Fire and Emergency New Zealand continues to be the most trusted agency within the public sector, according to a Colmar Brunton poll released today.
Tourism New Zealand and Maritime New Zealand both jumped three and six spots, respectively, from the previous year to come in at second and third, but the Fire service took out the top spot for the fourth year running.
The Colmar Brunton Public Sector Reputation Index benchmarked 50 national public sector organisations against the four pillars which contribute to reputation - leadership and success, fairness, social responsibility, and trust.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand Chief Executive Rhys Jones told 1 NEWS: "We are very pleased that the public continues to have confidence in us.
"We often come into contact with people at the worst times in their lives. We have 14,000 firefighters and support staff dedicated to protecting lives and property.
"To do their jobs our firefighters need people to trust them and follow their advice. The survey suggests we continue to be in a strong position for that to happen."
Fire and Emergency was one of just six agencies - alongside NZ Police, Sport NZ, NZ Defence Force, Department of Conservation, and Ministry of Health - viewed by 50 per cent or more of New Zealanders as positively impacting wellbeing.
For each of the other 44 agencies, more than half of the population are not sure how they contribute to wellbeing.
Colmar Brunton Group Account Director Grant Bell said,in a statement that the results released today highlight a clear opportunity for agencies to better communicate their wellbeing credentials.
With the Government's "wellbeing" Budget released recently, Mr Bell said it was timely to explore what the different public sector agencies are doing in this space.
"The top six agencies have an obvious impact on many New Zealanders' lives but also have a clear story around their contribution to wellbeing," he said.
"NZ Police have embraced social media as part of their strategy to have a more personal connection with Kiwis. Also, Sport NZ released their high-profile Women and Girls Sport and Active Recreation strategy late last year, focusing on participation for all New Zealanders."
Mr Bell said reputation was particularly important for the public sector because Government departments and agencies are ultimately answerable to New Zealanders.
"Around the world, the prevailing narrative has been that trust in Government and other key public institutions is in decline," he said.
"We continue to see evidence which counters the global trend. The public sector agencies we measure continue to improve each year on the core elements of "trust", namely listening, using taxpayer money responsibly, protecting personal information and being trustworthy."
Results from the poll also showed news media had the biggest influence on perceptions of agencies - at 40 per cent.
The next biggest impact was direct experience, which Mr Bell said was important as both positive and negative experiences are memorable and easily shared.
But, while positive experiences are more common, negative experiences had a much longer impact on perception - able to influence someone for at least 10 years.
"The best way for agencies to improve is to focus on delivering a better experience across the organisation as this will do more for the agency’s relationship with New Zealanders as well as their reputation."
He also said conversation, whether it be on social media or in person, plays a supporting role in telling each agency’s story.
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