26 February 2024
Vista Group is the world leader in technology and data solutions for the film industry, with a leading global market share in enterprise cinema software. In 2023, they grew their revenue by over $135m, earning them a place in the TIN Ten to Watch. Anna Ferguson, Chief People Officer, shares Vista’s best practices in hiring and retention.
What is Vista’s attitude to recruitment and its flipside, retainment?
Our goal is to create the best employment experience in the tech industry. Our recruitment and retention strategies enact this by fostering a supportive culture and a workforce that is representative of the diverse communities in which we’re based.
We ensure all open roles are available to existing employees, resulting in a successful track record of internal movements and promotions. This has enabled us to retain and grow exceptional people within the business.
We also have well-established internship and graduate recruitment programmes, focusing on high-potential candidates at the start of their careers. For us, this means investing in a pipeline of talent, while also offering new starters great opportunities to grow and develop.
In 2023, Vista Group was recently recognised by Prosple as one of New Zealand’s Top 100 Graduate Employers.
Is Vista’s onshore (NZ-based) staff growing faster than its offshore staff, and why is that if so?
Our people are based in almost 20 locations around the world. Of our 700+ global team, nearly 400 are based here in Aotearoa New Zealand.
As we look to recruit new talent into our business, we always assess where is the most appropriate location, taking into account a range of factors such as the nature of the role, proximity to the team and clients.
Based on our recruitment activity in recent years, the split between hiring New Zealand-based talent remains proportional to our overall numbers.
How can Kiwi tech firms attract world-class employees: both bringing them in from overseas and keeping homegrown talent onshore?
Our recruitment approach across the board involves a range of innovative practices and partnerships to ensure we can tap into diverse talent pools from both local and overseas markets. We tap into the networks of our existing employees, through internal referrals and recommendations.
We are an accredited sponsor and able to bring in high quality talent from overseas through programmes such as the Straight to Residency immigration pathway for approved roles.
Where possible, we have been able to support team members’ ambitions to relocate to other locations around the world.
What does Vista do to create a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace? What best practices from your People and Culture department (or equivalent) would you share with other firms?
We are proud of our diverse and inclusive culture but acknowledge that, like many organisations, we are on a journey and need to remain responsive to the changing needs of our people.
To ensure an inclusive culture for all our employees, we recently announced a new parental leave policy to provide greater support to everyone with kids. We are also pleased to have met the requirements to receive a Rainbow Tick for the last three years and to have completed a comprehensive Gender Pay Gap analysis.
We have also partnered with organisations such as Hire Her and Tupa Toa to support our efforts to improve diverse representation in the technology roles in our firm and the broader industry.
How do you see the future of NZ’s tech workforce?
Aotearoa has a strong and talented community of tech professionals, and it is important to continue increasing the number of opportunities for them to grow in NZ-owned businesses like Vista Group.
We have a valuable pipeline of bright graduates coming through our universities – we need to ensure that the environment they graduate into can support their development.
By providing competitive benefits, an inclusive culture, and the opportunity to work with tech at a company that both excites and challenges employees, Vista can help future-proof the technology industry here in New Zealand.
