COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH STAFF CONSULTATION DOCUMENT MAAORI AND PACIFIC RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION STRATEGY

Transcription

1 COUNTIES MANUKAU HEALTH STAFF CONSULTATION DOCUMENT MAAORI AND PACIFIC RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION STRATEGY JANUARY 2014

2 2 Table of Contents: 1. Introduction Page 3 2. Background Page 3 3. Proposed Strategies Page 5 a. Recruitment Page 5 b. Identified and Designated Positions Page 5 c. Marketing, Promotion and Networking Page 5 d. Recruitment and Retention Monitoring Page 6 e. Retention Page 6 f. Culturally Safe and Inclusive Work Environment Page 6 4. Frequently Asked Questions Page 7 5. Next Steps Page 8 6. How Can I Become Involved In This Project Page 9 7. Key Documents And Websites Page 9

3 3 1. INTRODUCTION Mehemea ka moemoea ahau, ko ahau anake. Mehemea ka moemoea taatou, ka taea e taatou. If I dream, I dream alone. If we dream together, then together we can make the dream come true. Princess Te Puea Herangi Vision: Counties Manukau Health shared vision is to work in partnership with its communities to improve the health status of all, with particular emphasis on Maaori and Pacific peoples and other communities with health disparities. We endeavour to demonstrate commitment to the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and valuing diversity by ensuring our work practices demonstrate partnership and shared decision making with Maaori in the delivery and development of health care services to Maaori and the protection of Maaori needs, values and beliefs. We aim to promote a work environment in which cultural differences are acknowledged by respecting spiritual beliefs, cultural practices and lifestyle choices. Counties Manukau Health (CMH) is committed to improving the health outcomes of all Maaori and Pacific whanau/ families that live in our district. A key part of this challenge is to build the strength and capability of our workforce that serves them, which includes increasing the number of Maaori and Pacific staff that work within our service, and growing the capacity of our current workforce to work more effectively with these communities This paper summarises the proposed changes to CMH recruitment practices that will support increased recruitment of Maaori and Pacific employees at all levels in the workplace throughout Counties Manukau Health (CMH). 2. BACKGROUND CMHealth is committed to a Human Resource Management framework regarding all aspects of the life cycle of the employee. This initiative forms part of that framework and is being led by the General Manager of Human Resources. In order to establish collaboration and be fully inclusive we need to consult with key stakeholders to:- a) Provide information to all parties; b) Seek feedback and comment c) Listen to additional ideas, views and opinions Counties Manukau Health s goal is to become the best health care service in Australasia by December To achieve this we must become the most efficient and sustainable health service that is known for making a difference. The CMHealth Workforce Report (2011) noted that clinical and all staff groups have similar ethnic ratios. However, when you compare that to the ethnicity ratios of the wider Counties Manukau population and CMHealth patient discharge rates, clear disparities are apparent with significant under-representation in Maaori and Pacifica clinical staff groups. This under-representation is also evident across leadership roles. As the largest employer within the Counties Manukau region we must be a role model for our community; in that our workforce across both clinical and non-clinical is representative of the communities we serve. This will include the employment of Maaori and Pacific people from Samoa,

4 4 Cook Islands, Tonga, Niue, Fiji and other smaller Pacific Nations in order to reflect the true diversity of our community. The CMH Annual Plan 2013/2014 reports that Maaori are 16% and Pacific are 23% of the estimated 512,000 people residing in our District. Workforce data reports (December 2013) that current Maaori employees total 5.4% of our total workforce and that Pacific employees represent 9.7%. Achieving an equitable workforce balance reflective of our community s demographics promotes opportunities to be innovative in our response to the overwhelming health disparities experienced by Maaori and Pacific. There is an opportunity to increase the representation of Maaori and Pacific workforce in order to reflect the diverse ethnic mix as demonstrated by the Chart below.

5 5 These figures indicate to us that for example we need to increase our Maaori workforce by approximately PROPOSED STRATEGIES Recruitment: CMHealth already has a number of successful recruitment strategies in place aimed at recruiting Maaori and Pacific people in specific professions, however, this strategy will proactively seek to recruit Maaori and Pacific people for employment in all areas of the organisation, and in all levels and types of employment. Identified and Designated positions: In addition to encouraging suitably qualified Maaori and Pacific people to apply for vacancies, CMHealth will identify relevant and appropriate areas within departments and divisions where Maaori and Pacific general staff and clinical positions may be developed. As an aspect of this strategy, CMHealth will nominate identified positions that are aimed at and are available to Maaori and Pacific applicants. An Identified Position is a position in which Maaori and Pacific people are key recipients of the service provided. These positions mainly involve working within a position which requires the interaction with Maaori and Pacific patients, clients and staff and their communities. Identified positions have the preferred requirement that the applicant is of Maaori or Pacific descent, identifies as a Maaori or Pacific person and is confirmed as such. CMHealth will also nominate designated positions that are available to Maaori and Pacific applicants. These positions usually involve working with and/or providing services to Maaori and Pacific people. In this instance applicants must provide evidence in the selection process that they have an ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with Maaori and Pacific peoples and that they possess relevant and appropriate cultural knowledge and understanding of contemporary Maaori and Pacific journey, perspective, language and society. If designated positions are not identified the status quo will be maintained and the initiative will fail. Marketing, Promotions and Networking: Marketing CMHealth s commitment to Maaori and Pacific employment is an essential part of the Strategy and will be critical to the success of the initiative. If this does not occur collaboration will be difficult and establishing partnerships will be challenging at best. Counties Manukau Health will: 1. Advance CMHealth as an Employer of Choice for Maaori and Pacific people through ensuring a presence at: o Employment and Training Expos; o Indigenous Employment and Training Conferences; o Cultural celebration days such as Waitangi Day, Polyfest and PACIFICA Festival o National language forums or events such as Matariki and Pacific language weeks 2. Build partnerships with Maaori and Pacific service providers to further attract Maaori and Pacific people to CMHealth. 3. Endorse Maaori and Pacific identified traineeships and apprenticeships to the community.

6 6 4. Encourage supportive communication of the Strategy and the actions taken to achieve the Strategy across CMHealth and the broader health sector. 5. Utilise feedback from exit interviews with Maaori and Pacific people leaving employment with CMHealth. 6. Develop a specific web page for Maaori and Pacific employment, containing information about the strategy, employment conditions, available positions and the recruitment process. 7. Support the establishment of Maaori and Pacific staff networks within CMH. Recruitment and Retention Monitoring: To ensure that the initiative is on track and CMHealth is recruiting and retaining a Maaori and Pacific workforce that reflects our community close scrutiny and monitoring will need to be carried out on a regular basis. CMHealth will monitor and record: 1. Maaori and Pacific employment data across CMHealth, showing employment growth, employment categories, levels and locations. 2. Retention rates of Maaori and Pacific staff. Retention CMHealth is committed to developing and retaining its Maaori and Pacific employees. CMHealth will: 1. Include in orientation programs, culturally appropriate and socially relevant staff induction and training for all Maaori and Pacific employees and their supervisors. 2. Where necessary and possible, offer employment contracts to Maaori and Pacific staff with consideration provided for cultural and community obligations. 3. Endorse Maaori and Pacific representation on selection panels for employment positions targeting Maaori and Pacific candidates. 4. Ensure appropriate cultural training is provided to selection panel members. 5 Collaborate with the CMHealth s Learning and Development team to respond to the training needs of Maaori and Pacific staff. 6 Encourage and support opportunities for Maaori and Pacific staff to access internal career planning advice and support, ideally as part of the performance development planning. 7 Encourage and support opportunities for Maaori and Pacific staff to work across different sites of CMHealth including opportunities for secondments and higher duties. Culturally Safe and Inclusive Work Environment: It is important that all employees across the organisation have a thorough understanding of the Maaori and Pacific cultures and why it is so important that everyone is committed to this initiative.

7 7 CMHealth will provide: 1. That all current and new staff will access the Cultural Diversity programs namely Tikanga Best Practice and Pacific Cultural Competency Training that incorporates the history of Maaori and Pacific people, their language, journey and unique culture. 2. Maaori and Pacific cultures will be embedded into the design and development process of projects and service plans. 3. A program is developed and implemented which recognises outstanding Maaori and Pacific achievement 4. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Question Why have to have a special recruitment strategy for Maaori and Pacific? Is there any intention to have special privileges for non Maaori and Pacific groups? Will I be forced to hire Maaori and Pacific people? Who is going to identify these dedicated positions for Maaori and Pacific people? Will Maaori and Pacific applicants automatically be appointed into these positions? What research have you done to justify this strategy? Do any other New Zealand organisations Answer Maaori and Pacific peoples have the poorest health of any New Zealand group. Research tells us that familiarity with patients cultural heritage has been shown to be associated with improved patient care. Many Maaori and Pacific people prefer to be seen by Maaori or Pacific health workers both in the community and in the hospital. If we want to improve the health of Maaori and Pacific then we need to increase Maaori and Pacific employees in CMHealth, particularly in clinical positions. ( Laveist TA, Nuru-Jeter A. Is doctor-patient race concordance associated with greater satisfaction with care? J Health Soc Behav 2002;43: ) We do not see this strategy as a special privilege ; it is about equality for disadvantaged groups and having a workforce that reflects our community. In the future the demographic of our community may change; therefore we will need to continue to monitor the diversity of our workforce. There will be an expectation that recruitment panels for specific identified positions will be encouraged to follow the recruitment process for Maaori and Pacific applicants Criteria and a process will be developed to identify certain positions. Identified positions are positions with specific selection criteria that signify that the role has a strong involvement in issues relating to Maaori or Pacific people. Typically, these roles will involve the development of policies or programs targeted at Maaori or Pacific patients or clients, or which involve direct interaction with Maaori and/or Pacific communities. All applicants will have to apply, be suitably experienced and qualified based on the criteria included in the role description and will only be appointed on merit. New Zealand literature has a growing body of Maaori writings, which showcase organisations that are innovative in how they have increased their own Maaori workforce numbers (Te Rau Matatini, 2007b). Many organisations in New Zealand and across the

8 8 do this? How will everyone know that a job is specifically aimed at Maaori and/or Pacific people? Is this legal? Don t we conduct exit interviews now? Why do we have to have a specific web page for Maaori and Pacific employment? Why don t we have a program that recognises outstanding achievement for all staff? What about recruitment and retention of other ethnic groups such as Asian? world have initiatives and strategies in place to increase the number of indigenous employees in their workforce, for example, the Werry Centre at Auckland University, Department of Corrections and New Zealand Police. Advertisements will clearly specify when a job is an Identified Position. Wording in the advertisement and on CMHealth website will include a statement like Maaori and/or Pacific people are encouraged to apply. Additionally, role descriptions will include criteria such as "familiarity with Māori and/or Pacific languages". It is legal to aim particular jobs at particular groups by utilising initiatives such as:- writing advertisements in both English and other languages, Advertising in media targeted at Maaori and Pacific or work in partnership with the local iwi rūnanga, Maaori and Pacific networks or community agencies. Consider displaying advertisements on Marae noticeboards, in community or childcare centres, and sports clubhouses. On-boarding and exiting the organisation processes are being refined and reviewed, we need to be more proactive and encourage Managers to undertake exit interviews so we can take learnings from exiting employees. Encouraging, recognising and identifying Maaori and Pacific culture promotes positive attitudes. Having a specific web page identifies CMHEALTH as an employer of choice dedicated to employing people from the community in which we provide health care. Additionally, utilising the internet is best practice, particularly for new generations of IT savvy Maaori and Pacific peoples. This could be taken on board, however, this strategy is to recruit and retain Maaori and Pacific employees. Recognising outstanding achievement for Maaori and Pacific employees will help retention. The current focus is on Maaori and Pacific groups. We will use the lessons learned from our Maaori and Pacific Recruitment and retention strategy and apply them when required for other ethnic groups. 5. NEXT STEPS Consultation is the next step in the development of the strategy. This paper is intended as a thought starter for employees, unions and the community interested in contributing. After formal feedback has been obtained it is envisaged the following will progress:- a) Amend/modify strategy as per feedback 14 February 2014 b) Develop communication strategy 21 February 2014 c) Develop educations and awareness package 14 March 2014

9 d) Deliver education and awareness across organisation 25 April 2014 e) Implement Maaori and Pacific Recruitment and Retention Strategy 27 June HOW CAN I BECOME INVOLVED IN THIS PROJECT 9 A program board committee and a working group have been established to implement this initiative; however, we need your input, support and commitment. To provide feedback, comment, ask a question or make a submission please send to:- Address: Anne Fitisemanu Galbraith Building Middlemore Hospital Middlemore Anne.Fitisemanu@middlemore.co.nz All feedback should be received by close of business 31 st January KEY DOCUMENTS and WEBSITES 1. Whakapuāwaitia Ngāi Māori 2030 Thriving as Māori Māori Health Workforce Priorities September, Workforce.pdf CMDHB: Health Service Needs and Labour Force Projections Implications for the Development of the Maori Workforce 3. Plan/AnnualPlan_ pdf Counties Manukau Health 2013/2014 Annual Plan