Our Whānau

He aha te mea nui o te ao. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata.

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.

Here at Auckland Airport, we know that our people are critical to our success. The commitment we make to those who work for us is underlined by our policies and processes, which foster a workplace where our people are supported, engaged, and appreciated.

Whiria te tangata – our values weave us together. They’re what we stand for, who we are and how we act.

We’re all about creating a place where our people can thrive, and where others aspire to work. We’re a diverse and inclusive team and we welcome people from all walks of life, but we’re unified by our values – our agreement on how we will show up together, for each other and our stakeholders:

• We Care | Kia manaaki
• Respectful | Kia whakaute
• Integrity | Kia ngākau tapatahi
• Exceptional | Kia angitu
• Collaborative | Kia tapatahi

Our People & Capability Team support the people function of Auckland Airport with the following frameworks:

• Diversity and Inclusion Statement of Intent and Commitment
• Ethics and Code of Conduct Policy
• Flexible Working Arrangements Policy
• Disciplinary & Performance Coaching Policy
• Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy
• Employee Assistance Programme (Sonder)
• Leave Policy (including Sick, Bereavement, Domestic Violence Leave)
• Paid Volunteer Leave
• Parental Leave Policy
• Pregnancy and Operational Firefighting Policy
• Alcohol & Other Drugs Policy
• Fatigue Management Policy
• Redundancy Policy
• Smoke Free Workplace Policy
• Whistle blower Policy

Piki mai, kake mai, tauti mai. From the arrival of the Tainui Waka into the Manukau Harbour, Auckland Airport has always been a place of journeys.

Driven by our sustainability pillars, we recognise our unique position as the main international gateway to Aotearoa. We are working for New Zealand through:

• Kaupapa | Purpose
  Creating value for our business, shareholders, partners, customers and New Zealand.
• Whānau | People
  Creating value for our employees.
• Kaitiakitanga | Place
  Creating value for future generations and protecting the planet.
• Hapori | Community
  Creating value for Auckland and our local community

Our People, Capability and Iwi Committee exists to govern both the People and Capability facet of the business and Iwi strategy, including:

• Ensuring that Auckland Airport has sound remuneration policies and processes in place to attract and retain high performing Directors, Senior Executives and Employees.
• The oversight of strategy, framework and workplans to implement Auckland Airport’s Diversity and Inclusiveness Policy and to achieve the diversity and inclusion targets in Auckland Airport’s Sustainability Framework.
• Ensuring a meaningful, co-ordinated, and integrated approach to iwi relationships including recognising the importance that Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa Marae represents in the area.
• Recognising that the Treaty of Waitangi is primarily between the Crown and Māori and understanding the evolving operation of the Treaty in the Auckland Airport context through developments in government legislation and policy, and its application more generally, that may impact on Auckland Airport operations.
• Ensuring that the airport has a culture and workplan to develop internal Māori cultural competency and identity.

Auckland Airport has always been more than a place of arrivals and departures. It is a place of hello and goodbye. Of kia ora and haere rā. Our whānau (people); employees, contractors and stakeholders, are our most valuable assets, and because we believe that, we are committed to providing them with a working environment that ensures their health, safety and wellbeing every day.

In FY23, we implemented a revised HSW strategy that reflects a shift from our previous ‘destination zero harm’ approach to fostering a culture that prioritises people, our ‘people first’ approach, where our people are at the heart of our systems.

Our overall goal is to eliminate or minimise any risk of harm to our people. To achieve this, we are dedicated to understanding the critical risks in our workplace and implementing appropriate control measures that are verified, reviewed and improved as needed.

To achieve a culture of People First, regardless of their role, every person’s contribution to health, safety and wellbeing at Auckland Airport is critical. We believe that a People First approach is vital for a thriving workplace and thriving community. Our leadership team fully embraces this view, and we are committed to providing the necessary structures, resources, and organisational effort required to achieve our vision.

We maintain a strict Health, Safety and Wellbeing system, certified under the Civil Aviation Authority (Part 100) that supports our holding of an Aerodrome Operators Certificate (AOC). Our Health, Safety and Wellbeing obligations to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) are continually assessed, both internally and externally, to ensure that we continue to foster a safe workplace for our people.

Our Safety and Health Management system enables us to:

• Manage aviation and workplace safety, health, and wellbeing risks within the organisation, with a specific focus on safety-related risks.
• Identify and implement appropriate control measures for critical risks, regularly verifying, reviewing, and improving them as necessary.
• Continuously monitor and assess safety performance.
• Make ongoing improvements to the level of safety in our operations.
• Foster a leading safety, health, and wellbeing culture at Auckland Airport.

At Auckland Airport, we recognise the value in supporting the wellbeing of our people.

Auckland Airport as an employer of choice with an established, thriving and connected workplace where the five pillars of wellbeing are embraced and celebrated.

Our wellbeing vision is a commitment to creating a culture that nurtures and supports the wellbeing of our people, ensuring they feel motivated, engaged, and fulfilled in their roles. We believe that fostering meaningful connections to the business, the community, fellow colleagues, customers, and our cultural values is vital for enhancing overall wellbeing. Through a combination of educational initiatives and targeted programs, we aim to create a work environment where individuals can freely express their true selves, experience fairness and equity, and feel genuinely valued for their contributions.

• We have implemented a wellbeing strategy that recognises five pillars of wellbeing; mental, physical, financial, social and leadership, ensuring these are embraced and celebrated.
• We consider work design as a mitigation to prevent burnout, enhance cognitive function, reduce stress, improve sleep quality, support work-life balance and increase job satisfaction.
• We participate in external campaigns and forums that normalise speaking out mental health.
• Our Leadership Team encourages and role-models mindfulness, taking breaks away from work, eating from desks and the acceptance of mental health days off for self-care when needed.
• We provide access to free professional, independent, and confidential counselling for employees and members of their immediate family through our Employee Assistance Programme.

Auckland Airport's health and safety statistics are shown in the table below.

Tamaki Makaurau is a diverse place and we’re a key employer in the southern area of the city, with many of our people living in the local communities surrounding the precinct. It’s important to us to have a workforce that celebrates diversity, where our team can bring their whole selves to work and in doing so create positive, rich, and connected interactions with each other, our customers, and other stakeholders.

We want our people to bring diversity of thought to work, and to feel safe and empowered to suggest ideas and other improvements. In doing this, we’ll not only create an inclusive and inspiring place to work – we’ll also ensure that we make good decisions and generate creative approaches to solving the challenges we face as a hapori (community).

• We are a supporter of Global Women, whose goal is to drive diversity in leadership throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. As a supporter, we have committed to increasing diversity and inclusion within the organisation and particularly at senior leadership levels.
• We review our Gender Pay Gap annually, and take several actions each year to close the gap. We rely on external market pay data to align our people to a competitive position in pay band range, irrespective of demographic. We are confident that we do not have a gender peer issue but we are conscious that we have more females in our entry level roles than males and more males in middle management than females, and our focus is on understanding the reasons for this. One example of shifting the dial is our new Parental Leave Policy with enhanced benefits.
• We offer our team members an introductory, and intermediate te reo Māori course, structured over a ten-week period and delivered by a professional reo consultancy. A hybrid approach is taken to these courses, and some sessions are delivered in person at the Auckland Airport marae – Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa.
• We have formed a group of Engagement Champions, with representatives from across the business.Part of that group’s focus is to drive inclusivity throughout the airport, with direct links to all facets of the business, and to improve our DE&I by listening to our people.
• We welcome new team members to the business with our powhiri welcome morning at the Auckland Airport marae - Te Manukanuka o Hoturoa in a formal powhiri (welcome) by kaumatua (elders). Here, they are also taught the Auckland Airport waiata, and receive a presentation from two members of the leadership team.

To ensure the best support for our rich culture and diverse workforce, and to ensure that we continue to work for New Zealand, Auckland Airport seeks to:

• Better understand the makeup of our workforce and the assumptions that drive the choices our people make. We seek to have a workforce that is reflective of the ethnic diversity of New Zealand by 2030.
• Continue to strive for a 40/40/20 gender balance across the Auckland Airport Board, leadership team and senior leaders by 2025.
• Have a 20% Māori/Pasifika representation in the people leader group by 2030.
• Build a consistent ‘tone from the top’ communication from our senior leadership group throughout the business.
• Work to understand and address the barriers that prevent our people from thriving in the business.
• Understand and address unconscious bias through continued awareness, discussion, and education.
• Support overall Diversity, Equity & Inclusion through People and Capability process and practices.

See our Statement of Intent and Commitment here: Diversity and Inclusiveness Statement (sharepoint.com).

Auckland Airport is committed to building a workplace that not only attracts but retains the right people. We strive to offer an environment where people can comfortably and effectively balance their professional and personal lives, through:

• Flexible Working

We know that flexibility means different things to different people. That’s why our Flexible Working Policy offers team members and their people leaders a range of different working arrangements that can be considered. These range from ad-hoc and informal flexible arrangements – such as working around an appointment, to more formal and contractual arrangements - such as reducing to part-time working hours for a period (or permanently). For our office-based employees, we offer a hybrid arrangement.

• Parental Leave

We recognize that a birth or adoption is an incredible time for a team member. We are pleased to offer a competitive parental leave policy comprising of Primary Carer Leave, Paid Parental Leave, Paid Special Leave, Partner Leave and Unpaid Leave. We offer an enhanced ‘top up’ policy, which allows eligible team members to receive ‘top up’ payments from Auckland Airport, equating to 100% of the eligible team members annual base salary (when combined with the government notified rate), And two week’s fully paid Partner’s Leave. In addition, we continue to make KiwiSaver contributions for the period of Parental Leave.

• Employment Agreement Benefits
  Team members (excluding fixed term and casual) receive Life and Income Protection Insurance, covering:
  • Life and Terminal Illness – 4x Annual base salary.
  • Income Protection – 75% of a team members salary.
  • Trauma Cover – Lump sum payment of $10,000.00 (NZD).
  • Additionally, for team members employed on a Collective Employment Agreement (CEA), they receive eligibility to join the Auckland Airport Southern Cross medical insurance policy. A Group discount is available for those employees on Independent Employment Agreements (IEAs).

• Additional Benefits
  • All team members receive free parking (including when travelling).
  • All team members may receive discounts on products in the terminal when they present their Auckland Airport staff card.

We understand that an engaged team is a productive one, and our people are more likely to stay with us if they are motivated by the leadership, culture, and conditions of their employment. We conduct an employee engagement survey annually, and the findings inform focus areas that we strive to address within the business.

As we grow, so too should our people. Auckland Airport has an annual performance review cycle in place where our people leaders discuss performance against objectives, and development. We aim to build our internal capability and drive our team members growth forwards, by sharing both constructive and reinforcement feedback with our people. We provide our people leaders with internal training on how to have a good performance conversation.

Upon joining the business, team members are inducted with mandatory online training modules. This is essential for our people to effectively perform their roles, and to ensure that we equip them with the right foundational knowledge. There are additional modules that team members may be eligible for, such as fire warden training.

At Auckland Airport, much of an employee’s skills development will take place ‘on the job’, particularly learning from peers. However, we do engage with a number of learning partners, to develop particular skills as and when required.

Additionally, where an employee makes a request for support in time or cost for a qualification or skill that will both benefit the employee, and the business, we will give this full consideration and support where we can.

Under the People, Capability and Iwi Committee, the Chief Executive is responsible for the performance management of all Auckland Airport employees, in addition to attracting and retaining high performers in the organisation.

We provide an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) for all staff and their immediate families which offers confidential counselling and support for any personal or work-related issues.

We offer this confidential service free of charge to our people, which team members can access 24/7 and are able to utilise up to 4 hours of professional counselling support.