What is the GEM?
The Good Employer Matrix (GEM) is an evidence-based tool that brings an equity lens to how employers can build and progress Aotearoa New Zealand’s future workforce. The ultimate aim of the GEM is to see more Māori and Pasifika progress into senior, well-paid, resilient jobs, closing the Māori and Pacific pay gaps. The overriding goals are focused on recruitment, retention, progression and representation of Māori and Pasifika in higher-paid roles. This ultimate aim is enabled by three other domains: equity in organisational culture, culturally competent training and development, and fair and transparent setting of pay and conditions.
The GEM is freely available to any organisation that wants to:
Assess and improve their workforce diversity to achieve more equitable work outcomes;
Enable their Māori and Pasifika staff to develop, progress and succeed in their organisation;
Support Māori and Pasifika staff to develop a sense of workplace belonging and wellbeing; and
Increase and improve the pipeline of Māori and Pasifika talent into their organisation.
It closely aligns with the Pacific Pay Gap Inquiry recommendations, and Kia Toipoto - the Public Service Commission’s Action Plan to close Gender, Māori, Pacific and Ethnic pay gaps, but it is primarily designed for large private sector employers. The GEM Toolkit resources quote liberally from the Kia Toipoto tools and resources, as many are equally applicable to private sector employers.
How to use the GEM
The GEM should be used as a self-assessment tool for organisations, measuring against the full indicators in the matrix. This will aid organisations in identifying areas of strength and those needing improvement. The aim should be to get to at least ‘good’ in every area of the GEM, and to continually improve to move up levels. Before applying the GEM, businesses should ensure organisation-wide understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Organisations may want to aim for a self-assessment annually, or even bi-annually, using the GEM indicators to focus on outcomes achieved for Māori and Pasifika representation and progression targets within the organisation.
The GEM Toolkit provides practical guidance and how-to guides.
The GEM levels and Hautū Waka
The GEM has applied the final three stages of TSI’s Hautū Waka methodology and its icons representing Te Whāinga, Te Whiwhinga, and Te Rawenga, to conceptualise the three levels of the GEM. Created by Roimata Taniwha-Paoo and Ayla Hoeta with guidance from matua Rereata Makiha, Hautū Waka is a navigational framework and process for innovation journeys based on mātauranga Māori that ultimately links back to ancestral knowledge with resonance for the whole of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. More on Hautū Waka here.
Hautū Waka has six levels, with three preceding Te Whāinga ('Good' in the GEM). Te Whāinga, or 'Good' is a high standard set by the GEM, and employers may choose to use the Hautū Waka framework and process to chart their journey through the earlier stages. GEM and Uptempo have also developed some employer indicators that map to these preceding stages. Contact us for more on this.
Who we are
The GEM has been developed by The Southern Initiative (TSI), a social innovation hub situated within Auckland Council with the remit for social and economic development focusing on Māori and Pasifika in South and West Auckland. The GEM grows out of nearly a decade of TSI’s employment equity work and most recently, the Uptempo project to accelerate Pasifika workforce progression.
Acknowledgements
It has been supported by partners and reviewers including TupuToa, Te Kāhui Tika Tangata | NZ Human Rights Commission, the Auckland Council branch of the PSA, the Auckland Council Pacific Network, the Economic and Social Research team of Auckland Council’s Research & Evaluation Unit (RIMU), Nellie-Ann Abraham of Takapaukura Limited, and our ‘Wayfinder’ Group of employers who generously tested and workshopped the initial indicators, and provided insights into what employers needed out of the GEM Toolkit.