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Go with Tourism has today launched its new Business Heroes campaign, showcasing a small-medium business every month who excel at providing their staff with a great working environment.

The government-funded initiative – whose goal is to build back the tourism and hospitality workforce – believes that good employers are key to winning people back to the industry, which lost 90,000 people during Covid-19 and is currently facing a significant worker shortage.

Good employers and positive working environments are what people want.

These are key themes to come out of global post-Covid employee research, the 2021 Workforce Wānanga and its subsequent action plan, as well as the draft Better Work Action Plan, currently in development by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Tourism Industry Transformation Plan.

Go with Tourism Programme Director, Heidi Gillingham, says that the industry does not need to reinvent the wheel to attract new talent. “Workers are telling us exactly what they want and it’s something businesses can easily deliver. It’s not hard to be a good person, therefore, it’s not hard to be a good employer.

Public stigma surrounding careers in our industry is the main challenge we need to overcome to ensure a sustainable future workforce. If individuals and businesses always strive to be good employers and make great workplaces the norm, we will change the negative narrative and word will spread.

People are very quick to tell you which businesses to work for, or to avoid.”

Sheepworld, north of Auckland, is the first business to be featured in the Business Heroes campaign.

The agritourism business, owned by Springboard, is also a youth development centre for training and supporting young people into brighter futures. All profits go towards this cause.

Through a case study, video profile and free-to-attend webinar, Sheepworld will share their story and advice on how to prioritise people on a budget. The 30-minute webinar, held at 12pm, Thursday 23 February, is open to everyone. Please register here.

For more information on the Business Heroes series, please visit gowithtourism.co.nz/business-heroes

Written by Helen Shaw, Marketing Communications Manager