Spark praised for LGBT efforts

Spark has been praised for its LGBT efforts after becoming the first telecommunications company in New Zealand to achieve Rainbow Tick accreditation.

“Spark is to be commended for a sincerely positive and engaged attitude to supporting Rainbow staff in its workplace,” said Michael Stevens, program director of Rainbow Tick.

“The importance of Spark taking part in the Pride Parade and the positive impact this had was mentioned numerous times by several of the staff we interviewed and demonstrated a clear level of senior level engagement,” he continued.

The Rainbow Tick demonstrates that a business is an inclusive organisation for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, takatāpui and intersex – Spark is the 28th company to achieve the accreditation and the first telecommunications provider.

“Our evaluation found that Spark was very focused on culture and guiding staff as to what is and isn’t acceptable in all their daily interactions,” said Stevens.

Rhonda Koroheke – Spark’s head of diversity and inclusion – said the company embarked on the Rainbow Tick process late last year as part of a wider focus on a range of D&I initiatives.

 “We’ve made huge strides with our diversity programme in the last year and achieved the Rainbow Tick accreditation in only nine months, demonstrating that inclusion is a key part of our daily culture,” said Koroheke.

“Having the Tick shows that Spark is a culturally innovative company where everyone can feel confident being themselves at work,” she added.

With over 62 nationalities amongst staff, the company also supports a variety of staff-led initiatives that represent different cultures, religions and preferences of the whole team. Internal celebrations around the country include Diwali, Eid, Matariki, Chinese New Year, Pride and many others.

“We set ourselves a goal to ensure Spark embraces each aspect of culture and diversity that’s relevant to our people,” said Koroheke.