Case studies

Coach trainees to transfer skills and knowledge – Solid Energy The extraction industry faces talent shortfalls just as its ageing, predominantly male workforce heads for retirement. It also needs to make sure knowledge stays in the company, rather than being lost as miners retire. At Solid Energy an important part of trainees' learning is being buddied up on the job with a more experienced hand in their crew, many of whom are over 50. “When we introduced the trainee programme we didn't go to people and say 'we want you to be a buddy', we talked to people as a whole and said we want to place a trainee in your crew, and this is what they need. We took a whole crew approach....There's a world-wide shortage of mining staff and we are competing internationally for talent, so we have to grow our own.”

Solid Energy Human Resources Manager, Mary Reynolds
Read more... http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/peoplepower/view_case.cfm?id=112
 

Identify your diversity goals – Beca Transport
Beca Transportation set out to create a workplace of choice for immigrating traffic engineers. What stood out ...was that it was about two-way communication, not just focusing on the challenges of people coming into New Zealand but also looking at helping managers understand that they might need to do things differently."

EEO Trust Director Phillipa Reed on Beca Transport, Private Sector 2007 Diversity Award Winners
Read more... http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/peoplepower/view_case.cfm?id=84

Redefine ways to celebrate as a team – Beca Transport
While a friendly team is important, we discovered this alone may not be enough.” A study found the Kiwi ways of doing things were not appealing to immigrants. “People unfamiliar with this type of gathering weren't quite sure how to take it.” As a result soft drinks became more visible in the fridge...simple changes were made the social environment to make it more welcoming and accessible for new staff...some team lunches and celebrations moved from local pubs to yum cha restaurants. "
Matt Ensor, Technical Director and Section Manager, Transportation Group, Beca Transport

Promote a high-performing, values driven culture – NZSki

In winter, NZSki's permanent team of 40 is supplemented by nearly 1000 seasonal employees. In a bid to attract and keep top talent, the company asked its mostly young employees what motivated and engaged them at work. In response, it has created a high-performing, values-driven culture over the last three years, offering a range of national on-the-job qualifications, and training and mentoring to show employees a career path in a seasonal industry. In a year when business failures, job losses and swine flu hit the headlines, NZSki has seen revenue increase by 169 per cent, package sales treble and its staff retention rate rise from the traditional 30 per cent to nearly 60 per cent. The workforce is now 64 per cent New Zealanders, compared to 34 per cent in previous years. "
NZSki won the EEO Trust's 2009 Supreme Award and Tomorrow's Workforce Award
Read more... http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/peoplepower/view_case.cfm?id=110

Culture change will take time – New Zealand Defence Force

The integration of women into the New Zealand Defence Force began in 1997, starting a huge period of culture change. Initially the focus was on sexual harassment and other unacceptable behaviour as this was seen as an obstacle to women's full participation. The focus later shifted to traditional features of military life and how these blocked the integration and acceptance of women. There has been a steady increase in the number of women at higher levels and women are working in more diverse roles, for example as rifle specialists, gunners and combat system specialists."
EEO Trust Director Phillipa Reed on NZDF, Public Sector 2007 Diversity Award Winners
Read more... http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/awards/leaders.cfm?content_id=1305
Attract and support the 'Best People' – New Zealand Defence Force
Women don't stand out so much now and their involvement has become normalised. The Services benefit in many ways because women at more senior levels bring different perspectives to discussion and decision-making. Gender integration is a capability issue. It's not about attracting more women to the military but about attracting the best people,...It's about how the potential contribution of women can be fully utilised."
Laura Gillan, Senior Manager Directorate HR Policy and Capability, New Zealand Defence Force



Consult well, communicate well – Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand has 2,700 engineers, but with that workforce rapidly ageing, the company needed to boost the number of 'Generation Y' apprentices - those born between 1978 and 1994. Young employees helped devise the campaign, which emphasised communicating with 14 to 18-year-olds about engineering careers through text applications, interactive websites and the social networking site Bebo, run by a 21-year-old staff member with the online name 'AeroCareerBoy'. Within three months of launching the Bebo site, Air New Zealand was talking to 1500 young people. Air New Zealand recruited 108 engineering trainees in 2007, the highest intake for a decade. "
Air New Zealand won the EEO Trust's 2008 Supreme Winner Award and Tomorrow's Workforce Award
Read more… http://www.eeotrust.org.nz/peoplepower/view_case.cfm?id=91