1 Purpose
At Mercury, we are committed and proud to be building a future-ready workforce grounded in inclusivity, belonging, purpose, and performance. Being inclusive of individuals with different backgrounds, views, experience, and capability makes us stronger as an organisation and ensures that we can attract the workforce that Mercury needs to successfully deliver our strategy and ensure a sustainable workforce of the future. We are committed to attracting, recruiting, growing, and retaining people who respect each other, our customers, and our partners, and who have a broad range of skills, experiences, and frames of reference to drive innovation, deliver improved financial performance, and serve our customers, communities, iwi partners, and shareholders.
Diversity at Mercury refers to the elements that make people similar or different from one another, including background, views, experiences, capabilities, values, beliefs, religion, physical differences, disability, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, gender identity or expression, age, sexual orientation, thinking styles, family status, and behaviours. We are committed to a workforce that is diverse and representative of the communities we operate within and for.
Equity at Mercury refers to our acknowledgement of the challenges or advantages that create unequal starting points for our people. We are committed to addressing and, where possible, remedying that imbalance to create equitable outcomes that acknowledge the different needs people have. An equitable environment at Mercury is one where we identify and remove barriers and inequities in our policies, processes, and environment, and provide opportunities to overcome systemic disadvantages.
Inclusion at Mercury refers to our focus on actions of removing any perceived or tangible barrier to becoming a part of our business and team and being treated fairly and respectfully. We seek to give everyone a voice so they can feel safe to openly share the variety of thinking styles, backgrounds, and capabilities that they have.
Belonging at Mercury refers to our people's sense that they are welcomed, accepted, valued, and empowered for their diverse identities, backgrounds, and experiences. Mercury seeks an environment where our people can feel comfortable bringing their whole self to work and are enabled to do their best work. An inclusive work environment helps foster a sense of belonging. A greater sense of belonging leads to strong team dynamics and connection with the work they do at Mercury and in our communities.
2 Our Principles
Our approach takes a strategic view that we must align a variety of initiatives that enable and involve our people, build external partnerships, grow capability, and provide an environment and structure that supports a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and belonging culture. The activity we undertake across these areas of focus is aligned to the following principles:
- Commitment to Diversity: We value and actively promote diversity at all levels of our organisation, fostering an open and transparent culture.
- Holistic Approach: We adopt a comprehensive approach that integrates into every aspect of the employee lifecycle.
- Inclusive Work Environment: We are dedicated to creating a flexible, inclusive, and safe workplace that embraces individual differences and empowers everyone to reach their full potential.
- Leadership Alignment: Our leadership is committed to Workforce of the Future initiatives, and it is demonstrated in their behaviours and decisions.
- Embracing Diverse Talent: We strive to attract, retain, and grow a talented, diverse workforce that represents Aotearoa New Zealand by implementing an inclusive recruitment and development strategy, allowing us to attract our workforce talent from all areas of the community.
- Investment in People and Communities: We invest in people and communities to achieve equitable, long-term outcomes, working in partnership across our sector to do so.
- Respecting Te Ao Māori: Mercury has a unique whakapapa and relationships with tangata whenua. We commit to empowering our kaimahi to engage with Te Ao Māori confidently, and to evolve our partnerships and ways of working to make positive impacts.
3 Practical Application
This approach will be practically achieved across our business through:
- Sharing Transparent Data: Communicating specific targets and measures to track our progress in creating a more diverse, equitable, inclusive environment where everyone can feel that they belong.
- Building Strong Connections: Supporting and celebrating initiatives, our people, and groups that grow awareness and foster belonging across Mercury.
- Clear Governance Structure: Establishing a Workforce of the Future Committee to support accountability for diversity initiatives.
- Growing Strategic Partnerships: Building sustainable external partnerships to improve our workforce of the future.
- Evolving our Inclusive Culture: Focusing on evolving our culture and inclusive leadership, while building internal capability that supports our Workforce of the Future goals.
- Taking a Systems Approach: Using a holistic approach across all practices and ways of working, such as recruitment, onboarding, and development.
In addition to the actions we undertake, we also support a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace through not permitting or condoning any harassment, discrimination, or victimisation. Our Anti Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination Policy outlines our approach to this.
4 Review and Measurement
Under the Board Charter, the Board is responsible for:
- Ensuring that, as a collective group, it has the skills, experience, knowledge, diversity, and perspective to fulfil its purpose and responsibilities; ensuring that succession and development plans are in place for the Chief Executive and Executive Leadership Team to ensure the right mix of skills, experience, knowledge, diversity, and perspective for the future; and
- Promoting a culture which reflects the workforce of the future.
Under this policy, the Board is also responsible for establishing measurable objectives for assessing our performance against this policy. Alongside this policy, these measurable objectives are contained in a document that is available on our website.
Our Executive Leadership Team and senior leaders will lead the implementation of this policy through programmes that encourage the workforce of the future and will provide regular reports to the People and Performance Committee on how we are performing.
Each year Mercury will:
- Review the effectiveness and relevance of this policy;
- Look at metrics across all levels of the organisation to identify areas for improvement;
- Provide a summary of related programmes undertaken and planned; and provide an evaluation of the Company's performance with respect to this policy, including the progress towards achieving the measurable objectives.
The Board will review this policy as required, but at least every two years.
