This article is written by Alex Shahryar-Davies. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the New Zealand Government.

  • The problem: ‘Ethnic community’ leaders are under-represented in Aotearoa New Zealand’s public sector leadership cadre.
  • Why it matters: Diverse leadership is needed to tackle current and future issues.
  • The solution: Empower ethnically diverse leaders and actively grow the pipeline of future ethnically diverse leaders.

As Aotearoa New Zealand’s demographics are evolving, so too are expectations around diversity and inclusion in the country’s public sector. From whichever “lens” is applied — ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation, etc. — there is growing recognition that workplaces, particularly in the public sector, should reflect the country’s demographic makeup. This is not only the ethically “right” thing to do, but overwhelming evidence suggests that greater diversity results in better workplace performance and outcomes. In the public sector, this means public policy and service delivery that is more attuned to the diverse needs of the population itself.

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In Aotearoa New Zealand, people from ethnic communities (defined as people whose ethnicity is African, Asian, Continental European, Latin American, or Middle-Eastern) made up approximately 18% of the population according to the 2018 census. This figure is projected to grow to 25% in the 2030s and to 30% in the 2040s.

Future ethnic leadership roles in the public sector may need to shift to where the people are, rather than the other way around.

In 2023, 16.7% of Aotearoa New Zealand’s public service employees were either Asian (14.5%) or Middle-Eastern, Latin American, or African — MELAA — (2.2%; public service workforce data does not include a Continental European breakdown and therefore ‘Asian + MELAA’ incorporates four of the five high-level ethnic groupings that make up the ‘ethnic communities’ definition). At the leadership levels, there are even fewer; 7.5% of the 41 most senior public service leaders were from ethnic communities (all Asian), while only 4.1% of all tier 1-3 leaders were Asian (3.1%) or MELAA (1%).

Therefore, there is a major gap between current figures and future projections for achieving parity with broader demographics for ethnic leaders (i.e. people from ethnic communities in leadership positions) in Aotearoa New Zealand's public service.

Establishing an Ethnic Leaders Group

This is something that a group of ethnic leaders in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) have set out to unpack and explore by recently establishing an Ethnic Leaders Group. This is an informal staff network — a sub-group of the wider Ethnic Network that has existed within MFAT for some time. The Ethnic Leaders Group is currently made up of 22 staff in leadership positions in the Ministry, which constitutes approximately 7% of MFAT’s total leadership cadre.

The Ethnic Leaders Group has three broad objectives: to support each other as a peer network of ethnic leaders; to actively support other ethnic staff in MFAT; and to work with the wider MFAT senior leadership structures on issues of diversity and inclusion from an ethnic community perspective.

Recently, MFAT’s Ethnic Leaders Group and Ethnic Network co-hosted a public sector ethnic leaders panel event, to hear from some of the most senior ethnic leaders from across the public sector. We had previously held internal MFAT panel events to hear from current and aspiring ethnic leaders within MFAT, which stimulated a great deal of positive discussion and thought in the Ministry about diversity and inclusion from an ethnic lens. This recent event allowed us to gain wider insights from leaders outside of MFAT.

We were fortunate to have been joined by panellists Karen Chang (Chief Executive, Serious Fraud Office), Rafael Gonzalez-Montero (Chief Executive, Parliamentary Service), Anusha Guler (Deputy Chief Executive [Operations], Electoral Commission) and Rajesh Chhana (Deputy Secretary [Policy], Ministry of Justice). Vangelis Vitalis (Deputy Secretary [Trade & Economic], Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) also provided pre-recorded video remarks. The event was facilitated by Fatumata Bah, who holds several professional roles and responsibilities, including as a Senior Policy Analyst at the Ministry of Health. Over 240 public servants from across Aotearoa New Zealand and many of MFAT’s overseas posts attended the event, either in person or virtually, a clear sign of the interest and need for conversations around ethnic diversity and leadership in the public sector.

Powerful personal and professional journeys

Hearing the panellists talk openly about their personal and professional journeys was incredibly powerful and provided a range of insights and tips for other current and aspiring ethnic leaders. Indeed the panellists recognised that their insights and stories can apply similarly across other diversity lenses as well, not only ethnicity.

First, they reflected on how much more ethnically diverse Aotearoa New Zealand’s public sector has become over the last few decades and how positive this change has been, notwithstanding that there is still a long way to go to achieve even greater diversity and inclusion. Aside from improved representation from diverse communities which is important in itself, the panellists reflected on tangible policy or service delivery improvements in their agencies that have been enabled by diverse public servants who really understand the lived realities of the citizens and communities that those agencies are serving.

Importantly, the panellists noted that the newer generations of public servants coming through seem to be much more willing to call out poor or discriminatory behaviours in the workplace, which is leading to more rapid acknowledgement of what is and isn’t acceptable workplace behaviour from a diversity and inclusion perspective. New ethnic entrants into the public service are also actively looking for role models among the leadership; seeing diverse people in leadership positions gives younger professionals a genuine sense of belief that they too can make it there one day.

A key message from all of the panellists to aspiring ethnic leaders was that they needed to see their diversity as an advantage, not as a constraint. Panellists encouraged ethnic staff to find the appropriate balance between self-awareness and self-promotion in a way that is authentic. Panellists urged aspiring ethnic leaders to put themselves forward, put their hands up for new opportunities, “hustle” and be their own strongest advocate. Crucially, this can be done with sensitivity, humility and authenticity and in a way that does not undermine ethnic community cultural practices or seek to “sell-out” one’s values. In short: ethnic leaders, be confident in who you are and what value you bring to your organisation.

Reflecting on their own leadership journeys, the panellists acknowledged that while being from an ethnic community can carry some additional “weight” due to feeling a need to positively represent that whole ethnic community on a day-to-day basis, they also saw that role as a privilege, seeking to uplift or inspire the next generation of ethnic leaders wherever possible. They consider it important to be accessible for informal coffee chats with aspiring ethnic leaders, and encouraged aspiring leaders to actively seek advice and guidance from leaders they look up to, even if the latter are more senior; as one panellist noted, what’s the worst that can happen by asking?

Improve diversity at the leadership table first**

The panellists raised fascinating perspectives on the importance of public sector agencies needing to make challenging but necessary actions to ensure that future leadership teams are more diverse. Put simply, if people from ethnic communities make up around 20% of the current population of Aotearoa New Zealand and will make up 25% of the population by the 2030s and 30% by the 2040s, what are agencies doing — actively — to ensure their leadership pipelines reflect these projections? The panellists highlighted that organisations should not expect their overall staff figures to be more diverse in future if they are not willing to improve diversity at the leadership table first.

In this regard, one panellist raised a pertinent point about Aotearoa New Zealand’s geographical reality, noting that the majority of the population’s ethnic communities live in and around Auckland. Given the geographic spread of ethnic community talent, and as public sector agencies grapple with an increasingly mobile workforce more broadly, future ethnic leadership roles in the public sector may need to shift to where the people are, rather than the other way around.

Finally, as the panellists talked about their own pathways to senior leadership, one aspect that stood out was just how diverse their career paths had been. Each of them had made significant moves across agencies, sectors, locations and role types, indicating that organisations may be wise to look widely and think innovatively to attract future ethnic leadership talent.

Plenty of food for thought for the future of ethnic leadership in Aotearoa New Zealand’s public sector.

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(Image credit: Unsplash)