2degrees

The People Team at 2degrees is making strides forward in a number of areas and humbly request to be considered for the HRD NZ Innovative HR Team award. Initiatives of note from 2018 include the introduction of a successful mental wellbeing programme called ‘2degrees Together’. The aim of this programme is 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 our own very brave employees, filmed by Mental Health advocate Jazz Thornton from Voices of Hope. In 2018, the People Team also drove a successful trial which encouraged our people to ‘switch off’ their emails after hours. This followed 2degrees commissioning research into how people communicate at work. The findings suggested one third of people feel obligated to answer work emails outside of normal work hours, causing us to reflect on our own practices. Our people are now released from the obligation to respond to emails after hours, a move well-received by our workforce and which generated media interest and discussion. Along with these key programmes, the People Team has driven other innovative activities:

• We have embarked on an agile project adopting a Human Centred Design approach to revise our onboarding process, keeping our new starters at the centre of our onboarding concepts
• We launched our 'Kotahi' programme, providing training for our employees in the space of mindfulness, EQ and resilience. It has been impactful for our people who have reported building life skills for both their work teams and families.
• We launched a leadership e-book as well as a new approach to leadership capability build through a leadership ‘book club’ which meets regularly to reflect on and discuss an agreed text
• We have embraced ‘Walk Me’ which is a Digital Adoption Platform
• Our sourcing strategy has shifted to a more proactive approach, and 25% of our roles are now filled by passive job hunters
• We launched an onsite school holiday programme
• We have what is fondly termed ‘The Longest Weekend’ where our employees can leave at midday on the last day of the week before a long weekend
• We have agreed to be the beta client for two organisations who have been seeking to trial their online tools.

One was the provider of the Belong app, which enables organisations to provide their benefits and discounts to their people via a simple app. The 2degrees People Team would be honoured to be considered alongside other innovative HR teams for what we consider to be a valuable award, recognising the importance of being bold, forward thinking and agile.