Ensuring our workplaces and leaders are inclusive, welcoming and supportive of all

• Public Service organisations are focusing on collecting good quality data, including through recruitment processes.
• Te ao and te reo Māori competence, and Māori-Crown relations capability, have been a clear area of focus and progress, as has increasing Māori representation in leadership.
• Leadership Development Centre resources are used widely, and “in-house” inclusive leadership training and resources are being developed by some organisations.
• Employee-led networks are thriving in the Public Service in 2022/2023 supported by senior leaders and executive sponsors. Cross-agency networks are also visible and growing.
• There are continued efforts to raise awareness of pronoun use and inclusive language.
• There is a growing emphasis on creating and embedding opportunities for disabled people and rainbow communities in the Public Service.

In the 2022 ‘State of the Public Service(PDF, 8.4 MB)’ report, the Commissioner said the Public Service will know if it is ensuring employment policies and practices are creating inclusive working environments, when we see active networks of public servants engaging with management and working together to deliver for the system and New Zealanders.

Departments continued their focus on collecting good quality data, including through their recruitment processes. The Commission encourages this, and notes that collecting better data is a key focus area to create and embed opportunities for disabled and rainbow public servants (discussed further below). At least one agency conducted a deep dive bias and discrimination survey of its staff (the results of which were being analysed at the time of publication of its annual report).

A focus on leaders

The Commissioner also set out expectations that by 2026, all leaders would be able to demonstrate they meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population through core training and capability in inclusive leadership. Common and core leader development uptake is increasing across and within agencies and has been reviewed to better support key system priorities.

The Leadership Strategy(PDF, 1.7 MB) (a strategy for the development of senior leadership and management capability in the Public Service, published by the Commission in 2023) states that leaders contribute to leadership goals through consistently applying an inclusive leadership lens to their actions and through understanding, valuing and reflecting diverse perspectives.

It was encouraging to see the continued use in 2022/23, across the Public Service, of resources made available by the Leadership Development Centre, particularly Inclusive Leadership Conversations, New People Leaders Programme, New Leader of Leaders Programme and Māori Emerging Leaders Programme. There was also widespread reporting of training and resources developed “in-house” by organisations covering inclusive leadership.

Inclusive leadership is about the behaviours of leaders. The Commission expects the results from the next Public Service Census against the baseline established by the last one, to show improvements in how public servants feel about how inclusive their leaders’ behaviours are.

Some organisations carry out employee surveys (or plan to) to assess their progress in building inclusive leadership and some have advisory groups to provide a channel for people to feel heard and give a range of perspectives. Staff surveys help agencies know their staff have confidence that relationships are given appropriate levels of attention across their organisation.

Employee-led Networks providing spaces and voices

Employee-led networks (ELNs) continued to thrive in the Public Service in 2023. Having a space and mandate to connect with others with shared lived experiences, supports people to bring their whole selves to work. Employee-led networks provide richness to workplaces and contribute valuable subject matter expertise.

There are now more than 230 ELNs across the system. Eleven agencies reported the formation of a new ELN or being in the process of setting up new ELNs. Networks focused on neurodiversity, mental health, age and life stage, faith and other ethnicities are emerging.

Engagement between networks and management to deliver for the system and New Zealanders is evident in the growing number of ELNs receiving support from senior leaders and executive sponsors. Some agencies appointed staff to oversee ELN work programmes to support their visibility and sustainability and provide strategic guidance, tools, and resources. ELNs are contributing lived experience and expertise as they input into policies, processes and practice across the system and within each agency.

About a third of agencies identified intersectionality and collaboration between their networks this year and referenced how collaboration between ELNs had increased.

Cross-agency networks are visible and growing and 2024 will see the launch of two new cross-agency networks, the Women of Colour Network and the Neurodiversity Network. Part of the cross-agency networks’ purpose is connecting with and supporting agency networks.

Growing emphasis on disabled & Rainbow communities

The State of the Public Service(PDF, 8.4 MB) report set out expectations that between 2023 and 2026 the Public Service system would see more emphasis on diverse and inclusive strategies for disabled and Rainbow communities.

In early 2023 the Commission worked with the chief executive leads for the Disability and Rainbow Pou to develop foundational four-point plans to create and embed opportunities for disabled and Rainbow communities in the Public Service. Implementation of the plans will continue across the Public Service over the next year and a half, at which time they will be reviewed, and amended if necessary.

Agency reporting on mahi undertaken over 2022/23 showed agencies are beginning to put more emphasis on growing inclusivity of their staff who are members of disabled or Rainbow communities. In addition to the growth of ELNs for Rainbow public servants, examples of initiatives and programmes to make Public Service workplaces more inclusive for disabled and Rainbow communities include:

• The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment makes a foundational level module on some fundamentals about including the LGBTQIA+ community available to staff.
• The Ministry of Education’s rainbow inclusion learning offerings include an ‘Enhancing Rainbow Competency workshop on the challenges rainbow people and rainbow rangatahi face across Aotearoa, and a ‘Toward Rainbow Inclusivity’ seminar focusing on challenges rainbow, takatāpui and intersex people face and actions to promote safe and inclusive environments.
• The Ministry for the Environment’s learning management system provides access to an inclusion playlist that includes a blend of in-house developed courses and off-the-shelf content covering, among other things, LGBTQIA+ inclusion at work (Rainbow 101).
• The Ministry for Housing and Urban Development has an in-house ‘Including Rainbow Communities’ learning programme.
• Inland Revenue was reaccredited by the Rainbow Tick Organisation, which commended the agency’s initiative for validating a customer’s identity when their voice does not match their expected or assumed gender.
• The Cross Agency Rainbow Network published advice to support leaders, teams and individuals affirming their gender at work called Transitioning and Gender Affirmation in the New Zealand Public Service
  (Transitioning-and-Gender-Affirmation-in-the-New-Zealand-Public-Service-V1-Optimised.pdf(PDF, 2.9 MB)).
• The Disability Action Advisory Group of Land Information New Zealand which provides recommendations on policies, work practices, products, and services so that the organisation is a more accessible and inclusive workplace and safe space for customers.
• Department of Corrections’ ‘Understanding Bias in Recruitment’ workshop focussing on supporting disabled people into employment, beginning valuable conversations unpacking bias relating to employing disabled people, understanding ableism, and identifying ways to be more responsive to the needs of disabled staff in their organisation.
• The Ministry for the Environment held a leadership campaign focused on fostering inclusive leadership and promoting inclusive leadership and featured multiple sessions, including one on ‘Disability and Accessibility’.
• The Government Communications Security Bureau launched the ‘Reasonable Accommodation’ policy with its neurodiverse and disabled staff.
• At the Ministry of Justice, the Disability Network advocated to make specialist software available to support people with dyslexia and now all staff have access to Microsoft Editor.

Award winning DEI efforts across the Public Service

The 2023 Diversity Works Awards NZ™ acknowledged:

• Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment in the Inclusive Workplace Award – Medium-Large Organisation Winners Hīkina Whakatutuki category, for its initiative to understand people’s experience of work and create safe spaces for them to share their stories
• Inland Revenue in the Inclusive Workplace category for its initiative to work closely with ELNs to create a set of organisational behaviours, to guide how it conducts its business
• New Zealand Defence Force in the Leadership category, for its Gender Equality Charter which provides executive and senior leaders with a way to demonstrate ongoing commitment to being a diverse and inclusive organisation.