“We’d like to think we can show many big businesses how diversity and inclusiveness is really done, as well as encourage other smaller businesses to get on board,” says Ben Pryor, co-founder of Vapo.
Vapo, with 11 stores in the country and more than 100 employees, won the Rainbow Tick award.
“We implore other businesses to follow in our footsteps and help change New Zealand workplaces for the better,” Vapo co-founder Jonathan Devery adds. “Leading the way on diverse and inclusive workplaces, and enabling people to be their whole selves at work, is beneficial in all areas of business and the greater community.”
Pryor touts his firm’s human resources process for “proactively [promoting] a welcoming Rainbow-friendly workplace–one where we are simply seeking the best person, without even enquiring about a person’s gender identity.”
While Vapo is smaller than other companies competing for the award in New Zealand, Rainbow Tick evaluators gave the firm good marks and noted that they showed “a warmer and more personal touch…” than bigger firms.