Top industry award recognises Royalwolf New Zealand’s commitment to its team

Royalwolf New Zealand, a UNITED RENTALS COMPANY, has been recognised for its commitment to creating a supportive and dynamic workplace by winning the People & Culture category at the Hire Industry Association of New Zealand (HIANZ) Awards.

As the leading supplier of containers in New Zealand, Royal Wolf offers a wide range of employee benefits, opportunities to learn new skills, and growth within the business in both New Zealand and globally.

Graham Allison, District Manager – New Zealand, says the award is recognition of the company’s mission to have the best people, equipment, and product solutions available to meet customers’ specific hire and modification needs.

“To be successful in the container hire industry you need to love shipping containers – but more importantly, you need to love people. Royal Wolf’s company culture is centred around our customers and our employees,” says Mr Allison.

Investment in employee training to grow skill sets is key – from developing welding and workshop expertise through to upskilling managers with leadership qualities to optimise their teams.

Mr Allison believes the company’s “learn as they earn” environment supports its people to progress in their career and not only enhances Royal Wolf’s business but encourages a multi-skilled workforce to benefit the wider industry and local economy.

Building a better future for all employees

A range of strategies are in place for supporting recruitment and retention of top talent, including Royal Wolf’s annual employee engagement survey, celebrating employee success, worker and family assistance programs, on the job training, and financial support for external study opportunities.

A key part of Royal Wolf’s acquisition by UNITED RENTALS®, the world’s largest rental company, has been the integration of many programs alongside Royal Wolf’s existing systems to further enhance professional development and upskilling opportunities.

A series of employee resource groups (ERG) were launched recently to promote diversity and inclusion – Women United, Mental Wellness United, and LGBTQIA+ United. It also has Veterans United, an ERG supporting returned service men and women and their families.

Under the overarching umbrella of “Together United”, the ERGs work to promote networking, learning, development, and mentoring to support employees to forge personal relationships.

Commitment to community

Royal Wolf supplies containers, resources, and support to a wide range of community groups and not-for-profit organisations to assist with their kaupapa, including marae-based food rescue project Kai Ika and Save the Kiwi.

Mr Allison says supporting these projects and organisations has a feel-good factor attached to it that builds morale and pride within the business.

“The team feel very proud to get in behind initiatives that help people in need and supporting the essential conservation work Save the Kiwi does,” he says.

Safety first and a passion for people

Mr Allison says the HIANZ Award also acknowledges Royal Wolf’s key business pillars of Safety First and Passion for People.

Based on Royal Wolf’s annual employee engagement survey, safety, physical wellbeing, and supporting worker health and welfare were the most important factors for employees. These were followed closely by mental wellbeing and awareness of neurodiversity and inclusivity.

“Safety is our number one core value which is complemented by our commitment to building a diverse and inclusive workplace that challenges employees to grow professionally and embrace teamwork.

“Creating an environment that is a safe and welcoming place for employees is a key priority because we want our team to go home in the same, if not better condition than when they arrived,” says Allison.

“We believe that investing in our people helps to supercharge our performance which comes through in the passionate way our teams deliver the best possible service to customers.”