Valuing our indigenous heritage to support cultural awareness and shape a more inclusive future

Te Māramatanga Programme

Cultural competence – the willingness and ability to understand, appreciate and interact with people from other cultures or belief systems – has never been more important.

The benefits of a culturally competent workplace are clear. Decades of research shows that inclusive cultures can have a hugely positive effect on team productivity, impacting a company’s bottom line and retention rates. Meanwhile, a lack of cultural competency in the workplace can lead to miscommunication, conflict and stunted productivity.

PwC New Zealand is cultivating a workplace environment rooted in cultural competency, starting with its Te Māramatanga: Building Your Te Ao Māori (Māori Worldview) Knowledge Base programme. The interactive programme, run by PwC’s Manukura Māori business team, aspires to build and expand awareness of the Māori worldview by providing a snapshot of language, customs, heritage stories, history, and the Māori economy. By boosting knowledge of Māori culture, PwC New Zealand is building stronger connections and relationships with Māori clients, employees and communities.

The Māori, the indigenous people of mainland Aotearoa (New Zealand), make up nearly 17 percent of the national population and are expected to make up one-sixth of the labour market by 2038.¹

By embracing and building knowledge of the Māori culture in a way that respects and honours it, PwC New Zealand aims to strengthen the firm's cultural competence and support internal operating practices to foster a more inclusive environment. The firm is committed to increasing its Māori representation to be more reflective of society and clients and prioritising that its people feel culturally confident. Through the Te Māramatanga programme, PwC New Zealand is helping its people to broaden their perspectives with value-based training, which includes connecting people to Māori values and beliefs.

The results

Te Māramatanga was created for the firm’s people, by its people, four years ago. So far, over a thousand of PwC New Zealand’s partners and staff have completed this voluntary programme. With the programme running for two and a half hours a week over four consecutive weeks, it’s a commitment of almost 7,000 combined hours dedicated to learning more about the Māori Worldview. The firm has also increased its Māori people representation with six Māori partners and 130+ Manukura team members (8%) nationally, and looks forward to continuing to increase this representation.

The programme has been so well received that there’s been high demand for further learning — and PwC New Zealand has answered that call. As a result, the firm has created a stage two programme, Te Ohonga (The Awakening), which it launched in 2021. The Te Ohonga programme highlights PwC New Zealand’s ongoing commitment to building understanding and awareness of its nation's indigenous people, their culture and their history. This programme is designed to provide a deeper awareness of the nation’s indigenous Māori ahurea (culture) and involves a guided journey through which Māori people recount some of their hītori (history), their pūrākau (stories) and wawata (aspirations). The objective is to ‘awaken’ the programme’s participants within a safe space. The programme is a ten hour time commitment over a four week time period and 175 participants have taken part so far.

Unconscious biases and exclusion can derail good decision making. Cultivating a culturally competent workforce means employees can better collaborate across boundaries to leverage their differences as strengths. Embedding this kind of empathy and inclusive respect into the workplace not only builds pathways for employees to feel valued, but it also transforms organisations and inspires people to carry those same attributes into their own homes and communities — all while recognising and honouring the history and heritage of a geography.

Programme testimonials

_{PwC New Zealand acknowledges Māori as the indigenous people of Aotearoa and the importance of understanding, respecting, and celebrating Māori culture, language, and values. Recognising Te Tiriti o Waitangi (The Treaty of Waitangi), the nation's founding document signed in 1840 by Māori and the Crown, is fundamental. Te Tiriti embodies principles of partnership and equity, providing a basis for a shared commitment to live harmoniously and uphold Māori culture and values.}

_{Adhering to Te Tiriti's principles can lead to a more just society for all New Zealanders and address historical injustices. By understanding Te Tiriti and committing to upholding the principles of Te Tiriti, is seen as a fundamental step towards personifying what is a good corporate citizen.}

^{[1] Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa, INGIA (accessed September 2024: https://iwgia.org/en/aotearoa-new-zealand/4685-iw-2022-aotearoa-new-zealand.html)}