Heartland’s commitment to Māori culture

Kia kaha te reo Māori. Te wiki o te reo Māori presents an opportunity for New Zealanders to celebrate and embrace te reo and tikanga Māori. But it shouldn’t be the only time we do so.

Heartland believes it’s important to acknowledge Māori culture within the workplace. We recognise that when we get it right for Māori, we build a foundation to improve the inclusiveness of our workplace for all people.

Māori are underrepresented in the financial sector, making  up less than 3% of the workforce. Our goal is to change this by making a genuine commitment to improving the way we serve and engage with Māori.

In order to do this, Heartland has implemented various initiatives and a dedicated Māori strategy and framework to grow and nurture te reo and tikanga Māori at Heartland, and ultimately create an environment where Māori can succeed as Māori. Some of Heartland’s initiatives are below.

Whāia te iti kahurangi

Whāia te iti kahurangi is Heartland’s framework for providing a workplace and financial service that enables Māori to succeed as Māori.

The purpose of Whāia te iti kahurangi is to support the work we do with Māori, te reo Māori, and customary practices. It is to be used as a reference point for our people on operational issues, and to support the inclusion of an indigenous perspective around the work that we do.

Manawa Ako internship programme

The Manawa Ako internship programme provides opportunities for the next generation of Māori and Pasifika to experience working in the financial sector and within a corporate environment.

Built on the concept of ‘ako’, to learn and to teach, Manawa Ako provides our people at Heartland an opportunity to gain insights from the diverse thinking and perspectives the participants bring to the organisation. Since its inception, 50 interns have come through our doors: 38 Māori and 12 Pasifika.

Establishing our Manawa Whenua – Māori committee

Manawa Whenua is Heartland’s Māori committee and was established in 2018. The aim of Manawa Whenua is to support and inform Māori initiatives within Heartland, presenting ideas and solutions to Heartland’s strategic management group, and implementing many of these activities together as a committee.

Iho Pūmanawa

Iho Pūmanawa is a strategy developed by Heartland’s Talent team which incorporates the intent of Whāia te iti kahurangi, described above.

Although we live in a society enshrined in equality, we still see inequitable outcomes for minority groups.

As a part of Iho Pumanawa, we’re excited to be making changes to our recruitment process to make it more equitable and to portray Heartland as a place of belonging. Our goal is to do our part to be a workplace that Māori are proud to represent and want to join.

Creating our Heartland values – Nga Mātāpono

Our Heartland is a story and set of values that express who we are, what we stand for and what’s important to us as a business. It’s something that’s unique and special to us, and far more powerful and personal than a product or piece of technology.

We make Our Heartland story come alive for each other, our customers and our shareholders by living out our Heartland mātāpono (values). Heartland’s mātāpono were developed with our people, and incorporate te reo Māori, whakatauki and Māori symbolism. These are Mahi Tika (do the right thing), Mahi Tahi (be one team), Mahi Toa (have big ambition) and Mahi Tipu (be always evolving).

Providing free te reo Māori lessons for staff

Since 2017 Heartland has provided free te reo Māori classes for our people, encouraging them to learn and understand more about Aotearoa’s indigenous language.

Increasing the use and relevance of the language in our workplace also raises the status of the language, which in turn positively contributes to creating a culturally safe workplace.