Happy Easter! I hope you managed to have a lovely long weekend full of chocolate and hot cross buns. As Easter is not the only celebration that is currently being observed, I also wish Happy Ramadan, which is celebrated by around 1.6 billion Muslims. For them, there were no hot cross buns or chocolate, actually there was no food or drink at all during daylight. This brings me to my topic of Cultural diversity in the work place.
Culture is an amazing gift that should be shared with everyone. It is a beautiful testament to who someone is and gives them the opportunity to show how proud they are of their identity. By embracing more culture and people into our lives we only enrich ourselves and it opens us up to more experiences and understanding.
New Zealand is a small island nation and the fact of the matter is our workforce needs migrant labour! Not only do migrants enrich our country with their hard work and filling gaps in the job market that we cannot fill ourselves, they also bring their amazing culture and beliefs to us.
Trinity is lucky to have many team members from different parts of the world and we love to celebrate their heritage. This is mostly through food (which makes me incredibly happy) with Carmi bringing delicious Filipino treats such as Ube cake and Ensaymada or Gini bringing back Alfajores from her trip back to Argentina. It can also be through language eg being called ‘Titio’ (Brazilian term for uncle) from Bruna’s adorable daughter. This brings our team closer and leads to a happier and inclusive workspace.
It is important to be open minded and look outside New Zealand if you cannot fill your current job vacancies. There is literally the world at our doorstep waiting to be part of our great country. Give someone the gift of welcoming them into your workforce and in return you will get a motivated hard working team member and the gift of opening your eyes to the great diverse cultures around us.
Trinity can make this happen for you through our offshore recruitment packages and our immigration services. Talk to the team today on how to get a culturally diverse environment in your workplace.
- Nils Macfarlane, General Manager at Trinity
