The Securities Commission is an independent crown entity under the Securities Act 1978. It is New Zealand's main regulator of investments. Our purpose is to strengthen confidence in New Zealand's capital markets, both in New Zealand and overseas, by promoting: the efficiency of these markets, the integrity of these markets, the cost-effective regulation of these markets, and thereby to foster capital investment in New Zealand.

 

 

 

Currently we have 42 staff of which 27 are female and 15 are male. Our ethnic makeup is 78% NZ European, 17% Asian and 5% Maori. We have one disabled staff member. Our senior team is comprised of two females and five males. We have four senior professionals of which three are female and one is male. Our Board has four male members and six female members. The chairperson is female. As far as we know we are the only Crown entity board with this level of female representation.

 

 

 

Both political change and leadership change contributed towards the Commission’s move to be a ‘good employer’. From 1999, the Labour led government commenced a program of Securities law reforms. The reform program gave more functions and responsibilities to the Commission. This meant that the staff of 15 was likely to increase to 50 over the coming years. We also underwent significant changes in leadership with Jane Diplock our Executive Chairman appointed in September 2001 and Sanjiv Jetly our General Manager appointed in April 2002.

 

 

 

Going forward from July 2002 and knowing we were undergoing change, we made a positive decision to be a ‘good employer’. As a consequence of this decision we have developed 8 initiatives that make up our ‘good employer’ programme. This programme was not defined from the start; rather it has evolved to become what it is today. Commitment bought from the top by our new leadership was instrumental in developing and implementing these initiatives.

 

 

 

 

This included 100% staff involvement in developing the vision, values & strategic plan and in identifying & formalising culture. We sought to build on our existing strengths and introduce some new elements.

 

This included changing to a flexible team’s structure rather than previous flat structure, increased internal communications, introducing a performance management framework and making celebrating success a priority.

 

This centred around our need for larger premises. We involved staff from the start with a survey for preferred type of office space in which staff opted for individual offices. Staff got to visit two building options before the new location was decided. People were kept informed on renovations and the move was well organised with prompt attention to issues. As we outgrew our IT (information, technology & communications) we also chose to reinvest and modernise this system.

 

This includes health checks, flu vaccinations and tablets and OSH workplace assessments. We also provide fresh fruit every Monday.

 

This includes stress risk assessments and an Employee Assistance Program which provides confidential counselling.

This includes reasonable expectations on workloads, enabling staff to work remotely from home and flexible hours that help staff fit childcare and elder care around work. Staff on maternity leave retain email and social contact.

 

This includes morning and afternoon tea every day, drinks most Fridays, quiz nights, informal dinners, Christmas function and sponsoring sports team and fun runs.

 

The Commission’s growing functions and powers meant we had to identify our future skill requirements. This exercise settled the context and targets for staff development. We now have 100% uptake in training and development plans that cover professional and personal goals. We have formal annual reviews and informal ongoing reviews. Our % of payroll spent on training and development places us in top 10% of NZ employers.

 

 

 

 

The Unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work Survey is New Zealand's largest annual employee satisfaction survey. Last year 197 New Zealand organisations took part. It is a confidential online survey where individual responses cannot be accessed by management. Finalists are then named as the Top Twenty best places to work in New Zealand. In 2004 we entered the survey to gauge how we were doing and identify our strengths and weaknesses. We saw this as a great avenue to help us continue developing as a ‘good employer’.

 

We entered with some trepidation unsure how the Commission would fare. We were all delighted when we were rated in the Top 20 Best Places to Work. We were the first Crown Entity to gain this recognition since the survey started in 2000. We celebrated with staff and published the result on our website, in The Bulletin and Annual Report and hung the certificate on our staffroom wall. Our Top Twenty rating is always referred to by applicants for jobs and has been very useful for us in recruitment during this period of labour shortage.

 

Scoring so well in 2004 set us a benchmark. Last October we completed the 2005 survey. We were thrilled to hear that we came in as the number two best small organisation to work in.

 

 

 

A large part of our journey towards our goal of being a ‘good employer’ has been consulting with staff. We are lucky that since we are a small organisation it is relatively easy to consult everyone.

 

One exercise we have done consulting all staff was deciding what improvements to focus on after we received our survey results. After the 2004 survey we asked staff to look at the results in their teams and to come up with the three areas that they felt we should work on for the coming year. We analysed what the teams said and identified the three prominent themes for the coming year. After the 2005 survey we reported back on the work done in the areas chosen and started the same process again. We now have three areas that we are working on for the current year.

 

Consultation happens here on both a formal and an a informal basis. Consultation after the survey was formal. It was also formal when we all met together to write the strategic plan. And when we chose office layout and building options. Less formal consultation also occurs, for example when organising social events or new office initiatives. Emails are often sent asking people on what their preferences are. In addition we believe one of the best forms of consultation is simply asking people what they think, for example after health checks we will ask people how they found them, where they useful, should we keep doing them etc. Asking people for feedback in a casual one on one conversation gives a good gauge of whether certain initiatives are what staff want. It also opens the door for feedback on other issues as it fuels an ‘open door’ culture where staff know that there feedback is valued and appreciated.

 

 

 

Being a ‘good employer’ is much more than having a good program. Creating a workplace culture where everyone can have their say and there is a perception that management listens and cares is invaluable. Between the two surveys our overall percentage performance index score rose by 10. It wasn’t the program that had changed significantly but the perception that management was doing all they could with the resources they had to make this a great place to work.

 

For us becoming and sustaining our ‘good employer’ status is a continuous goal and process. We are hoping that the work we have done to improve in areas highlighted by the 2004 survey will show when the rankings are announced for the 2005 survey. The ‘good employer’ goal is one that we intend to continue working on indefinitely.

 

 

 

Back to 'What is a 'good employer'?'

Back to the Crown Entities Guidance index page