Appeal of public sector drops as economy picks-up

Appeal of public sector drops as economy picks-up

Department of Conservation bucks the trend within the public sector

15 June, 2015: As stability returns to many industries in New Zealand, the Public sector is increasingly becoming less appealing to potential employees.

The Randstad Award employer branding research shows that the attractiveness of the public sector has declined for the third consecutive year. When asked, only 25.83% of respondents said they would like to work for organisations in the sector, a substantial drop from 28.93% in 2013, and down from last year’s result of 26.03%.

Country Manager of Randstad New Zealand, Brien Keegan, believes the drop in attractiveness of the public sector can be explained by changes in New Zealand’s economy.

“At the height of the Global Financial Crisis, many potential employees believed the public sector could provide long-term job security at a time when many industries within the private sector were facing cut-backs. As a result, we saw an increase in the attractiveness of the sector with many people actively pursuing roles in the public sector over those in the private sector.”

Despite a drop in attractiveness, a public sector organisation won this year’s Randstad Award, which recognises the most attractive employer in New Zealand. The Department of Conservation moved from their third place ranking last year to take home the supreme award, beating off strong opposition from last year’s winner, TVNZ, who came in second place and the New Zealand Customs Service in third place.

The research found that the Department of Conservation scored very highly when it came to providing a pleasant working atmosphere, good work-life balance, interesting job content and being environmentally and socially aware.

"The Department of Conversation has set the benchmark for the private and public sector alike, in New Zealand's employer brand landscape,” says Brien Keegan.

“A natural connection to corporate social responsibility, strong leadership, and an opportunity to contribute to the prosperity of New Zealand, has proven to be a winning combination in the market, enabling the organisation to attract the best talent.”

The Department of Conservation’s CEO, Lou Sanson, believes the success of his organisation can be attributed to the work done by Department of Conservation rangers and commercial partnerships.

“We are very pleased to be this year’s Randstad Award winners and believe our success is due to the brand recognition garnered by our frontline rangers and commercial partnerships. Having worked with Air New Zealand and Genesis Energy, we have leveraged their strong brands for our benefit.

“Essentially, the Department of Conservation’s brand is about Kiwi’s connection to nature and we have partnered with brands that are able to communicate our message in a commercially savvy way and attractive to potential employees.”

In spite of a drop in attractiveness during the past few years, the public sector still has many appealing attributes for potential employees. The research, from HR and recruitment experts Randstad, found that the public sector scored highly when it came to showing concern for the environment and society, providing long-term job security and good training.

The research also revealed that North Islanders are more interested in the public sector than their South Island counterparts, as are those with a Master’s degree or higher.

Five years since the first Randstad employer survey was undertaken, the most important criteria for New Zealanders when choosing an employer continues to be salary and employee benefits, according to 21% of respondents. This was followed by pleasant working atmosphere (10%), good work-life balance (10%), long-term job security (12%) and interesting job content (11%).

– ENDS –

© Scoop Media