Informing our journey

People experience

MBIE has undertaken meaningful engagement with employees to understand their experiences.  The people experience projects have enabled MBIE to identify actions to make a difference to the experiences of our communities and support our work towards a more inclusive and equitable organisation.

Since 2018, the following communities have engaged in our people experience projects.

• Tangata Whenua
• Pacific peoples
• Asian
• Rainbow
• Enabled (includes people who identify as being neurodivergent and/or having medical, physical, or mental illnesses, disabilities, impairments, conditions, or disorders, including their support people and whānau)

Employee engagement

MyVoice@MBIE survey

”One of the best things about MBIE is the inclusivity and diversity. It makes me feel I belong here”.

2024 MyVoice@MBIE participant

MBIE regularly conducts employee engagement surveys as one way to hear from employees about their experiences working at MBIE. Insights from the MyVoice@MBIE survey provide a key source of feedback and are used to strengthen the existing programmes of work and identify opportunities for improvement across the organisation, and within teams. 

The most recent survey was undertaken in September 2024 and had a response rate of 78 per cent, 11 per cent higher than 2023. The below covers DEI statements where respondents were asked to express their level of agreement. Favourable refers to responses that were agree or strongly agree.

• ‘I feel comfortable talking to my people leader about things that concern me’ - 86 per cent favourable  
• ‘I feel a sense of belonging at MBIE’ - 69 per cent favourable 
• ‘I am treated with respect at work’ - 87 per cent favourable
• ‘I have access to opportunities at MBIE regardless of my background, identity, or working needs’ - 73 per cent favourable

Employee involvement

MBIE people have multiple ways to feedback on diversity, equity and inclusion actions. For input in policies, processes, and strategies, we partner with kaimahi Māori and Te Iho Poutama (MBIE’s Māori Capability team), we engage with unions (including Mahi Tahi representatives, members, delegates, and union organisers), have working groups with a cross-section of employee views, and involve our ELNs.

Workforce and remuneration data

In April 2023, five-year workforce and leadership representation targets were added within the Kia Tū Ranga, MBIE’s pay gap action plan 2022-2023. These include focus areas of senior leadership (gender and ethnicity), workforce representation (ethnicity), and leadership representation (ethnicity).

Whilst focusing on the objectives from Kia Tū Ranga, MBIE’s pay gap action plan, substantial gains are being made to reduce the gender pay gap. MBIE’s gender pay gap has reduced and continues trending downwards. As of September 2024, the gender pay gap at MBIE is 13.8 per cent (down from 20.2 per cent in 2016). Gaps for same and/or similar roles (as determined by pay band for bands lower than band 20) are between -0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent.  There is a gender pay gap of 3.5 per cent in pay bands 20 and above.  This is indicative of the wide range of roles within those bands.

Ethnic Pay Gap trends have remained stable since September 2023. There is a 4.5 per cent pay gap for Māori kaimahi (a decrease of 0.5 per cent from the previous year), 19.9 per cent pay gap for Pacific peoples (0.5 per cent decrease), 18.3 per cent for Asian (0.8 per cent increase), 10.9 per cent for MELAA which was a decrease of 0.4 per cent. The pay gaps for same or similar roles (as determined by pay band) have remained low and range between -0.5 per cent and 1.5 per cent (except for pay bands 20 and above). Pay gaps have been reviewed with the intersection of ethnicity and gender. Differences still exist. 

This data indicates continued focus is needed to close these gaps. For example, continued focus on workforce and leadership representation, with targeted support for our wāhine Māori, Pacific women, and women of colour to develop and progress their careers.

A continued shift is expected in pay gaps to achieve more equitable outcomes in the future. This will be delivered through:

• continuing to create a culture where people feel a sense of belonging. 
• progressing our workforce and leadership representation by gender and ethnicity.  

< Our commitments | Progress from 2023-2024 >