Top Place to Work, Great Place to Stay

Top Place to Work, Great Place to Stay

Wellington’s James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor, with 180 full-time staff, has been named the best medium to large workplace in New Zealand, in the 2007 Unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work in New Zealand survey1 (subs held on Thursday 28 February in Auckland). The award comes during the week the hotel celebrates the 36th anniversary of its opening and was one of the first international hotels in New Zealand at that time.

Hotel general manager for the last seven years, John Primmer, says staff have always been key to the James Cook’s success.

“We work hard at breaking down the hierarchy that exists in a business this large. We want staff to come to work each day and be part of the process of running a successful business and have fun while doing it.

“We involve them in all business decisions, so they know why and how they can help us achieve objectives,” said John Primmer

John Primmer says staff retention is important and the James Cook Hotel Grand Chancellor has one of the lowest staff turnovers in the hospitality sector, significant in such a tight labour market.

“The respect and understanding that exists between staff and management is key to retaining staff. Their knowledge of our business and of customer requirements and expectations is as important to the hotel’s success as is its recent $7million building refurbishment.
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1 The Unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work Survey is New Zealand’s largest annual survey of employee attitude and opinion. In 2007, 207 organisations and over 22,500 employees participated.

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