February 2023 - News

Contacting us 

We appreciate that some of our subscribers may have been experiencing  delays in contacting us on the 0800 800 627 number recently, partially impacted by claims calls from the recent weather events. 

It might be more convenient for you to email business@mas.co.nz in the first instance, with a brief summary of your query, contact number and preferred time for us to call you.   

Minimum Wage Increase 

The minimum wage will rise on 1 April 2023 to $22.70/hour (from $21.20).  The starting out wage will increase to $18.16/hour, remaining at 80% of the minimum wage. 

Diversity and Inclusion Policies and Procedures 

Creating a culture in your business that is inclusive and appreciates differences will allow your staff to feel heard, respected and safe. We live in a diverse culture that includes people from different diversity types, promoting inclusion can help your business thrive. A diverse and inclusive workplace increases social cohesion, social equity, increases staff motivation, and improves innovation and creativity in the workplace. 

Owners, Directors and managers should actively model and encourage positive workplace behaviour with inclusive leadership, embracing different backgrounds, so all employees feel safe and heard. 

To achieve this, leaders and managers may need to expand their capabilities and acquire new skills by completing training courses and further education in this area. 

When hiring new staff, consider diversity as part of your hiring process. Try to avoid the temptation to employ someone just like you. It may even be helpful to have two very diverse people complete the recruitment together to get different points of views in the decision making.  

Consider what the business needs and what it may be lacking. Considerations for a new employee may include varying skills, perspectives, personalities, and behaviours. 

Remember, creating diverse and inclusive teams isn’t about being politically correct. It’s about increasing your team’s performance by having happier and more engaged staff. 

Review your existing workplace policies with a view of embracing diversity. You could use this as an opportunity to start a conversation with your staff regarding what they think the workplace needs. Options to provide diverse friendly options could include offering flexible schedules, leave options, meal choices, recreational activities, etc. 

If you genuinely want to make a start the journey of including inclusivity to be part of your practice’s culture, you can add it to your core values and your code of conduct.  Ask your employees for help drafting an update to your values and policies. What do they want inclusivity to look like at their workplace, what would make them feel included, safe, and respected?  

After putting all this effort into creating new policies and processes you will want regularly to review your progress. 

One option is to conduct anonymous workplace surveys to learn how your staff feel about diversity, inclusion, and the practice culture. This could be included in the survey supplied by HealthyPractice survey Practice culture (healthypractice.co.nz) . It is advised that you repeat a survey like this survey regularly to see if you are making progress. From the results you can also and set goals about where you would like to be 12 months or further in the future. 

You could also use patient research to learn more about your hiring needs. If your patients represent certain demographics, it may be helpful to have that applicable experience on your team. 

For further information on creating a diverse and inclusive culture for your practice please see the Diversity and Inclusion page on the HealthyPractice website.