Dynamic Business: Dealing with super diversity

Philippa Reed, Auckland Council

Bill Bennett talks to Auckland Council's Philippa Reed about managing the many faces of the Super City.

Cities don't come much more diverse than Auckland. It falls into what academics call the super-diverse category, a term that applies when more than 100 nationalities are represented.

Auckland Council diversity manager Philippa Reed says: "We know of over 200 ethnicities in Auckland. It's changing fast -- in the last five years we've seen a marked increase in the number of Asians coming from India and the Philippines. There has also been a jump in the number coming from Latin America, although their overall numbers are still relatively small."

Reed says these changes have been reflected in the council's workforce. It's not just about ethnic minorities, Reed says: "As we've become more ethnically diverse, we have looked at other aspects of diversity. We're now more aware of different family status, age, sexual orientation, religious belief and disability."

There's a ready-made blueprint for dealing with this issues at an organisational level in the Auckland Plan: a master document outlining the city's development over the next 30 years.

The plan talks of creating: "a strong, equitable and inclusive city, that ensures equality of opportunity for all". It also aims to be "fair, inclusive, accessible and well-connected".

Reed says these principles apply just as much to the internal workings of Auckland Council. "We have to be like that internally. That way we can better relate to and understand the community. It means we can be better at problem solving and bring all those additional resources to bear on meeting the challenges of creating the world's most liveable city. We need to look and sound more like our customers."

The city's libraries are a good example of how diversity already works in practice. Reed says Auckland Libraries already hold publications in a wide variety of languages. They hold events appropriate to local communities and librarians help people in those communities get access to services.

There are limitations to how far this can go. While Auckland Libraries can hold publications in dozens of languages, it doesn't make economic sense to cater for every one of the 200 or so different languages when it comes to council documents. There the emphasis is on the most commonly used languages.

Reed says there needs to be a balance between serving people and delivering value for money to the council's ratepayers. There are times when it makes sense to provide translations, she says the council's resource consent team drew on its own language and cultural resources to match the needs of a developer on a recent large project.

One area given special attention is te reo. Reed says there is a commitment to increasing the visibility to te reo, both internally and externally. In part this is because Maori is a notable point of difference for Auckland allowing the city to stand out from other international centres.

This is one area where there has been some internal resistance to the council's diversity policy. Reed says some resistance is inevitable when there is organisational change and the internal challenges posed by promoting the Maori language are a reflection of wider community views.

She says there is a tendency to think of diversity and being inclusive as something nice to have: "I believe it is fundamental to the way we do business both within Auckland and with the rest of the world."

There's also potential for conflict between the values of groups. For example, people working for the council may belong to religious groups uncomfortable with, say, gays or lesbians. Reed says if that arises the council's response is to point out these values may not be the same as those in the wider community. The words "that's not how we do things around here" are useful.

She says though some parts of the council's programme address diversity head-on, for the most part it is woven into the fabric of how things are done. Take leadership training: this now has a focus on inclusive leadership and dealing with diverse teams. There is work on the ideas of unconscious bias and how to mitigate its effect.

Auckland Council has groups: Manawa for Maori, Moana Pasifika, No 8 Wire group for disabled council staff, Gilbert for the gay, lesbian and transexual employees, and a Filipino group. Reed says their roles range from employee support to social interaction, advocacy and a more strategic focus.