Hall of Fame - Organisation Awards

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2024

He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

Diversity, equity and inclusion is a challenging journey, often the responsibility of the People and Culture function within corporate environments, addressed via a linear approach. Not so at Chorus. We initiated a circuit breaker that took all of our people, including board, on an insightful and developmental journey towards real workplace inclusion. At Chorus, a D,E&I lens is applied to everything we do. We’re proud to have moved from a place of traditional comfort and majority thinking, to an environment where a growth mindset is valued.

Watch the Award Video 

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2023 

Education Perfect is driven by the mission to 'humanise technology' to advance digital transformation in K-12 education. Our technology platform has been developed by and with teachers. 

We have a complete digital toolkit for teaching and learning and we are redefining education and as we go from school to school promoting a love for learning. With 22% of EPeeps (Education Perfect team members) identified as non-native English speakers, the organisation’s Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee decided to introduce an initiative to support this cohort. 

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2022

The Bank of New Zealand (BNZ’s) Te Hōkaitanga won them the inaugural HRNZ Supreme Award for showing the greatest overall leadership in human resources practice. The programme, which focusses on exploring and evolving leadership capability through a Māori lens, produced many quick wins… While originally thought to be a longer-term goal; BNZ have been able to rapidly accelerate career progression, organisational transformation, and culture change through strategic and thoughtful programme design. 

Within a short amount of time, Diversity, and Inclusion Award winners the Bank of New Zealand have been able to achieve significant outcomes through Te Hōkaitanga – BNZ’s Māori leadership programme. This programme was created with the intent to accelerate the development and representation of Māori in leadership positions and build a strong pipeline of Māori talent to live their mātāpono (values), honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and futureproof BNZ as an employer and achieve our strategic ambition of being ‘The Bank for Māori’. 

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2021 

SkyCity Entertainment Group took out the Diversity and Inclusion Award for Project Nikau. The key objective of Project Nikau was to achieve their Character and Culture goals and deliver on their sustainability strategy, ultimately enhancing their social license to operate, whilst also building a pipeline of talent for SkyCity. 

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2020, in association with Edvance 

Downer New Zealand is a large and diverse company with a workforce made up of over 24% Māori. In some business units and locations, this is as high as 38%. Downer acknowledge the special place that Tangata Whenua hold in Aotearoa and strive to be an employer of choice for Māori. The company has been on a deliberate journey over the last five years to create an environment where Māori culture is recognised and celebrated and the flow-on effects from this have created a significant change in our Downer culture, from the Executive team through to our Front Line employees.

Diversity & Inclusion Award 2019, in association with Skills Consulting Group 

Meridian is one of New Zealand's largest organisations, being the fourth-largest company on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX). Meridian is listed on both the NZX and the ASX. We are majority owned by the New Zealand Government. Our core business activities are the generation, trading and retailing of electricity, sale of complementary products and services, and development of electricity retailing software in New Zealand and Australia. More than1,000 people are directly employed by or contracted to us.

We want Meridian's culture to be inclusive, respectful and engaging, and representative of the society and communities in which we live and operate. To achieve this, we have D and I goals set for the next four years, agreed by the Board and regularly reported on to the Remuneration and HR Board sub-committee. To help us achieve our objectives we've changed the governance of our D and I programme. We now have an executive sponsor for each of the four diversity strands (Gender, Ethnic Diversity, Flexibility, and Inclusion), who champion initiatives across the organisation to achieve each diversity objective.

Award for Diversity and Inclusion 2018 

Globally, Vodafone has recognised diversity and inclusion is both good for business, and the right thing to do for a number of years. Vodafone New Zealand’s current diversity and inclusion strategy has evolved to attract diverse talent and aims to embed ‘brilliant, unbiased basics’ through the implementation of our inclusive policies, processes and training to create a true sense of belonging among our people. In this entry we celebrate our Vodafone Employee Networks which have played a critical, contributing role in our lead position in diversity and inclusion today.

Diversity and Inclusion Award 2017

Noel Leeming Group’s ongoing success relies on expert service and a continued ability to meet the needs and expectations of our diverse customer base. Enabling this level of service means being responsive to customer and team members’ needs, and in particular celebrating the diversity of these stakeholder groups. With the opportunity to grow the number of female leaders in the business and focus on gender diversity, the Aspire – Women in Leadership programme was born. Aimed at preparing women for frontline leadership positions, this programme challenged us to confront our bias about the role of females across the company.  

Future of Work Award 2024, in association with Alex Hagan

The Port of Auckland underwent a significant transformation by implementing a culture strategy aimed at fostering strong collaborative relationships among management, unions, front-line workers, and the Taumata responsible for Maori outcomes. Central to this strategy – called Whanaungatanga – is the “High Performance High Engagement” approach to collaboration, which insists on respectful engagement and collaboration with all stakeholders. This cultural shift has been acknowledged by unions and other stakeholders as a significant change that has also supported marked improvements in safety, customer and commercial performance for the Port. This represents a remarkable turnaround compared to its state a few years prior.

Watch the Award Video 

Future of Work Award 2023, in association with Alex Hagan 

In July 2022 ACC broadened its approach to hybrid and flexible working. The aim was to make work even better for our people while ensuring we continued to meet and exceed customer expectations. Based on consultation with our people, research into best practice and discussion with others facing similar post-COVID opportunities, we implemented our updated approach. While it’s early days, and this is the first step in a multi-phased piece of work, our people are telling us we’re on the right track – they appreciate the commitment to flexibility, the additional resources and the support to make this work. 

Future of Work Award 2022, in association with Alex Hagan

Far North District Council won the new Future of Work Award. A wellbeing pulse check during the first 2020 COVID-19 lockdown was the “pebble-in-the-pond” that led to changing their entire operating model – moving from a heavy commuter and highly office-based organisation to a smart and digitally enabled workforce where employees choose the workplace that fits their personal and domestic circumstances. A staff survey one year later (in June 2021) showed a profound improvement in the wellbeing and resilience of their people with seven times as many people reporting improved wellbeing for everyone reporting a decline. 

Innovation Award 2023, in association with Fuel50 

With the national gender pay gap currently at 9.2% and the gender retirement gap at 20%, Z Energy has made several innovative policy changes as part of a clear path forward to narrow these gap and achieve more equitable outcomes for women and other minority groups. 

Salary transparency, an innovative KiwiSaver offering, and systematic modelling of our gender pay gap are helping us to deliver on our objective to completely close Z’s gender pay gap (currently 3.4%) by FY24. Z is normalising remuneration negotiation, equipping our people with greater financial literacy, and encouraging greater agency across all demographics. 

Check out the Award Video

Innovation Award 2022, in association with MyHR

NZ Health Partnerships (NZHP) took out the HR Innovation Award for their bespoke ‘Package by Design’ employee reward and remuneration package system. By offering Package by Design, NZHP has been successful in appointing senior leaders and subject matter experts/specialists. These appointments would have been almost impossible due to competitive rates and commission structures characteristic of these roles in the private sector. 

Innovation Award 2021 

Jade Software won the HR innovation Award for their “Hybrid Way of Working” or HWoW initiative. Described as a reimagined way of working HWoW enabled Jade staff to define where they work from and have a level of flexibility on when they do their hours, to better enable them to balance their lives. 

Christian Dahmen Memorial Award for HR Innovation 2020, in association with Cornerstone OnDemand 

Canterbury DHB plan, fund and provide health services for over half a million New Zealanders. Orderly Mobile is a fully digital service which sees our orderlies armed with mobile devices, enabling them to accept, respond to and fulfil work requests on the go. Co-designed by orderlies, nurses and ward clerks, it was delivered in five weeks and provides full visibility of the nearly 1000 daily requests for this critical service. Commitment to making it better for their people is a key driver and they’re doing this by reimagining the way they work, embracing new technologies and transforming employee experience.

HR Innovation & Technology - Christian Dahmen Memorial Award 2019, in association with On-Brand Partners 

Short for ‘amplify’, amp is a platform that’s connecting Fonterra employees with new internal projects using a gig-economy type approach. It’s powered by a web-based app that enables employees to build a profile and match their interests, experience and expertise to listings of internal projects which they can then spend up to a third of their time working on outside of their day jobs. As well as supporting peoples’ career development and bringing in innovative ideas from more diverse groups, amp is helping Fonterra uncover hidden talent and harness the enormous breadth of skills across its workforce. 

Christian Dahmen Memorial Award for HR Innovation 2018, in association with On-Brand Partners 

Delivered by GHD, Smart Seeds is an annual innovation initiative for young professionals (YPs - defined as someone in the first 10 years of their career), focused on generating new ideas to tackle complex city challenges within an 11- week programme. Smart Seeds is about delivering new thinking to some of our cities biggest challenges, through collaboration amongst future and current leaders. The programme supports young professionals to learn and apply skills that unlock innovation, from ideation to delivery. Participants are taught to use a proven innovation framework which can be applied in their own workplace. They also build long-lasting professional networks with fellow participants and mentors from various organisations. www.smartseeds.org.

The Christian Dahmen Memorial Award for HR Innovation, in association with ON-Brand Partners! 

Cigna has been on a journey to innovate and develop our employer brand over the past year. Our attraction strategies had not been previously seen in NZ and are challenging traditional job advertising. Our goal was to humanise and personalise our brand by showcasing our managers and teams at the front of job advertising. We have further differentiated ourselves from others through using bite-sized customised video and giphy animations, and modern technologies such as Periscope live-streaming and 360 degree photos. As an employer, we have established an ‘innovation brand’ and are at the forefront of recruitment marketing in New Zealand.

Christian Dahmen HR Innovation Award 2016

NZLEAD itself is the initiative we are submitting for this award. The community represents a new and novel approach to addressing the challenges faced by HR professionals around New Zealand. We encourage communication, connection and collaboration within the profession by providing opportunities for people to interact, debate, share knowledge and resources through social technology. The impact of this has been greater innovation, thought leadership and learning in the NZ and international HR community.  

Learning & Development Capability Award 2024 - Large Organisations, Complete Learning Solutions

Tauranga City Council has implemented a systematic and purposeful people leadership development programme to address identified organisational and cultural issues which were undermining its ability deliver the transport and housing enablement infrastructure required to meet the needs of its rapidly growing population. As a result, it has seen dramatic increases in staff engagement, commitment and productivity, which will enhance the organisation’s ability to deliver a much needed and unprecedented $4.5 billion capital programme over the next 10 years.

Watch the Award Video 

Learning & Development Capability Award 2024 - Small to Medium Organisations, Complete Learning Solutions

We are very pleased to make this nomination on behalf of the amazing team involved in bringing this project to life, making a difference not only for volunteers to enjoy a modern and empowering learning experience, but also for the way in which our people are able to deliver on our life saving mission for kiwis in communities all across the motu. This project provides a fabulous foundation for a critical strategic objective of ensuring the people capability of our volunteer workforce well into the future.

Watch the Award Video 

Learning & Development Capability Award 2023, in association with Complete Learning Solutions 

Southbase Construction is an ambitious company with a clear vision: to be the best delivery partner in the industry, bar none. Founded in 2013, our business is backed by solid governance, which has rapidly propelled the organisation to become one of New Zealand’s leading tier two construction companies. Southbase is a 100% New Zealand-owned and operated national company, with a track record in the successful delivery of complex and large-scale projects across a range of market sectors, including commercial, education, community, industrial, health, retail and industrial. We partner with public and private sector clients, adding value through technology, construction methodology, buying power and expertise. 

Learning & Development Capability Award 2022, in association with Open Polytechnic

Mitre 10 New Zealand Limited (Mitre 10) were awarded the Learning and Development Capability Award for their ‘with our people’ focus to their new brand promise “With you all the way”. In the past they had delivered customer service programmes for their people and to their people. This time it needed to be with their people. This culture shift created a programme that stores could own and drive, to build both a capability uplift and cultural shift across the business.

Learning & Development Capability Award 2021, in association with Open Polytechnic 

The NZ Institute for Plant and Food Research won the Learning & Development Capability Award in association with Open Polytechnic for their mentoring programme. In formalising the natural mentoring relationships that were occurring, PFR bought together a focus on career values aligned to creating a smart green future with a collaborative workforce. 

Learning & Development Capability Award 2020, in association with Open Polytechnic 

The training of frontline Crew is the bedrock of our success. In a fast changing, geographically disperse environment, our challenge was to keep training up to date and consistent across 10,000 staff members. Through the Station Training App (STA) we have created a bespoke digital solution that supports the Crew Trainers with the training and verification of our staff. Integrated with our rostering system, the STA also assists with creating intelligent schedules based on availability and now also capability. This is helping to improve morale and productivity by having trained people rostered at the right time to meet demand.

Learning & Development Capability Award 2019, in association with Open Polytechnic 

Opening our doors in 1861, BNZ is a major New Zealand bank with approximately 4,700 staff spread across the country in 157 Retail Stores and 33 Partners Centres. We put people first. That's why we like to help our local communities, through volunteering and partnerships. We work with the Commission for Financial Literacy and Retirement Income and organisations like Age Concern to support and educate our communities. Further in 2017, BNZ launched www.begoodwithmoney.co.nz  – to look after families by providing, smart and savvy ways to manage and make your money work harder for you, as well as help grow your wealth.

BNZ is on a mission to empower our customers with digital knowledge. This is why we launched the Digital Guru programme, an initiative designed to create passionate, digitally savvy BNZers. This voluntary programme was launched in February 2017. It includes learning to educate BNZ employees about digital products and equips them to hold engaging conversations with our customers to educate them on ways of banking that will work for them anywhere anytime. Since the successful rollout of Digital Gurus, BNZ has partnered with Google and Barclays Bank to lift BNZers digital capability, preparing them for the digital future.

Award for Learning and Development Capability in the Public Sector 2018, in association with The Skills Organisation 

Springboard Trusts flagship programme, The Strategic Leadership for Principals’ programme is a free programme run over the school year designed to assist principals to develop robust strategic goals and plans. This innovative programme, partners senior business leaders or “capacity partners” with school principals in the public sector to build their leadership and planning skills, and in doing so, contributes to improved educational outcomes for schools and their students. The Strategic Leadership for Principals’ programme creates a ripple effect as each principal cascades knowledge, develops more effective leadership teams and transfers these skills throughout the sector.

Learning and Development Capability in the Public Sector 2017, in association with the Skills Organisation

Their L&D initiative was National Training SPEC 4-day course with careful planning and implementation. 

Learning & Development Capability in Public Sector Award 2016 

Organisational Change & Development Award 2023, in association with Real TV 

An iconic Kiwi brand, MFB is a meal kit home delivery service. Recently publicly listed and with an ambition to double the size of the business in three years, one of our strategic pillars to support doing this is an amazing, high performing, culture. Our ‘Secret Sauce’ has given clarity to what makes us uniquely US. It has defined the values and behaviours and in turn the symbols and rituals to support and embed them. Clarity around these has increased retention by more than 50% and engagement (measured by eNPs) lift strongly. 

Check out the Award Video

Organisational Change & Development Award 2022

Southern Cross Health Insurance won the Organisational Change and Development Award for their ‘Enabling our organisational agility’ initiative. They embarked on an eight-week journey, immediately employing agile principles by working in short bursts of 4 x 2 week sprints) to create a roadmap for improving organisational agility. By December 2020, they had completely remodelled the entire organisation to enable organisational agility. Throughout the process, they fostered cultural conditions that would ensure our operating model supported their people to deliver the outcomes they work so passionately to achieve. 

Organisational Change & Development Award 2021, in association with LHH 

Whangārei District Council won the Organisational Change & Development Award in association with LHH for their Our Kōrero initiative, which lead to the formation of a group tasked with developing a strategy set by their staff. Both the tikanga and action plan were made up of the things that mattered most to their people. 

Organisational Change & Development Award 2020, in association with Lee Hecht Harrison 

In 2016, LIC initiated a transformation programme involving all staff in a massive turnaround plan, generating ideas to yield revenue, drive efficiency and improve morale. Every employee was invited to share personal stories of change with the rest of LIC about the change they wanted as well as the change they needed.

Three years later LIC has transformed itself into a high performing, debt-free co-operative which returned a $15.6 million dividend to shareholders in the year ending 31 May 2019. Their Organisational Health Index has increased by 12 points and today LIC is more relevant than ever to dairy farmers.

Organisational Change & Development Award 2019, in association with Human Synergistics 

Established 55 years ago, Farmlands is NZ’s largest farmer owned rural supplies and services co-operative. We exist to harness the collective power of our shareholders to negotiate better deals. We provide a range of services to our shareholders/customers nationwide, including 82 stores, field sales, agri-products/services, fuel and card.

We embarked on a total business transformation to support our vision of preparing ourselves and our shareholders for the future. The ‘Braveheart’ Programme will touch every aspect of Farmlands and impact all staff, uniting us as one business, one culture, one brand, one technology platform and one single view of our customers/shareholders.

With a transformation the size and scale of the Braveheart Programme, the complexity of the co-operative’s business model and multiple legacy systems, consideration had to be given to not only supporting significant change in the business, but also mobilising support to bring key messages to the business. 

The vision was to utilise a peer network and increase our commitment to build change capability and agility across all Farmlanders. As a result, the Change Clan was brought to life with the purpose of connecting and educating our people, as well as building capability and resilience to flourish in a changing environment. 

Award for Organisational Change and Development 2018, in association with Human Synergistics 

Lion Way For Change 

In our complex and changing world to be successful Lion needs to be changing faster than its customers, consumers and competitors. Lion has to grow it people’s capacity and capability for change to act fast, focus on progress not perfection, co-create with internal and external stakeholders, and build an environment where its people thrive through change. 

Lion supported this aspiration through the development of new human centred, behaviour based Lion Way For Change to give people the skills and self-awareness to become great change leaders, increase their personal capacity for change.

Award for Organisational Change and Development, in association with Human Synergistics 

The University of Auckland is a large and complex organisation with an annual budget of over $1 billion. Achieving our academic objectives relies significantly on the successful undertaking of about 100 different administrative processes across eight faculties linked to central service divisions. 

Processes and roles were transformed from October 2014 to address issues noted above. This involved a significant change, uncertainty and transition for many staff. 

Service Essentials Supports University Strategy by supporting managers to plan, resource, manage performance, workflow and improvement and innovation with those who know the job best – their staff. Co-created with staff, the Service Essentials ‘system of working’ involves team ‘stand-up’ meetings around a visual display board that is aligned to the University’s Leadership Framework thereby supporting a balanced view of the organisation and linkages with the capability development programme and performance management system. Approximately 90+ teams (~500 + staff) participate voluntarily. Supported by Master Classes and inter-team peer learning, staff say Service Essentials is an engaging capability development programme that works. 

Organisational Change & Development Award 2016 

In August 2013 Holcim New Zealand announced that it would start globally sourcing cement into New Zealand and that subsequently the cement plant in Westport would close in 2 - 3 years (mid 2016). This announcement brought certainty for the employees at the plant who had known for a number of years that the plant was to close at some point. With a long lead time to closure and as a major employer in a community in which it had been part of for nearly 60 years, exiting the community and closing the plant responsibly is very important to Holcim.

Talent Acquisition Award 2024, in association with H2R Consulting 

Our team's initiative to combat the candidate shortage was marked by exceptional leadership, meticulous problem analysis and solution development. We emphasized diversity and inclusion and developed innovative solutions such as an Alumni communications channel, internal career pathways advice, and revamped advertising and interview styles, all while staying true to our people values. The result was a significant increase in our candidate pool and a more efficient hiring process. This initiative exemplifies our dedication to innovation, HR leadership, and an inclusive workplace.

Watch the Award Video 

Talent Acquisition Award 2023, in association with Aims Global 

Our ‘Suits me to a T+T’ a digital recruitment campaign was designed to attract some of the world’s best talent. With our borders slammed shut and knowing that the entire consultancy industry would be fishing from the same highly contested pool, we went into bat hard and early, with dynamic web-based domestic and international recruitment campaigns.  

Key to our success was timing – bravely gate-crashing the market ahead of our competitors to build awareness and generate keen interest in what T+T and Aotearoa New Zealand has to offer.

Check out the Award Video

Talent Acquisition Award 2022, in association with Aims Global

Ryman Healthcare’s ‘Pioneers Wanted’ programme won them the Talent Acquisition Award. Talent shortages meant Ryman Healthcare’s talent attraction methods needed to cut through the noise of a busy market and highlight Ryman as an employer of choice. The ‘Pioneers Wanted’ programme resulted in their attractiveness and awareness both increased compared to the year prior, in results of the Randstad Employer Brand Research in 2021.

Talent Acquisition Award 2021, in association with Aims Global 

Summerset Holdings won the Talent Acquisition Award in association with Aims Global for the implementation of their iLearn learning management platform. The Summerset L&D team fast-tracked iLearn, and repurposed it so that new staff could begin their onboarding/ orientation programmes from home while they self-isolated to meet their clinical risk mitigation plans, ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of our people.

Talent Acquisition Award 2020, in association with Aims Global 

At 2degrees, we champion different. We’ve proven that doing things differently both in the market and internally delivers. We welcome different ways of thinking, working and living. We won’t ask our people to fit-in, we encourage them to stretch-out and be themselves, and we support them to do great things and make a real difference through empowerment, flexibility and connection. Our Employer Brand "2degrees, it’s time for something different" showcases what makes us so different – it’s just the norm here but also what makes us such a special place to work. The initiative was designed to help us attract and retain the best people, to show people in an authentic way what it’s like to work here and for our internal people to celebrate us as an employer too.

Talent Acquisition, Development & Management Award 2019, in association with Lee Hecht Harrison 

Fonterra is a global dairy nutrition company owned by 10,500 farmers and their families. We have built our expertise on the legacy of thousands of farmers who have made New Zealand a world leader in dairy. With a can-do attitude and a collaborative spirit, we are a leading dairy exporter with our products reaching 140 markets across 4 continents and we share our product with 1 billion people every day. There are 22,000 people working together to share quality dairy nutrition with the world through our innovative consumer, foodservice and ingredient solutions brands, and our farming and processing operations. 

THRIVE is an innovative and unique learning experience using Serious Gaming for organisational development. Through an online game "Feeding Fareed" and a face to face simulation "Dairy Island Odyssey" learners gain deeper knowledge and understanding of Fonterra's grass to glass journey, understanding the importance of Farmers (Fonterra's owners) through to our end consumers. With greater awareness of complexities across the value chain (from milk to end products) learners transition to the "Game Changer" stage to shift mindset and behaviour to do things differently. Deployment commenced in November 2017 with Fonterra's Lead Team members and direct reports however THRIVE is suitable for all employees.

Award for Talent Development and Management 2018, in association with Lee Hecht Harrison 

We want to ensure Farmlands has the leadership and sales capability to deliver its strategic business transformation goals. To achieve this, Farmlands needed to understand what success looked at a granular level and developed a ‘Good to Great’ framework. This framework defines the essential behaviours, outcomes, qualities and skills that will support Farmlands now and into the future. This work was validated via robust psychometric assessment, to reinforce what competencies we were looking for, while providing a baseline measure of current leadership and sales capability. This framework is now integrated into Farmlands’ talent management and development activities.

Award for Recruitment Excellence 2018, in association with CEB Talent Assessment 

Due to accelerated growth in the prison population Corrections needed to increase its number of Corrections officers to maintain its high operating safety levels. The decentralised recruitment function traditionally recruited 200 Corrections officers a year to cover turnover, emerging forecasts estimated another 600 Corrections officers would be needed to meet operational requirements over the next 12 months. 

In May 2016 a recruitment programme combining custodial and HR management was established to focus efforts on the emerging Corrections officer shortage. This partnership refined the existing recruitment process, utilised technology and raised the profile of the Corrections officer role through innovative advertising methods to exceed targets in reduced timeframes.

Award for Recruitment Excellence 

The recruitment industry has an association with poor candidate care and often a lack of engagement with the industries we serve. We’ve always tried to provide our customers, whether clients or candidates, with the great levels of service they deserve. Our new strategy was formulated to go beyond this to also do our part to change industry perceptions. Our objective was to provide candidates and clients with relevant and useful resources whilst also giving them greater accessibility to our recruiters. We help people find jobs and companies find talent, and we provide both parties with advice to enable them to succeed with their own objectives. 

Talent Development and Management 2017, in association with Lee Hecht Harrison 

The award-winning Leading Retail (NZATD Programme of the Year 2016) may well be the largest leadership development initiative in New Zealand. It is a 3-level suite of 6-month leadership programmes that build together to form a store leadership development pathway. 

In 2015/16, The Warehouse Group has delivered 3360 face to face contact to more than 600 learners and we delivered it without professional trainers or programme managers. The results? Training so aligned to needs that we got the business choosing to increase the rollout process by nearly 400% and at 10% of the cost of an externally provided programme. 

Technology Award 2023, in association with Tomorrow's People 

Six years ago, Tompkins Wake sat down with staff to ask how we could make Tompkins Wake the best possible place to work. Since then, we have become one of New Zealand’s 12 biggest law firms, with over 170 full-time staff. In 2019, we started a major overhaul of HR systems and operations, to ensure they were efficient and fit for purpose. We researched and invested in new software, developed new systems and processes, and generally demonstrated why Tompkins Wake is known as one of New Zealand’s most innovative law firms. 

Check out the Award Video

Technology Award 2022, in association with Complete Learning Solutions

The HR Technology Award was awarded to McDonald’s Restaurants NZ Ltd (McDonald’s) for their use of Maxtel Software to create a seamless experience for employees at all levels. The Maxtel WorkBuddy app, SmartClock and Shift Management Apps enabled Shift Managers to focus on what is happening in the restaurant and collaborating with the team to run a successful shift to ensure consistently high-quality food and service is experienced by their customers, rather than focusing on time keeping and records admin. 

Technology Award 2021, in association with Ceridian 

Vodafone won the Technology Award in association with Ceridian for their Vlife app. The Vlife app was enhanced to reduce disruption during the changing COVID alert levels, additional and innovative functionality was added to Vlife to support the new ways of working. This ensured their teams stayed connected when working remotely and enabled digital management of the health, safety, and wellbeing of their people. 

Technology Award 2020, in association with Ceridian 

The training of frontline Crew is the bedrock of our success. In a fast changing, geographically disperse environment, our challenge was to keep training up to date and consistent across 10,000 staff members. 

Through the Station Training App (STA) we have created a bespoke digital solution that supports the Crew Trainers with the training and verification of our staff. Integrated with our rostering system, the STA also assists with creating intelligent schedules based on availability and now also capability. This is helping to improve morale and productivity by having trained people rostered at the right time to meet demand.

Award for HR Technology 2018, in association with ELMO Talent Management Software

Off the back of rapid expansion, Comvita was experiencing growing pains by late 2015. As a global business, teams were physically displaced, and in recent times, some had become removed from our heritage and founding purpose. The provided the impetus to launch a suite of new HR technology tools, to reconnect staff to our purpose, alleviate communication barriers, and support greater collaboration and information sharing. Each technology solution had a role to play in revitalising our culture. Uptake in these tools has been exceptional, and Comvita is now a more connected and collaborative global village. 

Award for HR Technology in association with ELMO Talent Management 2017

The Warehouse Group (TWG) is a New Zealand success story, founded by Sir Stephen Tindall and grown from The Warehouse; it is the largest general merchandise retailer in NZ. TWG employs over 12,000 people across the country; with a Store Support Office based in Auckland, more than 220 retail stores, 10 online stores as well as distribution and fulfilment centres throughout NZ. 

TWG is a customer led, store focused and people centered business. TWG has a defined, consistent ‘Way of Working’ with clear frameworks and models that apply at a TWG level while each brand remains unique in terms of their brand positioning, culture and strategic goals. 

The Warehouse Group (TWG) implemented an electronic document and signature tool into their recruitment and onboarding process to boost efficiency and slash turnaround times and improve accuracy. The company needed a tool that would allow employments to be generated faster, signed quicker and get new starters set up in a timelier manner. DocuSign was chosen as it could achieve all of those goals as well as provide real time tracking of where the contract was in the process and who the next person was who needed to action it. Turnaround times went from days to hours. 

Award for HR Technology 2016

Zero Harm Reporting Tool For us, new technology makes it easier for our people to proactively make a real difference every day in health and safety. That’s why we actively seek out opportunities to develop smart and innovative tools. It’s about making an arduous process into something that is simple and engaging. The Zero Harm Reporting Tool is an intuitive tool that allows for real-time reporting of health and safety incidents. We can now proactively benchmark health and safety performance and paint a true picture of health and safety trends – making it easier for us to keep our people safe and well every day.

Wellness Programme Award 2024

The founding philosophy of The Strand Veterinarian was “growing our veterinary professionals”.

Owners Dr Justine Alley and Dr Megan Alderson experienced firsthand the detrimental effect a career dedicated to caring had on themselves and their team.

With poor mental health and suicide common in their industry “wellbeing of our people” became a priority as they strived to prevent, protect, and promote their biggest asset, the veterinary professionals caring for the heartbeats at your feet.

With HR leader Amy Raine they developed, implemented, and analysed the effect of a wellness programme suitable for healthcare professionals with outstanding results.

Watch the Award Video 

Best Wellness Programme Award 2023, in association with Southern Cross 

Awhi Oranga is the gifted name for the Employee Support Centre. It was gifted by Dame Naida Glavish, meaning a safe place for our people to come for support. Awhi Oranga promotes a Mātauranga Māori hauora approach to health and wellbeing that supports the welfare and development needs of all our people, particularly our Māori and Pacific and those experiencing hardship, by removing barriers and empowering them in their aspiration to grow and thrive. 

Check out the Award Winner

Best Wellness Programme Award 2022, in association with Southern Cross

FirstGas Limited took out the Wellness Programme Award for their TIGER (Together, Integrity, Grow, Empower, Respect) programme. This initiative has given staff confidence that FirstGas is a place where people care for one another and where wellbeing is a priority, and they have observed a real groundswell of pride in the organisation because of the programme. Their continuous listening survey showed an average 8.4/10 employee score for wellbeing. This included 9.4/10 rating for ‘I feel safe at work’ and a 9.2/10 rating for ‘Someone at work cares about my wellbeing’. 

Best Wellness Programme Award 2021, in association with Southern Cross 

Chorus won the Best Wellness Programme in association with Southern Cross for the overhaul of their wellness programme, to develop a wellbeing support model focussed around Courageous kōrero, a dedicated intranet space, the development of a Mental Fitness Network (monthly support group) and participation in national awareness campaigns such as Pink shirt Day. 

Best Wellness Programme Award 2020, in association with Southern Cross 

LIC is building a culture of care in which their people can grow, thrive and be completely accepted for who they are, providing a strong foundation for performance and innovation. 

They created a health and wellness strategy incorporating physical, mental and social wellbeing and named it ‘Well Aware’. The flagship programme of that strategy, ‘Mental Wellbeing at Work’, is designed to specifically address mental health and wellbeing. They have seen outstanding results and shifts in behaviours, knowledge and employee engagement as a result of this programme, which has only been operating since June 2019.

Health, Safety & Wellbeing Award 2019, in association with Southern Cross 

Every hour of every day, 365 days a year, the New Zealand Defence Force is contributing to the defence, security and well-being of New Zealand. It is our goal to maintain well-trained and equipped armed forces that can react to crisis at short notice. We work in partnership with many other government agencies, helping people and protecting our territory and oceans. The work we do is challenging both physically and mentally, creating an organisation with a broad range of complex risks. Made up of 9000 Regular Forces, 2000 Reservists and 3000 Civilians – together we are a Force for New Zealand. 

We strive to put our people's wellbeing at the centre of everything we do, supporting them to thrive within our unique working environment. Our initiative was a targeted programme of work specifically focussed on improving the mental health and wellbeing of our people. This programme of work turned strategy into tangible outputs: new policies, practices, projects, and accessible tools and resources. This was in response to evidence that our people weren't seeking help when needed, and were experiencing increasing rates of mental ill-health. As a result, we saw improved mental health and wellbeing, as well as an increase in help-seeking behaviours. 

Award for Health Safety and Wellbeing 2018, in association with Southern Cross Health Society 

We recognised the literacy levels and cultural diversity of our people, so Spotless developed the Koru Journey, signifying the passage to engage, educate and foster the health, safety and wellbeing knowledge of our people. The focus of the Koru Journey is to cross the cultural divides by ensuring the new safety practices are grounded and our people understand. The Koru – Is a symbol synonymous with New Zealanders, particularly Māori and Polynesian cultures – the foundation for creating a new safety culture of continuous learning engagement, of health, safety, and wellbeing through the Koru Journey.

Award for Health Safety and Wellbeing 2017, in association with Southern Cross Health Society 

Post Haste Limited is the parent company of Post Haste Couriers, Castle Parcels, NOW Couriers and Pass the Parcel. A nationwide brand with staff totalling in excess of 500 people it has long held the belief that the wellbeing of its employees is paramount to staff retention and is the catalyst in the achievement of a strong performance. The success of the business is solely in the hands of healthy and motivated individuals who feel valued and cared for within the organisation. In this regard Post Haste have strived to provide a safe working environment that also promotes good health and wellbeing. 

"The Movement” was an initiative set up within Post Haste to encourage and motivate staff to help themselves to a life of sustained wellbeing. Many of the tasks within the business are predominantly sedentary and in this regard it was seen as important for the wellbeing of staff to find ways to motivate them into a better healthier lifestyle. The basic goal of “The Movement” is to provide the incentive and the tools to improve their health, wellness and work life balance. We believe this will encourage them to make better choices for the benefit of themselves and their families/whānau. 

Health, Safety and Wellbeing Award 2016

In 2009, acknowledging deteriorating Māori health statistics, employees at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa initiated an internal research project to consider development of a unique wellbeing programme to suit the needs of our people. The result was a holistic wellness model known as Te Punga Oranga. The model focuses on wellness from a holistic point of view and forms the foundation of our wellbeing programme – Tau Ora (positive health and wellbeing). Tau Ora dovetails into other health and safety initiatives run throughout our organisation to encourage fitness and health, to combat workplace injury and illness, and to promote wellness and wellbeing Talent Development Management: Waitemata District Health Board. 

Building Sustainability through People Award 2024, in association with People Ex

From inception in 2000, Hind Management / Sudima Hotels established leadership in environmental sustainability across the New Zealand hospitality and accommodation sector. Now they have extended their commitment to sustainability to meet all 17 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, caring for the planet, their people, guests and communities.

They have done this by ensuring that all their people understand the organisation’s values and setting up employee-led sustainability ‘Care Teams’. Everyone works together to hold one another accountable and everyone has the opportunity to devise new ideas. This has engendered a deep sense of pride and engagement.

Watch the Award Video 

Building Sustainability through People Award 2023, in association with Belle of the Ball 

Mitre 10 is New Zealand's most trusted home improvement and garden retailer. As a Kiwi-owned co-operative, our 84 locally owned and operated stores serve almost every corner of Aotearoa New Zealand, from Kaitāia to Invercargill. 

Our vision is to inspire Kiwi to love where they live, work and play. It enables our commitment to make a real and sustainable impact on our environment, our operations and our communities. As well as reducing the environmental impact of our own operations, our stores and team members (7000+) actively support their communities and customers with solutions to help them live more sustainably too. 

Check out the Award Video

HRNZ Branch of the Year 2023 

In recognition to all HRNZ branches New Zealand wide, what an effort we all have made over what has been yet another challenging year. Our membership body have certainly been well supported through this time.

For the Auckland Committee to be recognised as the branch that has contributed the most would be a great honour. Success in building capability in the HR profession and wider business community, demonstrated on many levels through innovation, network and learning, we hope our members have gained a great deal from our collective efforts. 

HRNZ Branch of the Year 2022

The HRNZ Branch of the Year was awarded to the Otago Branch. This Award recognises the HRNZ Branch that has contributed the most to championing the HR profession in their region, through networking and learning and development opportunities. Judging criteria was based on several factors including Membership Growth, Event growth and number of average events per month. Weighing all these factors, Otago Branch has deservedly won the HRNZ Branch of the Year Award. 

HRNZ Branch of the Year 2021 

Auckland Branch were awarded the HRNZ Branch of the Year for 2021. The Auckland Committee worked tirelessly to continue delivering a variety of quality events online during the COVID-19 lockdown. With a focus on putting faces to names, the Auckland Branch Committee Members created profiles, sharing them to the Auckland LinkedIn group page, to increase the profile of the Committee and provide greater connection with its Members.   

HRNZ Branch of the Year 2020 

Our commitee's mission is to build an inclusive, thriving people-focused community in order to connect, collaborate and communicate. If visiting our beautiful region and would like to connect, please do not hesitate to get in touch. There will always be a warm welcome, usually a warm sunny day and maybe a glass of something Hawke's Bay! 

HRNZ Branch of the Year 2019 

Branch of the Year

The Auckland branch has the largest portion of HRINZ membership (approx. 35%) consisting of 1151 members, made up of 119 professional members (3 life fellows, 8 FRINZ, 9 AFHRINZ, 99 MHRINZ) and 1032 general members. This membership includes 10 grad members and 43 student members. Our committee consists of 13 volunteers and our mission is to assist HOT in executing their strategic plan and elevating the capability and reputation of the HR profession. We're passionate about building better workplaces and better people. We aim to educate, inform, equip and inspire our members to conduct their roles competently, and with confidence. 

Our branch is hugely committed to building the HRM capabilities of our members and has delivered 40+ events this year, with 1290+ registrations. These events have covered a variety of topics (2 Diversity SIGs, 3 Employment Relations SIGs, 2 Executive GM Forums, 2 Health and Safety SIGs, 1 Hot Topic UnSIG, 3 HR Connects, 8 I/O Psychology SIGs, 2 In-house coaching SIGs, 3 Not for Profit SIGs, 2 Recruitment SIGs, Volunteer Engagement Event, 4 Strategic HR SIGs, a Student Event, and #NZLEAD Tweetchat). In October the branch celebrated its 30 year anniversary and we saw this as an opportunity to elevate our profile with our members, supporters, sponsors, volunteers as well as local /business community. To celebrate we ran 11events during the month, along side a social media campaign branded as #HRINZAKL30 The events included; an Open Committee Meeting, a Webinar for new members, a Karate Board Breaking event, a NZHR Awards event, our 30 year Anniversary Celebration: Past, Present Future, a #NZLead tweetchat and a Rugby World Cup coaching event. A strategic goal has been to create compelling events which remain relevant and meet the needs of our members and to continue to review and innovate in this area. Members of our committee attended the ELMO breakfast launch in Auckland and are actively promoting e-learning opportunities for members. We are also excited about the plans we have for the New Year which include an OD Masterclass series, as well as practical employment relations workshops and relaunching the HR Technology SIG. 

HRINZ Branch of the Year 2017

The Wild South branch is in its 22nd year and we continue to provide a number of varied events each year. As a committee, we work hard to try to keep up with the demands of our membership, providing a mix of popular annual events alongside new and different events. Our aim is to listen to our members, hearing their wants and needs, then doing our best to provide what we can to meet these needs whilst still returning a profit to national office. Students are a vital part of our Branch and we strive to also do the best we can by them. 

The Wild South branch has held eight networking events, and four HR cafes this year covering a variety of topics. We have had a percentage of non-HR practitioners attend which has promoted the HRINZ brand outside of HR. We get reasonable student numbers to events which indicate this approach is working. Our student ambassador has worked hard with two of our committee members to promote the HRINZ brand within the University of Otago and the Otago Polytechnic. We intend to continue to build on all of the above as we move into 2017. 

Branch of the Year Award 2016

Our Queenstown based branch was established three years ago and attracts members from all across the Southern Lakes Community. We genuinely support our members by regularly organising events, introducing guest speakers that enable professionals to deal with the unique opportunities that come from working in a tourism and hospitality-based resort town. Our branch has a diverse group of members with a wide range of skills and experience that calibrate in our forums and contribute towards our collective learning and growth. 

HRINZ for several years tried to establish a branch in Queenstown but was not successful. With inspiration and drive from some members at the time, HRINZ Queenstown Southern Lakes was born in November 2012. As we became part of the professional body, a small committee has managed to engage all levels of the community. Providing cost-effective events has enabled us to reach out to smaller businesses that do not have a dedicated HR resource, whilst continuing to strengthen the HR Profession in our non-metro region. We monitor local activity and address key issues at our events. Our commitment to taking on board feedback and proactively responding helps improve our engagement and in the past twelve months we have presented topics such as performance management, employment relations and, psychometric testing, and emotional intelligence. We are about to host our first ‘Special Interest Group’ event with a mediator facilitating a mock mediation from the Employment Relations Authority, in conjunction with Lane Neave. The increase in engagement has directly led to an increase in participants. When the QSL Branch was established in November 2012 there were 25 members. Today the number of members stands at 35. During that time we have also hosted over 500 guests at our events. 

Workforce Experience Programme Award 2019, in association with AskYourTeam 

Downer creates and sustains the modern environment by building trusted relationships with our customers. Downer, Hawkins and Spotless design, build and sustain assets, infrastructure and facilities across the country and have done for over a century. We have a proven history of developing strong partnerships in the communities we work and we are committed to the development and engagement of our people. In New Zealand, we employ over 12,000 people across services including road services, transport infrastructure and solutions, integrated facilities, utilities, ports and airports, defence and non-residential building. 

The In Work Success programme was developed to address a decreasing retention rate for Downer employees who were recruited through our employment programmes. It provides targeted support through the first year of employment to maintain ongoing employment and successfully transition onto a career pathway. We understand that there are a number of external challenges that can cause barriers to ongoing employment and this programme works with candidates to provide whole-of-life support around issues (like literacy, financial or wellness) to reduce the impact on their employment. Since implementing this programme in August 2017, our retention rate has increased by over 15%.

Award for Workplace Engagement Programme of the Year 2017, in association with Gallup 

In 2015 TSB Bank realised it was time to refresh the Bank’s Vision and Mission statement and corporate values. These had been in place since 2005 and no longer aligned with the Banks strategic direction. A decision was made to do this work from the “bottom up”, involving all employees from every level of the organisation. The project, now delivered, has been transformative and has provided a new sense of purpose and direction for employees. The success of the project can be evidenced by employee participation in initiatives associated with the project, engagement survey results, and business performance.  

HR Research Team of the Year 2019 

The nominees comprise a genuine research team assembled to focus on a topic of importance to New Zealand employers, workers and society alike. It originated in 2013 when Massey University agreed to provide funding for three of its Professors (Carr, Parker, Arrow smith) to research employee and employer perspectives and experiences on low pay and the living wage. This study was unique in being multi-disciplinary - drawing on HRM, EmploymentRelations and Psychology expertise - and multi-method, applying quantitative and qualitative techniques through a survey of employees and case studies of organisational practice. It made important theoretical and empirical contributions (see below) and generated a significant number of both academic and practitioner-oriented publications and presentations (attachment 3). 

The success of the study enabled the team to expand (Professors Haar, Hodgetts and Dr. Alefaio-Tugia) and win a prestigious research grant of $835,000 from the Marsden Fund in 2017. The Fund is administered by the RoyalSociety of New Zealand and was established by the Government in 1994 to support excellent fundamental research.Most of its financial support goes to the natural sciences. The Marsden project expands the 'pilot' by (i) making the employee survey nationally representative of lower-to-median earners (ii) repeating the survey over a three-year period with the same panel sample and (iii) emphasising the employer side of the research through a series of sector-level and stakeholder interviews followed by in-depth case studies over time. Important findings are already emerging in the context of tight labour markets and accelerating minimum wage. 

Award for Corporate Social Responsibility 2018 

Downer recognises that identification and development of Māori employees is important to grow future Māori Leaders. Encouraging career development and leadership opportunities ensures that there are role models for young Māori in our business and it helps strengthen the diversity of the Downer leadership team. To support this objective, in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri, Downer established a Māori Leadership Programme, Te Ara Whanake designed to develop Māori leaders at all levels. Te Ara Whanake has progressed from an initial pilot to a well-established, successful programme, with 112 graduates so far and another 75 nominations received for 2018. 

Award for Corporate Social Responsibility 2017

The Warehouse Group’s “Family Violence Is Not Ok” initiative, which is offered in strict confidence, offers up to 10 days of paid leave, to provide domestic violence victims time to attend court, meet with Women’s Refuge or relocate if necessary. The initiative provides unpaid leave for team members to act as a support person for domestic violence and unpaid leave for anyone using violence so that they can seek help such as anger management or counselling. We have developed a training programme to educate the leaders through our business with the skills to support team members in this situation. 

Award for Coorporate Social Responsibility 2016

Asteron Life’s essence is about being positively different; we speak about celebrating life, a philosophy that inspires us to do the best we can in the communities we serve. Our philanthropic obligation to our community is not an empty promise – corporate social responsibility at Asteron Life is genuinely owned by our staff. We don’t have a big team or large budgets to execute our CSR programme, but our people embrace the opportunities offered to them and take ownership for bringing them to life in a way that is meaningful and authentic for them and their local communities. 

HR Business Contribution Award for Small Enterprises/Not-for-Profit 2018 

Our HR initiative was to source and implement a fit for purpose HRIS to enable connected, efficient and effective access of information at the right level and at the right time across the organisation. This would add value by enabling the organisation to effectively record, track, and report on staff located at the ten sites and access up-to-date information in real time. Automated processes would also assist in ensuring consistency and effectiveness of delivery. Enabling staff to check and update their own core routine information would also enable HR to focus on more complex issues. 

HR Business Contribution Award for Small Enterprises / Not for Profit Sector 2017 

Respect, courage and integrity are the behaviours we exhibit every day at Methodist Mission Northern, Airedale Property Tryst and The Lifewise Trusts (The Trusts). We work together to challenge injustices, develop sustainable solutions, cultivate caring communities and promote optimism and hope. As an employer we strive to provide valuable opportunities to develop skills and offer meaningful assignments in a workplace that treats you fairly, resects your dignity and wants your voice to be heard. 

Our accountability framework enables The Trusts to achieve the right balance between empowering our people to operate independently, while ensuring that we deliver in line with the expectations of the community. 

Award for Outstanding Workplace 2018 

Lion Way For Change  

In our complex and changing world to be successful Lion needs to be changing faster than its customers, consumers and competitors. Lion has to grow it people’s capacity and capability for change to act fast, focus on progress not perfection, co-create with internal and external stakeholders, and build an environment where its people thrive through change.  

Lion supported this aspiration through the development of new human centred, behaviour based Lion Way For Change to give people the skills and self-awareness to become great change leaders, increase their personal capacity for change.

Award for Workforce Engagement Programme of the Year 2018 

In 2016 Mercury began an internal culture change and engagement programme - improving employee experience, and that of our customers, owners and communities. 

We aligned the different parts of our business with a new brand, new direction and a common purpose – to inspire New Zealanders to enjoy energy in more wonderful ways. 

We’ve created a movement that has delivered these commercial outcomes: 

• Our highest ever levels of employee engagement 
• Our highest ever levels of customer satisfaction 
• The best customer churn rate amongst the top 5 retailers 
• The highest increase in customer numbers in market 
• Our highest ever share price!