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Diversity & Inclusion

Everyone should feel like they belong at Lane Neave, which prides itself on putting people at the very heart of the firm. Professional services are delivered with and through its people, and so the experience people have at work matters.

In our People Survey 2020, 74% of respondents indicated that it is extremely or very important that Lane Neave operates in a way that makes a positive social and environmental impact. Lane Neave has had a long-standing investment programme into a range of community and environmental programmes, in addition to our work around collective health and wellbeing, and promoting diversity, inclusion and a sense of belonging.

This is also underpinned by the principles outlined in the firm’s Diversity and No Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination polices.

Gender equality

We are absolutely committed to creating an inclusive environment and promoting the advancement of female lawyers. Our numbers speak for themselves:

  • 70% of all staff are female;
  • 40% of all Partners are female (one of the highest proportions of female Partners in New Zealand);
  • 57% of managers are female; and
  • 50% of Board members are female.

66% of our promotions in 2020 were women, with one of these promotions for someone on parental leave. This is the third promotion during a parental leave period in two years, recognising the importance of creating an environment that supports women to take time off for parental leave, without concern of it harming their career progression or value to the firm.

Racial and cultural diversity

Recruitment
The firm has an affirmative action approach to the recruitment of Māori and other minorities, with changes made to the recruitment process to include a Kaupapa Māori approach and remove bias. The firm’s ambition is to fully tap the capabilities of everyone and better reflect the communities it serves.

Te ao Maori
The firm recognises the importance of weaving te reo Maori into everyday usage, as well as celebrating Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori. In 2021 staff were encouraged to: recognise the good work of others with ka pai awards; use Maori greetings and signoffs in emails and even practise ordering their coffee in Maori each day.

We introduced a programme of events in 2021 aligned to Te Iwa o Matariki (the nine stars of Matariki). This programme ran over three weeks, starting on the shortest day as a ‘winter warmer’, to not only support staff wellbeing but also increase our shared understanding of the Maori world view and the Māori philosophy of hauora.

Flexible working

Flexible work/life balance is about effectively managing the juggling act between paid work and the other activities that are important to people such as time with family, participation in community activities, sporting pursuits, voluntary work, personal development, leisure and recreation. It may even be just the flexibility of having time to attend appointments and to take care of oneself, family and friends.

Our Flexible Work and Work Life Balance Policy was developed to support the implementation of flexible working arrangements, including related to hours, location, and return to work after a break.

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