The 2023 Diversity Awards NZ were announced in Auckland last night, and Constellation Brands received a ‘Medium to Large Organisation Highly Commended’ recognition in the Diverse Talent Category for its innovative approach to recruiting and developing women.
The awards recognise the work companies are doing to advance a culture of belonging in workplaces throughout New Zealand.
The Diverse Talent Award recognises an organisation that demonstrates either (or both):
- How it has implemented initiatives that attracted talent from specific groups that were underrepresented in their organisation, and how barriers were removed in order for these candidates to progress through the recruitment process.
- How it implemented initiatives to improve career development processes in order to ensure that diversity is represented across the organisation.
Constellation Brands NZ is a subsidiary of Constellation Brands Inc, an international producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits, and its New Zealand operation employs around 290 people.
With around 80% of decisions about which wine to buy made by women, Constellation Brands NZ wanted to create an environment where women thrived at work, to better reflect the company’s communities, customers and consumers.
Approximately 45% of employees at CBNZ are female but the company says female representation within operations, particularly in vineyards, is an ongoing challenge.
They also wanted to increase the number of women advancing into leadership positions.
Julie Bassett, VP International HR & Business Enablement, says while all employees are the focus, the organisation has adopted a diversity, equity and inclusion lens in designing the programmes to ensure females can flourish.
“As part of our broader culture journey, we are focussed on building an environment where women can thrive – increasing representation of females at all levels, ensuring pay equality and high levels of inclusion across all teams and locations, whether in rural vineyards or at head office in Auckland. We are thinking creatively to address these challenges for the long term,” she says.
A suite of initiatives was designed to achieve this, including developing a new performance programme, reshaping the viticulture organisation, building robust career development frameworks and an operations pay matrix.
Transparent career pathways became a focus within operations, with career development frameworks designed for viticulture and wineries, and the organisation’s Culture Survey shows significant progress.
For more information on the 2023 Diversity Awards, click here.
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