Across Aotearoa, New Zealand, many organisations are celebrating Te Wiki o te Reo Māori (Māori Language Week), kia kaha te reo Māori. There’s a huge resurgence and interest in te reo Māori and renewed appreciation of Māori culture. Not only that, but the Māori economy is also booming and is forecast to reach $100 billion by 2030.
Kura are leading the way in embracing Māori culture, with tamariki (children) confidently reciting karakia, waiata, whakataukī, pepeha, whakapapa and he kōrero mō Matariki, learning about Matariki. Research from Te Papa showed that 50% of all New Zealanders took action to mark Matariki in 2022. And while our tamariki and rangatahi (young people) are creating a future where familiarity with Māori culture and confidence in speaking the te reo Māori will be more commonplace, in the here and now, workplaces have more to do.
We know from our early work with clients using our Māori cultural competency survey, Te ara ki tua, that there is strong desire from employees at all levels to improve cultural capability, be it learning about te reo Māori (the Māori language), te ao Māori (Māori world view), or knowledge of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and learning the difference between Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the Treaty of Waitangi.
There is a huge opportunity for organisations to build on this appetite. The desire to learn and develop skills is highly present, but currently, employees lack confidence, providing organisations a baseline to develop and build capability across the workforce.
If it’s your role to guide your organisation’s cultural competency journey, you’ll be pleased to know that AskYourTeam has just the tools to help and support by our own Kaiārahi Māori (Māori Cultural Advisor).
Te ara ki tua, developed in collaboration with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission), Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development), Tatauranga Aotearoa (Statistics New Zealand), Te Hiringa Hauora (Health Promotion Agency), and Maurea Consulting, is a survey that has been designed to assist organisations to measure staff confidence in Māori cultural skills.
With Te ara ki tua on your side, we can help you understand where your people’s confidence levels are.
Understanding the gaps between desire and current capability and confidence levels provides valuable information about where efforts should be placed, and what the action plan to close the gaps and deliver to employees’ desire looks like.
It’s best not to assume where people are at, so why not ask? That way, you’re better informed to start at the right level. In doing so, you’ll create a safe space for your people to learn and become more culturally competent.
Armed with this information you can pitch your support at exactly the right level and make informed decisions on what will make the most significant difference.
If you’d like support to enhance your organisation’s cultural competency journey, contact us for a kōrero. We’d love to help info@askyourteam.com.
