Our diversity story so far

So where to from here?

Impact of COVID-19

Like many businesses, COVID-19 has impacted our three offices. An inclusive work environment has become more important as COVID-19 has created barriers for everyone. Work initiatives such as group chats, online drinks, virtual coffee catch-ups, and staff check-ins were set up. The impact of COVID-19 has created a tough work environment but there have been a few silver linings to come out of adversity. 

  Silver lining - we have fostered a more inclusive work environment.

New Diversity Team

The Diversity Works stocktake recommended that the Diversity Team be revised to reflect a cross section of our business better. Many of our core foundation steps were completed and fresh ideas were needed to reset the programme. A new team was selected to represent a mix of age, gender, cultural background, office location and company position. 

  Our new diversity champions are Michelle, Evan, Jessie and Cushla.

The way forward - guiding principles

We explored different ideas and reset the programme to be suitable for a small private firm. Our new programme is based on guiding principles with planned activities. Our efforts will focus on three key areas:

1.    supporting our people to thrive
2.    activities to raise awareness
3.    improving our practices.

Read our key focus areas that are supported by guiding principles for this step change in Morrison Low’s diversity and inclusion journey.

See our planned activities for the next year (as at December 2022).

Key achievements

Key achievements to date include:

• Cultural celebration - a selection of cultural events have been identified for the 2022 year and shared between the diversity team members to make an internal communications post via MS Teams. 
• Connecting with new starts - the diversity champions in each office connect informally with new starters to understand them as a person, their interests and background. This connection is targeted for about the third month and has been successful. 
• Cultural competence - Morrison Low has committed to a comprehensive cultural awareness programme for all its New Zealand consultants over the first half of 2022. An external provider has taken us on a journey with an exploratory training programme designed to deepen our understanding of Te Ao Māori. The cultural competency training has been valuable for the New Zealand consultants in their day-to-day jobs, personally as citizens, as well as for team building.