The Guardians of New Zealand Superannuation, the Crown Entity that manages the $30 billion NZ Super Fund, is the winner of the Leadership Excellence category at the Deloitte IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Awards 2016.

The Guardians was recognised for a long-term project to enhance organisational culture, improve leadership capability and develop talent across the entire Guardians staff.

Key initiatives included changing the definition of key talent from a few individuals to the entire team; leadership coaching; 360 degree feedback; exchange opportunities with offshore peer funds; and linking behaviour with bonus payments.

Research has shown that the Guardians’ workplace now has a primarily constructive culture, and the NZ Super Fund has been named the world’s best-performing sovereign wealth fund by JP Morgan.

The IPANZ judges said that the Guardians’ workplace culture programme was “a great role model with tangible outcomes.”

Chief Executive Adrian Orr said he was delighted to receive the award on behalf of the Guardians’ team.

“This award recognises the strong personal commitment made by all our staff to working together effectively and collaboratively in order to deliver the best results for New Zealanders.”

“A constructive workplace culture and high staff engagement increases our ability to attract, develop and retain talent. Encouraging staff to avoid group-think and to debate issues constructively also improves investment decision-making. By enhancing the Guardians’ effectiveness, this project has benefited the NZ Super Fund and therefore all New Zealanders.”

Mr Orr says having a healthy organisational culture requires a long-term commitment and that culture and talent development will continue to be a focus for the Guardians.

The annual Deloitte IPANZ Public Sector Excellence Awards recognise and reward outstanding performance and achievements in the New Zealand public sector. This year’s awards attracted more than 90 entries from a range of organisations across New Zealand.

The Guardians has won a number of other awards this year, including a ‘Highly Commended’ in the Global Responsible Investment Reporting Awards in London in June; a Gold award, Governance reporting award and Online reporting award at the Australasian Reporting Awards in Sydney in June; and the ‘Best Annual Report’ award at the Asia-Pacific Excellence Awards in Singapore in April.

ENDS

Media contact: Catherine Etheredge, Head of Communications, NZ Super Fund, + 64 9 366 4905