SkyCity crowned leader in Diversity and Inclusion

SkyCity Entertainment Group is proud to be named winner of the 2020 Deloitte Top 200 award for Diversity and Inclusion Leadership for Project Nikau.

Project Nikau is a pathway to employment project for vulnerable young people targeting Māori and Pasifika.

SkyCity Chief People and Culture Officer Claire Walker says the award is recognition for a programme that has been successful in the selection, training, and retention of talented young Māori and Pasifika who add value and diversity to the SkyCity family.

“Project Nikau began out of a conversation about what SkyCity had in abundance that could be given back to our communities to meet a need.

“What SkyCity has is jobs, entry level jobs with a secure career path, and with the knowledge that youth employment is a significant challenge for each of the communities in which we operate, particularly for Māori and Pasifika, we galvanised our path to contribute,” says Walker.

Project Nikau’s objective was to employ 30 young people who had experienced exclusion from employment opportunities and poor employment outcomes in sustainable, full-time roles at SkyCity.

“To meet this objective SkyCity engaged with over thirty organisations including the Ministry of Social Development to develop an evidence-based programme to transition young people from their communities into employment at SkyCity.

“Evidence suggests that young people need a minimum of two years support and mentoring for a pathway to employment programme to be successful, so we employed a youth mentor to support participants, facilitate connections to whānau and community groups, and manage the Tuakana–Teina (peer support) model between participants and existing employees.

“Internal cultural changes were executed to enable the programme to succeed, developing managers and employees to view youth employment empathetically, co-designing personal learning and development plans for each participant, in partnership with Te Puni Kōkiri and reinforcing authentic relationships with iwi, hapu and whanau,” says Walker.

To date 50 young people having participated in the pilot phase of Project Nikau, of which 66% of participants (pre COVID) remain employed, the rest having had the benefit of participating in an extensive pre-employment programme.

Over the past few years SkyCity’s diversity and inclusion initiatives such as Project Nikau and the Tahuna Te Ahi leadership programme for Māori employees have championed diversity in all areas and driven a range of activities to build leadership capability in Māori, Pasifika and women leaders.