Seven ways enterprise can learn from Pasifika to improve their workforce in Tāmaki Makaurau

Two connected problems persist in Aotearoa.

1. Low numbers of Māori and Pasifika in higher-paid industries like tech (a mere 4%)

2. Industries need to grow and diversify their talent and workforce - but do not know how.

As a result, talent goes to waste, inequity grows, and industries stagnate.

However, the good news is that these problems were ‘designed in’ to businesses which means they can be ‘designed out’.

Part of the answer lies in employees partnering with intermediaries who can connect diverse talent with potential employers. Here is an example of how it has worked with Uptempo, a Pasifika incubator nestled within The Southern Initiative.

Last August, multinational corporation Datacom needed to urgently recruit Covid-19 contract tracers who could speak Pasifika languages after the Delta outbreak took hold of Pasifika communities in south and west Auckland. They partnered with Uptempo, who were able to plug into their extensive Pasifika networks with high-profile community leaders to advertise the short-term work opportunity.

It went viral, with over 4,000 Pasifika people responding. 78 Pasifika people gained a contact tracing or a Team Leader role. A new talent pool of over 2,500 Pasifika people was formed for Uptempo, Datacom and others to keep drawing from.

Through this partnership, Datacom realised they needed a safe landing place for new staff in their organisation and sector. They have since created ‘The Nest,’ which recruits, onboards, trains, and supports people like Māori and Pasifika staff who do not look like the rest of the organisation, who are mostly white and male. Datacom piloted ‘The Nest’ with two Uptempo and four Tupu Toa staff and a dedicated Experience Manager for the pilot.

Since then, the nest concept has taken off. Datacom has hired a wahine Māori to grow The Nest across their organisation. It is walking the talk and made a firm commitment to diversify its workforce and ensure that Māori and Pasifika people are well supported in the organisation. The benefits for Datacom have been tremendous. They have seen that star Pasifika recruits can bring in others, paving the way for a more talented, creative, culturally rich workforce. It is a real legacy move toward equity for its workforce.

“We now have access to talent and communities we’ve never traditionally engaged with; that’s the beauty”

- Teresa Pollard, Associate Director Strategic Partnerships, Datacom

Workforce projections indicate that by 2026, Pasifika people will make up a third of Tāmaki Makaurau’s total workforce. It requires investment and effort, but the rewards are worthwhile, and it is a sure way to future-proof business in Aotearoa. If your organisation wants to attract and keep diverse talent, here are 7 ways that we have learned from Pasifika in Tamaki Makaurau:

1.     Increase your cultural competency.

Organisations should increase cultural awareness if they want to recruit for diversity. Some of the barriers we came across were things like a lack of understanding of Pasifika values and the ways Pasifika demonstrate readiness for progression. There are some fantastic cultural competency training organisations like Te Kaa, Vasa Consulting, LeVa, Tutiramai, Pacific Education Centre, Araatu, Courageous Conversations South Pacific and Diversity Works NZ  that can provide cultural competency training.

2.    Change how you think about talent.

“Think about talent differently, not just qualifications and experience but emotional intelligence, values and how we want to grow humans who will disrupt and challenge what we think. Those are the people we need to bring into our organisation to make us better”

- Teresa Pollard, Associate Director Strategic Partnerships, Datacom.

Think about the values, skills, and qualities you need for a role. Are you stuck in a fixed mindset about the kinds of people and skills you require and whom you hire? How diverse is your workforce, and what might you gain from diversifying?

3.    Be clear in your communications about what you need.

As Datacom found, many of the people who wanted to apply for their roles simply didn’t, as they thought they wouldn’t have the right qualifications for the role or don’t think it’s possible because they don’t see other people who look like them in the industry. Clearly communicate the kinds of values, qualifications, and skills you want. If no formal qualifications are needed or if certain attributes are more important than qualifications, say so.

4.    Partner to recruit differently.

Identify organisations such as Uptempo that have the capability to connect you with the kinds of people you want to hire, who can reach into those communities to find those amazing people. Work closely with them to develop processes that attract those people into your business. Do not ask the intermediary to do something for free. Recognise their ability to connect you to a new talent pool and build relationships of trust with these intermediary organisations to develop ongoing talent pools that you can keep drawing from as you need.

5.    Check your bias.

We all have our biases. We tend to hire people like us. Employers are in the privileged position of being able to observe how their personal bias and collective biases, such as racism, play out in their industry and do something about it. This means building your own cultural competence and comfort with diversity of all kinds, addressing bias skillfully when it arises in yourself and others and growing an internal culture of acceptance and love of difference.

6.   Change your employee experience.

Think about what it might be like to land in your business as a young Samoan woman or a young Māori man. Would they feel welcomed, comfortable, valued, and supported? How would you know either way? What do you need to do differently around onboarding and retention? Partner with organisations like Uptempo to help you gain the cultural competence to not just attract diverse employees but to keep them with you and share all they have to offer in a supported way.

There are resources to help; for example, Uptempo has created the Good Employer Matrix, which guides employers on how to become better employers of Pasifika people.

“When you lift one person, you lift their whole family”

- Lolou Kini, Uptempo Job Detective.

7.    Reorient your picture of ‘success.’

Reframe how you conceive and measure your success towards employing for equity and diversifying your workforce. Develop Board and management KPIs that reflect this and make people accountable for them. Ask your staff what success in equity and diversity looks like from their perspectives, including in terms of their own wellbeing, and reflect that too.

A first step is finding one or more organisations that might be able to help you on this journey and starting a conversation with them.

“Covid is making us focus on our national talent pool. This is a massive opportunity for New Zealand to step up for New Zealand in the way we hire and who we hire”

- Anna-Jane Edwards, Uptempo Manager

“Why can’t New Zealand model this stuff? Talent is number one, the right talent. This is an opportunity for us to do things differently in tech. We need to do better to create that economy of greatness”

- Alex Mercer, Head of Group Marketing and Communications, Datacom