Progress Update and new 2024 and 2025 plan

Overall, we are slowly but steadily moving in the right direction towards our DEI targets to have a workforce and leadership that is substantially more representative of the community we serve and the New Zealand Population. Progress made:

• Increased percentage of Māori employees from 9 percent to 10 percent
• Increased percentage of Asian employees from 8 percent to 10 percent
• 10 percent of employees are Pacific compared to 8 percent of the population.

21 percent of our leaders (tier 3 and above) are Māori compared to 18 percent of the population. Numbers in other groups have been suppressed to protect privacy.

• Continue monitoring workforce and leadership representation with a focus on recruitment and building pipelines as per our Kia Toipoto goals
• Deliver career pathway seminars to targeted and under-represented groups* to support a pipeline for more diverse leadership 
• Analyse exit data to identify reasons for leaving given by employees of different ethnic communities.

*These are Māori, Pacific, ethnic, disabled, Rainbow and neurodiverse employees

• Enhanced organisational reporting to provide insights and analysis
• Investigated and took advice from systems leads on data collection

• Ongoing refinement of data collection and reporting
• Use 2024 Te Taunaki to assess progress and target DEI initiatives
• Use 2024 Te Taunaki to assess if there are if there are any inequities for our Rainbow and Disabled employees and plan how to address any gaps identified.

• Strengthened the requirement to monitor starting salaries through educating leaders
• Negotiated and implemented our first Collective Agreement

• Develop progressive employment approaches for greater consistency and commonality across the public service

• Engagement with employees and ELNs in in all our policy review processes to identify and mitigate potential areas of bias.
• Updated Recruitment, Development, Speaking Up and Maintaining a Positive Workplace policies
• Re-launched the Leaders’ Community of Practice workshops enhancing practice.

• Improve processes to support efficient and effective recruitment, onboarding and offboarding activities.
• Use 2024 Te Taunaki to assess if there are any inequities identified within our Commission workforce, specifically those referenced in the Public Service 4-point, and plan how to address any identified gaps.

• Enhanced core development offerings
• Framework linking processes, forms and resources Performance Pulse Overview Feb 2023
• Delivered workshops on the promotion process

• Evolve the Leadership Community of Practice (LCoP) to be a self-sustaining community.
• Suite of online development content
• Visibility of an annual calendar
• Through LCoP continue to drive consistency of leadership practice
• Use development opportunities to retain employees from underrepresented groups in the Commission and Public Service
• Ensure that underrepresented groups have development opportunities at each phase of their career

• Flexible Working Policy review underway
• Completed a stocktake of flexible practices across the Commission
• Digital skills improvement of our people through workshops

• Mature flexible and hybrid working practices through education and alignment to Kia Toipoto guidance
• Enhance employee use of technology through education and awareness
• Plan for quiet spaces in new accommodation

• ELN Sponsors assigned and dedicated funding introduced
• Quarterly network lead meetings in place
• Awareness improved via ELN led and supported activities e.g., language weeks, Eid al-Fit, Marriage Equality, Transgender Day of Visibility, Anzac Day. International Women’s Day, Menopause awareness
• Delivered a workshop on Allyship

New actions based on recent employee feedback:

• Work with ELNs to identify any barriers to progression and promotion
• Partner with ELNs to provide workshops on what is available to employees e.g., career development, promotion flexible /hybrid work and remuneration processes

• Mana Aki modules embedded
• Te Wiki o te Reo Māori and Matariki celebrations held
• Delivered level 3 Māori Te Reo / Tikanga
• Maintained delivery on Te Angitū strategy, commitments, and initiatives around building foundational capability

• Explore possible cost efficiencies of partnering with other small agencies for cultural development.
• Continue to support and promote our waiata rōpū
• Update our Te Angitū Plan and get cross-commission engagement
• Introduce Level 4 Te Reo / Tikanga
• Work with population agencies to build cultural competence for people leaders and employees e.g.:
  • Ministry for Pacific Peoples
  • Ministry for Ethnic Communities

• Re-launched LCoP to strengthen and develop leader capability
• Commenced development of a manager induction programme

• Finalise and implement the new managers' induction programme
• Continue to embed and develop the LCoP
• Increase the focus on developing diverse leadership and building and monitoring a pipeline

• Continued support of Staff Talk and celebrations that enhance and invigorate our culture e.g., MH awareness week and NZ Sign Language and Pink Shirt Day
• Encouraged cross-organisational, group and team activities

New actions based on recent employee feedback

• Continued support of Staff Talk and celebrations that enhance and invigorate our organisational culture and inclusion.