Mercy Hospice ranks amongst best places to work

Mercy Hospice Auckland was named the fourth best small to medium organisation to work for in New Zealand at the JRA Best Workplaces Awards ceremony.

The JRA Best Workplaces Survey is New Zealand’s largest annual workplace climate-employee engagement survey and 2010 was the first year that Mercy Hospice had entered.

"We entered the survey to set a benchmark on where we are at and what we needed to work on," said Mercy Hospice Auckland CEO, Jan Nichols "We were really shocked when it was announced we were in the top 10 organisations in our category and to place in fourth position is quite remarkable".

There are 60 questions in the survey covering a range of measures including communication, culture and values, common purpose, learning and development and reward and recognition.

Of the 85 Mercy Hospice Auckland employees surveyed, including clinical and non-clinical staff, 95% believe in what the hospice is trying to accomplish; 94% feel they are working for a successful organisation; 93% said the organisation cares about the wellbeing of its staff; 93% felt the person they reported to treated them with respect and 92% said they would recommend Mercy Hospice Auckland as a great place to work.

"We at Mercy Hospice feel privileged to continue the vision and mission of the Sisters of Mercy who first came to New Zealand in 1850. There are few organisations in New Zealand that are able to trace their foundations back so far. What is extraordinary is that while the type of care delivered has evolved the values of dignity, respect, compassion, quality, advocacy and stewardship are timeless. They underpin all that we do," says Jan Nichols.

Anna Montague a consultant from JRA (NZ) Ltd says "Being a finalist in the JRA Best Workplaces programme is reflective of the principles underlying the organisation, highlighting positive results from the perspective of both its clients and employees"

Mercy Hospice Auckland also bucked national and international trends by having a zero score for disengaged employees and a higher than average level of engaged employees at 63.3%. The national average of engaged employees in 2009 was 35.3%.

"We are fortunate to have such highly committed and skilled staff who deliver outstanding care and service." said Jan Nichols.