Making a Difference - Equal Employment Opportunities Trust

What do demographics have todo with the skills shortage?Like many other countries, New Zealandhas an ageing population, with thenumber of people aged over 65 expectedto double by 2050. The cost of providingretirement income, in the form of NewZealand Superannuation, is expectedto double in this period.By 2021, half the New Zealandpopulation will be over 39.8 years of age,whereas half of Māori will be under 26.8years of age and the proportion of theNew Zealand population who will be over65 (17.6%) will be close to the proportionof the young Māori workforce (19%).Future retirees have a vested interestin ensuring that the working-agepopulation, an increasing proportionof which will be Māori, is successfullyengaged in the workforce now.While the rate of Māori participationin tertiary education has grown from7.4% in 1998 to 20.2% in 2003, 10 manyMāori are underskilled for new jobs.What does “social capital”have to do with business?Social capital refers to the collectivevalue of social networks and theinclination to do things for others.According to a 2005 MasseyUniversity study, many people leavetheir job because they cannot get onwith people at work. By developing socialcapital in the workplace your employeesare better able to enjoy constructiverelationships with each other. The moreeffectively employees work together,the more they help each other out,and the better they get on with clientsand customers. 11Research has shown that Māori placea high value on harmony, relationshipsand group accomplishment. 12 Māori tendto be “collectivist entrepreneurs”, whichmeans they readily contribute andbelieve they are a key part of the group.Theyare likely to feel personally responsiblefor the group result and are orientedtoward sharing group rewards.Employers can harness Māori capacityat social capital building and channelit to improve the social capital in theworkplace.Can organisations collectinformation about the numberof Māori working for them?Human rights legislation does notprohibit the collection of personalinformation. Employers can ask forpersonal information provided theintention and process are consideredand transparent, the aim of gatheringinformation is valid for planningpurposes, employees do not feeltargeted, there is a genuine feelingof trust between the parties, and theanswers are not used to disadvantagethat person in any way. However,employees cannot be required toprovide the information.Monitoring ethnicity“TVNZ decided to beginmonitoring its performance onequal employment opportunities atthe end of 2003. This made absolutesense for us, not only because ofour new TVNZ Charter with itsstatements about support forcommunities and for wide audienceinclusiveness, but because we areourselves a diverse workforce andit was time to check how equitablyopportunities presented themselvesto our employees.”“ . . . We discovered that less thanhalf of our people were interestedin describing themselves in termsof ethnicity and that, where therewas dual ethnicity and one half wasEuropean, they generally chose toidentify themselves as European.This was a surprise and also, ofcourse, makes it very difficult to getmeaningful data. We notice, though,that most job applicants and newjoiners are more open to it, so overtime the proportion of employeesreporting ethnicity will grow.”Sidney Smith, former Head ofHuman Resources, TVNZ21