New Zealand's Best Workplace 2010
Mars NZ was the overall winner for 2010 of the annual JRA Best Places to Work survey. The first time it entered the awards, the company didn't make it to the top 100, but has successfully used feedback from its staff to make changes and improve employee engagement.
What is Engagement?
Engaged employees are described by JRA (a specialist workplace survey company) as people who will go beyond just doing the job. Without prompting, they will do more than expected to deliver outstanding customer service and help the company succeed. The JRA data shows a link between employee engagement and business success which is why many New Zealand businesses make it a priority to focus on engagement - 245 organisations participated in the 2010 survey.
The Mars Culture
Although Mars is a large global organisation, it's a family owned business with family values and principles - quality, responsibility, mutuality (if the business does well, staff do well), efficiency and freedom. The company operates in a competitive market, placing tough demands on staff in terms of the effort they need to make to succeed.
Family Values in Practice
The following are examples of some of the Mars company policies that support family values:
- A children's Christmas party
- Staff can bring their dogs to work on Friday
- Offices are all open plan
- Paid parental leave
- Flexible working environment, including part-time work opportunities
- Staff well-being programme
The Payback from Engagement
JRA has been measuring engagement in New Zealand organisations since 2000. The data shows that some of the benefits organisations with more engaged staff achieve are:
- Lower levels of absenteeism
- Lower staff turnover
- Higher sales per employee
Drivers of Engagement
JRA measures the key drivers of engagement in each survey. The following have consistently ranked in the top 10 over the last decade:
- Personal sense of belonging to the organisation
- Job that provides a sense of personal achievement
- Sense that your contribution is recognised by the organisation
- Personal belief in what the organisation is trying to accomplish
- Confidence in leadership
- Fun working environment