This week was a moment of great pride for Microsoft New Zealand, says HR Director, Ebeny Kurz-Firth
Since the beginning of this year, we have been working towards achieving accreditation from the Rainbow Tick programme – a continual quality improvement programme designed to help an organisation ensure it is a safe and welcoming workplace for employees
We were very pleased this week to be informed that Microsoft NZ has now reached the required standard to be awarded the Rainbow Tick.
Creating a workplace where people are free to be their authentic selves is acknowledged to be a central factor in attracting and retaining the best talent. While the areas of gender balance, ethnicity and generational differences continue to be the focus of our Diversity and Inclusion policy, the Rainbow Tick specifically addresses that of sexual and gender diversity.
Having the tick amplifies our values of inclusiveness both internally and externally, and shows that we are a forward looking and innovative company that embraces and celebrates differences.
Here are some words from Michael Stevens, Programme Director for Rainbow Tick in New Zealand, on Microsoft’s successful completion of the accreditation process:
“Much of our work at the Rainbow Tick involves taking existing goodwill and helping an organisation find a way to demonstrate it and display it in its practices and procedures, and this has been the case at Microsoft.
Microsoft internationally is a leader in this space. Their clear support for greater diversity in general and for the Rainbow Tick in particular comes from the top levels of the organisation, and augurs well for implementing change within Microsoft over time.
The subjects of human sexuality and gender difference are not ones that we are culturally attuned to talking about with ease and confidence in public. These are subjects that are also culturally taboo for some. However, this does not need to stand in the way of creating a workplace that is truly accepting to all including those people from Rainbow communities who wish to be out at work.
The successful implementation of the Rainbow Tick does not demand great changes of anyone in their actions and certainly not in their beliefs. Rather it asks that in the workplace all staff are treated courteously, respectfully and not put in a position where they have to deny a core part of who they are to please the sensibilities of others.
We are confident that Microsoft NZ holds this aim as well and we are very happy to welcome the company to the Rainbow Tick Network as a certified member.”
We are very proud to have received this acknowledgement from the Rainbow Tick programme and celebrate the wonderful diversity within our organisation.
Ebeny Kurz-Firth
HR Director, Microsoft New Zealand
For more information on Microsoft’s global diversity and inclusion programme, click here.