Finance industry scores well

Megan Alexander

More than three-quarters of employees in the finance and accounting sectors say their organisation qualifies as a good employer.

This gives New Zealand the best score in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the latest survey from Robert Half International.

Seventy-six per cent of New Zealand respondents said that their organisation qualified as a good employer, compared to 70 per cent in Australia and a regional average of 67 per cent, results from the recruitment firm's 2010 Workplace Survey found.

Robert Half asked 1281 finance, accounting, HR and executive-level managers from four countries during February and March what were the qualities that made a good employer.

Interestingly, the top quality cited for a good employer was not salary, but the availability of training and development opportunities, followed by good pay, then the existence of leaders and mentors at a company.

Robert Half's New Zealand general manager Megan Alexander said the survey highlighted the importance of reinvesting in training and development as the economy "turns up".

"Good employers not only pay well, they focus on so-called 'soft skills'; the way employers communicate with their people and interact with them, and also how much emphasis is placed on things like team building and conflict management."

Alexander also said the small and medium enterprise culture of New Zealand companies, with many businesses being run by owner-managers, may contribute to employees feeling like they're "part of the family".

So when businesses had to rein in costs during the recession, staff approved of the way their managers communicated the need to take steps like freeze wages to ensure the survival of the organisation.

More than half the New Zealand survey respondents said they were not seeking a new job, the highest level in the region. Forty-nine per cent cited: 'my company has been focused on my career development and has looked after me' as the top reason for not seeking a new job.

Still, that lagged Australia, where 55 per cent gave that as their top reason and 54 per cent in Hong Kong.

"It's great that New Zealand employees are, for the most part, satisfied with how they were treated during the recession," Alexander said. "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 last year or two.

"Salary is important, but the rates you offer don't have to match the top rate of the market. It's about managing the expectations of your employees," she said.