2007 EEO Trust Work & Life Awards winners
An Auckland kindergarten association, the New Zealand Defence Force and Southern Cross Healthcare are amongst the winners of the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards this year.
Speaker of the House Hon Margaret Wilson MP presented the awards at a gala dinner in Auckland on Thursday 30 August 2007. The dinner followed "The Diversity Effect", a day-long symposium exploring the challenges and opportunities posed by New Zealand's diverse working population.
The EEO Trust Work & Life Awards have recognised employers which support work-life balance since 1998. EEO Trust Chief Executive Philippa Reed says they have been instrumental in raising awareness of the business benefits of work-life balance.
"Over the past ten years New Zealand employers have faced a range of employment challenges, largely relating to the increasingly diverse workforce and the tight labour market," she says. "As the demands of work change at an ever increasing pace, so does the need to find the right balance with life outside of work. It is striking this balance that provides the energy, resilience, tolerance and creativity we need to become most effective in all areas of our lives."
Winner of the Large Organisation Award is Franklin Kindergarten Association and the runner-up is South Island firm Anderson Lloyd Lawyers. The judging panel chose two winners of the new Diversity Award - the Beca Transporation Group at Beca Infrastructure and the New Zealand Defence Force.
Winner of the Manaki Tangata Innovation Award is Southern Cross Healthcare for its staff health and wellness programme.
First Steps Award winner is South Auckland business support agency, Enterprising Manukau, and winner of the Small to Medium Organisation Award is Phoenix Inc Supported Employment of Palmerston North.
Winners of the Walk the Talk Award for CEOs or senior managers who exemplify and support work-life balance are Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, Helen Anderson, and Northern Regional Manager of the ANZ National Bank rural banking team, Matt Pickering.
IBM New Zealand supported the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards 2007. "IBM is deeply committed to fostering diversity, inclusiveness and flexibility in our own company, which is why we are proud to sponsor the annual EEO Trust Work & Life Awards," says IBM Managing Director Katrina Troughton.
"Dramatic shifts in the demographics of the modern workplace, coupled with increasing expectations from employees, are creating huge challenges for employers trying to attract, retain and motivate the best people. In this fierce 'war for talent', the organisations that offer truly inclusive, flexible and innovative workplaces will come out on top. IBM congratulates the winners of this year's EEO Trust Work & Life Awards for demonstrating the vision and leadership that will be required in the winning workplaces of the future."
Large Organisation Award - Franklin Kindergarten Association
Winner of the Large Organisation Award is Franklin Kindergarten Association (FKA). Philippa Reed said the judging panel chose Franklin Kindergarten Association due to its success in putting staff first despite tight funding constraints and the rigidity of classroom hours.
Franklin Kindergarten Association is a not-for-profit organisation which runs 25 kindergartens in the South Auckland region. It employs 70 teachers and 30 support staff.
Retention of staff is absolutely critical to its success due to the importance of continuity of care for young children. However, many of the usual retention strategies such as higher remuneration packages and flexible working hours are not possible given the constraints of the business.
"Teachers must start and finish work at set times in order to meet teacher-child ratios and it is these ratios that determine the Association's income," says Professional Practice Manager at the FKA, Raewyn van Lingen.
The FKA provides as much flexibility as it can by offering full-time and part-time roles. It supports staff in many ways, first asking them what they need, then doing its best to provide it.
For example, in 2003, the FKA asked head teachers what would support them in their work. They reported that they regularly took administrative work home, spending perhaps 10 hours a week on unpaid work. The FKA decided to provide four half-days a term to head teachers for administrative work.
In 2005, when the Ministry of Education offered funding to support registering teachers, the FKA asked registering teachers what they would like the money spent on. As a result of this consultation, registering teachers now receive the whole of the grant allocation to buy resources or take time off for professional development.
Teaching staff are entitled to six weeks annual leave but, in the past, staff were often interrupted during their breaks. In 2005, the FKA defined the first week of any break as annual leave days. It tries to ensure that teaching staff are not interrupted by any work matters during their annual leave.
Since 1997 the FKA has given every employee up to $150 annually to help them meet the cost of a wide range of activities to support a work-life balance. This includes memberships to sports clubs, gyms or other activities associated with health and wellbeing, costs of clothing or items associated with health and wellbeing, prescription glasses, sun protection, and clothing for work.
All staff who have been employed for two years or longer are eligible for a study grant of $400 for teachers and support staff and $500 for head teachers to help them to gain further qualifications relevant to their work.
As a result of the FKA's approach to work-life balance and staff development, turnover of teaching staff over the past three years averaged eight per cent per year. All of the 70 teaching positions are currently filled and all the FKA's permanent teaching staff are qualified and registered teachers. Nearly 50 of its permanent staff have been employed by the FKA for five years or longer.
"We estimate that the savings over the past three years through retaining employees who have returned to work after a period of parental leave are worth more than $300,000," says Raewyn van Lingen.
Philippa Reed and Gary Saunders, who is HR Manager at IBM and a member of the judging panel, both visited FKA and met with administrative and teaching staff.
Gary Saunders says FKA has made good use of innovative ideas given its operating constraints around hours. "They have as much flexibility as they can and there's a strong commitment to developing people's careers. To me they had a really good integrated culture."
Anderson Lloyd Lawyers
Runner-up in the Large Organisation category is a South Island law firm, Anderson Lloyd
Lawyers.
The firm is based in Dunedin and is represented in the keySouth Island markets of Dunedin, Queenstown and Christchurch but its work spans the length and breadth of New Zealand. It employs 86 lawyers and legal staff and 58 secretarial and support staff to provide a full range of legal advice.
Philippa Reed says the firm has used work-life initiatives to recruit and retain women staff for many years. "About two-thirds of the lawyers leaving law school are women, but this is not generally reflected in the senior ranks of law firms. For many years Anderson Lloyd has consciously used flexible working practices to try to redress the balance," she says.
"Last year the firm decided to take a closer look at its smorgasbord of work-life and flexible working initiatives. It undertook thorough consultation with staff and formalised its initiatives to ensure that everyone had access to the same options."
Currently, 55 out of Anderson Lloyd's 144 staff are using some form of flexible work arrangement. This includes part-time work, term-time working and job-sharing. Career breaks, study leave and domestic leave are all available and many staff can work from home when they need to.
More than half the firm's 65 partners or associates and solicitors are women, staff retention overall is high and almost all staff return from parental leave.
"We're proud of this and we work hard to ensure that we can find ways for all our staff to reach their potential whilst still maintaining a healthy work-life balance," says Partner Lauren Semple. "Our flexible working policy has helped us to achieve this.
"We also have various staff who work flexible starting and finishing times to allow them to collect children, compete in sporting commitments, keep fit or simply keep on top of an active home life."
Staff can leave work suddenly to deal with family emergencies or take time off for appointments and make it up later.
Phased retirement plans are available and the firm is working closely with two senior partners on a succession plan and reduced working hours.
Anderson Lloyd's other work-life balance initiatives include reimbursement of $150 annually for any activity that promotes and maintains general personal health and wellbeing. An active social club arranges sports events, drinks and meals, as well as charity fundraising efforts.
"We've observed a dramatic improvement in employees' commitment to the firm since the introduction of our flexible work practices," says HR Manager Dunedin KellyPankhurst. "They appreciate the efforts that the firm puts into a healthy work-life balance. This is evident in our staff retention rate and length of service."
Diversity Award
A Diversity Award was introduced this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards.
"The Diversity Award recognises organisations that encourage and support a diverse workforce through a single initiative or broad organisational support," says Philippa Reed. "We received 16 entries in this category, the largest number of entries received in any category since the inception of the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards.
"The judging panel was not only impressed by the high number of entries; the quality of entries was also outstanding, indicating the breadth and depth of the approaches taken by employers to garner the rewards of well-supported, diverse workforces."
Due to the wide range of entrants, the judging panel assessed the public and private sector entries separately.
Diversity Award - Beca Transportation
Private sector Diversity Award winner is the Beca Transportation Group, part of Beca
Infrastructure. Beca Transportation employs 44 people in its Auckland office.
Philippa Reed says that a range of diversity initiatives introduced by Beca Transportation have proven that cultural diversity is both a competitive advantage in professional consulting services and a sustainable way to grow and develop a company.
"Beca Transportation has developed an extremely effective set of initiatives to ensure it recruits and retains the very best traffic engineers from around the world," she says. "Traffic engineers are thin on the ground in New Zealand and overseas so Beca Transportation set out to create a workplace of choice for immigrating traffic engineers. This involved listening to what they needed, assessing whether the current workplace culture was inhospitable in any way and proactively targeting graduates.
"What stood out for the judges was that it was about two-way communication, not just focusing on the challenges of people coming into New Zealand but also looking at helping managers understand that they might need to do things differently."
One of the key issues limiting immigrant employees' ability to perform was poor written English. In one initiative, an English tutor was employed to help new employees, typically from Asian countries, improve their English language skills. A new recruit from Myanmar is currently receiving one-on-one training and the company pays for an English conversation group which runs after work once a week.
Technical Director and Section Manager of the Transportation Group Matt Ensor wanted to encourage the organisation to learn from people new to New Zealand. "While a friendly team is important, we discovered this alone may not be enough," he says. "We noticed that some new staff were not taking part in the team's social activities, even though they were invited personally and everything was paid for by the company."
A study found that some of the Kiwi ways of doing things were not appealing to immigrants. For example, social gatherings typically involved alcohol and Kiwi banter. "People unfamiliar with this type of gathering weren't quite sure how to take it," says Matt Ensor.
As a result, soft drinks became more visible in the fridge and some simple changes were made the social environment to make it more welcoming and accessible for new staff. Similarly, some team lunches and celebrations moved from local pubs to yum cha restaurants as Matt Ensor redefined ways to celebrate as a team.
Philippa Reed says the results of these initiatives speak for themselves. In 2002, the Transportation Group had one female and one Asian engineer. Now, the majority of the section was born overseas (26 staff from 13 countries) and women make up about 40% of the team.
In a recruitment market where engineering skills are in exceptionally high demand worldwide, the Transportation Group has grown by 11 staff (30%) in the past year whereas similar organisations have been losing staff.
The success of the Transportation Group's approach to diversity has led to the group mentoring other Beca section managers to support new immigrants. Matt Ensor says this will benefit the whole of Beca Infrastructure, both in terms of recruitment and retention, and also in building understanding of the international markets it operates in.
Diversity Award - New Zealand Defence Force
Public sector winner of the Diversity Award is the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) for its
approach to the integration and acceptance of women at all levels of the Services.
The integration of women into the Defence Force began in 1997, starting a huge period of culture change. Initially the focus was on sexual harassment and other unacceptable behaviour as this was seen as an obstacle to women's full participation. The focus later shifted to traditional features of military life and how these blocked the integration and acceptance of women. For example, a flexible working policy was introduced in 2002 and part-time work has become much more prevalent and used at all levels.
All bases have access to childcare facilities which are used by parents and grandparents. "There is also more sensitivity to people's parenting commitments when scheduling work demands," says Senior Manager Directorate HR Policy and Capability Laura Gillan.
"All Services have school holiday programmes on some of their bases and the Navy and Air Force have family support programmes which provide practical and emotional support when Service personnel are on deployment."
Philippa Reed says that these and other wide ranging and well planned initiatives have resulted in a steady increase of women personnel since 1998. "There has been a steady increase in the number of women at higher levels and women are working in more diverse roles, for example as rifle specialists, gunners and combat system specialists."
Satisfaction with family-friendly initiatives has increased by three per cent from 2003 to 2006, and in 2006 96% of female civilian personnel believed they had the flexibility to meet family needs. "This compares with 90% of female military personnel which is still credibly high considering the nature of their duties," says Philippa Reed
Laura Gillan says the increase in women, particularly in senior roles, has helped to build a critical mass. "Women don't stand out so much now and their involvement has become normalised. The Services benefit in many ways because women at more senior levels bring different perspectives to discussion and decision-making."
As with other sectors, pragmatics drive the NZDF integration initiative - recruiting and retaining the best people. "Gender integration is a capability issue. It's not about attracting more women to the military but about attracting the best people," says Laura Gillan. "It's about how the potential contribution of women can be fully utilised."
The NZDF is building on the integration initiative with a new diversity strategy which Laura Gillan says seeks to optimise performance through strengthening NZDF's inclusive culture. "It recognises that the strength of our culture is partly derived from the differences that each individual brings to the organisational team.
"Globalisation is creating more demands for deployment in different cultural, social and regional settings so we need a workforce with diverse styles, outlooks and approaches in order to build strong external alliances and to be operationally effective. Valuing and leveraging diversity is an integral part of competent leadership."
Philippa Reed says this recognition of the benefits of diversity were echoed in many of the other Diversity Award entries. "The New Zealand Fire Service and the New Zealand Police, in particular, described how they are building and supporting a diverse workforce which can work more effectively in the communities they serve," she says.
"For example, the Fire Service encourages staff to learn Te Reo so they can liaise with M?ori communities and both the Police and the Fire Service are actively building links with Asian communities."
Manaki Tangata Innovation Award - Southern Cross Healthcare
Health and wellness initiatives have been a feature of the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards for several years as employers recognise their potential to improve engagement and address staff turnover and absenteeism.
This year, the judges noted a stand-out entry in the Manaki Tangata category for 
innovation. Philippa Reed says that Southern Cross Healthcare's Switch2well is a comprehensive wellbeing programme based on solid research and staff input.
Fellow judge, Gary Saunders of IBM which supports the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards, agrees, "This is a very good initiative and it's just amazing the difference it's making to people."
Southern Cross Healthcare CEO Dr Ian McPherson says that obviously every business aims to keep its costs down but, as a not-for-profit, Southern Cross places a particular emphasis on managing overheads.
"However, our growth and our ability to provide excellent services and products depends on our ability to retain, engage and motivate our staff," he says. "We operate in a tight labour market and face competition for skilled staff from our for-profit counterparts."
Faced with high levels of employee attrition, Southern Cross was looking for a lateral and innovative solution to ensure immediate and long-term employee engagement, motivation and retention.
An annual culture and climate survey, exit interviews and focus groups found that staff believed Southern Cross was not actively engaged in supporting staff wellbeing or providing recognition of the need for balance in the workplace.
The solution was Switch2well which is available to all Southern Cross Healthcare's 550 permanent staff.
Switch2well commenced with a series of pilot activities early last year which were so successful the comprehensive programme was launched to build engagement, satisfaction, motivation and productivity, and to improve retention and reduce absenteeism.
"Switch2well provides encouragement, support and recognition for physical and mental wellbeing across all aspects of people's lives," says General Manager HR Rachael Regan Paterson. "We wanted to make a three-year commitment to a programme that would straddle home and work environments."
A large number of initiatives are offered including vouchers for nutrition consultations, on-site Weight Watchers meetings during work hours, vouchers for sessions with a personal trainer and monthly GP visits to the workplace with free consultations during work time.
"The programme includes a number of innovations that I haven't seen in other workplaces," says Rachael Regan Paterson. "For a start, we developed it with a high level of input from staff right from the initial pilot through to implementation. It's scheduled so that participants take paid time out during their working day to improve their wellbeing. It also incorporates a reward and recognition aspect to encourage participation."
One of the rewards is wellness leave to encourage people to take time out and spend time on wellness activities. About 50 staff had earned half a day's wellness leave six months after the programme's introduction and staff who have earned points have had deposits made into their health management accounts.
In the first six months of Switch2well, 94% of staff had participated in some aspect of the programme, 27 employees had given up smoking and 71 had lost a total of 355kg in weight.
Staff satisfaction and motivation had both improved and absenteeism was down by nearly three per cent. This equates to a significant saving for Southern Cross and three times its investment in the programme. The organisation is optimistic that staff retention will also improve as the results are tracked over the longer term.
As Chief Operating Officer of Insurance Operations Lisa Gunnery says, "It's a wellness thing but it's also a monetary thing. You've got to have employees who are engaged, who are feeling good and who want to come to work. The alternative is to have highly stressed, underproductive people.
"It makes business sense and it also makes employee sense."
Small to Medium Organisation Award - Phoenix Inc Supported Employment
Winner of the Small to Medium Organisation Award is Phoenix Inc Supported Employment, a Palmerston North organisation which assists disabled people to find work and supports them and the employer during their employment.
Phoenix Inc employs seven people and demonstrates a strong commitment to them. CEO Janice Gordon is determined to keep the workplace free of the discrimination and barriers staff meet every day in the course of their work.
"The nature of our work means employees can be subject to a great deal of stress," she says. "External supervision and counselling is available wherever needed and is supported by a general sense of camaraderie in the Phoenix Inc offices.
"We have to make sure we have fun and celebrate success. Work-life balance is essential to keeping staff mentally and physically healthy."
Phoenix Inc's work-life initiatives include flexible working options, long service leave, flexible use of paid sick days, leave for the birth of a grandchild and health and wellness options such as eye tests.
The benefits for Phoenix Inc include high staff morale and productivity. "Work-life balance strategies mean staff work better, are happier, more motivated, have heightened self esteem and are very loyal," says Janice Gordon.
Employment consultant Cathryn Wallace agrees: "The pleasant, welcoming workplace atmosphere created by having friendly and helpful colleagues means coming to work is enjoyable."
The range of work-life initiatives available at Phoenix Inc is a reflection of Janice Gordon's leadership skills and modelling. For example, extra holidays are given in recognition of productivity and staff are fully consulted on and take ownership of the direction of Phoenix Inc.
"I see a balanced and family-friendly workplace as a desirable environment for all of us," says Janice Gordon. "People who are treated well will reciprocate with high productivity and team cohesion."
First Steps Award - Enterprising Manukau
Winner of the First Steps Award is Enterprising Manukau, a business enterprise agency 
operating in Manukau City.
Philippa Reed says the varied nature of Enterprising Manukau's work and the changing political and economic currents which influence its activities mean flexibility is critical to Enterprising Manukau's success.
"Like many small businesses, its work-life initiatives have evolved as current and prospective staff endeavour to create a work environment that helps them to be productive at work and happy at home," she says.
Enterprising Manukau employs nine full-time and four part-time salaried staff, as well as four casual staff. CEO Gaelle Deighton says work-life balance supports Enterprising Manukau's vision to create and develop an environment for sustainable business and employment opportunities.
Its work-life initiatives have grown with the organisation. "As we've grown, we've identified skills gaps that needed to be filled quickly," says Gaelle Deighton. "For example, difficulties in filling a receptionist role led to a job share position being created while the need for an experienced business mentor led to a part-time position for 76-year-old Colin Aiken."
Enterprising Manukau persuaded Colin Aiken to turn his back on conventional retirement more than 10 years ago and he has coordinated the Counties Manukau wing of Business Mentors New Zealand ever since. "It's a mutually successful arrangement in that Colin is able to work part-time around outside commitments and Enterprising Manukau has his specialist expertise," says Gaelle Deighton.
While Enterprising Manukau's work-life initiatives have grown organically, in recent months it has formalised some of the initiatives to ensure consistency and stability. For example, it recently wrote paid study leave into its formal policies.
Despite budget constraints, staff can take five days paid study leave, 10 days sick leave and extended bereavement leave. One ill staff member was given extended leave of absence and another was given extended parental leave.
For Enterprising Manukau, the most obvious benefit of its work-life initiatives is the "family atmosphere". "Whenever we have a challenge to meet, everyone pitches in to help out," says Gaelle Deighton. "This is reflected in the positive business relationships we have with our clients, funders and customers."
Walk the Talk Award
Due to the strength of entries in the Walk the Talk category for senior managers or CEOs who model work-life balance and support staff in their professional and personal lives, the judging panel selected two Walk the Talk Award winners; CEO of the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology (MoRST) Helen Anderson and Northern Regional Manager of the ANZ National Bank rural banking team Matt Pickering.
Helen Anderson, MoRST
Philippa Reed says the judging panel recognised the impact of Helen Anderson's leadership in enabling staff to achieve their goals, whether they be at home or at work. "Despite, or perhaps because of, the demands of her job, Helen actively prioritises the things that matter most to her - family, friends and personal health."
Helen Anderson was appointed Chief Executive of MoRST in 2004. As well as leading MoRST, she provides advice to the Minister of Research, Science and Technology and leadership within the research, science and technology sector. She is also responsible for ensuring that the $650 million government investment in research, science and technology is well spent and managed.
She is also a wife, mother of two and step-mum to four. Philippa Reed says that Helen Anderson models the importance and benefits of work-life balance, wellness, self-development and developing others in every aspect of her life.
"While performing very well in a demanding role, Helen manages to make time to exercise regularly, spend quality time with her family, extend her own learning and to act as mentor to a number of young people within MoRST and externally," Philippa Reed says. "For her, the term 'work-life balance' means actively prioritising the things that matter most - people, family, friends and personal health - as they provide personal joy and energy for her busy life."
Helen Anderson's husband is semi-retired and manages the household. "He's my rock," she says. "We enjoy spending time travelling together and always make special time for ourselves, such as walking together on Saturday mornings."
Her son James, 21, is intellectually disabled and loves spending time with his mother. They enjoy walking and shopping together. Helen Anderson is a fierce advocate for James and for other disabled people, and she tries to find ways to encourage his interaction with the community.
Helen Anderson is known as a friendly, approachable manager and is respected as a person, a manager and a scientist. Staff at the Ministry say they feel proud to know her. She mentors young scientists and prioritises celebrating success, whether it be personal or professional.
However, she is reticent about putting herself forward as a role model for work-life balance. "I don't want to be a flawless model. It's about being honest and authentic," she says. "Everybody needs to re-energise by focusing on other parts of their life. This is what I role-model."
Matt Pickering, ANZ National Bank
Matt Pickering says a critical part of his success and the success of his team is the emphasis he places on family, his personal interests and achieving what matters most in his work and life.
Matt Pickering's business area runs from Taupo to Whakatane and north to Kaitaia, encompassing more than 6000 customers. His role includes developing the strategic direction of rural banking as well as providing effective leadership to the region's 110 staff.
His family comes first and he works flexibly so he can support his commitment to his wife and two children. His role is a busy one and he spends a lot of time on the road.
His interests outside work include surf lifesaving. He was Surf Lifeguard of the Year in 1994 and is currently president of the Papamoa Surf Lifesaving Club. He lives at Papamoa Beach with his wife and two sons and has been known to hold work meetings in the surf lifesaving clubrooms.
Matt Pickering is a summer coach at the club for 20 eight-year-olds. While his first goal is to train these and many other youngsters in surf lifesaving skills, he ensures that teamwork and camaraderie are the foundations for developing self leadership and for giving back to the community.
He also competes in long distance ocean swimming events and blo-karts with his oldest son.
