Employers Of Migrants Survey 2009 - Customer Satisfaction With Immigration New Zealand Relationship Managers
Summary of Key Findings
Penny Stock
Research Analyst
IMSED Research
Department of Labour
Disclaimer: The Department of Labour has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this report is reliable, but makes no guarantee of its accuracy or completeness and does not accept any liability for any errors. The Department may change the contents of this report at any time without notice.
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Department of Labour
PO Box 3705
Wellington
New Zealand
For Immigration Research visit
www.immigration.govt.nz/research
ISBN 978-0-478-36006-6
Purpose
This report presents high-level findings regarding customer satisfaction with Immigration New Zealand (INZ) Relationship Managers from the 2009 Employers of Migrants survey. The primary objective of the survey is to assess the benefits and issues associated with employing migrants. It also aims to monitor whether INZ is meeting the needs of employers, from the initial policy framework through to the settlement services provided.
Background
Employers were selected from a database of those who have had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager. This database was used to enable us to report on customer satisfaction with INZ Relationship Managers and also because these employers were likely to have migrant employees.
A total of 1,065 employers were in the database, and of these, 942 employers were eligible and had correct contact details. All of these employers were invited to take part in the survey. The survey could be completed online or by telephone.
Refer to the appendix for further information on the survey methodology.
Key Findings
- More than two-thirds (70 percent) of employers were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall quality of service from INZ Relationship managers.
- The most common reasons for employers to contact a relationship manager were in regards to immigration policy or process and immigration applications.
- For the fivekey aspects of customer service, employers generally rated relationship managers higher than applicants and advisers rated INZ.
Customer service
“… we have found the relationship manager a great business partnership for us, they are always there to assist and advise when we need them.”
The employers who had migrants on staff and/or had taken on migrants in the last 12 months were asked if they had had any contact with an INZ relationship manager in the last 6 months. Overall, less than half (44 percent) of employers had. Accredited employers[1] had a higher rate (50 percent) than non-accredited employers (37 percent).
The most common reasons for both accredited and non-accredited employers to contact a relationship manager were in regards to immigration policy or process and immigration applications as shown in table 1 below.
| Accredited employer | Total* | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | No | ||
| Total | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| Immigration policy or process | 41% | 52% | 44% |
| Immigration applications | 38% | 52% | 42% |
| Recruiting migrants | 23% | 39% | 27% |
| Becoming an accredited employer | 20% | 9% | 17% |
| Immigration categories | 13% | 7% | 12% |
| Renewal of accreditation | 10% | 0% | 7% |
| Policy developments | 4% | 9% | 6% |
| Settlement and retention | 1% | 5% | 2% |
| Other | 18% | 20% | 19% |
Total may exceed 100% because of multiple response. Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months.
* includes those who didn’t know if they were accredited
Those employers who had had contact with an INZ relationship manager were asked to rate the service provided in their most recent contact.
Employers were asked to rate their level of satisfaction with the overall quality of service delivery received from the relationship managers. Whether the employer is accredited or not made little difference to the level of satisfaction, with both groups rating the service quite high (69-70 percent satisfied or very satisfied). Satisfaction with the overall quality of service delivery by employer type is shown in figure 1 below.
Figure 1: Satisfaction with the overall quality of service delivery
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months.
* includes those who didn’t know if they were accredited
Employers were then asked what quality of service they had expected before going to the relationship manager. As figure 2 shows, accredited employers had much lower expectations than non-accredited employers, with only 66 percent expecting good or very good service as compared to 81 percent of non-accredited employers.
Figure 2: Level of service from relationship managers expected before contact
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months.
* includes those who didn’t know if they were accredited
Conversely, as figure 3 below shows, more accredited employers rated the level of service received from relationship managers as being better or much better than expected when compared to non-accredited employers, although this difference was not statistically significant.
Figure 3: How the level of service from relationship managers compared to expectations
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months.
* includes those who didn’t know if they were accredited
Figure 4 shows the proportion of employers, including accredited and non-accredited, that agreed or strongly agreed with key aspects of customer service.
Figure 4: Proportion of employers who agreed or strongly agreed with the following statements
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months.
* includes those who didn’t know if they were accredited
Benchmarking against the 2009 Global Visa and Permit Survey
The Global Visa and Permit Survey (GVPS) is run quarterly to assist in evaluating and improving the level of customer service provided by INZ branches worldwide in relation to its visas and permits business.
The GVPS surveys three customer groups:
- Permanent Residence Applicants
- Temporary Visa and Permit Applicants
- Immigration Advisers (Consultants/Agents).
Both surveys asked the same core satisfaction questions, allowing the results to be directly compared. Employers rated their overall satisfaction with relationships managers slightly higher than applicants and advisers rated INZ but lower on the other two satisfaction measures. Figure 5 shows the comparisons for the three satisfaction measures.
Figure 5: Proportion who highly rated service expectations and overall satisfaction
# Based on all respondents to the GVPS in regards to their most recent experience of the service they have received from INZ (n = 4,689).
^ Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months (n = 166).
* The GVPS results are statistically significantly higher.
Figure 6 shows that for the five key aspects of customer service, employers rated relationship managers higher on four of them than applicants and advisers rated INZ.
Figure 6: Proportion who agreed or strongly agreed with the following statements about aspects of service delivery
# Based on all respondents to the GVPS in regards to their most recent experience of the service they have received from INZ (n = 4,689).
^ Based on those that had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager in the last 6 months (n = 167).
* The GVPS results are statistically significantly lower.
Immigration policies and services
Employers were asked about their familiarity with skilled migration policies.
The level of awareness varied for different policies, with general work permits being the most familiar:
- Work permits – 89 percent
- Skilled Migrant Category – 87 percent
- Long Term Skill Shortage list and/or Immediate Skill Shortage list – 80 percent
- Work to residence policy – 75 percent
- Working Holiday Schemes – 57 percent
- Study to work policy – 39 percent
Employers were then asked to rate these policies for usefulness in recruiting migrants with suitable skills for their business. Figure 7 shows the usefulness of each policy. Generally, the most familiar policies were the ones rated the most useful.
Figure 7: Usefulness of policies for recruiting migrants with suitable skills
Total may not sum to 100% due to rounding. Based on those employers who were familiar with the various policies.
Future work
Future Employers of Migrants surveys will be part of the Survey Monitoring Programme. The Survey Monitoring Programme collects information from the migrant streams (skilled business, family sponsored and temporary), employers, and the community. The objective of this Programme is to build up an evidence base of data. This evidence base will enable monitoring over time of both the effects of immigration policy, and changes in the environment which may affect immigration policy.
Surveys of the different groups will be undertaken on an annual or biennial basis, with the first results released in 2010. Employers will be surveyed again later in 2010, followed by a report on the findings.
Appendix: Methodology
The Department of Labour contracted Research New Zealand to undertake the 2009 survey.
The 2009 survey is a pilot of the new questionnaire and method. It is intended to repeat this survey on a regular basis.
Response rate
Employers were selected from a database of those who have had contact with an INZ Relationship Manager. This database was used to enable us to report on customer satisfaction with INZ Relationship Managers and also because these employers were likely to have migrant employees.
A total of 1,065 employers were in the database, and of these, 942 employers were eligible and had correct contact details. All of these employers were invited to take part in the survey. The survey could be completed online or by telephone.
A total of 424 employers completed the survey, 264 respondents online and 160 interviewed by telephone, giving a 45 percent response rate.
The questionnaire
This survey includes the use of the Common Measurement Tool (CMT) questions as advocated by the State Services Commission. These are benchmark questions that will be used going forward and will allow for comparisons with other users of the CMT. These include other Department of Labour users and external users, both nationally and global.
Endnotes
1 New Zealand employers who are unable to find suitably qualified and/or experienced New Zealand workers can apply for employer accreditation to supplement their own workforce. Once accredited, they can recruit non-New Zealand citizen or resident workers.
