For the second year running Red Balloon's Employee Engagement Capability research has shown that workplace culture is still king when it comes to creating and maintaining a happy (and productive) workforce.

The research found that Training & Development Programs, Paid Parental Leave, Time off for study and flexible working arrangements are now all employee expectations, not extras as they once were. The activities that significantly boost engagement are Coaching & Buddy Programs, Company lunches and nights out and Time off for volunteering.

You can download your FREE copy of the report here

There's a new resource for employers on Immigration New Zealand's website.

The Employer Hub is a useful resource where you can find out about employing migrants, the visa options available to you, and how to help your new employees settle in New Zealand.

The hub is divided into four sections:

• Employing Migrants -- to help you identify appropriate visa options for the type of position you need to fill, and the steps you need to take as an employer.
  
   
• Finding & Recruiting Migrants -- to help you connect with potential candidates through a database using the free SkillFinder service, and the DoL funded NewKiwis service, as well as practical suggestions to help you get started if you are a beginner to recruiting migrants.
  
   
• Settling & Retaining Migrants -- provides you with access to information, tools and settlement support services to assist your new employee with settling into New Zealand both at work and at home, and to help your workplace welcome and retain new migrants.
  
   
• News, Tools, and Statistics -- helps you keep up to date with migrant attraction activities, find out about events for employers and migrants, access tools to assist you, and provides access to news, research and statistics related to immigration.

Visit www.immigration.govt.nz/employers for more information.

The Employers Chamber of Commerce Central held a Member Briefing in Wellington last week.

They presented findings from the annual analysis of the decisions made in 2010 by the Employment Relations Authority.  It was interesting to learn that:

• The number of personal grievances overall has slightly grown compared to 2009, with a 59% success rate for employees and 41% for employers.
• The change in average hurt and humiliation award compared to 2009 has increased significantly in Auckland but overall has grown at a moderate rate.
• On average, it cost an employer slightly less than an employee to win a personal grievance claim.  However, it cost an employer approximately 2.5 times that of an employee to lose a personal grievance claim.

Successful Claims by Location 

Hurt and Humiliation Awards by Location

Average Employer Costs

Average Employee Costs

The numbers highlight that employers can benefit from seeking professional advice about staffing situations relating to restructuring and performance issues.  This will ensure fair and reasonable processes are being followed, legal obligations are being met and will help minimise the risk of employees feeling aggrieved by their employer’s actions.

The National Employers Wage and Salary Survey, now in its 17th year, is conducted by EMA on behalf of Employers Chamber of Commerce Central, Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and the Otago Southland Employers Association.
501 companies participated in 2010 providing data on 39,052 employees across 215 different positions in 18 industry sectors.

The patchy nature of the economic recovery is reflected in the wide variation in pay rate changes between sectors:

• Pay rates overall dropped in 2010 for a quarter of 215 job types surveyed in the Employers National Wage and Salary Survey, with no change in the pay rates of a further eight per cent of positions.
• The average number of sick days being taken now is higher than the legal entitlement. The law provides for five days sick leave, but the average number taken in 2010 was 5.3 days.
• Employers were also asked the highest number of days of sick leave taken in the year by any one employee; the average for them was 16.54 days.
• Unskilled job positions averaged a 0.1 per cent pay decline, semi-skilled pay rates improved a little and pay rates for skilled and management pay increased an average of 1.7 per cent.
• The survey results for senior management threw up wide variations with a third of positions receiving no pay increase and another third receiving double digit pay rises.

Click here for more information. 

The Restaurant Association of New Zealand has published the results of its 2010 Hospitality Industry Remuneration Survey.

At a glance of 41 positions surveyed, 28 had an increased hourly rate (for 2009 vs 2010). Kitchen roles appeared to be some of the hardest hit with many showing negligible increases or even decreases.

Are you in the Hospitality Industry? How do your pay rates stack up? To view a summary of the results click here. A copy of the full survey results can be ordered through the Restaurant Association (members only).