Same song sheet
The Importance of a People & Culture Strategy in Mental Health NGOs in Aotearoa New Zealand
And that means having a plan—a strategy that ensures we're not just working hard, but working together, with purpose and direction.
Nobody goes on a long journey without a map, nobody builds a house without a plan, and nobody actually builds the plane while flying it.
Organisations often take great pains over their business strategy while completely overlooking a strategy and plan for their people and the organisation’s culture.
Business strategy doesn’t account for:
- How and why people might want to join your organisation (your Employee Value Proposition)
- How you engage and involve them
- How you grow and promote them
- How you support their wellbeing.
It doesn’t tell you what people systems you need, nor does it help prioritise the many streams of work that follow.
In Aotearoa New Zealand, nongovernment organisations (NGOs) play a critical role in delivering mental health and wellbeing services—often with communities experiencing significant inequity, trauma, and unmet need.
An effective P&C Strategy must reflect obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
That means actively supporting Māori workforce participation, leadership, and cultural safety, while embedding kaupapa Māori approaches and mātauranga Māori into the culture of the organisation.
For mental health NGOs, this is particularly vital given the persistent inequities faced by Māori in mental health outcomes and access to care. Aligning your strategy with Te Tiriti is not just right—it’s what ensures services are not only clinically sound but culturally responsive and trusted by those they serve.
Deliberate not accidental
At its core, a People & Culture Strategy provides a deliberate framework for how an organisation attracts, develops, supports, and retains its workforce.
- Mental health NGOs operate in complex, high-pressure environments where emotional labour, vicarious trauma, and burnout are common.
- Without a clear, values-driven approach to workforce wellbeing, organisations risk high turnover, skill shortages, and disrupted services.
- A robust strategy helps mitigate these risks by embedding wellbeing, supervision, professional development, and safe workloads into everyday practice—not treating them as afterthoughts.
Workforce capability is equally critical
Our organisations often rely on multidisciplinary teams of clinicians, peer support workers, cultural practitioners, and community connectors.
A clear People & Culture Strategy
- Supports intentional workforce planning—ensuring the right mix of skills, lived experience, and cultural capability now and into the future.
- It creates real pathways for learning and growth, recognising that investing in people builds both resilience and innovation.
And it’s not standalone.
A strong P&C Strategy translates these values into daily behaviours, policies, and leadership practices. When kaimahi feel respected, supported, and connected to purpose, engagement deepens—and tangata whaiora benefit from more consistent, compassionate care.
You can’t claim to care for whaiora without showing clearly how you care for kaimahi.
In today’s climate of tight funding and high accountability, a well-articulated People & Culture Strategy also signals maturity. It shows funders, partners, and communities that you understand your greatest asset is your people—and that you’re doing the work to support and retain them.
