Hawkins was recently crowned Auckland’s ‘Employer of the Year’ at the Westpac Auckland Business Awards amongst some tough competition and will compete against the other regional winners for the Best of the Best title at the at the final awards dinner in June.

We are thrilled to have won this award as we work extremely hard to cement our position as an employer of choice and the statistics speak for themselves. 90 people, or twenty percent of our employees have worked for Hawkins for over ten years, on top of that another 30 have celebrated more than 20+ years long service with Hawkins.

GM, Major Projects Terry Buchan says “This an amazing achievement and something I know our 500+ strong team are extremely proud of. We’re a Kiwi business that started from very humble beginnings in Hamilton – and whilst over the past 75 years we have grown into New Zealand’s leading construction company – we still carry the same ethos – work hard, be humble, look out for your mates and always remember to have fun.”

Of course, it’s not all about the accolades. Being surrounded by a great team of talented people means we continue to work on impactful projects that shape our country’s skyline. Without being able to recruit and retain New Zealand’s best and brightest we wouldn’t be bringing flagship projects to life, which are at the forefront of architectural and environmental design. These are buildings we could have never dreamed of when starting out in Fred Hawkins garage over 75 years ago.

People are at the heart of what we do, and we make a conscious effort through our values, employee engagement and workplace policies and programmes to create an environment where our people are valued, safe, driven, and given the opportunity to learn and grow their career.. Through our team culture, focus on employee development and health and safety enable us to attract and retain top talent. Keep reading to find out more about each of these areas below:

Team culture: Attitude is everything and we are proud of our ‘no blame’ culture, instead focussing on getting it right. Our attitude allows for learning and development opportunities, creative thinking, and a solutions-orientated and problem-solving culture. Being a team player is hugely important to us, in the construction industry success is rarely achieved alone.

We also envisage a world where anyone can work in any industry no matter their race, gender or sexual orientation and we believe that if we all work together, we can action that change. Diversity and inclusion are an important focus area for our business, and we are proud to champion change through our industry.

Employee learning, growth, and development: Hawkins along with Downer and Spotless can provide unrivalled training opportunities throughout the business. Programmes vary from graduate and cadet programmes to leadership development including nurturing talent and leadership opportunities for women in construction and Māori and Pasifika. There is also an array of online learning programmes available to access anytime for everyone employed at Hawkins.

Health and Safety: Zero harm is our number one priority and both physical and mental wellbeing are taken seriously at Hawkins. With safety top of mind for all our employees we lead the way in safety measures onsite and in the office. We are also a key partner of the MATES in construction programme; with  the construction industry having the highest proportion of suicide and depression it’s important for us to help drive change and encourage positive wellbeing for our workers across the country.