A pilot leadership development opportunity for women within Christchurch City Holdings Limited’s (CCHL) group has been embraced by kaimahi across The Orion Group.
Te Puna Manawa - CCHL’s inaugural Women’s Leadership Development Programme - is about empowering women working across CCHL’s group with greater skills and clarity on being excellent leaders and growing their careers.
Sixteen women took part in the programme, which recently concluded. Three women from Orion and one from Connetics were in the first course, covering four learning modules over seven months.
For Orion Power Systems Lead Yuyin Kueh, Te Puna Manawa came at a perfect time in her career.
“I have been transitioning from pure technical work to a team leader position. Te Puna Manawa provided space for me to think about my strengths, values and career objectives and reframe my approach to team leadership.”
Orion Customer Support Representative Correna Rodrigues feels the programme provided a safe environment for the participants to learn and grow.
“It has been empowering to be surrounded by such a lovely and supportive group of women who can share their knowledge and skills and also hold space for each other’s vulnerabilities,” says Correna.
“The CCHL Group supporters and mentors have gone out of their way to make this programme a success and together with Anna have helped shape the future of leadership within the group.”
Statistics show CCHL now has 13 females on its leadership teams across the group (versus 42 males), an increase in 2.5% from FY22. Representation on the CCHL boards is even stronger at 17 female and 26 male directors, an improvement of 2.5% from FY22.
“One of the key takeaways from the programme has been ‘courage over confidence’. At times, we all face self-doubt or lack of confidence. By focusing on showing courage, rather than growing confidence, we continue momentum forwards,” says Orion Community Engagement Lead Michelle Flanagan.
Following an overwhelming response to the initiative, we subsequently ran our own inhouse programme for wāhine at The Orion Group. We currently have two cohorts, with 31 women from across the Group participating in the programme.
The second cohort of Te Puna Manawa will run from September 2024 and the programme will again be offered to 16 women across the CCHL Group.
The CCHL Women’s network has also recently been launched to inspire, connect, and develop wāhine across the Group. It includes a series of events programmed throughout the year, including panel discussions, an International Women’s Day event, online workshops, and a donation drive and working bee for Women’s Refuge.
To find out more about what The Orion Group is doing to improve gender balance and diversity and inclusion visit our diversity, equity and inclusion page