Staff Engagement

• builds commitment to equal opportunity and change
• provides employers with the opportunity to test their own thinking
• encourages the development of ideas and worker innovation
• provides the opportunity for employees to participate in decision-making
• helps identify barriers to equal employment opportunities
• enables employees to share responsibility for action
• improves workplace morale

There can be no dispute that the parties to an employment relationship must deal with each other openly and fairly. They must communicate and, where appropriate, consult in the sense of imparting and receiving information and argument with an open mind when that still realistically can influence outcomes. To adopt an approach calling for mandatory consultation at specified times risks inflexibility. What is practicable in the exigencies of particular business operations and workplaces must be kept in mind. 

In relation to the proposed changes in workplace practices, the Employment Court has specified [6]:

...that consultation needs more than mere notification, that the change should not be made until after consultation, that the parties being consulted should know what is proposed before they can be expected to give their views, and should have a reasonable opportunity to do so, that an effort must be made to accommodate their views, and that it involves a statement of proposal not yet finally decided upon, listening to what others have to say, considering their responses, and then deciding what will be done." [7]

• A cross-section of men and women of different ages and ethnicities who work in diverse roles
• established employee and union groups or committees
• managers, to elicit their commitment to EEO and to organisational change, and to establish what the business issues are so that EEO interventions are aligned with workplace change (for example, if the organisation is re-structuring this may mean that issues around recruitment are a high priority)
• Chief Executives because leadership from the top is vital if equal employment opportunities is to become part of organisational culture.

• establishing a working group consisting of employee, unions and management representatives at the beginning of the process to develop and implement the EEO programme. Where there is a partnership relationship already in place, this would be a helpful starting point, for example Partnership for Quality, Bipartite Forums
• liaising with workplace union/s. 'Good employers’ recognise and actively engage with unions in their workplace on substantive issues that affect the workforce. They are supportive of unions, work constructively with them and recognise the right of employees to be union members and to participate in union activities
• working with pay and employment equity (PAEE) review committees. See page 53 of the PAEE Review Workbook
• working with staff or team meetings, or other networking meetings for specific groups such as women, Māori, or Pasifika
• conducting surveys - questionnaires, focus groups and one-on-one interviews
• discussions in performance management reviews and exit interviews
• working with diversity or EEO councils or summits.

• in the health sector, where unions, and employers have formalised a Health Sector Code of Good Faith. This consensus document was developed by DHBNZ and the CTU and is now a Schedule in the Employment Relations Act.The Code establishes processes about relationships, advocacy and speaking out, contracting out, collective bargaining, industrial action and patient safety
• in some District Health Boards, where there are engagement workshops involving unions and management
• Pay and Employment Equity Reviews (PAEE), which are currently occurring in the education, health and broader public sector and require a committee to be established in partnership from the beginning
• Partnership for Quality (PfQ) agreement between the PSA and government. The PfQ agreement (available on the PSA website) states 'This PfQ Agreement formally applies to the Public Service. This Agreement, however, provides a model for agencies in the wider State sector and the Government expects such agencies to inform themselves about this Agreement and apply the principles of this Agreement to their relationships with the PSA. This PfQ Agreement formally applies to the PSA. This Agreement, however, provides a model for the sort of relationships the Government would like to see in the wider economy, and both the Government and the PSA will support any future initiatives to build similar relationships.'   A resource kit for HR practitioners 'Partnership for Quality' is available on the State Services Commission website.
• in Part 2A of the Health and Safety in Employment (HSE) Amendment Act 2002, where the purpose and provisions of employee participation in health and safety are outlined. As it is mandatory for all organisations to have such provisions, these structures and processes for participation can work well for other matters of employee wellbeing including EEO. The purpose is to require the participation of employees in processes relating to health and safety in the place of work so that - (a) all persons with relevant knowledge and expertise can help make the place of work healthy and safe; and (b) when making decisions affecting employees and their work, an employer has information from employees who face the health and safety issues in practice.  A common response to this HSE Act requirement is to have a committee structure that goes from front-line to executive levels of organisation - using cascade 'up and down’ or ‘over and across' communications
• in organisations that use hui or fono participation methods.

Another example can be found in an NZCTU publication “It’s about Time: A Union Guide to Work Life Balance