Hays New Zealand jobs & employment blog

Whether it’s just for the evening, the weekend or you’re taking a well-deserved break on holiday, it can be hard to stop the never-ending to-do list whizzing through your mind. If you find it hard to relax and let go of work when you leave the office, you’re not on your own. We’re ever more connected these days and with the ability to check email from anywhere and the temptation to remotely...

2020 has been a year of disruption like no other. The devastating bushfires that ravaged over 18 million hectares of Australia were swiftly followed by COVID-19, the worst pandemic in recent history. Tragedy and turmoil trailed in its wake. But this crisis also forced us to pivot, innovate and adopt solutions that may otherwise have taken years to achieve.    In the world of...

Most employers understand the importance of a strong value proposition in attracting top permanent staff, but far fewer consider it to be a vital element when attracting contractors. Yet with organisations becoming more agile and utilising more contract and temporary staff than ever, a strong value proposition is exactly what’s required if you are to attract non-permanent employees when you...

Neurodiverse employees bring significant benefits to an organisation. Yet figures show that a large percentage of adults with brain differences are being left out of the workforce. But by understanding and accommodating the needs of neurodiverse talent, employers can foster a more diverse, inclusive and successful organisation.   Equality, diversity and inclusion, or ED&I, have...

Employee monitoring can benefit both an organisation and its staff – provided it is implemented sensitively. With organisations increasingly monitoring their employees, and more workers now open to it, what steps do you need to take to ensure you get employee monitoring right?    From their keystrokes and browsing history to their brainwaves and emotions, organisations are...

2020 has been a long and tumultuous year. It’s also been a year of disruption like no other – with more still to come as employers begin to call staff back to the physical workplace after months spent working remotely. Returning to the workplace after COVID-19 can be a daunting process for employees, but it’s also one that can be eased with a thoughtful approach to ensure your people return...

As organisations enter the next, very different, era of work, you need the right people to succeed and thrive. After all, both organisations and people have changed because of Covid-19, so now, more than ever, you need to ask the right interview questions to secure top candidates in the next era of work.  Following are five interview questions to ask candidates to determine if they...

Equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace is a hot topic today, so much so that jobseekers actively look for employers who value it. Yet many organisations find that various recruitment obstacles thwart their progress and hinder their commitment to creating a genuinely equal, diverse and inclusive workplace.   Luckily, there are deliberate, practical measures you can apply...

The COVID-19 pandemic has created many challenges for employers but supporting mental health in the workplace, and in particular employees who are struggling, has perhaps been one of the most complex.  From anxiety over their physical health to loneliness while working remotely, many people have experienced additional mental strain in 2020. In fact, according to findings in our Hays...

Equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace remain high on the agenda of organisations as we transition to the next era of work. Despite COVID-19 headwinds, the continued rise of progressive movements such as Black Lives Matter and resulting demonstrations around the world have brought the issue of equality, diversity and inclusion, or ED&I, firmly to the fore and shone a...

To say that 2020 hasn’t turned out the way we were expecting would be the understatement of the century. Needing no introduction at this point, the COVID-19 outbreak is the single biggest disruption of a generation. While different countries are at different stages of this pandemic, personal circumstances continue to play a huge role in each individual’s experience. We have all lost...

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers took swift action to create a mentally healthy workplace – often while simultaneously navigating the challenges of an entirely remote workforce for the first time. Now, as workplaces adopt a hybrid model, in which they combine remote and onsite working, employers again need to face the challenge of how to care for the mental health and...

Interrupted education. Internships withdrawn. Cancelled graduation ceremonies. First job offers retracted. First jobs furloughed. First jobs completely lost. The COVID-19 crisis has robbed many of the younger generation - those just on the cusp of starting their professional lives - of experiencing so many of life’s important milestones. It has disrupted the very rhythm of their lives, and,...

The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed today’s world of work. Along with remote and hybrid working, perhaps the greatest impact has been on hiring intentions and the skills now sought by employers. The IT sector in Australia and New Zealand has been strong for several years. Driven by business transformations and the adoption of new technology, there have been candidate shortages...

Shaking hands enthusiastically before a face-to-face meeting, sharing pens to scribble down ideas during a brainstorming session, bonding with our colleagues whilst taking part in a team building session. These are all innately human social interactions that we wouldn’t have thought twice about doing before the pandemic hit. In our pre-COVID working world, it was interactions like these that...

In light of recent events, it’s easy to forget that performance review season is fast approaching. Most managers have spent the last few months grappling firstly with the logistics of moving their entire team to a remote working model, followed quickly by determining how best they could manage this remote workforce. Before we knew it, the pendulum began to swing back, and the focus shifted to...

We are in highly uncertain and challenging times – times that none of us could have predicted. It is precisely because of this unpredictability that leaders and managers must start preparing now for what is likely to be a very different tomorrow. As our CEO, Alistair Cox has discussed, part of this preparation involves investing in the development of your most important asset – your people....

There are certain times when employee motivation is easier to achieve than others. If your organisation has recently been forced to reduce headcount, it’s understandable that remaining staff may feel anxious and worried about their future. Knowing how to motivate employees during such times is crucial to bringing them together and keeping them focused. This will help to maintain peak...

If there’s one thing social distancing measures have shown us, it’s that a large percentage of the workforce can work productively and successfully from home. The traditional perspective that people must be physically present in one set workplace during standard business hours has been turned on its head. Scepticism has been replaced with a new-found awareness that output, performance and...

With restrictions around the world beginning to slowly ease, and home working set to become more normalised, many leaders have understandably been wondering how their teams will operate post-crisis. Much of the answer to this question is currently unclear. However, it seems inevitable that many organisations will adopt more flexible working policies, allowing at least an element of home...