DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION
20 HUMAN RESOURCES | SUMMER 2023/24
People’s diverse experience drives change
To influence its senior leaders on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the People and Culture (P&C) team at Hīkina Whakatutuki Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) sought first to understand and hear from its people.
Thanks to Diversity Works New Zealand for the repurposing of its full case study report.
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BIE is the government’s lead business-facing agency, with over 6,000 employees, dedicated to shaping and delivering a strong economy for Aotearoa New Zealand. Its purpose, “to grow Aotearoa New Zealand for all”, is best supported by an organisation that reflects the diversity of the communities it serves. The P&C team recognised it was imperative to understand the experiences of the diverse communities it serves, before designing initiatives to improve those experiences. So it took a systematic approach to enabling its people to share their stories.
“We realised that whilst we celebrate our diversity of work and people, MBIE has a way to go towards genuine equity and inclusion,” says Head of Inclusion and Belonging, Sripriya Somasekhar. In 2018, the P&C team first mapped the employee experience, to understand what was working well and what the barriers were for its people. It then undertook a survey to better understand people’s perceptions of inclusion and diversity, and this reinforced that experiences were different for diverse communities. “As we further reviewed data relating to promotion,
