It’s a powerful thing to share a room with hundreds of people who care about creating better experiences at work.

The 2026 Best Places to Work™ Awards Gala Dinner was a night to celebrate organisations that have listened to their people, invested in their workplace culture and demonstrated what thoughtful leadership can look like in practice.

But when you looked around the room, you could see it was about more than that.

The evening brought together leaders, teams, partners, judges and organisations from different industries, regions and stages of their workplace journey. What connected them wasn’t that they had everything figured out. It was a shared belief that how people experience work matters, and that there’s always an opportunity to raise the standard.

That’s what defines the Best Places to Work™ community.

One of the most encouraging things about the 2026 Awards Gala Dinner was seeing teams connect and celebrate each other’s success, regardless of industry or workplace size. It was an opportunity to share experiences, compare ideas and ask questions about what others were doing differently.

Jayne Atherton, CEO of Neil Gaught & Associates, one of our newest partner organisations, reflected:

“In my career, I have attended scores of awards, but the BPTW event both surprised and delighted. Of course, everyone was in it to win it (that’s how it should be), but the warmth and support for others in the room was palpable. The knowledge sharing, the genuine invitations to swap learnings with others was really heartening and inspiring. Can’t wait for next time!”

Workplace improvement rarely comes from a single initiative or moment of recognition. It’s built through hard work, curiosity, listening and a willingness to keep learning.

“Sometimes we feel like we operate in a bit of a vacuum and then we come into these rooms and we realise that there’s so many companies and businesses that are doing the most amazing things,” says Tara Daly, Head of People & Culture at Tax Traders & Taxi, the 2026 Best Places to Work™ Overall Winner.

Being part of a community makes the workplace improvement process richer because organisations can learn from more than their own experience. They can learn from each other.

Understanding where you stand is the first step

Alongside learning from others, meaningful improvement begins by listening to your own people.

Through the Best Places to Work™ Employee Experience Surveys, organisations can hear directly from employees about what’s working well, where there are opportunities to improve and what matters most in their day-to-day experience.

Benchmarking adds another important layer. It helps organisations understand how their results compare, where they are performing strongly and where they may need to focus more attention. It can also provide a useful way to track progress over time rather than relying on assumptions about how people are feeling.

Better experiences can lead to stronger workplaces

At Best Places to Work™, we believe people and performance are not competing priorities.

Organisations need to perform, grow and adapt. At the same time, people need to feel trusted, supported, connected and able to contribute.

Those things work together.

When leaders understand what helps people do their best work, and what may be getting in the way, they are better placed to make informed decisions about leadership, wellbeing, development, technology and the way work is designed.

That understanding can also play an important role in attracting and retaining talent. People want to know what an organisation stands for and what it feels like to work there.

Raising the standard of work, together

As the Awards Gala Dinner came to a close, we were proud of every organisation recognised on the night. And we were equally encouraged by what the room represented.

As Julie Gill, CEO of Best Places to Work™, reflects:

“One of the things I love most about this community is how willing people are to share what they’ve learned. We often talk about people and performance as though organisations have to choose between them, but we don’t believe that’s the case. When you understand your people, benchmark where you stand and act on what you’re learning, you can build a workplace where people want to stay and do their best work. And when organisations share those experiences with others, we all benefit.”

Our mission at Best Places to Work™ is to help ‘float all the boats higher’ and contribute to making New Zealand one of the world’s best places to work.

No single organisation can achieve that on its own.

Whether you’re just starting to understand your employee experience or looking for ways to build on the progress you’ve made, there’s a place for you in the Best Places to Work™ community.