AM I MANAGING? NATALIE BARKER
Create an equitable legacy Our regular columnist Natalie Barker, Head of Transformation at Southern Cross Health Insurance, shares why she, as a leader, is looking to create positive outcomes for all.
I
recently spent a week with my family in Russell/Kororāreka, in the Bay of Islands. Our house is across the street from the oldest surviving church building in New Zealand. When the church was opened in 1836, our house would have been part of the vicarage garden.
Like Sophia, my daughter lives in a New Zealand that hasn’t yet achieved equal rights, protection and outcomes for all its people. We need only look at socio-economic and health outcomes to see the legacy of inequity. None of us can change history to right past wrongs, but, as leaders, we can influence the present and future within our own organisations. In fact, I believe we have a duty to ensure our organisational systems don’t unwittingly perpetuate the advantage of some people over others.
My children’s great-great-greatgrandmother, Sophia, was born in Kororāreka. Her mother was from Taranaki (Ngāti Ruanui), and her father was a blacksmith from Aberdeen, Scotland. Sophia would have been four or five years old in 1836, when the church was built; my daughter and I like to imagine that she played in the garden that’s now our front yard.
At Southern Cross Health Insurance, we strive to be the healthiest workplace in New Zealand, taking a holistic approach to our people’s wellbeing and supporting them to be their best, at home and at work. For us, this includes building our cultural competence, practices and appreciation of Māori values, so that we can improve outcomes for Māori across our workforce and our membership.
I’ve often wondered what it was like for Sophia, with a Māori mother and Scottish father, growing up in those times. I can’t help but compare her experience to my own daughter’s, 180 years later, who also has Māori and Pākehā parents. Although their childhoods would have been markedly different, both could identify as tangata whenua (people of the land) and tangata Tiriti (people of the Treaty, ie, those of us with nonMāori origins).
I’m privileged to work closely with our employee-led te ao Māori group, who formed to cultivate mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) and normalise use of te reo Māori in our workplace, in support of our cultural maturity. This amazing group of people also provide a voice for Māori to operate with safety and comfort in our organisation. They work closely with our people and wellbeing team, collaborating around – and often
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challenging – the experiences we design for our people. I feel fortunate to be included in this group. I may not be Māori, but I do have a role in making sure our organisational systems are fair and equitable. It’s important that all our people are celebrated and elevated for their unique identity, and I’ve realised that means I need to step outside of my own worldview to see what’s not serving us. As a leader, I can visibly and actively learn about perspectives that are different from mine, and to understand what it’s like to bring that experience to work. It’s my responsibility as a leader to champion change that ensures all our people have a pathway to success. As a leader, I’d like to help shape an organisation that I’d want my daughter to be a part of one day.
Natalie Barker is Head of Transformation at Southern Cross Health Insurance. She has been leading people for 15 years and believes that leveraging people’s strengths and passions is the best way to drive engagement and get stuff done.
