When Urgent Couriers surveys its customers they frequently comment on how its courier drivers smile when they come through the door.

“You think ‘that’s simple. Why doesn’t everyone do that?’” says Steve Bonnici, founder and managing director of the company named winner of the Sustainable 60 workplace category. “But it’s bloody hard to make people smile when they’re not earning enough to put bread on the table.”

When the company completed its first sustainability report back in 2001, one of the major findings was that its contractor courier drivers simply weren’t making enough money.

“It was a real challenge for us. It was like ‘wow! We need to be charging something like 50% more than we are right now. How the hell can we do that and still be in business?’ And it wasn’t necessarily something that you could do instantly.”

Historically, the courier industry has had a high rate of contractor drivers going bust, simply because it’s so hard to make a buck. Huge growth in the 1990s meant courier drivers could do extra work to supplement lagging incomes, but the industry soon began reaching capacity, and other factors — like increased traffic congestion — also hindered growth.

The only viable option to address the issue of contractor viability, says Bonnici, was to increase prices. “We had to be pretty bold and decide, yes we are going to implement a price increase every year.

“But the rest of our competitors were facing the same issues. So when someone took a lead like that, the industry sort of came along.”

The company measures driver earnings every day and it’s still a battle to keep them at a sustainable level, says Bonnici. The tough economic conditions of the past year have been a real challenge, with competitors “madly undercutting” to gain market share.

“Unfortunately it’s the person behind the wheel of the car that suffers if they’re a contractor.”

Urgent Couriers has implemented a number of other initiatives to help its contractors keep their heads above water, including integrating accounts training into its overall training programme, tax seminars for contractors and a tax trust savings account system. Urgent’s programme to change its fleet to low-emission vehicles also puts more money in drivers’ pockets, says Bonnici, because they spend less on fuel.

And a happier workforce means happier customers, he reckons; clients like that the company treats its people fairly and with respect. “Our customers are generally very loyal, and stay with us.”

Better connecting with customers has also been a driver for workplace sustainability efforts at Westpac New Zealand, says the bank’s head of sustainability, Suzie Marsden.