2024 saw record rates of both unemployment and the number of people leaving NZ, as business confidence took a dive. This, along with a lack of placements on offer meant that employees tended to stay where they were, rather than seeking out new employment opportunities.
As we head through the first quarter of 2025, business confidence seems to be heading in a positive direction. This is reflected by an increase in advertised employment positions. This means that the power is starting to shift back to employees in the employment landscape.
Whether you are looking to retain your valuable team members or attract new talent, there are several approaches you can take, aside from salary or wages to remain an employer of choice. And probably a mixture of tactics is best.
Some Possibilities include:
Providing employees additional benefits; this could be something like a discounted health insurance policy, private use of a business vehicle, birthday leave, employee share schemes or as simple as chocolates on a Friday.
Offering a work / life balance, with flexibility to work around commitments outside of work; this could mean offering the option to complete their fortnightly hours in nine days, then having the tenth day off or the opportunity to start late or finish early on a particular day each week; it could also mean offering a hybrid work environment, where the employee works part of the week from the work premises and part of the week remotely.
Offering career development opportunities; depending on your industry this could mean on-the-job training, in house staff training, paid time off to attend courses or mentorship.
Creating and maintaining a positive work environment and culture; this could be encouraging two-way communication and seeking feedback from your team through employee engagement surveys, then responding with appropriate actions, setting and maintaining expectations around workplace behaviour or having fun together at social events. It could also mean implementing sustainable or socially responsible policies in the business, to align with employee values.
Gaining employee loyalty through transparency; this could be achieved by sharing your business strategy and goals with your team or helping your team to understand the reasons behind the business decisions that you make; it could also mean setting up a bonus or reward system that links employee performance to the business performance.
Supporting individuals’ well-being; some examples include providing sick or wellness leave above the minimum required in the Holidays Act, offering counselling through an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP), participating in team fitness events or providing monthly in-house massages.
Another powerful and sometimes under utilised option is providing positive feedback or praise. This is a low-cost alternative and according to multiple business studies, improves motivation, boosts confidence and helps employees to feel valued and engaged with their workplace.
The Gottman Ratio (developed by John Gottman, a US professor) suggests the optimum ratio for good relationships is five positive interactions for every negative one. This means that we need to praise or give compliments to our team members five times as often, as we provide negative feedback.
For maximum impact successes and achievements need to be recognised with feedback soon after they occur, so the experience is still fresh in everyone’s minds.
It is important to be specific in your feedback, clarifying what was achieved, why you appreciated it and how it impacted others, such as team members or customers.
Where possible, providing positive feedback in person, rather than by email adds authenticity to the comment and ensures the intended emotion is conveyed. Recognising and sharing the success with the wider team sets higher standards for excellence within the team.
Often our teams are a mix of different generations, and some generations respond more strongly to praise than others. Studies have shown that the majority of Gen Y (born between 1980 and 1994) and Gen Z (born between 1995 – 2009) employees, not only want, but expect to receive positive feedback in their work environment.
As employment opportunities increase in the marketplace, challenge yourself to look for the positive and let your employees know how you appreciate them.
