[stu70]

I am wondering how the work environment in NZ compares with the work culture you left behind. I am curious to know how the tasks are handled (is the emphasis on team work or are people expected to come up with the solutions on their own) and how do you find the work culture in general. Regards

[Sam B]

Well, I am working for the Minestry of Education, and there are some things that have really shocked me, and some things I like a lot. The biggest shock is the attitude to record keeping here, and this is probably because NZ is (not yet) a litigious society. In the Uk, I worked for the NHS, and there was a HUGE emphasis on accurate, non-judgemental running records for each client, all in black pen, all dated, timed and signed. Strict rules about how to correct mistakes, and recording permission to share information etc. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the "records" here, some written on file paper, all colours of pen, often not dated or signed. I even had some notes in a file written on the back of an advert for a helicopter ride over the Huka falls!!!

This was a complete pain, because I was taking over someone else's caseload, and I could not work out what the therapy goals were for each child, or even what their diagnisis was. The state of the files gave me the shakes.

On the other hand, the NHS were not exactly kind employers. I had been living with the threat of redundancy for a year, and they STILL owe me back pay dated to October 2005 due to changes under Agenda For Change. My new employers do not like me to work past 4.30pm, have better funding, and paid my relocation expenses promptly. They are more relaxed - you don't spend your whole life worrying that you are going to do something wrong and get in trouble.

The accommodation is also better, and they love to have tea breaks, and see it as a right! I also never have to use my own car for work travel, so we've only had to buy one car.

It's more relaxed, and that can be a good thing, but sometimes also not so good. Relaxed can mean complacent.

[suebeenz]

Hi stu, I can't really comment on this since I don't have a job here, but I'll comment anyhow. :laugh

From the people that I've spoken to and observed, it seems like it's more of a 'cog in the wheel' atmosphere, but on the upside, the culture does feel a lot more 9->5. I'm sure experience will vary greatly between employers though.

I hope you land somewhere fun, and will be able to soon be able to recount stories of an employer that supports professional development, empowerment, and 'beer fridays' at work. :cheers

[stu70]

Thanks Sam B and suebeenz. I sure hope to be in a position to share lots of stories about workplaces with you all. I got a kick out of notes on the back of an ad! :laugh ..But it also makes me comfortable in some weird way; perhaps (and just perhaps) the employers are not that anal there as North Americans. There is nothing wrong with a flexible approach to a task on hand. Not always do you need to be high strung and uptight, there is always a human side to every work place and unfortunately we have forgotten that here.
I now find myself in the fortunate position of trying it out for real. I am all for a less "robotic" and "work is not your life" approach to living. Regards

[SarahEDH]

I work for a mid-sized NZ branch of a US-based multinational corporation. Very little trickle-down from the US in terms of company culture, which is refreshing in some ways. They openly celebrated Easter with company-generated holiday emails, hot cross buns, chocolate eggs left on desks, etc. You don't see that in San Jose every day ;) I'm buddhist but happily chewed through the goodies like everybody else.

Most notable difference is behavior -- open use of swear words, including the f-bomb and others that made George Carlin's list. And having conversations, in an open cube area, that probably belong in the pub on a girls' night out and not the work place.

[ElizabethD]

I work with comapanies overseas from a home office, but my husband has had two employers here since we arrived. My husband is not even American--but they seem to think his accent is which makes us giggle. Anyway, his first employer was extremely rigid. We were absolutley shocked. No new ideas were welcomed...in fact, evey time he offered suggestions to the ownership (he was a manager) he found them very defensive. he was basically told "well maybe that's how they do it in America.... He found all the people in that organization to be suffering from an acute inferiority complex. And as for rigid--they told him he had to let them know if he was going to use the mens restroom across the corridor!

His current employer is much more pleasant--but they make him work 6 days a week and do not pay overtime. They are very lax with record keeping and promises made. he says the swearing is like nothing he has ever heard before(he's no prude) and just the other day they were showing Borat on the plasma display which is in the office!

What I don't like is that everyone asks for your date of birth when you apply for a job. There is so much room for abuse and discrimination-he has felt it being prematurely gray.My husband had an interview where they asked him if he was a muslim because he would not fit in if he wouldn't have a drink with them! That is perfectly legal. In short--employment law has not evolved here.

[Trigirl]

i don't know who told you that was legal but its not - its a direct breach of the Human Rights Act 1993 which prohibits asking interview questions which could be assumed to indicate an intention to discriminate against someone on the grounds of about 15 different categories including religion.

personally i've found my employer to be open to discussion and improvement. they are also very focussed on teamwork and team building and on development of junior staff.

[ElizabethD]

Okay, if it is violation of the Human Rights Act then there should be some recourse on the part of the employee. Other examples of this kind of violation actually prompted me to contact the Labor Board not but six weeks ago. I was told that I should submit a complaint . After mounds of paperwork the most I could hope for was a note in the employers file and a warning.

What about asking a person's age? How many kids they have? This is all standard stuff on employment applications.

[Trigirl]

the human rights commission (http://www.hrc.co.nz) is the correct place to take a complaint under the human rights act. they should be able to help you with the disputes process.

[gil]

I hope you land somewhere fun, and will be able to soon be able to recount stories of an employer that supports professional development, empowerment, and 'beer fridays' at work. :cheers

Me, me, me! I LOVE my job! I'm doing the same sort of consultancy in the "organisational development" arena (business consultancy, L&D, coaching and training) that I did in UK, only this time it's not my business :D Great team, fantastic boss (from SA), lovely colleagues, excellent clients and high quality of work. They pay well, have good conditions, er, shall I stop now? :o

Re your points Elizabeth, practice doesn't necessarily conform to the laws passed, which is different from UK, certainly. HR is a real up and coming focus here and seems to be a good 5-10 years behind the UK in my limited experience. Have a look at HRINZ (Human Resourses Institute of New Zealand) website for help/guidance: www.hrinz.co.nz

Gil

[constablechuck]

I've been working for a government department here in NZ for nearly 2 months now, I have experienced the positive things mentioned on this thread as well, they seem to be very concerned about the comfort, well being and overall hapiness of employees, they even have 2 outside firms contracted to counsel employees for personal and work related problems, they also have a group who specialises in finding ways to make the work place more pleasant, they do have high expectations of employees but I am really amazed at how well treated we are.

[jubjub]

Discrimination does seem to be alive and well, I know of two cases that have been discriminated against cos they had kids, one male, one female (both senior positions), the interviews got terminated or did not even get one at all.

There was also a colleague of hubbys too that whose english was not that great, had slightly darker skin, it turned out he was getting paid nearly half.... luckily someone had a quiet word and his wages went up, so exploitation seems alive and well too.

However to counterbalance that, the workplace does seem a lot more relaxed (from the daily reports I get!) beer fridges are common in workplaces, and regular free lunches seem to occur too. You get lunch hours mostly, and get to leave on time unless exceptional circumstances.

[sarahw]

I've found it quite different but I changed from a high-tech office job to working for an NGO but know that hubby is doing same job here as he was in UK & he's found it very different too (although is in construction so health & safety is alive & well for him!).

He found it very odd in that there aren't many subbies here compared with UK so you can't get heavy handed if they don't do what is on their contract & you have to remain matey no matter what because if you don't you will be stuffed! I have been doing admin work in both & haven't really noticed a difference - just that there was a heck of a lot of room for improvement which was gratefully received. My work colleagues have been fantasic & work were excellent to both of us when we got a phonecall & had to drop everything to go & adopt our daughter (I haven't worked since that phonecall but they have been excellent about me taking on some ad-hoc work from home & many of my colleages are good close friends.) Hubby has found it hard that there's not much of a ladder to progress on - unlike UK where there were many opportunities - you reach a certain level here & that's it...

The rest of my post is going to be about environment which wasn't in your question, but all comes as part & parcel of the kiwi 'work life'.

Health & Safety has been the biggest shocker for me (or lack of it!) in the workplace. We had to climb a rickety ladder to a loft to get to our filing archives & stationery!! There are wires everywhere that you often trip over - & there was no aircon (which I rejoiced at - but also no heating!!!! in my last workplace!) No fire/earthquake drills - very laid back indeed.

I agree re. employment law needing another look... Another thing is they don't have the 3 month probation law so you start with a company & its quite difficult for them to fire you if you're rubbish at your job... I don't think that's a good thing!

Thing we both found quite strange was not dressing up to go to work - I could wear anything I wanted - obviously if I had a big external meeting I'd wear a suit but in the main old scraggy jeans & t-shirts & my slippers or jandals and about 3 jumpers and a coat & scarf in winter (thank God for Merino jumpers!!). OH used to wear a suit to work - now wears jeans & a jumper/shirt.

Morning tea, afternoon tea, long lunches and drinks on a Friday afternoon... some days all of the above in one day!! Certainly makes for a nice work environment - hubby often has contractors coming along to do bbq's for morning tea or even spit roasts on the back of utes.

Social side is superb - my old company used to think they were being mega generous when once a year they got us a pizza in & we congregated around the photocopier on the day before Xmas Eve to 'celebrate' - ha!!! Here Xmas party is generally a huge night out or a daytime activity + a meal/bbq. Both organisations have a great social scene - mine being mostly matey get-togethers but lots of cheaply organised things like wine & beer tasting competitions or movie nights etc. Hubby's being quite a lot more amazing like trips to SI to go winetasting for a day, movie premieres, theatre nights, cooking classes, kiddies Xmas parties, indoor golf tournaments, go-karting, ski trips, meals out, pool competitions, etc.

We both finished work here at 5pm (hubby starts at 7am & I used to start at 8.30am) and be home for 5.30-5.45pm - much different to either or both of us arriving home after 6.30/7pm in UK & by the time we'd cooked dinner & eaten we were off to bed & had no time to relax & enjoy our evenings - here we have time to go straight to the beach in the summer for fishing/picnick/bbq or out for a nice walk - or just to sit on the deck with a bottle of beer/wine & have a good chat about our day.

All in all I'd say I much prefer working out here to back in UK & so does hubby. More about work to live than live to work - the whole NZ culture - that said - there are some co's that work you to the bone but from all the people I know in different industries they seem to be in the minority.

[Marco]

Hi.
I think it is very hard to compare when you come from a different country to a different kind of company/organisation. My experiences upto now are not very positive like Sarah's. In my case all the extras are far less than I was used to. No big parties, no free lunches anymore to mention two.

Large differences exist within the different work places within NZ and within the cities. So, it is a matter of what you like and where you will be offered a job.

Cheers,
Anita