12 February 2019 – The Rainbow Tick is a quality improvement cycle designed to make an organisation a safe, welcoming and inclusive place for people of diverse gender identity and sexual orientation. The Rainbow Tick is awarded to organisations that complete a Diversity & Inclusion certification process that tests whether a workplace understands, values, and welcomes sexual and gender diversity.

In January 2019, Aurecon became the first consulting engineer in New Zealand to be certified. The certification process took seven months and has been a major milestone in a two-year journey to date.

The journey started with a group of people who were instrumental in establishing an internal LGBTI+ network, AureconPRIDE. At the heart of ensuring the LGBTI+ community felt supported, it was vital that an inclusive environment, that would help all our people to achieve their full potential, became part of the everyday culture at Aurecon.

Fully supported by Aurecon’s leadership, a core group that included members of Aurecon’s LGBTI+ community champions and advocates, worked through several initiatives to help realise their aspiration - these included:

• Auditing and updating of human resources policies and practices to ensure LGBTI+ inclusion.
• Including same-sex families and relationships within Aurecon’s parental and Shared Care benefits and programmes.
• Developing transgender guidelines and a programme to support those transitioning while at Aurecon.
• A programme of LGBTI+ awareness and ally training delivered by accredited LGBTI+ trainers, with ongoing sessions for more staff during 2019.
• The development of the Beyond Management – Leading Inclusively programme, to support line managers in building their inclusive leadership capabilities.
• Supporting Callum Smith, a Geospatial Consultant at Aurecon, to set up a New Zealand industry group, LGBT+ in STEM. The group aims to improve the visibility of LGBT+ individuals in STEM fields and providing a networking and support platform.
• Acknowledging and raising awareness on days of significance such as the annual Wear It Purple Day.

Michael Stevens, Programme Manager for Rainbow Tick says “We congratulate Aurecon on reaching the standard required to be certified with the Rainbow Tick. There was clear evidence in all areas of a serious and engaged approach to this work which includes a lot of goodwill from senior management and those involved. We believe this will be translated into effective change.”

Diversity and inclusion drives Aurecon’s innovation and creativity, and is enabled by teams of diverse people, led by inclusive leaders. At the heart of this achievement was a core team that brought enthusiasm and energy to challenge the business to make a positive change.

“I am constantly in awe of the courage of our people to put themselves out there and be the face of change in not only our business, but also in our profession. We have had leaders comment that the drive around diversity and inclusion has helped them significantly as a leader and that they are extremely proud to have helped create a better workplace for all,” says Carl Devereux, Aurecon’s Regional Director – New Zealand.

Carl continues: “Diversity, true diversity, includes everyone. I am so proud of what we have achieved but also very aware that the journey continues to ensure that we continue to offer an inclusive environment where all of our people can be their authentic selves.”

Certification is important recognition for our people and company culture. Beyond certification Aurecon’s goal is about collective, dynamic impact – both within Aurecon and with clients and industry to build a strong network. Our work and our passion for LGBTI+ inclusion continues.