Businesses get national workplace ethnic diversity tool

A new guidebook offers tips on tapping into local migrant talent – a resource that opens doors to export markets.

Suzanne Hall says that her business contacts in India wouldn’t take her seriously if she didn’t have Indian staff members. “They can’t imagine that we’d understand their culture otherwise.”
And that understanding is critical to her work: Suzanne, who founded acclaimed skincare company Living Nature, has now launched BE Intent, which uses innovative computer technology to support desk-bound employees’ engagement and wellbeing.

Suzanne identified India as a critical export market early on, but knew that to accurately adapt her technology she needed Indians with recent work experience in the subcontinent to help her get to grips with Indian culture, spirituality, attitudes and lifestyles.
She hired two people from India, one a graphic designer and the other a customer service representative: “They help me check my thinking.”

Hall says that the key to tapping into immigrant insight is an open and collaborative environment in which people have the opportunity to contribute and feel that their input is valued. 

She was among the business leaders who helped launch the Office of Ethnic Affairs guidebook Riding the Wave in early December. The 65-page guide aims to give employers practical and down-to-earth advice on how to make the most of New Zealand’s increasing workplace diversity.

The guide points out that having staff from all sorts of ethnic backgrounds on its own isn’t enough, and that diversity has to be backed by company leaders and managed well to become an organisational strength. Berlinda Chin, OEA Intercultural Awareness Manager, sees Riding the Wave as a valuable tool to help companies “incorporate ethnic diversity as a long-term organisational strategy”.

New Zealand Post, IBM, Beca Transportation and niche engineering firm Damwatch are among the companies that share the challenges they faced creating multi-ethnic teams, the processes they put in place and the benefits they gained.

Matt Ensor, Beca’s General Manager (Transportation) told the launch that he started recruiting offshore to plug a local skills shortage; sound management of a multi-cultural staff of 50 has delivered reduced turnover and higher profits, morale and engagement.  “Diversity is a competitive advantage … I have absolute proof.”

But success, he adds, requires leaders who really believe in the benefits of diversity and are willing to invest substantial time and effort in finding out the needs and concerns of migrant staff, building their confidence and managing expectations.

Alfonso Gaerlan, director operations and export for natural health products company Red Seal, also attended the launch event and says that embracing the attributes and talents of ethnic-minority staff makes them feel valued, which boosts their productivity.  

Red Seal exports to Korea, Taiwan and Japan and has 90 staff from a wide range of backgrounds; an open culture encourages them to make use of their language skills and ethnic insight. It was a Japanese staff member who pointed out that while a liquorice tea called Black Adder would sell in Japan, a picture of an adder on the packet would turn consumers off. 

Gaerlan, who migrated from the Philippines to New Zealand in the mid-80s, says that Asian clients often want to visit Red Seal’s Auckland factory; he has noticed that they make positive judgements as they encounter staff with whom they can chat in their native language. “You get the impression they feel that if their countrymen are happy, it’s a good sign.”

New Zealand companies that develop a “global culture” are well-placed to expand overseas, says Gaerlan. “Multiculturalism … allows you to more effectively address cultural gaps with your overseas distributors and clients. It provides an invisible highway that connects you to your clients overseas.”

To get your hard copy of Riding the Wave, contact the Office of Ethnic Affairs at ethnic.affairs@dia.govt.nz
- by Julie Middleton. Photos courtesy of the Office of Ethnic Affairs.