Attitude Is Key To Workplace Win

27 November 2008
News release

Attitude Is Key To Workplace Win

Southern Cross Travel Insurance (owned and operated by Southern Cross Benefits Limited) has won both the small workplace category and the overall category in the Unlimited/JRA “Best Places to Work in New Zealand” awards.

The awards are based on the largest employee engagement survey in New Zealand involving some 217 organisations and more than 37,000 employees who respond to 60 questions about their employer and their working environment.

Southern Cross Travel Insurance was a finalist in 2007 and Benefits Limited CEO, Craig Morrison says this year’s win reflects the company’s determination to not only improve year-on-year but at least remain in the top ten.

“We are proud of this result and it’s great to know that we can provide a workplace which encourages a lot of passion and engagement. It’s wonderful to win, but really this is not about being in a competition, it’s about being committed to having a culture which lets people do well.”

The company, which sells travel insurance policies, predominantly on-line, scored 98.2% agreement from its employees on the question “I would recommend this organisation as a great place to work”. It also scored in the high nineties on question such as “I feel I am working for a successful organisation”, “This organisation is a fun place to work”, “This organisation cares about the well being of its people” and “We celebrate success”.

“Our top scores relate to what’s important to people. We have core values our people can connect with, we celebrate success all the time and we make sure everyone has a clear sense of our direction and how they contribute to our success. We address any mistakes very quickly and support the staff in learning from these. Really it’s about doing an infinite number of small things, really well, every single day,” says Mr Morrison.

“What was really encouraging is that even in our lowest rating responses, none of the scores were below 80% which suggests we’re doing something right.”

He said a strong sense of teamwork and commitment gave Southern Cross Travel Insurance an advantage in a fiercely competitive market.

“We always promote from within and when we hire any new team members our number one priority is attitude. You can teach people technical skills, but not attitude.

“We have a strong brand but it’s the team behind it that gives that brand credibility with our customers. We work hard on building that team, developing their skills and providing them with the resources to perform. We find that happy people are productive – this is evident by our current business growth.”

- ends -

© Scoop Media