Attraction for employees puts TVNZ in pride of place at awards

Kevin Kenrick. Photo / Richard Robinson

TVNZ took the top spot as most attractive employer at the Randstad Award night last Tuesday.

It's strong brand perception saw the company leap from fourth place last year to take home the supreme award, beating stiff competition from runner-up Coca-Cola Amatil and third-placed Department of Conservation.

Chief executive Kevin Kenrick said afterwards that he was delighted with the win and believes TVNZ has such a strong brand perception because it is in contact with an enormous number of New Zealanders every day. "We are a known brand, and we have an emotive connection with New Zealanders," he said. "Take shows like Breakfast and Seven Sharp - the presenters are genuinely having fun, and people warm to that, they engage with that, and it uplifts them."

This year's event, held at Sky City, was spiritedly MC'd by media personality John Campbell, and Minister of Labour Simon Bridges presented the awards. The evening was attended by 200 senior executives from New Zealand's largest 150 employers, each of which is provided with a comprehensive report after the event. The awards are decided by the public, and organisations are unable to nominate themselves. In New Zealand, the winner is based on feedback from 7000 independently selected respondents of working age.

A broad range of demographic groups is surveyed, representative of age, gender, education and regional location, and includes students, the employed and the unemployed. The organisations are ranked on brand awareness and 17 other factors, including competitive salary, benefits, pleasant working atmosphere, long-term job security, good work/life balance, and interesting job content.

The Department of Conservation received the top public sector award, beating last year's winner, NZ Customs. ASB Bank won the banking and financial sector award with Kiwibank runner-up, and Massey University took the top honour in the education sector, narrowly beating the University of Otago.

Air New Zealand was also honoured at the awards evening, as it was inducted into the Randstad International Hall of Fame after becoming the first company throughout the world to win the top award for three consecutive years.

Paul Robinson, director of recruitment and HR specialists Randstad, said it was great to see TVNZ jump into first place, particularly in one of the most competitive and dynamically changing industries in the country.

"It is testament to TVNZ that their appeal is across a wide demographic - with both young and mature workers rating the organisation as a highly attractive place to work because of its pleasant working atmosphere, flexible working opportunities and interesting job content," Robinson said.

He also praised runner-up Coca-Cola for their strong image and values, being a financially healthy organisation, providing a pleasant working atmosphere, great career progression opportunities and interesting job content.

Kenrick said it was fantastic to have an acknowledgment of achievement, particularly in an area which is very hard to measure.

"Randstad is measuring something that we all aspire to measure but, typically, we don't really know how we're tracking, so it gives us a sense of encouragement that we're on the right track.

"And it gives us something to aim for to continue the journey."