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BusinessMay 9, 2022

You think you operate an ethical workplace, but do you?

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Draft legislation designed to help tackle modern slavery is out for consultation. Here’s what it means for CEOs at every level of business. 

Most employers and employees set out each day to do the best they can. In my experience, few are determined to act improperly or unethically. That said, it happens, in ways that are often not overt – or in ways that are justified or explained as “something we have always done”.

We’re doing OK. In fact, New Zealand ranks at the top of the Corruption Perceptions Index, a measure of which countries are avoiding (or adequately dealing with) damaging behaviours like bribery and corruption. At number one out of 180 countries ranked by Transparency International, this is great news.

But it doesn’t mean we’re immune to bad practices emerging. Maintaining an ethical workplace doesn’t just happen. It requires effort. If passed, MBIE’s draft legislation will put the onus onto employers to maintain an ethical workplace by actively preventing any bad behaviour and reporting on it.

“Wilful blindness” will no longer be an excuse for ongoing coercion, harassment, manipulation, or enslavement. Here’s what businesses will need to address.

Lead with integrity

What matters most when it comes to establishing and maintaining high levels of ethical behaviour is the tone from the top. How management shows up sends clear signals to other employees. The aim is to “walk the talk” with employees and hold leaders responsible for their actions.

Globally, more and more companies are beginning to measure and reward performance on the basis of ethical behaviour. Some of those reported to be linking environmental, social and governance (ESG) outcomes to executive compensation include companies like BP, Danone, Pepsico and Unilever.

Of course, there are also direct costs to the business of being associated with unethical behaviour in terms of fines, director liability and the destruction of an organisation’s number one asset – its reputation. When trust is broken, it can be nigh on impossible to repair. Nobody wants to shop at or work for a business known to be turning a blind eye to bullying, harassment or corruption or other examples of poor labour practices.

Expect the best

Be clear with employees about the behaviour you expect, and what is and isn’t acceptable. Codes of ethical conduct are now becoming more widely used to set out matters such as receiving of gifts, inducements or sharing of information. Make sure you’re clear about how staff should ask for any approvals before doing something that might be considered a grey area.

Give them the tools

Training is key to making sure employees understand ethical expectations – not just once, but consistently. Repeat regularly, update with any policy or legislative changes and make sure there’s a particular focus when onboarding new staff. Ethical behaviour expectations should also be included in any “house rules” employees are required to commit to.

Engage often

With the advent of new tools aimed at giving employers a better understanding of the culture and how staff are feeling about the company, there’s the added benefit of being able to note any red flags that might be precursors to a decline in ethical behaviour. Properly designed and regularly deployed employee engagement surveys can help set a baseline of attitudes within the company.

Findings from such surveys can inform training needs as well as highlight areas of risk that need attention. The key to employees’ engagement is, again, trust. Any topline findings should be shared and discussed with all employees. Seek their views, too, on any remedial steps that could be taken. It demonstrates a willingness to be transparent.

Research what’s new

Increasingly, there are intuitive tech-driven tools, such as the Ethical VOICE platform launched last year by New Zealand insights company AskYourTeam, that allow more of a continuous view on workplace culture and labour practices. Ethical VOICE gives every single worker in an organisation, at every level of that organisation, the opportunity to speak freely and 100% anonymously on what’s really going on at work, using their smartphone.

It’s already been piloted within the horticulture sector, which has been a hotspot for unethical employment practices, with great success. Now, Ethical VOICE is being picked up by large scale New Zealand corporates, some of which operate factories offshore, to ensure that no stone is left unturned in identifying bad practice.

Tools like Ethical VOICE – Ulala is another early adopter of mobile based worker engagement – can help push information out to employees as well as a pull it back into the organisation. There are many benefits to this approach. Firstly, such rich data helps improve decision making and improve productivity. Secondly, employees who feel respected at work – who feel they can contribute and are listened to – enjoy a sense of ownership around what the company stands for and are better able to bring their own skills to bear.

Operating an ethical workplace is not only preferable, it’s critical. Human resource as a discipline is a lot more than just placing job ads and settling workplace issues – it’s understanding that employee engagement can act as a key driver, or indeed a key inhibitor, to business success.

Brent Wilton is a director of Tūhana Business and Human Rights Limited.

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

BusinessMay 9, 2022

The Spinoff Covid tracker: live graphs telling the story of the pandemic in Aotearoa

Image: Tina Tiller
Image: Tina Tiller

Everything you need to know about how the Covid-19 pandemic is tracking in New Zealand, through regularly updated data visualisations.

The Spinoff Covid tracker brings together all the relevant Covid data – cases, tests, vaccination and mobility – in one place.

The aim of this page is to show the numbers in the context of the larger picture. We will continuously update and improve it based on feedback.

The reporting times differ for some of the data sets. We will update them as soon as the data is public.

The mobility data we use comes from Google community mobility reports. It is only indicative, but it provides a view into the effectiveness of lockdowns and we will continue to update the data as we shift down levels.

Along with showing the top-line numbers, our vaccination graphs are designed to highlight the challenges that become visible when we look beyond the headline “90% vaccinated” target. Scroll down towards the end of this page to view vaccination data broken down by ethnicity and age, at a national and DHB level.

App users: If you experience an issue with any of these graphs click here to load in-browser

NB: The Ministry of Health’s daily 1pm update includes deaths that occurred more than 28 days after a case was reported, and deaths that were reported with incomplete details. The below graph is based on Ministry of Health data that doesn’t include these.

Omicron means that, yet again, we at The Spinoff will be devoting significant resources to covering this enormous and complex story. If you value what we do, please consider becoming a member today. Every dollar donated is ring-fenced to support our journalism, and right now we need audience support more than ever. 

Is your organisation keen to support The Spinoff? We would love to hear from you – contact us today to find out more about our organisation memberships.


App users: Having trouble seeing any of these graphs? Click here to load in-browser


Help us keep you informed on Covid-19 – click here to learn how you can join The Spinoff Members


The following vaccination charts are updated weekly.

Click here to read an explainer for the following two charts showing vaccination data by age, ethnicity and DHB.