The Best Workplaces in New Zealand are keeping their people through a tough year with an asset that rarely appears on the balance sheet: pride. Our data shows that staff who are proud to tell their friends where they work are the ones most likely to stay.
It has been a hard year to love your job. Unemployment reached 5.6% in the June 2026 quarter, and prices have been rising faster than pay. When budgets tighten, culture programs are often the first line someone circles in red pen.
Then you read what a team member at Freedom’s Moorhouse store had to say about going to work.
“I love the people that I work with, a team of people who, outside of work, I may never have crossed paths with. I may never have shared a laugh, learnt something new or exchanged stories with them, and that is special.”
Team member · Freedom Moorhouse store
What does pride look like at the Best Workplaces in New Zealand?
In the most basic sense, pride comes out in what people say about their workplaces after hours. Great Place To Work’s 2026 data shows 92.5% of employees at New Zealand’s Best Workplaces agree “I’m proud to tell others I work here”, against 60.0% at typical workplaces.
The downside is steep. Among employees who strongly disagreed with that statement, 38% were very unlikely to say they intend to stay.
PR, Events & Influencer Manager, Rebecca O’Hearn of Freedom Furniture New Zealand, says the big challenge for people leaders in 2026 is building a workplace people want to stay in while the future feels uncertain. Her answer starts with what a job does for someone’s sense of self.
“Work can play an important role in how people see themselves. It can be a place where they discover their strengths, build confidence, express their creativity and form relationships with people they may never otherwise have met.”
Rebecca O’Hearn · PR, Events & Influencer Manager, Freedom Furniture New Zealand
At Freedom, that involves a surprising amount of furniture-based sport. The “Sofa Olympics” put a different sofa in the spotlight through a series of team challenges. Product training became a competition, and staff came out knowing the range well enough to talk about it with confidence on the shop floor.
The “Off the Charts” competition raised the stakes. Its top-performing store manager represented Freedom at the Global Innovation Awards in Chicago, where the business attended as New Zealand’s Best Retailer. Try matching that with a movie voucher.
The pride shows up in how store leaders talk about their own jobs. Here is Freedom’s Westgate store manager:
“I come to work at Freedom because I enjoy leading my team and creating a great experience for our customers. I’m motivated by achieving results, developing my people and making our store the best it can be.”
Store Manager · Freedom Westgate
The wider data follows the same line. At New Zealand’s Best Workplaces, 89.5% of employees feel pride in what they accomplish, and 87.8% feel they make a difference.
See all 25 Best Workplaces in New Zealand
How do the Best Workplaces in New Zealand manage change?
Melanie Barnett, General Manager, People & Culture at Flight Centre (NZ), which joined the list for the first time this year, describes life in travel as “constant, layered change”.
Geopolitical disruption, new privacy and security rules, shifting traveller expectations and AI all land on the same people, while the business itself keeps transforming. Flight Centre’s answer is to count.
“We take a portfolio approach, looking at the cumulative impact of change on our people and how much change they are being asked to absorb at any one time across our brands and pillars.”
Melanie Barnett · General Manager, People & Culture, Flight Centre (NZ)
In practice, a roadmap of change tells people where the business is heading and why. After each major change, leaders run feedback workshops comparing the plan with what happened and what they would do differently. The Great Place To Work survey doubles as an ongoing listening tool, feeding targeted action plans.
AI gets the same treatment. The AI Teammates program uses real, role-specific examples to show staff how AI can help their daily work, and a “How I AI” series has employees showing colleagues what they use it for. A colleague’s worked example tends to land better than a policy document.
The results show in tenure. Barnett says average tenure at Flight Centre (NZ) is nine years, and more than 40% of employees have been there longer than ten.
Hotels run on a different clock. Marriott International, ranked fourth among medium and large organisations, keeps a steady rhythm of quarterly town halls and daily departmental briefings. New associates get 30-Day First Impressions conversations, and staff on overnight shifts are invited to Early Bird Breakfast sessions. Bikesh Sherchan, HR Assistant & Manager at Marriott Auckland says associates adapt best when they understand why something is changing and how it affects them.
The breakfasts matter more than they sound. Night-shift workers often hear news second-hand, hours after the day team. A regular sit-down with leaders closes that gap and gives them a place to ask the awkward question directly.
The welcome conversations echo one of the report’s highest scores: 91.6% of respondents agree “When you join the company, you are made to feel welcome”.
Read The Best Workplaces in New Zealand Report
How do New Zealand’s best employers build wellbeing into the work week?
They put it inside working hours. Flight Centre’s in-house program, Healthwise, gives employees a paid Hour of Empowerment each week to spend on their health, whether that means exercise, a counselling appointment, mindfulness, volunteering or time with others. Leaders are trained to spot when someone may need help.
“Rather than expecting employees to prioritise wellbeing outside of work hours, we intentionally build it into the workday.”
Melanie Barnett · General Manager, People & Culture, Flight Centre (NZ)
Marriott takes its people outside. Associates join Global Running Day, the annual Road to Give charity event and regular mental health walks, and some of its hotels offer complimentary gym access.
“Whether we are walking, running, fundraising, or simply spending time together, these shared experiences strengthen our culture and help associates feel valued, connected, and proud to be part of Marriott New Zealand.”
Bikesh Sherchan · HR Assistant & Manager at Marriott, Marriott New Zealand
How does workplace pride pay off for employers?
Great Place To Work ANZ’s 2026 report found 83.6% of employees at New Zealand’s Best Workplaces want to work there for a long time, against 56.3% at typical workplaces.
Proud staff also do some of your recruiting. At the Best Workplaces, 86.4% would strongly endorse their employer to friends and family, against 54.1% at typical workplaces.
Across all 60 Trust Index™ statements, the Best Workplaces averaged 86.4%, against 57.8% at typical organisations and 80% at Great Place To Work Certified™ organisations.
| Measure | Best Workplaces | Typical workplaces |
|---|---|---|
| Proud to tell others I work here | 92.5% | 60.0% |
| Want to stay long term | 83.6% | 56.3% |
| Would strongly endorse employer | 86.4% | 54.1% |
| Trust Index™ average | 86.4% | 57.8% |
What can other employers learn from New Zealand’s Best Workplaces?
Four habits from this year’s list travel well to almost any organisation.
Count the change load before adding more
Flight Centre tracks every initiative landing on a team and shares one view of capacity across leaders.
Give the night shift face time with leaders
Marriott’s Early Bird Breakfasts put overnight associates in the room with the people making decisions.
Turn product training into a team game
Freedom’s Sofa Olympics built staff confidence that customers could hear on the shop floor.
Explain how pay decisions are made
Pay is the lowest-scoring area in the 2026 report, so clarity on how it is set is a practical first step.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Best Workplaces in New Zealand 2026?
The Best Workplaces™ in New Zealand 2026 list recognises organisations with the highest-trust cultures, based on confidential feedback from 12,256 employees surveyed by Great Place To Work. Organisations are ranked in two categories: small, and medium and large. Hilton topped the medium and large category, and realestate.co.nz topped the small category. Specsavers and Roche Products (New Zealand) placed second. Every ranking comes from what employees report, with no judging panel involved.
How does Great Place To Work choose the Best Workplaces in New Zealand?
Great Place To Work chooses the Best Workplaces in New Zealand using its Trust Index™ Survey, which employees complete anonymously. The survey has 60 statements covering camaraderie, credibility, fairness, pride and respect, and the Trust Index™ score is the average positive response. In 2026, the Best Workplaces averaged 86.4%, against 57.8% at typical organisations. Great Place To Work Certification™ makes an organisation eligible for the list when the relevant criteria are met.
What makes employees want to stay at a company?
Pride is the strongest predictor of whether employees choose to stay with a company long term. An independent study of 140,251 employee responses from 682 organisations in 2025 and 2026 found pride accounted for 25.8% of the factors influencing intention to stay, more than any other Trust Index™ theme. At the Best Workplaces in New Zealand, 83.6% of employees want to work there for a long time, against 56.3% at typical workplaces.
