For organisations to innovate effectively, it requires a blend of creative inspiration and practical application that is often sought but rarely reached.
HRD’s inaugural Innovative HR Teams list turns the spotlight to the companies at the forefront of workplace innovation.
This year’s list showcases nine teams from a range of industries with Kensington Swan, Xero, Eastland Group and Southern Cross Health Society among those recognised.
All the selected winners are forward-thinking organisations who are pushing the boundaries and thinking bigger – teams which have distinguished themselves from their peers.
The full list includes:
2degrees
Initiatives of note from 2018 include the introduction of a successful mental wellbeing programme called ‘2degrees Together’. The aim of this programme was to normalise mental and emotional wellbeing discussions in the workplace and to reduce stigma associated with the topic. The programme supported leaders and team members alike in building confidence around the Five Ways to Wellbeing. An onsite counsellor, workshops, activities, guides for team members and for leaders were offered, but the most impactful element of the programme was the creation of videos of personal stories shared by their own very brave employees.
AJ Hackett Bungy NZ
AJ Hackett Bungy NZ are striving to come up with innovative responses to a changing workforce and are committed to recruiting, retaining and engaging the very best talent for tomorrow. In January 2018, they decided to focus on improving their HR recruitment and retention strategies, by hiring a Recruitment & Training Officer. Their four-strong HR team’s hard work over the past 18 months has seen dramatic improvements in the creation and promotion of their employer brand; increased talent pool; greater employee, community and nationwide engagement. It’s brought consistency, added value, and promoted and ensured best practice and improved results across the board.
Constellation Brands New Zealand
Constellation Brands New Zealand have made big strides the past two years on their diversity and inclusion journey with several initiatives, but perhaps the one with the biggest impact across the business has been FlexAbility. Introduced in March 2018, it encourages staff, and empowers managers, to facilitate discussions and agreements about flexible working. It recognises that the way we work is changing, the workforce is changing, and flexibility is important to both their current and prospective employees. FlexAbility is intended as a guideline or philosophy, rather than a policy, allowing for discretion. This might include working remotely, from home, flexible schedules, alternative work schedules, reduced hours (part-time), or job sharing.
Eastland Group
In 2018, Eastland Group created Mind Matters – an innovative mental wellbeing strategy for the workplace. Why? Their company-wide commitment to a safe work environment recognising that mental wellbeing is a vital piece of the health and safety puzzle. For Mind Matters to work, they had to create a fundamental cultural shift at Eastland Group, from the stoic Kiwi “she’ll be right” to a friendly Kiwi “how’s s/he doing?” Mind Matters is a four-step approach to promote mental wellness. It consists of three innovative training programmes and supporting people-focused policies from Eastland Group.
HIND Management & Sudima Hotels
The entire team have adopted a universal accessibility journey the focal point being when the group becoming a foundation members of the Accessible Tick programme in December 2018. Adhering to a three-year action plan to support and welcome employees with access needs and disabilities into the workforce, focusing on inclusion by training managers on unconscious bias and providing a support network. This has enabled teams to engage with a much wider talent pool and start breaking down barriers in the community. Their team are agile and passionate about advocating for what’s right including supporting anti bullying pink shirt days and International women’s day.
Kensington Swan
The legal industry faced a difficult year in 2018, which was exemplified by the #MeToo movement and also the findings from the Bazley report. This focus on gender diversity, mental wellbeing and workplace culture have long been issues that Kensington Swan have been mindful of and sought to address. Traditionally they have been viewed as leaders in gender diversity, as currently over one third of their full equity partners and two fifths of their board are female. However, in the wake of the Bazley report, they had broader industry wide issues to tackle. As an HR team, and with full support of the firm, last year their main focus was on engaging with partners and staff to help improve their workplace culture.
Southern Cross Health Society
Southern Cross Health Society have invested in establishing a diverse People & Strategy team covering people & culture, strategy, communications, transformation and workplace. They believe this is a unique model in New Zealand that gives them the breadth to both influence and execute – from internal communications (how they talk to their people) to employee experience (the voice of their employees) to their built environment (the workspaces they create for people to function at their best) to governance of their strategic priorities, the target operating model for the Society and their people facing programmes.
Trustpower
With the future of work in mind, Trustpower recently reinvented their graduate programme. They now have an Apollo programme, which supports participants to step into a world of the unknown and challenge the way they do business. The programme isn't restricted to graduates anymore, because they recognize that people from all backgrounds can challenge their existing mindsets and shape the way Trustpower will look in the future.
Xero
Xero has been very deliberate in building a mindfulness strategy in order to see long-term, sustained results. It’s based on aiming to give employees a conceptual understanding of mindfulness, including de-mystifying it. Their offices utilise ‘activity-based working’ and so their working environment provides quiet spaces, a wellbeing room and private meeting rooms, where employees can practice mindfulness. They have weekly drop in sessions, where employees can come and practice mindfulness together. They also have information on their intranet, including suggested books, videos, articles and apps.
