Starting an Employee-led Network - Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission

If you are looking to join an Employee-led Network that doesn’t already exist, you can start a new one.

Getting started

Consider the level of need or want for a network and if there is space for it to exist cross-agency.

Connect with like-minded people who could help get the network started and be part of your governance and working groups.

Find out if there are similar agency or cross-agency networks that already exist and reach out to them for information and advice.

Discuss with your people leader and their support so your skill, time and effort you contribute to the network are recognised.

Find out where your potential members are located, think about regional and national reach.

Identify wider Public Service diversity and inclusion strategic goals and objectives that could reflect and support your own.

If you have good numbers, consider having a governance or steering group and then a wider working group with an option to help with specific events/objectives only.
Some networks divide their group into workstreams with workstream leads.
Find out what people’s key skills are or what skills they might want to develop or practice.
Consider inviting key people who have the skills you need, for example, leading, facilitating, communications and event planning.
Link in with teams working on diversity and inclusion in your agency (they are often located in the people/organisational capability teams).
Create a Terms of Reference, kaupapa or charter so that it’s clear how you will work together and what the expectations are.
Plan to refresh committee/governance group and working groups from time to time. Share the workload and be flexible to avoid burnout.

Set clear expectations around the Chair, Co-chair, workstream lead and member roles. Capping your committee number can help distil a core active group. Some members will also want to lead certain work streams or working groups.
Consider an EOI process for Chair and Co-chair, term length and a succession approach.
Ensure the group is approachable and the space is a safe one for all. Create an agreement around this and reflect it in your terms of reference or similar foundation document.
Encourage the committee members to speak to their managers and senior leaders or CEs so their network mahi is supported.

Identify your vision and scope
Be clear on what your purpose is, for example:
- Visible diversity and inclusion in leadership roles.
- Create a support or professional development programme.
Set out your goals and objectives for the network.
Decide whether and when you’ll seek collaboration opportunities with other networks. Learning from established networks is a great way to reduce duplication of effort.
Find out if other networks run events on similar topics or if they have resources and toolkits that could be shared.
Identify existing training initiatives that may suit your network to help design and promote (e.g., mentoring programmes).
Connect with an established cross-agency network for advice and support.

Establish communication channels

Set up an email address and mailing list so people can contact/join the network.
Set up a landing page on your agency intranet.
Set up a Team’s chat group to ensure faster and easier communication.
Maintain regular meetings with a pre-circulated agenda so members know what’s coming and what’s expected.
Have a note taker to record actions and the members responsible and distribute them to the group.

Create a comms plan and identify possible communication channels.

Newsletters are a great way to promote your events, share stories and connect with your network especially if you have regional locations. Consider if your committee has the capacity/skill set to send out a regular newsletter and if this would be emailed or shared via the intranet.
As part of your comms content celebrate your achievements as a group and recognise individual contributions.
Assign a person/s to be responsible for comms or seek support from your agency’s comms team.

Decide on the annual number, type (online or in-person) and frequency of events.
Prioritise any special dates/events will you celebrate, remembering you may not be able to do them all.
Plan to gather feedback and key takeaways from your attendees and evaluate event performance. This can be done through post-event surveys and sharing event summaries through your comms channels.

Connect with senior leaders in your agency to establish their support and secure a sponsor. Clearly articulate what you need from them:
Spell out your vision and goals so they are best positioned to amplify them.
Decide whether you expect their attendance at regular network hui.
Outline what type of support you’ll need for events. Often a sponsor will speak at launch events to express their support and why they have chosen to support your network.
Discuss the possibility of securing a budget.

Build your membership base. Ways to recruit members include:

Mass email campaign.
Delivering a word-of-mouth campaign.
Executive sponsor-led communication calling for members.
Run a poll or a survey to find out what issues people at your agency are interested in and get feedback on your draft objectives.
Seek out assistance around creating a logo and the use of the group name in reo Māori.

Decide what your launch will look like, for example:

Outline the group’s objectives and goals and how the network expects to accomplish them.

Demonstrate the opportunities that can come from being part of a network, for example: