PeoplePower brings diversity success stories in life
Diario Filipino No. 27 Aug/Sep 2004
Employers endeavouring to beat he skills shortage would do well to explore a new series of case studies on the EEO (Equal Employment opportunity) Trust website according to Chief Executive Dr Philippa Reed.
"Many workplace are becoming more creative and tapping into the latent talent pool," says Dr Reed. "Our case studies illustrate how innovative recruitment methods, training schemes and people management systems can enable employers to find and keep motivated people."
The EEO Trust case studies include large and small employers throughout New Zealand from a landscaping company in Wanganui which employs several people with disabilities to an Auckland-based training company which employs staff from around the world.
"These case studies demonstrate that a diverse workforce can result in a whole range of benefits for businesses," says Dr Reed. "Some of these are obvious, like the electronics manufacturer which uses the experience of new migrants to access export markets, while some are less tangible like the increased workplace harmony and creativity many employers report."
Managing director of Contract Warehousing, Rod Giles was inteviewed for one of the case studies. Contract Warehousing has a policy of employing people who are "crying out" for the opportunity to work, and his 30-strong staff is made up of many cultures as well as many people who have come off benefits.
"It's a win-win situation, "Mr Giles says. "Having a diverse staff adds colour in every sense. It gives us a richer environment to work in. That makes it much more enjoyable and interesting for staff whomay be doing fairly mundane jobs."
But he says there are also hard-nosed business advantages to his diverse workforce. "We've found that most new migrants are highly qualified and motivated - they have to be to immigate in the first place. Their industrious work habits and influence have made it obvious to local employees that they have to change their attitudes and improve their standard of work. Migrants want toget ahead and they know the only way to do that is to put in the effort."
Several of the case studies demonstrate the advantages of employing older workers. For example, 81-year old Paul Hobbs is a part-time maths teacher for students with special needs at Te Awamutu College.
Principal Barbara Cavanagh says Paul's age is irrelevant to the college. "He's got this huge reservoir of knowledge and we need to tap into it. He likeskids and they like him and are more than happy to work with him. He's willing to come in and be involved with us."
The EEO Trust developed the case studies with the Department of Labour which has published a book of some of the case studies called PeoplePower. This free resource can be ordered by emailing your postal address to [email protected] with PeoplePower in the subject line. The complete set of case studies is at www.eeotrust.org.nz/peoplepower.