The Great Place To Work survey enables employees to share confidential quantitative and qualitative feedback about their organisation’s culture and impact on its community by responding to 60 statements on a 5-point scale and answering two open-ended questions.
Through the survey, employees tell us whether leaders are accessible, communicate honestly and clearly, and if their actions match their words. They tell us whether they feel respected as individuals, if they receive training benefits, appreciation, support for their well-being and opportunities to contribute. They tell us whether they believe their company is fair related to pay, profits, promotions, recognition, favouritism and opportunities. They tell us if they are proud of their work, their team, and their company and if they feel they make a difference, and their work is meaningful. And they tell us whether they enjoy the people they work with, feel cared for and can be themselves.
List rankings are based on this employee feedback, which we analyse to determine the extent to which this experience is shared by the full workforce. Great Place To Work measures the differences in survey responses across demographic groups and roles within each organization to assess both the quality and consistency of the employee experience.
Surveys must meet strict requirements for how they are distributed and the percentage of employees who respond to ensure they accurately represent honest feedback from the company’s full population.
The Best Workplaces™ in New Zealand 2026 are leading organisations that achieved the strongest results in confidential employee feedback and met the list eligibility requirements.
Eligible organisations are assessed using results from the Trust Index™ Survey (confidential employee feedback). Rankings consider the strength and consistency of their employees’ experiences across different roles and demographic groups.
The Trust Index™ Survey measures employees’ experiences across five key areas: credibility, respect, fairness, pride and camaraderie.
Yes. The rankings are primarily determined by confidential feedback from employees about their day-to-day workplace experience. Individual responses are not shared with employers.
At least 65% of employees must consistently report a positive experience at their organisation for it to earn Great Place To Work Certification™.
No. Certification makes an organisation eligible for consideration, but only the highest-performing eligible organisations earn a place on the Best Workplaces™ list.
Certification confirms that an organisation has met the 65% employee experience threshold. The Best Workplaces™ list goes further by recognising the highest-performing Certified organisations that meet the relevant list requirements.
