Let’s be real: free fruit in the office kitchen and the occasional pizza Friday are not enough to keep people engaged anymore. Employees today want more than perks, they want purpose.
And honestly, can you blame them? Work takes up a massive chunk of our lives. If we’re going to pour energy, creativity, and our sanity into it, it had better mean something.
Recent Massey University wellbeing@work research reveals levels of exhaustion have hit a record high – even higher than at the peak of the pandemic, with one in two workers now saying they are experiencing severe burnout. We’re all running on empty. And while there’s no magic cure, doing work that connects to your values, impact, and a bigger purpose can make a real difference.
Purpose Is the New Pay Rise
Don’t get me wrong, salary still matters (try paying your power bill with “good vibes” and see how that goes!). But increasingly, employees are saying: If my job doesn’t align with my values, or give me something to believe in, I’m out.
Gen Z and Millennials, in particular, are leading the charge. They’re not satisfied with simply clocking in and out. They want to know that their work matters, that their organisation is contributing to something bigger, whether it’s sustainability, social good, or community impact.
So yes, competitive pay gets people in the door. But purpose? That’s what makes them stay.
HR’s Role: From Payroll to Purpose Builders
This is where HR leaders step into superhero mode. Creating a culture of purpose isn’t just about putting “values” on the office wall; it’s about embedding them into the Employee Value Proposition (EVP) and, more importantly, making sure employees actually feel them in their day-to-day experience.
Here’s how HR can lead the way:
1. Redefine the EVP
Move past the basics. Yes, benefits, flexibility, and salary are important, but your EVP also needs to highlight your organisation’s impact, values, and growth opportunities. Make it clear: working here isn’t just a job, it’s a chance to make a difference.
2. Invest in Growth and Development
Meaning isn’t only about global causes, it’s also about personal growth. Employees want to see a future for themselves in your organisation. Offer learning, mentorship, and career pathways that help them feel they’re moving forward, not standing still.
3. Show (Don’t Tell) Your Social Impact
Sustainability, diversity, inclusion, community, and engagement aren’t just buzzwords. They’re deal-breakers. Gen Z, in particular, will call you out if you’re only “purpose-washing”. Back up your statements with real initiatives and results, and make sure it’s authentic.
4. Lead with Authenticity
Leaders set the tone. Employees can smell insincerity from a mile away (and they’ll post about it, too!). Purpose only resonates if it’s lived, not just preached. HR can coach leaders to walk the talk and connect meaning to everyday work.
The Bottom Line
The next big battle for talent retention won’t be won with salaries or snack cupboards; it’ll be won with purpose, meaning, and authenticity. Employees want to believe in the work they’re doing, and organisations that deliver on that promise will see higher engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction.
The spicy truth? If you’re not building a culture of purpose now, your competitors will, and your best people might already be eyeing the exit.
Ready to Add Purpose to Your People Strategy?
At Spice, we know that retaining talent isn’t about gimmicks, it’s about creating meaningful employee experiences that inspire commitment and connection. From crafting EVPs that go beyond remuneration, to helping leaders embed purpose into their workplace culture, we’re here to help.
Add Spice to shape a workplace where people don’t just work for you, they believe in what you do!
Each May, Pink Shirt Day shines a light on the dangers of bullying. And having just celebrated Pink Shirt Day, we figured now is the perfect time to explore this topic.
As much as we’d like to think we left the bullies behind when we graduated from school, we really didn’t. While no one is pulling your pigtails or stealing your lunch money anymore (we hope!), bullying is still occurring in many different settings.
Unfortunately, one of the most common settings can be the workplace.
Bullying is not just about name-calling or aggressive behaviour. It can take on many forms in an organisation.
It’s important to be aware of the danger signs of workplace bullying so that you can maintain a safe and inclusive space for your entire team.
Let’s explore the ways you can make that happen.
What Is Workplace Bullying?
The truth is that workplace bullying takes many forms – it can look really different from one example to the next. Some forms of bullying are overt, while others are more subtle. So, you need to stay aware of what is going on in your business.
In a nutshell, workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed towards a single employee or a group of employees. Bullying behaviour will generally create a risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of the person being bullied- either physically or psychologically.
We should remember that bullying is not just having someone in a grump or raging around on a one-off bad day. It is persistent behaviour that makes another person in the workplace feel intimidated, humiliated or threatened.
Workplace bullying can include:
Repeatedly yelling at someone or verbally abusing them
Regularly excluding people from certain meetings or social gatherings
Spreading rumours or gossip about people
Not passing on key information so that someone purposefully fails
Constant criticism or harassment
Threatening the safety of someone’s job without cause
Workplace bullying is really dangerous. It can negatively impact your workplace culture, along with the wellbeing, productivity and mental health of your team members. That’s why it is vital to manage any risks to your team by stamping out any hints of bullying in your work environment.
How To Create a Psychologically Safe Space
A safe workplace environment is one where people feel safe to speak up and share ideas, a place where they can make mistakes without persecution, and also a space to be themselves without feeling embarrassed or excluded.
Achieving an environment like this will do amazing things for your business. Your team will want to come to work and give their all. Safe workspaces encourage a healthy culture and a productive place for great team performance.
Here’s how you can infuse psychological safety into everything you do:
Start with your Company Values
Your Values are the foundation of your workplace culture and help to shape the safety of your people within that culture. Think of it like this:
Your Vision sets the long-term goal for your business
The Mission outlines the plan for how you are going to get there
YourValues shape how everyone in your team behaves to achieve your goals
When these three things are aligned, you have the ingredients for a collective focus, along with respectful and inclusive behaviour. With your values clearly articulated, everyone understands what good looks like – no excuses!
Tip: Values that encourage behaviours like kindness, respect and integrity ensure that everyone, from leaders to junior employees, will consistently strive for these qualities on the daily.
Create a Team Charter
Team Charters are a powerful way to unite your team. A charter includes the expectations for behaviour so that everyone can work better together.
It does that by providing your team with a shared understanding of how things are done in your workplace. If people step outside those expectations, then your Charter can help you address any behaviour not in line with your culture.
Tip: Develop your Team Charter together. If your people can be part of setting the rules and expectations for your business, they are more likely to follow them.
Craft a Code of Conduct
While your Team Charter contains the overarching principles of your business, a Code of Conduct is more of a formal guide for workplace behaviour. Right there in the name, a Code of Conduct sets the expectations for how people should conduct themselves while at work.
It outlines things like:
How you would like people to behave – punctuality, respect, safety and all those other good things should be covered in your Code of Conduct.
Conflict resolution – if a conflict should arise, your Code of Conduct can detail how to handle those moments or what to do if people have a difference of opinion.
Rule breaking – When boundaries are crossed, your Code of Conduct should detail what the response and repercussions will be.
When you have a formalised Code of Conduct, people know what is acceptable, what isn’t, how they can speak up if they feel something isn’t right, and how things will be dealt with.
Tip: Make sure your Code of Conduct is well communicated and easy to find. Include it in every team member’s onboarding pack, in your Handbook if you have one, and store it in an accessible drive or folder.
Encourage Open Communication
You want to make it easy and safe for your team to openly communicate about everything, especially the hard things. If people are able to raise their concerns early, it can stop things from escalating.
There are plenty of ways you can create open communication channels. Regular one-to-one meetings, fostering inclusive discussions in team meetings, and providing clear (and confidential) ways for people to raise any issues.
It is also important to normalise the process of asking for help without fear. Let’s face it, we are all human, and at times, there will be mistakes or errors made. Your workplace should be an environment where people can admit mistakes, receive feedback, learn and move on from the situation.
To do that, management and team members need to be real with each other. Your leaders should model behaviour that shows they are human. You should create feedback loops that work from the top down, but also the bottom up, and it’s great to praise curiosity, questions and suggestions.
Tip: Encourage communication by making the environment safe for people to speak up about the things that are bothering them. If you are receptive to the small things now, it lays the foundation for communication about the big things later!
Let Your People Thrive at Work
When your people feel safe at work, they are more likely to be productive, innovative and loyal. Obviously, that all means great things for your business!
If your workplace culture is good and free from bullying, then your people can truly thrive. So, it is important to level up your workplace safety in the psychological sense.
Here at Spice, we are all about supporting businesses to support their people! Together, we can craft policies and practices that help your people feel safe and respected whenever they are at work.
Every generation comes with a reputation for how they supposedly behave in the workplace. Fair to say that some of the traits are unfairly assigned!
But these stereotypes exist due to an evolution of attitudes and behaviours over the decades.
For example, if you compare the mindset of a Baby Boomer and a Gen Zer, you’ll incur vastly different opinions.
These different attitudes can sometimes cause conflict in the workplace.
So, it’s vital that your leaders and team understand each of the generations within your workforce and how you can foster multigenerational harmony.
Let’s explore the concept of a multigenerational workplace in greater detail so that you can avoid unnecessary conflict and maximise the varying skills you have within your team.
What Is A Multigenerational Workplace?
A multigenerational workplace is one where your team is made up of people from different generations, meaning varying age groups. As many people are choosing to work into their later years, it is becoming more and more common to have a wide range of generations throughout your workforce.
The 4 main generations in the workforce at present are:
Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964): Known for a strong work ethic and their loyalty, often prioritising job stability over career progression.
Generation X (born 1965-1980): With a strong element of self-reliance and resourcefulness, they prefer autonomy and a good work-life balance.
Millennials (1981-1996): Having grown up with technology they are very comfortable with digital tools, often drive technological innovation, and prefer collaborations.
Gen Z (born 1997-2012): Highly proficient in technology and social platforms they value diversity and inclusion and like to seek opportunities for innovation.
Some workplaces may even have a further diverse split and include the octogenarians of the Silent Generation and the younger teens of Generation Alpha. While there are many benefits to having all of these different skills and viewpoints in your business, it is important for everyone to remember that they will have different perspectives and communication styles. These differences can create waves if you are not careful.
A Multigenerational Workplace Looks Like…
There are a few common characteristics of a multigenerational workplace:
Diverse age groups: You could potentially have a large age range within your workforce. There may be those who are just starting out their careers and those with decades of experience. As we just mentioned, this diversity generally spans four generations, but could be up to six!
Varying Work Styles: The different generations often have varying approaches to how they work. These can range anywhere from the more traditional hierarchical manager and employee relationship to a flatter structure with a much more flexible and collaborative approach – and everything in between! These all need to be handled and managed in different ways.
Communication Preferences: The technological evolution has played a major part with how the different generations tend to communicate. Older generations may prefer face-to-face, telephone or email communication, while younger employees could prefer digital methods like instant messaging or video calls.
Diverse Expectations: Each generation will have expectations about how a workplace should operate, the balance they create between work and personal life, the amount of career progression they will strive for, and the values and culture of the organisation they choose to work for.
Navigating The Divide
In today’s diverse workplace, fostering collaboration among different generations can be challenging. That’s where a tool like Extended DISC can provide your team with valuable insights that can help bridge multi-generational gaps by enhancing teamwork and understanding. Here’s a taster…
Tailored Communication: Identifying individual communication styles allows team members to adapt their approach to suit colleagues from various age groups.
Identify Pressure Points: Extended DISC uncovers each person’s motivators and stressors, promoting understanding and a more empathetic and supportive work environment.
Healthy Debate: By revealing underlying behavioral patterns, Extended DISC aids in conflict resolution, making it easier for your team to address and resolve disagreements constructively and positively.
Leadership Style: The tool enhances leadership effectiveness, enabling leaders to understand their default style and to tailor their approach to meet the needs of a diverse team.
Build Community: Extended DISC fosters mutual respect and appreciation, as team members learn to value the unique strengths and perspectives each generation brings to the table.
By leveraging these insights and many more, organisations can create a more cohesive, productive, and harmonious multi-generational workforce.
The Benefits For Your Business
While there may be some bumps along the road to navigate when the culture collision of the varying generations occurs, there are a lot of advantages that a multigenerational workforce can bring.
Some of the most valuable benefits are:
Innovation: Different generational perspectives can lead to more innovation in your business and spawn creative solutions to problems that might arise. A diverse team will create a fascinating brainstorm and may even devise some out-of-the-box solutions. By combining traditional methods with newer ideas, you may create a new and efficient way of doing things.
Wider Skill Sets: Every generation will have skills that the others do not. So, when you combine all those strengths together, you create a more versatile and skilled team overall. Often, the older team members will bring experience and a depth of knowledge, while younger employees can bring a fresh perspective and digital flair.
More Opportunities To Learn: Professional development should always be a priority, but formal courses and workshops are not the only places to learn. Team mentorship can create just as many learning opportunities. And it doesn’t only have to be the more senior team members mentoring the youngsters. Think reverse mentoring everyone has something valuable to teach, so maximise the potential!
Better Decisions: Diverse teams make better decisions as they can consider a wider range of perspectives and experiences. This can lead to more effective and well-rounded strategies for your organisation.
Stronger Workplace Culture: By valuing the contributions of all generations, your team will feel respected and engaged in their work. This can lead to a positive workplace culture with higher job satisfaction and employee engagement – which means better talent retention and lower employee turnover.
Encouraging Intergenerational Harmony
While there may be certain instances where opinions may differ, there is no reason why there can’t be strong intergenerational teamwork within your business. Here’s how you can enhance collaboration:
Ditch the Stereotypes
People may come into the business with preconceived notions about how certain individuals may behave because of their age. It is important to squash those stereotypes by fostering inclusivity. Once people interact and get to know each other, they will realise that age is no barrier to connection.
It’s all about communication and encouraging discussions that reverse the misconceptions individuals might have about the people around them. Identify any assumptions and open the conversation surrounding them to remove barriers and create a positive and psychologically safe environment.
Shared Purpose
Uniting your team under one set of values and goals will show them that they aren’t all that different. When they are all working towards a common goal aligned under one vision, you will find there is a sense of unity that breaks down any generational divides.
Highlight the Benefits
As a leader you know the benefits that can come from a multigenerational team. But the team themselves may not realise the treasure trove of experience, innovation and ideas they collectively possess. So that they learn this valuable lesson, create opportunities for colleagues to work together and learn from each other. This could be in a mentorship arrangement or simply a collaboration of minds with complementary skills.
Build Community
Chats around the figurative water cooler are a good starting point. But you can take the social connections even further to build a strong community within your team. Informal team gatherings, communal work and community spaces or virtual meet ups will all encourage your team to connect casually and form friendly bonds.
Smooth The Way
Subtly navigating the challenge of connecting a multigenerational workforce can sometimes feel like you are walking on eggshells. But, as this is a challenge that almost every business will face, it is important to handle it well.
That’s where Extended DISC and the Spice Gals come in!
With Extended DISC we’ve helped numerous businesses navigate the unique challenges of creating a community and common understanding within a multigenerational workplace. And we’d love to do the same at yours.
Workplace culture is the not-so-secret ingredient for the success of any organisation.
When a business has a positive workplace culture, then everything just works better.
But creating this positive environment can be challenging.
Especially if you don’t quite have the right recipe for success – too much spice and there will be conflict, not enough and everything becomes bland and unengaged.
It’s about achieving the right balance of ingredients.
The Acentia framework can help you achieve that balance. It offers a new and integrated approach to culture development and provides a practical strategy for fostering continuous culture growth.
Sounds pretty good, right?
Let’s discover more about how you can create a strong workplace culture using all the tools at your disposal.
Why Workplace Culture Is A Priority
In today’s business landscape, positive workplace culture is more than just a nice thing to have! It’s actually a critical component of an organisation’s success and a drawcard for attracting and retaining talented employees. A company’s culture is a vital aspect of its brand identity. A positive culture can translate into being viewed more favourably by your team members, customers and community as a whole.
There are positives within the business too. When you have a good workplace culture, you generally have higher levels of team engagement. Your employees are more likely to feel valued and respected, making them want to stay and grow with the company. You’ll also open the door for creative thinking, innovation and a natural increase in productivity levels.
It’s not just about benefits for the organisation either. When your team feels supported by the workplace culture, their mental and physical health can improve. You’ll also find that job satisfaction significantly increases, especially if your team is able to formulate a strong work-life balance.
Creating The Positive Culture
So, how can you work to create this positive culture? Well, the road to a better culture starts with your leaders. “Culture cannot be developed, grown or improved by leaders that are not ready for it or properly aligned.” These wise words were spoken by the team at Acentia, specialists in developing a healthy workplace.
The Acentia framework is all about equipping leaders with the knowledge and skills to foster the right kind of workplace culture within their organisations. This is particularly important in today’s turbulent world. In 2024, the workplace landscape has evolved beyond the 5 days a week, 9 to 5 in the office structure. Now, leaders must build a cohesive culture while navigating economic uncertainty, fear of the unknown and a team that could be working flexible hours or remotely.
Safe to say, that can be a challenge!
That’s why The Spice Gals are excited to announce that the Acentia framework is now part of our extensive toolbelt of resources, enabling us to bring highly valuable leadership and culture workshops to your business!
Perfect for businesses of all sizes and stages, this unique leadership training helps to simplify the way your business can achieve continuous cultural growth.
The Importance Of Leadership In Workplace Culture
You will have heard the saying that change has to come from the top. That’s because it does! Your leaders are in a position to guide everyone towards a culture of excellence and deal with any behaviours that go against the success of that initiative.
Leadership is the foundation on which a positive workplace culture is built. When your leaders are not prepared or well equipped, then it is unlikely you will be able to maintain any positive change on the workplace culture front.
However, if they are empowered with the skills and confidence to lead the charge from the start, they will be far more likely to stay the course to nurture and preserve an amazing workplace culture. Without this leadership, your organisation will likely struggle to make positive, long-lasting change.
How Can You Prepare Your Leaders
There are three key steps to follow when preparing your leaders for cultural change. They are:
1: Create an Army of Leaders
When you have aligned leadership goals across your entire organisation, you create an army of leaders! Including ALL levels of leaders will create a shared responsibility for cultural change. Many businesses make the mistake of only focusing on the generals, but it is the sergeants that are on the ground working directly with the people of your organisation. That means they have the most direct influence for creating change.
Fill your army of leaders with all the people that lead teams, but also consider including suitable individuals like senior team members who may not formally lead people, but still have the respect of their peers and strong influence over them.
2: Get the Army into Formation
The right foundation of leadership is achieved when your army is aligned in formation. While the individual development of each leader is still important work, that’s not what we are looking to achieve in this instance.
This battle plan is all about getting everyone into formation with a shared goal and leadership approach. Each leader should know how important their contribution is to this mission and the critical role they play in creating the appropriate culture within your organisation.
3: Consider the Hierarchy
While you will need every leader on board to make the mission a success, the work always needs to start from the top. Getting the buy-in of your CEO and upper management team is essential. Often, this team will do extensive pre-work before rolling the blueprint down to the lower levels of leadership to ensure everything is planned well.
But, by doing this work and having your top team own and lead the development, you’ll have the ultimate role models for everyone else to follow. They can also support their direct reports in maximising the opportunities to lead as the mission rolls out to all levels of your team.
Time To Take Action?
If you are ready to align your leadership team to build a healthier culture within your business, then now is the time to do it.
With the modern workplace looking very different than it did even three years ago, workplace culture is suffering. Getting your leaders onto this important work will benefit your business immensely.
But it can be hard to do without support.
Luckily, the Spice Gals are here to help. Armed with the powerful Acentia framework, we can help transform the culture at your workplace so that you can reap the benefits long term.
Of course, you want to create a space that is warm and welcoming for all team members regardless of age, gender, culture or background.
But inclusivity can be so much more than that.
Embracing the full potential of your team members and creating a positive working environment is incredibly valuable on a personal and professional level.
That’s why inclusion is playing a leading role in retention, innovation, and so many other key areas of business. Let’s investigate this further to see how you can create an inclusive environment at your workplace.
What Is An Inclusive Workplace?
Creating an inclusive workplace is not about investing thousands of dollars or overhauling the way you do things. It is simply about creating an environment where everyone feels valued, respected, heard and supported regardless of their background, identity, or differences.
Leading from the top, focusing on inclusivity is creating a place where diversity is not only acknowledged but celebrated. All individuals should have equal opportunities to contribute, grow, and succeed.
Everyone should feel a sense of belonging, no matter who they are. Age, gender, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation, disabilities, or economic background should not be factors – in fact, you should actively work against discrimination or unconscious bias in these areas.
Inclusion is the way, as it fosters a place where people want to be every day and encourages the desire to work towards the common goals of the business.
The Value Of Inclusion
Inclusion is a valuable thing to foster in any environment, but especially in the workplace. Here’s why:
Self Confidence
Knowing you belong and matter helps you to have greater self confidence. New Zealand is becoming an increasingly diverse place. So, it makes sense that our workplaces are becoming equally diverse. Sometimes, majority groups can make others feel excluded simply because they have a habit of emphasising what they have in common.
This isn’t always done intentionally, but it has the negative impact of making those in the minority feel like an outsider. This can negatively impact their self confidence and make them less likely to engage with their role, the business, and the rest of the team.
If everyone can be consciously aware of their behaviour and foster inclusivity, every team member can feel confident, happy and engaged in their work.
Innovation
Businesses that innovate can stay relevant and reach their full potential. That’s because they can adapt to the constantly changing environment that surrounds them and come up with creative solutions to challenges.
When inclusivity is a focus, all your team will feel empowered to speak up and offer their ideas. This is when the best solutions come to light as you can gain perspective from all areas of the business to create practical innovation that works.
Retention
When your team feel the sense of belonging, support and fulfilment that inclusivity brings, you can significantly increase your staff retention rate. If they feel valued and included within your company, then they are more likely to develop a strong sense of loyalty.
Creating a space full of equal access development opportunities, flexible work arrangements for all, fair and inclusive policies, along with a diverse leadership representation shows your team that anyone can succeed and advance within the business. This obviously sets the stage for good talent acquisition and retention.
Why Inclusion Is Playing A Leading Role
Because the world is such a diverse place, inclusivity is a big focus, and it should be. More and more people want to work in an inclusive workplace. They seek out businesses that offer this environment for two reasons. The first one is obvious, they want to feel like they fit in. The second reason is that they don’t want to be part of a company where their colleagues might feel excluded.
That’s why inclusion is taking a leading role in creating engaged and productive workspaces. When inclusion is a core business value you can get the best from your people as they all feel respected, heard and valued. Most importantly, your people will feel safe.
Creating An Inclusive Workspace
Core Values
Simply creating a diversity policy is not enough. Inclusivity needs to be embraced by everyone in the company, not simply seen as a policy to follow. When everyone embraces the concept of inclusivity, then they will all have an opportunity to thrive in an empowering environment.
This vibe should start from the top down with management leading the way. When your managers and leaders show sincerity and genuine interest in inclusivity it helps to intertwine these concepts into the daily behaviours of the business.
Seek Feedback
It can be difficult to know what your team want from a workspace unless you ask them! Collecting feedback is a powerful way to discover what your employees value. The way to produce the most fruitful results is to have them complete an anonymous employee survey so each team member can express their views without fear or judgment.
Collecting the feedback is only part of the process though. Once you have the results, it is important to make company wide changes in line with the needs of your team.
Review
Another important task is to review what is taking place in your business currently. What are some quick fixes you can enact to support a model of inclusivity? Getting some quick wins on the board will show your team you are committed to progress.
Then, it’s time to examine the more time-consuming aspects like policies, recruitment and remuneration. Employee policies should not have any barriers to inclusion. Review what policies you have in place and make changes accordingly. Clearly communicate to all your team what discrimination and harassment look like and the resulting consequences of this negative behaviour.
Your recruitment process should ensure any vacant role is equally accessible to all applicants and that no particular groups will be negatively impacted in the recruitment process.
Remuneration should be transparent and carefully structured. That way you can give guidance on starting salaries and any bonuses while ensuring pay equity is in place for all segments of the workforce.
Include Inclusion
Inclusion should be part of everything that you do. It should become part of your onboarding process so that new team members instantly feel welcome and connected to your business. It should also be part of the daily practices within your office, with meetings, activities and conversations that promote inclusion and understanding.
Don’t forget virtual inclusion either! Remote work is great for flexibility, but it can be isolating. Maintain human connection with those working remotely and ensure mental health resources are available for all.
Making Your Workspace Inclusive
No one wants people to feel excluded, but sometimes it can feel overwhelming to tackle inclusion in the workplace. Gaining the calm and practical advice of an expert HR team can take the stress out of the process and ensure nothing is missed.
The Spice Gals are the team to help you!
With extensive HR experience and a true focus on the human side of Human Resources, this is an area we are passionate about. We’d love to help ensure your workplace is a space where everyone feels relaxed, accepted and valued. Chat with our team today to see how we can help!
One of the most impactful business innovations of the last few years, you are probably already enjoying some of its power in your workplace.
But, like Uncle Ben said to Spiderman, with great power comes great responsibility!
Yep, it is your responsibility to ensure your business is utilising AI without breaking any rules, laws or regulations.
It’s time to consider whether you are using AI ethically and in compliance with privacy legislation.
Let’s look into these key aspects to see if you are playing by the rules.
What Is Considered AI?
What exactly is considered to be AI? In the workplace, artificial intelligence (AI) is the use of computer systems or software that perform tasks that typically require human intelligence. Because they are designed to mimic human behaviour and automate processes for efficiency, they improve accuracy and overall business performance.
These are some common examples of the kind of AI found in a standard workplace:
Chatbots or AI-powered Assistants: The components that handle routine customer or internal queries and admin tasks.
Automation: Software solutions that handle mundane or repetitive tasks like data entry, calendar management, triggered communication and more.
Machine Learning: Software that focuses on the use and analysis of data, along with algorithms to learn in the same way a human would, to improve its accuracy over time. Examples of machine learning can be as simple as product recommendations based on previous purchases, or as complex as talent acquisition and employee retention software.
Data Analysis: By using certain algorithms, AI can analyse large amounts of data quickly and accurately to identify patterns and trends that can be used for business improvement.
Predictions: The analysis of historical data can help to form predictions or forecasts for the future, allowing for insight into staff turnover, financial performance, or inventory management.
Your Responsibilities
By utilising AI in your business, it is your responsibility to ensure it is being used both ethically and legally. That means paying attention to these areas in particular:
Privacy
New Zealand has very strong privacy laws under the Privacy Act 2020. Among other things, the Act regulates how you collect, use and handle personal information. This applies to the data belonging to every individual who interacts with your business, including employees, team members, contractors, suppliers, clients, guests and inquiries.
The Privacy Act states that you need to gain consent from the people whose data you are using and only use the data for the purpose that it was collected. You also need to protect that data. So, you need to ensure that any AI tools comply with these principles.
Be mindful that simply uploading people’s private information into an AI data system may breach privacy laws. Before doing anything, check the security and privacy parameters for each individual AI tool to confirm it complies with NZ privacy standards. You might have to gain consent to use any personal data within AI technology systems.
Intellectual Property
One of the major things individuals use AI for in the workplace is content creation. Emails, marketing posts, images – all these things can be created by AI. But is it ethical to do so?
By the nature of what AI is, it draws information from many sources on the internet to form your content. That means, it harvests thoughts and ideas, even direct quotes, from content that has already been written and published. What takes seconds to pull together with AI took the original authors hours to craft. You are benefiting from their hard work before you.
Not only is this ethically questionable, it also puts you in danger of potentially breaching copyright. While New Zealand does not yet have specific laws relating to content created by AI tools, it’s important to recognise how the content is formed. Rather than copying and pasting the content that is generated by a tool like ChatGPT, it is best to use it for idea generation or a content starting point.
Business Assets
Speaking of intellectual property, it is vital that you take steps to protect your business’ own intellectual property when using AI. As many AI software solutions are new to the market, we don’t fully understand how they process the data that is input or who can access that information in the future. That’s why you and your team should be cautious about what you load into AI programs.
It’s best to avoid inputting extremely sensitive business information. Translation: don’t put your trade secrets into AI as you don’t know where they might end up! After all, we highly doubt the Colonel is going to be loading his secret ingredient blend of 11 herbs and spices into ChatGPT! That info is just too precious to risk getting into the public space.
Using AI Responsibly
How can you ensure you are using AI responsibly in your business? These are some of the ways:
Policies
Rather than blindly using AI in your business, you need to form policies around what tools you will utilise and how they will be used. Think consciously about which ones you intend to use and how they will impact the data you have an obligation to protect. Are there any risks that need mitigating or could a non-AI tool be used instead?
Then, choose tools that do not jeopardise privacy laws and be transparent about their use by documenting everything in an AI-specific policy. Once the policies are in place, the job is not done. Technology evolution always moves at a lightning fast pace, so you need to instigate human reviews regularly to ensure your AI tools are not retaining or disclosing data incorrectly.
Team Training
Your policies are only going to be effective if your people understand them! So, you will need to arrange training for your team members to ensure they are aware of their obligations when using AI tools. They need to be able to use the tools effectively and responsibly and understand their limitations.
Training should be practical, showing your people how to physically use the tool, such as inputting data and examining the results generated, along with the AI-generated decisions. But training should also delve deeper, highlighting that AI should still respect an individual’s privacy rights, their intellectual property and that it should avoid discrimination and harm.
If they feel that AI is creating any negative impact within your business, encourage your people to speak out so that it can be remedied.
Help And Support
In the greater scheme of business, AI is a relatively new technology that we are all learning to navigate. If you have concerns about the potential impact on your business, now is the time to take action. Reach out to our team if you would like assistance in forming the policies and training program surrounding AI in your workplace.
Being an employer of choice can help you attract the best kind of candidates and turn them into loyal team members, and in the current market that’s got to be a business goal!
But, it isn’t something that happens by accident and there is one key strategy that will help you drive your approach – a rock solid, values focused Employee Value Proposition (EVP).
So, firstly what is an employer of choice, why is it important to be one and how can a well-crafted and thought through EVP help you achieve it? That’s what we are going to discuss right now.
What Is An Employer Of Choice?
When it comes to employment, there are many choices that a candidate can make. The most important choice is probably which company they will work for. Lots of things can drive that decision, but one thing will put your organisation at the front of the list before any others.
That is, being recognised as an Employer of Choice via your EVP.
An employer of choice is a business that has a reputation for being a preferred place to work. Basically, it means people want to work for your organisation as they perceive it to be a highly desirable employment opportunity.
A business can earn this title for many reasons, but the main ones that stand out in an EVP are having a positive workplace culture, offering attractive compensation and benefits, providing opportunities for career development, and displaying values of diversity, inclusion and a focus on employee wellbeing.
Why Is It Important?
Why is it important to be an employer of choice and have an enticing EVP? Well, put quite simply, it will make it easier for you to attract and retain top talent, helping your business thrive in any market.
Because your employees are fully focused on your business and not looking for other opportunities, they will be motivated and productive in their work. They will have your business’s best interests at heart, and because they also usually share your company values, they will work in alignment with your company mission.
Being an employer of choice does not only serve you on an employment front. A positive employer reputation will set you apart from your competitors. It can also be a key differentiator when potential clients, partners or investors are considering working with you.
Key Strategies To Creating a Rockstar EVP to Become An Employer Of Choice
Becoming an employer of choice should be your ultimate goal but the roadmap to get you there will be defined by your EVP. Here are some key strategies you can use in your EVP to position yourself in this space:
Work/Life Balance
This is the elusive balance that every worker is looking for! Achieving it is not simply about correctly splitting your time between home and the office. True balance is about far more than that.
Flexibility is a really important aspect of your EVP. Allowing your team to work from home is definitely part of it, but you’ll also want to consider flexibility in working hours and working location. Then, there could be the option for job sharing and flexitime.
Basically, it is about allowing your employees to have job control. That is, providing the autonomy to recognise an agreed output and empowering your people to focus on that, rather than clock watching the specific hours worked in a set location. And because you have this fantastic reputation as an employer of choice, your employees are not likely to abuse this privilege.
Defined Business Values
Values can help to shape your organisational culture and are an important inclusion in your EVP. When your employees understand, embrace and most importantly share your set of values, it fosters a sense of belonging and unity. A strong, shared culture can improve teamwork, morale, and overall job satisfaction.
Those values also serve as a compass for decision making, helping leaders and team members to make choices that align with the company’s core principles. A consistency in decision making can lead to better business practices – another reason that people will consider you to be an employer of choice. And you’ll attract customers who share the same values.
Valuable Employee Benefits
It makes sense that you need to offer competitive remuneration to be considered an employer of choice. But you don’t want to stop there when it comes to your EVP. Attractive employee benefits can help to support your company values and enhance your overall workplace culture and EVP.
Yes, you can offer traditional benefits like insurance, enhanced KiwiSaver contributions and performance bonuses, however, to really enhance your EVP it doesn’t need to cost the earth. Why not embrace and take advantage of new and relatively inexpensive trends like:
Digital recognition platforms where your team can interact with each other, you can celebrate key milestones and identify top performers.
Gamification which allows fun activities or training modules where employees can score points, participate in competitions and top leader boards.
Peer-to-peer recognition where colleagues and teammates can recognise each other, rather than managers simply handing out rewards.
Defined Career Pathways
Part of being happy in your work is knowing that there is a chance for progression or new challenges. Seeing potential for growth within a business from the outset via an EVP could also be extremely important to a potential team member when they’re making their employer decision . Clearly defining the career pathways within your organisation helps people recognise where they could move to next.
Offering internal advancement opportunities can only help the reputation of your business. It demonstrates that you value your existing team members because you are willing to promote from within.
As part of the pathway definition, you should also include the training and development opportunities for your employees to obtain the necessary skills or knowledge to progress along the pathway.
Support The Important Things
Your people are the lifeblood of your business and clearly showing this within your EVP will pay dividends in attracting high calibre team members. You can demonstrate that you acknowledge and understand their value by supporting the things that are important to them:
Wellbeing programmes show that you value good mental health and help your team members maintain a positive mindset.
Advocating for diversity and inclusive workplace practices demonstrates that every team member is valued equally.
Your local community will support your business, so show your social responsibility by supporting your community through involvement, participation and support.
We only have one planet, so adopting sustainable business practices where possible will help to show you care.
Become An Employer Of Choice
Is it time to give your business brand a boost and really become an employer of choice? Then, you’ll want to make sure you are backed by a skilled and knowledgeable HR team.
That means you need the Spice Gals on your side. If you wannabe an employer of choice with a strong and attractive EVP, then we can definitely help you make that happen. Chat with us to find out how we can help you create a team culture that attracts and retains THE best talent around.
Mental Health Awareness Week is 18-24 September this year.
It’s a fantastic initiative that shines an annual light on the importance of employee wellness and good mental health.
This year the focus of Mental Health Awareness Week is equipping yourself with proven tools to boost your mental health.
We thought we would explore this concept in relation to the workplace, as this can be an area of prolific stress for many people.
So, this September (and beyond), let’s shine a light on how important it is to prioritise employee wellness and the ways that you can do that in your workplace.
Are You Prioritising Employee Wellness?
Prioritising employee wellness is an important part of being a responsible employer. But wellness is not just attributed to one thing. To achieve true employee wellness, you should look at things holistically. These are some of the areas you should be considering:
Physical Health
Physical health and mental health are closely connected. So, it stands to reason that encouraging good physical health can positively influence your team’s mental health.
Regular physical activity triggers the release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin in the brain. These chemicals are known as “feel-good” neurotransmitters and play a crucial role in regulating mood and reducing feelings of anxiety and depression. Getting active also helps to lower your cortisol levels, allowing your body to better manage and reduce stress.
All this activity contributes towards better sleep, improved cognitive function, stronger self-esteem, and greater emotional regulation from a strong mind-body connection. Basically, strong physical health is good news for employee wellbeing!
How can you achieve it?
Here are some strategies you can use to encourage good physical health in your workplace:
Wellness Programmes: Fitness challenges, health assessments, and nutrition workshops are all examples of ways you can get your team to focus on their own physical health.
Active Workspaces: Give your team the chance to be passively active with things like standing desks, walking meetings, and space for stretching or moving around.
Active Commuting: Make it easy for your team to use a bike or their feet to get to work by providing bike racks, showers and changing facilities.
Workplace Fitness: You could even arrange on or offsite fitness classes, yoga sessions, or group walks – promote them well and make the options easily accessible.
Supportive Policies: Support good physical health with policies like paid time off for medical appointments, discounted gym memberships, flexible working hours to play sports or participate in other physical activities and allocated physical activity breaks.
Financial Health
Financial problems can be a common source of stress and anxiety, which can negatively impact mental health of your team. After all, it’s hard to be relaxed and happy when worrying about money.
Financial health is a growing concern in the current climate. The cost of living seems to rise weekly (without much sign of slowing), and it doesn’t help that a potential recession is looming. Protecting the financial health of your team can give them a greater sense of security, improved relationships and better quality of sleep, which all contribute to stronger mental health.
How can you do it?
The first step in creating an environment of good financial habits is to ensure you pay your team correctly and on time for every pay cycle. Then, the second step is providing opportunities for good financial education.
Education around Kiwisaver, budgeting, medical insurance, and general financial awareness are very important to share. It’s also important to educate your team that good financial health is a gradual process and can require consistent budgeting, saving and planning to achieve. There are some excellent resources to support this education process on Sorted.
Finally, keep an eye on the individual members of your team to ensure that financial stress isn’t having a significant impact on their mental health. Make sure you have the appropriate support from trained mental health professionals to call on if you feel that financial stress is setting in.
Checking In
Regular check-ins with your team can help to promote good mental health in the workplace. It is an opportunity to foster open communication, show recognition and appreciation, offer feedback, problem solve, and affirm the support system that is available to them. These check-ins contribute towards maintaining a positive work environment and fostering wellbeing amongst your team.
How can you do it?
Make regular check-ins a priority for team members that are on site and those that work remotely too. That personal touch will remind them that they are a key part of the organisation.
These catch ups can be an informal chat or a more structured meeting. Try to connect with each member of your team monthly at least, or more regularly if you see that anyone is struggling.
Work/Life Balance
Striking the right balance between professional responsibilities and personal life can result in reduced stress levels, increased happiness and improved mental wellbeing, which are all essential for good mental health.
But it’s important to remember that balance can look different for everyone. Depending on the individual, balance can involve setting personal boundaries, managing their time effectively, having flexible conditions, and having their needs communicated and heard. Achieving balance is an ongoing process and adjustments might be needed as circumstances change.
How can you achieve it?
As an employer, you can play a crucial role in helping your team achieve a healthy work/life balance. And it is worth achieving it too. Managing to create an environment of balance can lead to increased job satisfaction and productivity, plus all-round positive vibes.
Here are some ways you can help your team find their balance:
Flexible working hours and the potential to work remotely (if possible)
Set clear job and performance expectations and listen to feedback about whether the expectations are realistic and workable
Cut out unnecessary meetings and encourage collaborative communication channels instead
Monitor and manage workloads to prevent excessive stress
Encourage regular breaks during the day and longer-term annual leave to recharge batteries
Provide time management training
Encourage disconnecting from work related duties outside working hours
Have your managers model healthy work/life balance behaviours to lead by example
Provide training on how to set appropriate boundaries so that work does not encroach on personal time
Lead From The Front
There is a reason that flight attendants tell you to put your own mask on before helping others in an emergency. You can’t possibly help anyone else if you don’t have your own ducks in a row first! This applies to mental health in the workplace too.
It is important for leaders to consider their own mental health and lead from the front in this area. Burnout is a real threat for everyone, you are not immune just because you are management. In fact, you can be at greater risk due to the pressure of the role. So, ensure your managers and team leaders continue to look inwardly as well as caring for their teams.
Let’s Talk About It
Encourage your team to talk about any problems they are experiencing in the workplace. This will help to encourage perseverance and consolidation at the same time.
Communication will be a big part of highlighting the importance of good mental health in the workplace. So, you want to empower your managers with valuable tools that allow them to help others through effective communication and understanding.
How can you do it?
Having a mental health first aider in your workplace can be invaluable. If you don’t currently have one, visit Tepou for a list of accredited instructors.
You should also ensure there are plenty of Mental Health resources available for your team. A great place to find these resources is on the NZ Mental Health Awareness Week website.
Prioritising Employee Wellbeing And Mental Health
We don’t have to tell you that employee wellness is really important. Without it, you can’t hope to have a positive workplace with happy and productive employees.
So, how do you put employee wellbeing at the forefront?
A great way to do it is to engage the services of an expert HR team. HR will ensure you shine a spotlight on the HUMAN element of your workplace; after all, it is literally in the name! Rest assured that HR experts know a thing or two about building great, positive spaces for humans in the workplace.
Sometimes it can be difficult to establish whether you have effective employee wellness policies or if there are some areas that might need work. The team at Spice HR are some of those HR experts that can help you to establish the right wellness practices to suit your team and management.
The world is an amazing place. Packed full of rich cultures, there are people from every corner of the world who have something unique and beautiful to offer.
Which is why celebrating the richness of the world’s cultures is the focus of World Cultural Diversity Day. Held every year on 21 May, its purpose is to generate social cohesion and promote intercultural dialogue to help achieve peace and sustainable development.
So, with this important day looming, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to explore the importance of embracing cultural diversity in the workplace.
Let’s look at what workplace cultural diversity is, why it is beneficial for your business and how you can create an inclusive workplace culture for all.
How To Create Inclusion With Cultural Diversity In The Workplace
Recognising Cultural Diversity In The Workplace
New Zealand is an incredibly diverse place. We have a large range of cultures, ethnicities and religions living in our beautiful country. Recognising this cultural diversity in the workplace is not only essential, but it can also be very beneficial!
Employees from different cultural backgrounds work alongside each other every day. So, it’s imperative to recognise the needs and values of the different cultures, ethnicities and nationalities amongst your team.
Successful businesses are increasingly those that recognise the importance of promoting cultural diversity in the workplace and who take deliberate steps to create inclusive environments, allowing team members of all backgrounds to thrive.
What Embracing Diversity Can Do For Business
There are many reasons to embrace cultural diversity in your workplace. Firstly, as we’ve already mentioned, we live in a diverse society, so any number of cultures can be represented in a workplace. Recognising and embracing that allows people to be comfortable in their workplace and allows them to be at their best every day.
When people are comfortable, they thrive. Being part of a diverse and inclusive environment creates increased creativity and innovation, improved problem-solving abilities, and a better understanding of different perspectives and ideas. Creating a welcoming workplace culture that values diversity promotes a place of respect for all team members.
Aside from the team culture aspect, it is important to note that many younger employees (who make up a growing proportion of workers) hesitate to join organisations with poor ethics and diversity. So, it could actually be detrimental to your business to ignore the diversity that no doubt exists in your workplace!
The Benefits Of Workplace Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity can bring many benefits for both employers and employees. Some of the key benefits are:
Better understanding: Working with people from different cultural backgrounds brings the opportunity to learn from each other and gain a better understanding of different customs, beliefs, and values. This can lead to an overall greater cultural awareness and more sensitivity, which can improve communication and collaboration.
Improved customer service: Having employees who understand and can relate to different cultural groups can be a real advantage in terms of customer service. Customers will feel more comfortable and valued when they encounter employees who share their cultural background or are sensitive to different cultural needs.
Greater innovation: A diverse workplace brings together people with different backgrounds, skills, experiences, and perspectives. This can lead to greater creativity and innovation as employees are consistently exposed to new ideas and ways of thinking.
Improved problem solving: As well as innovation, diverse teams are often better equipped to solve complex problems. That is because they bring different perspectives and approaches to the table. This can result in more effective problem-solving and decision-making company-wide, giving your business a competitive advantage.
Employee retention: When employees feel valued and respected for their unique contributions and perspectives, they are more likely to be engaged and committed to their work. This can lead to higher levels of job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.
Increased profits: Being known as a culturally diverse company earns you a great reputation, both as an employer and as a company of choice for customers. People who align with your company values will choose to shop with you, potentially leading to increased profits.
How To Embrace Cultural Diversity In The Workplace
Creating a harmonious, culturally diverse workplace doesn’t have to be hard. Here are some of our best tips to make it happen:
Company Values
Consider ways that you can tie your organisation’s core values to your employee’s personal principles. This will give them a strong connection with your business. Not only does this help to create cultural diversity in the workplace, but it can also increase engagement within your team and improve staff retention.
Conscious Recruitment
When you recruit consciously, you are aligning your hiring process with your organisation’s mission and long-term goals. It involves looking at each candidate in depth, not only to assess their skills, but also how they would fit into your organisation as a whole and whether they believe in your mission and align with your values.
The great thing about recruiting in this way is that you can share your values around cultural diversity to avoid bias when hiring.
Celebrate Different Cultures
We can all learn a lot from each other whether it be skills, knowledge or cultural experience. By celebrating different cultures in your workplace, you can integrate and recognise other cultural values and points of view for greater understanding and communication.
Encourage inclusion by hosting shared cultural lunches and recognising specific festivals or other significant dates. Not only are you promoting learning and acceptance, but you can all have a great time while doing it!
Adopt Flexibility
You may find that people from different cultures have different needs in the workplace. So, adopting flexibility will allow you to cater for everyone. Get to know your team members and ask them what their individual needs are. Then, come up with a way that each employee can maximise their opportunities while still adhering to their culture. Remember, one size does not have to fit all!
Encourage Communication
We may not all speak the same native language, but we can all still achieve excellent levels of communication. Ensure you have a workplace that creates spaces for open and honest conversations. Address conflict as soon as it arises and encourage awareness and respect amongst your team.
Consider Cross-Cultural Awareness
You may even choose to undertake a cross-cultural awareness programme within your organisation. This is a form of training that helps all your team understand and respect the cultural diversity that exists within their workplace. It helps address language barriers, and specific cultural communication styles while promoting being open to the differences in each culture without stereotyping or bias.
Embracing Cultural Diversity
Diversity is part of what makes the world a fascinating place and promoting inclusion in your workplace can have many benefits for employers and employees.
So, if you are ready to embrace diversity in your workplace, we are ready to help you do it. Chat to the Spice Gals today about how to create an environment of inclusion.
While you might not be ready for it yet, the silly season will stop for no one!
That means there is only so much time to get everything wrapped up before the end of the year. But there is also a silver lining to the situation.
The good news is that Christmas creates a great opportunity to celebrate the successes of the year and signals an appropriate time for a well-deserved break.
So, how do you make sure everything is wrapped up in time and you are ready for Christmas?
We’ve got all the info you need right here.
Celebrate the Year
As the year draws to a close, it is the perfect time to celebrate all the great things that have happened in the last 12 months. These achievements don’t all have to be enormous ones, it is appropriate to celebrate all the small things as well.
Thank your team for all that they have done this year. After all, it hasn’t been an easy one. With the pressures of Covid, rising inflation, and the ongoing navigation of a new normal after the last couple of years, they deserve a giant thank you!
Don’t worry about it feeling cheesy. Sometimes a bit of cheese is worth it! Especially as it will remind your team that they are respected and valued by you.
It is also vital that you create the right kind of feel moving into the new year. It’s time to look forward with a positive outlook. So, finishing this year on a positive and celebratory note will help set your team up for a great year ahead.
A cool way to do this is to help your team members set goals to work on in the new year. They should be positive goals that focus on moving forward – perhaps career progression, training and development, or project work.
Is it Time to Party?
The annual Christmas party used to be a staple in everyone’s calendar. Then, 2020 rolled around, and the obligatory Christmas party took a backseat. You can revive it again this year or take a different approach to bring everyone together.
We know budgets are tight, so it doesn’t have to be an expensive event. A casual team BBQ, a potluck dinner, a round of mini golf, or a trip to the bowling alley can all be fun. It’s simply about marking the end of the year and giving your team the chance to connect socially. If your team enjoy some time together in a relaxed and neutral setting, it will only help to build great morale and teamwork in the workplace.
Don’t forget those team members who are working remotely. Round everyone up and regroup with an end of year get-together. And if it’s not possible to get everyone together in one location, what about an online Christmas party via video conference? Take your party connections to the next level by delivering little gift boxes of treats that can be opened and enjoyed while everyone is “partying”.
Wellbeing Check
After a draining year, it is timely to check in with all the members of your team to see how they are really doing. Christmas might not necessarily be a merry time for everyone. So, it is a great opportunity for a wellness check with your team.
We spend such a large portion of our lives working, so it is important that your team feel mentally safe and valued at work so they can perform at their best. A wellness check can help you determine if that is the case for your people.
This process is about honest and open conversations, as well as actively listening to what your team members are saying and what they might be reluctant to say. Remind your team of available support options – like speaking with HR, anonymous feedback, or any EAP avenues.
Christmas Break
Many businesses will choose to close for a period over Christmas. Will your business be one of them? If so, you will need to ensure you notify all your employees of the closure at least 14 days in advance.
As part of that conversation, it is helpful to communicate what options your team have for leave. Obviously, they can take this as annual leave if they have enough available. But it is important to provide options for those without an adequate leave balance. You may choose to let them take leave in advance or require leave without pay.
The Christmas holidays also mean there are plenty of public holidays to observe. You’ll need to make sure you are following the correct public holiday guidelines for your staff in terms of wages and rostering. This applies regardless of whether you are having an annual closedown period or not. Make sure you are following the rules by checking out the public holiday guideline info here.
Ready to close the book on 2022? You are not alone there! And if you need help tying up any loose ends or planning for a productive 2023, then the Spice Gals are here for you.
We can help you navigate the guidelines around public holidays and annual closures or set up the ultimate wellness program for the new year ahead. For any and all HR queries, get in touch with our Spicey team!