Workplace culture needs work
With all the buzz around diversity and inclusion (D&I), you’d think it would be firmly on the agenda of most New Zealand workplaces. However, this year’s employer brand research by recruitment firm Randstad shows that more than half of the working population don’t think their employers have been successful in creating a diverse and inclusive culture.
It came as a surprise, therefore, to Randstad NZ’s country director Katherine Swan to find that less than a fifth of New Zealanders see D&I as an important factor when applying for a job. However, she puts this down to the choice of a new employer being a complex decision-making process.
“For many candidates, the focus is elsewhere. For example, we recently announced Air New Zealand as New Zealand’s Most Attractive Employer for the second consecutive year — recognised for its financial stability, focus on technology and strong reputation. It’s attributes like these that are engaging to employees and attractive to job seekers during the recruitment process.”
Once people became employed in organisations, though, D&I assumed more importance and more than half of employees felt their employers needed to provide clearer channels for communication and feedback in addressing D&I issues.
“This highlights the importance of ensuring transparency about D&I during the recruitment process,” says Swan. She also believes candidates should be more robustly researching the culture of an organisation to find out what will really affect them once they settle into a new job.
“And they should remember that the interview process is a two-way process and thus an opportunity for them to ask questions to determine if the organisation will be a good match.”
Swan says it’s vital that organisations hire employees who align with their organisational culture, because the research found that 80 per cent of employees have left a company specifically because of its culture.
“When cultural alignment occurs, employees are more committed to the organisation’s mission and objectives, and it’s well documented that employees are more productive when they’re more highly engaged.”
To bring about this alignment, employers need to improve how they communicate their specific policies on issues like work/life balance and mental health to candidates during the recruitment process.
“Likewise,” says Swan, “employees need to get better at doing their own homework, asking the tough questions upfront during the interview process to ensure cultural alignment and avoid any surprises down the track. These questions can be around the organisation’s flexible work policies and what strategies the organisation currently has in place to ensure D&I.”
The 2018 research found that achieving greater work/life balance was one of the most important factors for all employees when choosing a career. Close to two thirds of New Zealanders feel the greatest sense of inclusion when an employer offers flexible work options, regardless of circumstance. More than a third said lack of work/life balance was one of the top five reasons to leave their current role and this extends to social engagement, with almost half claiming opportunities for social activity is highly valued.
“This ‘work to live’ employee mindset reinforces the importance of companies having solid policies in place for flexible working if they want to remain competitive and retain great people,” says Swan. “We also found that ‘work to live’ became more important for older employees, and this could suggest a need to balance career with personal responsibilities like parenting or looking after older family members.”
She notes that unconscious bias still exists in many workplaces, and this can mean people with differences in culture, gender and religion and those with disabilities, neurodiversity and mental health issues are often afraid to speak up about their particular flexibility needs in a job interview.
“There are a number of people in our community who have been discriminated against directly and indirectly.
“These experiences, regardless of whether they occur in the workplace or not, can lead to people lacking trust or confidence in sharing their personal stories and asserting their needs at work. Employers need to provide a safe space for employees to share their requirements where they won’t be judged. However, they also need to respect limits and not intrude into the private lives of their employees.”
Recruiters can ensure people are comfortable with making their D&I needs known by facilitating a conversation between both parties to ensure organisational cultural alignment. Statutory bodies can also assist in providing employers with their obligations.