Defence acknowledged for support of diversity

The New Zealand Defence Force has won the Diversity Award at the Equal Employment Opportunities Trust Work & Life Awards.

Speaker of the House Hon Margaret Wilson MP presented the awards at a gala dinner in Auckland on Thursday 30 August 2007.

The EEO Trust Work & Life Awards have recognised employers which support work-life balance since 1998, and a Diversity Award was introduced this year to mark the 10th anniversary of the EEO Trust Work & Life Awards.

"The Diversity Award recognises organisations that encourage and support a diverse workforce through a single initiative or broad organisational support," says EEO Trust Chief Executive Philippa Reed.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) was judged winner of the Diversity Award Public for its approach to the integration and acceptance of women at all levels of the Services.

Background

In May 2007 the Directorate of HR Policy and Capability (DHRPC) submitted an entry for the EEO Trust on “The progress of uniformed women into the Armed Forces 1998 – present”.

The integration of women into the Defence Force began in 1997, starting a huge period of culture change. Initially the focus was on sexual harassment and other unacceptable behaviour as this was seen as an obstacle to women's full participation. The focus later shifted to traditional features of military life and how these blocked the integration and acceptance of women. For example, a flexible working policy was introduced in 2002 and part-time work has become much more prevalent and used at all levels.

All bases have access to childcare facilities which are used by parents and grandparents. "There is also more sensitivity to people's parenting commitments when scheduling work demands," says Senior Manager Directorate HR Policy and Capability Laura Gillan.

"All Services have school holiday programmes on some of their bases and the Navy and Air Force have family support programmes which provide practical and emotional support when Service personnel are on deployment."

Philippa Reed says that these and other wide ranging and well planned initiatives have resulted in a steady increase of women personnel since 1998. "There has been a steady increase in the number of women at higher levels and women are working in more diverse roles, for example as rifle specialists, gunners and combat system specialists."

Satisfaction with family-friendly initiatives has increased by three per cent from 2003 to 2006, and in 2006 96% of female civilian personnel believed they had the flexibility to meet family needs. "This compares with 90% of female military personnel which is still credibly high considering the nature of their duties," says Philippa Reed

Laura Gillan says the increase in women, particularly in senior roles, has helped to build a critical mass. "Women don't stand out so much now and their involvement has become normalised. The Services benefit in many ways because women at more senior levels bring different perspectives to discussion and decision-making."

As with other sectors, pragmatics drive the NZDF integration initiative - recruiting and retaining the best people. "Gender integration is a capability issue. It's not about attracting more women to the military but about attracting the best people," says Laura Gillan. "It's about how the potential contribution of women can be fully utilised."

The NZDF is building on the integration initiative with a new diversity strategy which Laura Gillan says seeks to optimise performance through strengthening NZDF's inclusive culture. "It recognises that the strength of our culture is partly derived from the differences that each individual brings to the organisational team.

"Globalisation is creating more demands for deployment in different cultural, social and regional settings so we need a workforce with diverse styles, outlooks and approaches in order to build strong external alliances and to be operationally effective. Valuing and leveraging diversity is an integral part of competent leadership."

ENDS