Retaining our People and Employee Toolkit

The Retention Pilots Project aimed to either confirm the effectiveness of proposed changes to workforce management and culture or demonstrate why certain, otherwise research-backed strategies may not be practical when applied industry-wide.

Recognising the diversity in work types and organisational cultures across the sector, the project acknowledged there could be no universal solution. Special attention was given to exploring what approaches work best for Māori employees, to ensure retention strategies were inclusive and responsive to this significant cohort’s unique needs and cultural context.

The interactive Employer Toolkit is a core element of the project, aimed at improving workplace practices to boost employee retention. It covers key themes such as building employer capability, supporting staff with mental wellbeing or addiction challenges, and engaging Generation Z workers through modern management approaches.

The toolkit also provides mentoring for new workforce entrants, helping them develop career goals, life skills, and navigate employment challenges – particularly during transitions into vetted

roles. This support will foster stronger employee engagement and development.

In addition, the toolkit offers practical recruitment resources, guiding employers on how to better advertise roles and create inclusive, effective hiring processes to attract and retain the right talent.

Access the Employee Toolkit today at www.employertoolkitnz.org and explore the core modules:

Attracting the Right Individuals

Workplace Wellbeing and Culture

Māori Cultural Confidence

Mentorship and Coaching

Training and Development

Employer Obligations

If you prefer to listen on the go, each module is also available as a pre-recorded audio file.

The project ran two 8-week pilot programs involving managers, supervisors, and employers from across the food and fibre sector. The pilots helped validate the toolkit’s relevance and applicability, and their findings are documented in two comprehensive reports including:

1. Insights into integrating Te Ao Māori into workplace retention strategies, ensuring cultural relevance and responsiveness, and a final monitoring and evaluation summary.
2. The Final Monitoring and Evaluation report, which assesses the effectiveness of the retention pilot initiative. By analysing Pilot activities, stakeholder feedback, and engagement metrics, this report provides actionable insights to inform future workforce development strategies.

This project was guided by research outcomes from the Attraction and Retention Research Programme.