall, employees cared about having a sense of belonging to their organisations, having a clear understanding of the organisation’s vision and values, having meaningful work which provides them with a sense of personal achievement, and working in a fun and enjoyable work environment, “ says Robertson.

About the survey
The JRA Best Workplaces Survey 2009 is the largest employee engagement survey in New Zealand. Nearly 28,000 employees across New Zealand took part in the survey across 216 organisations.

Employees rate their organisation based on 60 questions across a range of measures, including communication, culture and values, common purpose, learning and development, and reward and recognition. The responses are analysed and participating organisations then ranked on their overall score.

Winners are split into four categories; small workplace (20 to 49 employees), small to medium (50 to 149), medium to large (150-399) and large (400+ employees). An Overall Winner is chosen from the four category winners.

www.bestworkplaces.co.nz

JRA Best Workplaces Awards 2009 – Winners

Overall winner
Colliers International New Zealand was awarded Overall Winner of the JRA Best Workplaces Award 2009

Most improved category winners
Small Workplace category (20-49 employees) - Tamaki Healthcare
Small-Medium Workplace category (50-149 employees) - PayGlobal
Medium-Large Workplace category (150-399 employees) - Barkers Mens Clothing
Large Workplace category (400+ employees) – Ruapehu Alpine Lifts

Five-Year League Award for consistent performance
AMI Insurance
Flight Centre (NZ)
Outward Bound Trust of New Zealand
Overland Footwear
Vero Insurance New Zealand

JRA Best Workplaces Awards 2009 – Finalists
The finalists are the top ten organisations ranked by their overall score in each size category (top five in the large workplace category), and are listed alphabetically.

Small Workplace category (20-49 employees)
ADInstruments
Auckland Radiation Oncology
BIG FM
Collection House (NZ)
GS1 New Zealand
Hyundai Motors NZ
Inspire Group
Retail Institute
Tamaki Healthcare
Vista Entertainment Solutions

Small-Medium Workplace category (50-149 employees)
Bell Tea & Coffee Company
British American Tobacco (NZ)
Brother International (NZ)
Colliers International New Zealand
New World Cambridge
New Zealand Council for Educational Research
Obex Medical
Outward Bound Trust of New Zealand
Roche Products (New Zealand)
Tranzqual ITO

Medium-Large Workplace category (150-399 employees)
AA Insurance
Barkers Mens Clothing
Brookfield New World
Henderson PAK'n SAVE
Intergen
James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor
Mars New Zealand
New World Te Rapa
Overland Footwear
South Taranaki District Council

Large Workplace category (400+ employees)
AMI Insurance
Flight Centre (NZ)
Ruapehu Alpine Lifts
Southern Cross Medical Care Society
Vero Insurance New Zealand

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