5 October 2023 Whakamana Whānau – Māori tikanga based recruitment
Candidates enjoying the whakawhanuangatanga exercise
A pathway into work in Canterbury and the West Coast's health systems for Māori and Pasifika has been so successful, whānau and friends of participants are signing up to new intakes. The Whakamana Whanau programme aims to get people into non-clinical roles in the health workforce to give them some on the job training, before progressing into clinical roles. We want to actively grow a Māori and Pasifika workforce, so we have an organisation that reflects the community we serve. If our patients can see themselves, and feel understood, they are more likely to have a positive experience in our system. Whakamana Whānau was developed as a complete re-think of our recruitment process from top to bottom. Head of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion for Waitaha and Te Tai o Poutini Rebecca McCormick says: “We identified barriers that Māori and Pasifika were facing when applying for roles at Te Whatu Ora. Then we worked to remove these barriers and used Māori tikanga-based practices beyond recruitment through to onboarding and structuring ongoing support processes.” Whakamana Whānau was piloted in Te Tai o Poutini in 2021 and we appointed six kaimahi through the programme and we still have five working with us. On Thursday 14 September, the team held a second intake on the West Coast. “The process is very enabling and having been involved in the first intake, this is an extremely valuable way of recruiting people into our health community” said Anne Dwyer, Nurse Director - Operations. Beyond just hiring, there is a robust training, orientation package and industrial certification with the services that the new kaimahi join. This ensures that our new kaimahi can learn on the job. We encourage continuous education and offer our kaimahi further career options and 1|Page